THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 31, 1994 TAG: 9408310423
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
A facility with a shifting Navy clientele has been quietly sold for $30 million to a partnership of real estate investors.
Despite the sale, the building's new owners and present managers say the sale will offer nothing but business as usual.
The sale will not have any effect on the government's lease on the building. The Navy has signed a 20-year, $3.3 million lease with the owners.
Three separate partnerships bought the building from the private firm of Seabat I for $30,214,830. Seabat I is an affiliated partnership of the Robinson Development Group, developers and managers of the building in the Harbour View development in northern Suffolk.
The facility is designed specifically to house large computer and electronic gear. It has parking for nearly 1,000 vehicles, six satellite antennae on the roof, cafeteria space, a fitness center and administrative spaces.
Officials from Seabat I said their firm would continue to manage the building. ``As far as anyone involved in the sale is concerned, it's business as usual,'' said Anthony W. Smith, senior vice president of Robinson & Wetmore, Inc., an affiliate of the Robinson Development Group.
The building was sold to three partnerships - Level Associates of Newport News; and Shire II Associates, and the Shires Company, both of Raleigh, N.C.
Officials from the purchasing firms declined to comment on the sale.
The building was constructed in 1991 to consolidate a number of Navy commands into a single Undersea Warfare Center, employing 500 people.
But within two years, the Navy reversed course and decided as a cost-saving measure to move the center to Newport, R.I. That move is scheduled to be completed next year.
Because the lease between the building's owners and the General Services Administration was unbreakable, the Navy had a tough time justifying the Newport move until it came up with idea of locating another command there. That command, a computer warfare simulation center, is scheduled to open in 1996.
The building was originally assessed by the city of Suffolk at $24.5 million. After the Robinson Development Group appealed the assessment before the city's Board of Equalization, the board reduced the building's assessment to $20,042,600 on July 29.
The reassessment means a net loss for Suffolk. The old assessed value meant $262,853 in taxes to the city. The new assessment means $216,300 in taxes, a loss of $46,553.
James Powell, chairman of the city's Board of Equalization, said he was unaware of any pending sale at the time the property was reassessed.
``It certainly was a surprise to me,'' Powell said.
Smith, of Robinson & Wetmore, said several factors added to the cost of the building, including several million dollars in new fixtures and equipment, and the buyers' perception of future increases in the property's value. by CNB