Council approves term sheet to advance Dragus plan for Virginia Beach National with affordable‑housing condition

Virginia Beach City Council voted to approve an amended term sheet that advances a purchase‑and‑development agreement with Dragus Associates for the Virginia Beach National Golf Course, while adding language that requires the developer to disclose and commit to the percentage of affordable units before Planning Commission and council consideration of any rezoning.

The decision followed more than four hours of public testimony both for and against the sale. Opponents questioned the competitive integrity of the solicitation and the timing of closed‑session meetings; speaker Martha Thoreau told the council, “Do not sell Virginia Beach National Golf Course,” urging members to delay the transaction and provide a fuller public accounting of how the bidders were evaluated. Proponents, including Helen Dragas of the Dragus team, argued the plan would preserve a public golf campus while delivering new housing and a childcare facility. “It is true that Virginia Beach lost 1.7% of its population from 2020 to 2025,” Dragas said, citing local housing shortfalls and saying new for‑sale units are needed to retain employers and families.

Dragus representatives and supporting witnesses described private financing and projected public benefits. Warrington Webb, a Dragus finance executive, summarized the developer’s commitments and projected revenue gains, citing private investments into the course and a city estimate of roughly $3.4 million in additional annual tax revenue from the combined master plan. Councilmembers framed the vote as a procedural step: approving the term sheet does not complete any rezoning or site‑plan approvals. The next steps are the developer’s required submittals (engineering, traffic, stormwater and environmental studies) and separate public land‑use hearings for rezoning and conditional use permits, at which specific proffers and technical mitigation will be considered.

The vote does not resolve pending legal challenges or public complaints about the procurement process. Several speakers and community groups asked the council to pause for independent review; the council instead adopted the alternative version of the term sheet that requires an early, firm commitment on affordable housing before rezoning moves forward. That change was described by the city attorney as paragraph 5 of the alternative term sheet and was read into the record before the final vote.

What happens next: the approved term sheet enables the city manager and staff to continue negotiations and due diligence under the terms approved tonight, but any rezoning, conditional‑use permits, or construction permits required to implement the master plan will return to Planning Commission and council for separate public hearings and votes.