HRT proponents press Virginia Beach Development Authority to preserve bus operations site; staff says prior deadlines expired

Supporters of a proposed Hampton Roads Transit operations facility told the Virginia Beach Development Authority on Aug. 12 that the project would bring federal funding, high-paying jobs and operating savings to Virginia Beach.

"This is the first time that I'm here briefing the authority about a $130,000,000 investment in Virginia Beach," public commenter Sybil Pappas of HRT said, adding the project would create "125 new jobs" and require no city capital contribution. Steve Romine, representing HRT through Williams Volley, said HRT had worked with the authority for three years and had paid stormwater-related costs, calling the proposal "a $130,000,000 fully funded shovel ready project." Rob Sault, co-chair of a local affairs committee, said his group unanimously endorsed locating the facility in Corporate Landing and reiterated staff comments about federal site-specific grant funding.

City staff presented a separate timeline of events. Deputy City Manager Amanda Jarrett said the authority adopted a 2021 resolution to sell 11 acres to HRT at $200,000 per acre, but that "all deadlines associated with the resolution that was adopted in 2021 have expired" and that "a binding purchase agreement that would bind the BBDA to sell this property to HRT was never executed." Jarrett also said the authority has not executed a bonding agreement that would have encumbered the property and that no conditional-use permit application has been submitted to planning.

Jarrett confirmed records show HRT received what staff understands to be a site-specific federal grant and that HRT offered to pay for enhanced use of a regional stormwater facility (an initial $13,000 offer later recorded in staff notes as $400,000). Staff noted two conditional-use permits would be required to increase allowable building and paved area coverage and to reduce certain setbacks for the site.

Board members asked technical questions about stormwater treatment and whether the recorded offers offset construction costs; staff said modeling and a new pond (Pond C) factored into the staff-calculated accommodation for runoff treatment. Staff also noted that BBDA is actively marketing unencumbered acreage in Corporate Landing and Innovation Park while remaining willing to assist HRT in locating an alternative site within the city.

The discussion closed without a formal board action on the HRT property that day; subsequent steps cited by staff include potential city-council review of related transfer terms and the procedural requirements for conditional-use permits.

The item will return to the board if and when a binding agreement, conditional-use application, or council-approved modification is presented.