DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709070012
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

ODU'S UNIVERSITY VILLAGE A NORFOLK JEWEL

The ``University Village'' that Old Dominion University is planning for a 75-acre site just east of its campus seems like a tremendously inviting place. A scale model of the village, showing a nine-block ``Main Street'' with awning-shaded storefronts and sidewalk cafes, makes a viewer wish the village were already built.

As envisioned, the village will include apartments as well as offices and laboratories above the shops. All will be wired into the university's computer network. ODU has long needed housing, shopping and a convocation center to erase the school's commuter campus image.

But the ambitious plan also recognizes the need for office and laboratory space in order to attract the kinds of businesses that tend to cluster around research institutions and make them engines of economic growth. One need look no farther than North Carolina's Research Triangle Park to see where that can lead.

If ODU can pull off its plan, the high-tech private concerns, the supermarket-anchored shopping center and ``Main Street'' stores will enhance Norfolk's economy, tax base and appearance.

An economic-impact analysis suggests that city tax revenue from the area should increase $1.6 million a year, once the village is fully developed. With Norfolk having reached its self-imposed debt limit, a tax-producing project such as the village should be as welcome as rain on a parched field.

After planning the village for three years, ODU has begun acquiring property in a tract bounded by Hampton Boulevard, 38th and 49th streets, and Killam Avenue. Some buildings should be razed beginning early next year. Construction is expected to start about 12 months from now on a 10,000-seat, $40 million convocation center flanked by two $16 million high-rise garages, together providing 2,100 spaces. The center is expected to be ready for basketball in 2000.

Pilot staff writer Matthew Bowers reported that a university-appointed real-estate foundation, chaired by Robert M. Stanton, is soliciting private donations of land and money for the bulk of the village. Student fees and other ODU revenues will pay for the convocation center. An honored leader in Hampton Roads real estate, Stanton expressed confidence that the village will be built, though he doesn't know how soon.

The sooner the better. ODU is now in the unhappy situation of having to disappoint businesses and professional firms that would like to locate next to its campus. The potential loss of tax-paying, job-creating employers should alarm all who wish Norfolk well.

ODU has formed a partnership with the city and Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to create the village. NRHA's role will be to purchase and clear the land for redevelopment. ODU and private businesses will reimburse NRHA.

It is in Norfolk's best interest to speed ODU over all bureaucratic hurdles. The more timely the assistance that Norfolk provides, the sooner a somewhat blighted area, with vacant houses and commercial buildings, can blossom into something special.

ODU and private business will carry most of the financial and planning load for the village. But Norfolk City Hall must do all it can to smooth the way by making this project a top priority on a par with MacArthur Center. Retail shopping is a necessary amenity, but if ODU can become a magnet for research and high-tech entrepreneurs the city will be reimbursed many times over for its efforts.

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