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Look What's Pulling into Fort Norfolk

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By Matthew Jones, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Feb. 2--NORFOLK -- A local doctor is partnering with the city on a $70 million project along the Elizabeth River that will give the city its first new medical tower in decades.

The building, which resembles the shape of a ship and is to be known as Ghent South Towers, will stand on Riverview Avenue across from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in the Fort Norfolk area.

It will include two towers rising from a multi level parking deck. One tower will house a high-tech medical complex and the other will feature waterfront condominiums and possibly an extended-stay hotel.

The project, which is expected to be announced today in Mayor Paul Fraim's State of the City address, will be a public-private partnership.

It is the brainchild of Norfolk cardiologist Dr. Keith H. Newby Sr.

The glass-walled medical complex will provide about 150,000 square feet of space for primary-care physicians and a variety of specialists, along with a laboratory and imaging equipment.

Newby is negotiating with Sentara to establish an outpatient center there. He is also trying to make the complex a pilot program for the state's "e-health" initiative by pushing the use of electronic health records on a secure, server-based system.

"With a flagship hospital next door, we need medical space that fits that mode," Newby said. "Who knows better what doctors need in an office development than a doctor?"

On the residential side, he wants to build an extended-stay hotel for people undergoing treatment either in his building or at nearby facilities.

If the hotel works out, Newby said, there will be 20 condominiums on top of it. If it doesn't, there will be 117 condominiums instead.

Newby also sees an opportunity for retail, such as a coffee shop, pharmacy, restaurant, medical equipment store and bank branch.

Ghent South Towers is Newby's first development project. It sprang from talks with other doctors who said they would be interested in moving to a new medical complex and leaving their crowded, outdated offices.

Newby said he first approached the city in April 2004 and has been meeting with planning and economic development staff since then.

"They've been as supportive as I could've ever hoped, " he said.

Newby and the city are still negotiating the terms of the partnership. Fraim was unavailable for comment late Wednesday afternoon.

Newby thinks the project could bring 50 to 100 jobs to the city, including doctors.

"It would help stimulate something new and unique to the area," he said. "No doctor has taken this on."

Newby is building in an area that has become more attractive to developers in recent years.

For example, a group of investors was interested in bringing a mixed-use development to the Fort Norfolk area two years ago, said Wesley Edwards, director of office properties for GVA Advantis. While the plan did not come to fruition, Edwards remains bullish on the entire area.

"To the extent that we got into it, we thought the property had a lot of promise," he said. "It's obviously a very attractive piece of property, with its proximity to EVMS, the hospital, ODU and downtown."

Ownership of the property in Fort Norfolk is split among a variety of individuals and entities, which Edwards said could make future development a challenge.

F. Wayne McCleskey Jr., a local real estate developer, is one of those owners. He did not return phone calls seeking comment for this article.

One of his consultants, Barry DuVal, president and chief executive officer of Kaufman & Canoles Consulting LLC, said McCleskey owns about 10 percent of the developable land in Fort Norfolk.

"There is a lot of discussion about the Fort Norfolk area, and Mr. McCleskey has been visited by a number of national developers and respected local developers," DuVal said. "There are a number of different plans under consideration for mixed-use development ."

As for Ghent South Towers, Councilman Paul R. Riddick said he is enthused because Newby's development is the second major Norfolk project in recent months in which a black person will play a prominent role.

City officials recently announced that black billionaire Robert L. Johnson, who founded Black Entertainment Television, will partner with local developer William Fuller to develop a $100 million project that will include a 250-room, 25-story Hilton Hotel, a conference center and a parking deck that will be financed in part by the city. The hotel will be topped by five stories of luxury condominiums.

"This is a great thing, because it shows we are a progressive city," Riddick said. "It shows other people in the country that African Americans are included in this robust resurgence we have going on here."

Riddick, who was raised in Fort Norfolk, praised Newby as a man with "deep roots" in the city. Newby was born and raised in Norfolk. He is a graduate of Norfolk State University and Eastern Virginia Medical School.

"He's put together an exciting project, because it's going to be the first medical tower we've had in the city in 40 years," Riddick said.

Newby said he hopes to have a developer chosen by next week and secure the property within a couple of months.

The site is currently owned by the state of Virginia, which has agreed to sell it back to Norfolk, said Jody M. Wagner, the state secretary of finance.

The deal is complicated and involves an exchange of money and a 15-year rent reduction for the state forensics lab in the nearby Norfolk Public Health Center. The City Council already has approved the deal. General Assembly approval is expected later this month.

Newby plans to start building by late summer or early fall, and he's optimistic. "I wanted to create something that was timeless," he said.

Staff writer Christina Nuckols contributed to this report.

Reach Matthew Jones at (757) 446-2949 or matthew.jones@pilotonline.com.

Reach Harry Minium at (757) 446-2371 or harry.minium@pilotonline.com.

Reach Battinto Batts at (757) 446-2642 or battinto.batts@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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