ACS Chosen for Suffolk Faigrounds Project
By Dave ForsterThe Virginian-Pilot
© April 9, 2009 SUFFOLK
A Portsmouth company has been tapped to build the most ambitious redevelopment project in Suffolk's history - again.This time around, the project is a lot smaller. City staff this week told Associated Contracting Services that its proposal for the $17 million project was "in the best interest" of the city, beating out one other finalist. The two sides still must finalize the deal.
"I think all parties involved are eager to get this under way," said Charles Felder, development director for the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Associated Contracting was slated to be the general contractor for the project two years ago, with Maryland-based Cornerstone Housing LLC as the master developer. But the city sought new proposals after the City Council voted last year to build a public health building at The Fairgrounds, drastically changing plans for the 17-acre site. This time, Cornerstone Housing is no longer in the picture, and Associated Contracting is set to be the master developer. The company has done much of its work in Portsmouth, where it is working in the Westbury development, and in Norfolk, said Gary Haste, its director of development. Haste said the latest proposal calls for about 34 single-family homes and 36 multi family units. They would be sold at a mix of affordable and market prices.Read Entire Article
Fairgrounds ribbon cut
Published 11:07pm Tuesday, August 2, 2011 By: Tracy Agnew
The city took another step forward on the redevelopment project known as The Fairgrounds Tuesday, when officials cut the ribbon on part of the housing portion of the project.
The project developer and financier joined city officials at the ribbon cutting prior to the National Night Out kickoff event. Two homes out of 36 planned have been built near the Hall Place neighborhood.
The site once was the location of the Planters Peanuts factory, which now is relocated nearby, and hosted a burgeoning community of black businesses.
“Everything you could think of, it was there,” City Councilman Curtis Milteer said Tuesday. “We’re very proud the city is coming to revitalize this area.”
The project has been in the works since 2001, but only began to rise from the ground in 2009, with the construction of the Health and Human Services building.
The new homes began to come to fruition last year. A number of nearby businesses and apartment living opportunities also have cropped up in recent years, spurred by the government investment.
Mayor Linda T. Johnson applauded the decade-long effort and said she hoped Tuesday’s event would encourage homebuyers to come looking.
“Today, what we’re doing here is breaking the ribbon on homes, on people who are coming here to live,” she said.
Morgan Davis of TowneBank said the bank believed in the project so much that it brought together its financing, mortgage, insurance, real estate and other branches before construction even began.
“This is very unusual for our bank,” he said. “We had never done that before.”
But, he said, TowneBank made it a new experience because its officials believed in the project.
“We wish you joy and prosperity,” he said.
Kenneth Jolley, president of Associated Contracting Services, which is building the homes, said TowneBank was “truly instrumental in bringing this thing together.”
“This is an opportunity to bring homeownership back to downtown,” he said.