New North Suffolk retail planned

Published 10:29 pm Thursday, May 12, 2016

More retail space is in the works for North Suffolk.

The Suffolk Economic Development Authority and a Virginia Beach-based developer, Gee’s Group, are in the final stages of brokering a sales agreement for 55 acres off College Drive, said Kevin Hughes, the city’s director of economic development. The city bought the parcel of property — which has been marketed as The Point at Harbour View in recent years ­— 10 years ago from Tidewater Community College.

“The EDA has not voted … but I expect to execute a final sales agreement within the next 30 or 60 days,” said Hughes.

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The EDA has taken action that allows Gee’s Group to market the property while final details of the sales agreement are ironed out, he added.

A Gee’s spokesman confirmed the pending sale and that CBRE-Hampton Roads will be tapped as the project’s exclusive brokerage and marketing firm.

Dave Gianascoli, a partner in Gee’s, did not return calls seeking additional information about the project.

The city’s property — which is adjacent to the former TCC campus and bordered by College Drive and Harbour View Boulevard — would be designated for retail and office use only, Hughes said. This aligns with one of the 2011 Urban Land Institute’s recommendations to use the former 444-acre TCC campus for a mixed-use development, according to Hughes.

“We are not interested in seeing residential growth there,” Hughes said, referring only to the city’s 55-acre parcel at the front of the former campus.

Once a deal is inked, the EDA will share more details related to the sale, Hughes said.