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Sportsplex management to go private, Beach decides

By Deirdre Fernandes, The Virginian-Pilot - 2/4/2009

VIRGINIA BEACH
Private developers will manage the Sportsplex and its surrounding land and build a new indoor field house and shopping center, the City Council agreed Tuesday.

Mayor Will Sessoms abstained from voting because of a business conflict.

Councilwoman Barbara Henley was the only elected official to object to the lease of property for an indoor field house, preliminary agreements to manage the Sportsplex, the national field hockey training center, and the lease of another property for a shopping center.

The Sportsplex, which was built by the city 10 years ago for major league soccer that never took place, is located near the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, off Dam Neck Road.

"I don't think they rise to the level of our partnerships," Henley said.

She questioned whether the city would benefit from the deal, which has changed several times in recent months and has been affected by the slumping economy.

City officials estimated in the fall that the deal would bring in $66.7 million over 20 years if private developers took control of the Sportsplex and surrounding land. But because of the tightening credit market, portions of the deal had to be phased in. City budget analysts now estimate that the deal will bring in $39 million over 20 years.

Under the agreement, the city would lease at a minimal fee 14 acres to a Fredericksburg group to build an indoor facility for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball adjacent to the Sportsplex. The group would also be able to lease another nearby 24 acres of city land for outdoor turf fields within the next three years.

After about six years in business, the field house will start sharing its revenue with the city - amounting to $1.87 million over two decades for Virginia Beach.

In a separate but related deal, the Beach would also turn over the management of the Sportsplex and the field hockey training center to Hometown Heroes restaurateur Chuck Thornton. On Tuesday, the council approved preliminary details of the deal, which also allows Thornton to lease nearby land for a shopping center within five years.

The council will vote on the management contract later this month.

The city expects to make $72,450 in revenue over 20 years through the Thornton partnership.

Both developers will get a total of $2.9 million in incentive grants - essentially a rebate on the real estate taxes they would have paid over 10 years.

Councilman Bill DeSteph said the Sportsplex is under-used and costs the city $447,000 a year to operate. Thornton and his partners have promised to invest in a turf field and bring more tenants to the facility, DeSteph said.

"We weren't really doing anything with it; at least this way, we're doing something," DeSteph said.

John Wack, manager of the Fredericksburg Field House, said he hopes to open the indoor sports in the summer or fall of 2010.

The artificial turf will be installed at the Sportsplex by May, Thornton said.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com