THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603280145
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Developer R.G. Moore, the man who put together the massive Lake Ridge property in 1984, then lost it to bankruptcy in 1994, is urging the city not to build five golf courses on the 1,200-acre property.
Moore, who has built more homes and golf courses in Virginia Beach than anyone else, says the city will lose money if it builds golf courses on such expensive land.
Instead, Moore suggested that the city turn the property into a downtown with office towers surrounding a large man-made lake.
In a recent interview, Moore argued that Lake Ridge is the most desirable undeveloped tract in Virginia Beach and could become a true city center, lying between the Municipal Center and Landstown Road.
He said the development would pay for itself if the city sold sand as it scooped out the gigantic lake.
``The land is much too valuable for them to put golf courses on,'' Moore said. ``I developed three golf courses in this city and redid another. Golf courses are losers. There is no money in golf courses.''
Moore, now 67, is the biggest developer in Virginia Beach. He has built more than 14,000 homes and developed more than 19,000 housing lots, many of them in the booming 1980s.
Moore no longer has a personal stake in Lake Ridge, but it was once his most ambitious project.
Moore assembled the 1,200 acres by buying five farms around Landstown Road. He proposed building a mini-city of houses, offices, perhaps even a mall, a hospital and college campus.
The project sank into bankruptcy when it could not be built quickly enough.
``We may have the most valuable single tract of land remaining in Virginia Beach,'' Bankruptcy Judge Hal Bonney wrote of Lake Ridge in 1993. ``I have viewed it myself. It is large, well-situated and with vast potential. Someday it will prosper for someone.''
In 1994, NationsBank bought the property at foreclosure for $10 million, then sold it to Virginia Beach for $9.5 million.
Since then, the city has begun building an amphitheater on the land near Princess Anne Park, and is considering building a 7,000-seat soccer stadium.
In January, a consultant recommended that the city build five high-quality golf courses in an effort to turn Virginia Beach into a ``golf destination'' for tourists, like Myrtle Beach, S.C. He recommended Lake Ridge as one potential site.
This month, the City Council told City Manager James K. Spore to seek proposals from golf professionals nationwide about building the project at Lake Ridge.
Moore said that would be a disaster.
``I think a lot of people on City Council don't understand that golf courses aren't going to bring any money into this city,'' Moore said in an interview. He said Virginia Beach cannot compete with Myrtle Beach because it does not have as much open land or beachfront.
Moore said golf courses can make money only if they are built on cheap land. The city paid about $8,000 an acre for Lake Ridge, but it is worth far more, Moore said.
Moore has built three golf courses in Virginia Beach - Cypress Point in Bayside, Broad Bay in Great Neck and Honey Bee at Glenwood - and renovated a fourth at Kempsville.
He suggested that the less-valuable part of Lake Ridge north of Landstown Road, near Princess Anne Park, would be suitable for a recreation complex with parks, soccer fields and perhaps a golf course.
For about 700 acres south of Landstown, Moore said, the city should hire a consultant to develop a master plan that would turn the area into a true downtown, centered around a lake of 75 to 80 acres - about the size of Lake James, a manmade lake in Kempsville.
He said the entire project could be self-sustaining if the city sold sand from digging the lake. To build golf courses, he said, would cost a bundle and make little money in return.
The city's consultant estimated it would cost $6.5 million to $10.2 million to build each golf course, including clubhouses and other amenities, but not including the cost of the land.
``I don't want the city to use my tax money to build any golf courses on that valuable property,'' Moore said. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Developer R.G. Moore, who lost his Lake Ridge project to bankruptcy
in 1994, said golf courses can make money only if they are built on
cheap land. The city paid about $8,000 an acre for Lake Ridge, but
it is worth far more, Moore said.
Aerial photo
R.G. Moore assembled the 1,200 acres by buying five farms around
Landstown Road. His original plans proposed building a mini-city of
houses, offices, perhaps even a mall, a hospital and college
campus.
by CNB