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Lexington City Council will receive an update on the process to develop a 5.4 acre parcel of city-owned land on Waddell Street at this week’s Council meeting, and will have a work session on June 5 to hear a presentation from Echelon Resources Inc., who has submitted a proposal to develop the property.
Council voted earlier this year to put out a request for proposals to develop the property, with the deadline to submit proposals being set at March 13. Only one developer submitted a proposal in that time frame: Echelon Resources Inc., who recently was awarded a conditional use permit to develop a parcel of city-owned land on Spotswood Drive.
The proposal submitted by Echelon included an offer to purchase the property from the city for $724,900, which is 10 percent more than the city paid when it purchased the property from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Echelon’s goal is to rezone the parcel under the city’s new planned development-mixed use zoning ordinance and put in an apartment building with between 150 and 200 units (a mix of one-bedroom and twobedroom units), and will include some retail space as well. The proposal included images of buildings that would inspire the look of the proposed development, including the most recent proposed designs for the Spotswood development.
The majority of the units will be market-rate apartments, as are the 62 units the company is planning for Spotswood Drive. For the Waddell Street property, though, Echelon is proposing setting aside 20 percent of the units (30-40 units) for renters making 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). In Lexington, the AMI is approximately $66,000, so those units would be reserved for renters who make 80 percent of that number ($52,800) or less. Rent on those apartments would be determined by the renter’s income and set at approximately one-third of that total.
The proposal was reviewed by an evaluation panel set up by Lexington City Manager Jim Halasz. The panel consisted of six members from various local organizations and entities: Steve McAllister, treasurer and vice president for finance and administration at Washington and Lee University; Tracy Lyons, executive director of the Lexington-Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce; Stephanie Wilkinson, co-founder of The Red Hen; Phillip Thompson, superintendent of Rockbridge County Public Schools; Greg Madsen, vice president of Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital; and Olivia Raines, housing specialist with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. Each member submitted feedback to Halasz on several aspects of the proposal, with the feedback being generally positive.
“I love their dedication to ensuring that the building will fit the landscape of the surrounding neighborhood,” one member said. “I also feel that the high-quality housing they are proposing will elevate the neighborhood and provide much needed workforce housing to our area.”
“I see the smaller one- to two-bedroom apartments being ideal for young professionals, singles, or even small families looking to set roots in the area,” another noted.
Members also expressed enthusiasm for the experience both Echelon and UrbanCore Construction, who is partnering with Echelon and will be constructing the building if the proposal is accepted by the city, with one member saying their proposal “has merit and is worth our exploration.”
“I am enthusiastic about the proposal,” said another. “They are bringing a high-quality product to the table and I believe that their partnership would be a great fit for the potential development of the VDOT property on Waddell Street.”
The panel also raised some concerns that they recommended be kept in mind if the project moves forward, including concerns about increasing walkability in the area with the new development, as well as concerns over increased traffic on Waddell Street, especially during peak hours in the morning and afternoon.
“This infusion of additional businesses and/or residents … will surely increase that amount of traffic,” one member commented. “Anything that could potentially be done to mitigate traffic congestion and backups would be welcomed.”
Randy Cosby, one of the founding partners of Echelon Resources, told The News-Gazette last week that there aren’t any immediate plans to do a traffic study in the area, but it was something that they were open to as part of the process, noting that it could be something that the rezoning process “might dictate.”
Cosby also expressed confidence that the proposed development would draw people to Lexington.
“This will be a very different product than what’s there [in Lexington] today,” he said. “We feel confident that there will be demand [for this kind of housing] even though there aren’t any comparable developments that we can point to.”
Cosby said that Echelon is looking at both this and the Spotswood development as “two related projects” that will “help each other both from construction and operational efficiency.” Echelon is currently “inching Spotswood forward while we try to catch Waddell Street up.”
He also added that they “really like Lexington” and had “hopefully learned” a few things about the community from the process of trying to develop the Spotswood property.
“Trust is what it comes down to,” he said. “It’s hard to trust people that you don’t know. Hopefully, people will realize that we’re real folks, too. We like the community and we hope to build a project that people can enjoy.”
Halasz will update Council on the process of developing the property at its regular business meeting Thursday night, and Council will hold a work session on Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m. in the training room at the Lexington Police Department.
