Press Release - May 2009

Old Point Comfort, Hampton, VA, May 15, 2009

The milestones are clicking by now. The Fort Monroe Reuse Plan was signed by the Governor in August, 2008. The Army has completed the required Programmatic Agreement that sets the standards for the protection of the historic property.

Bill Armbruster, Executive Director, Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority says, "Believe me; we are aware of the countdown to the September 14, 2011 transfer date. After so much time in planning, it is hard to imagine we have less than 900 days now."

The hyper focus on implementation is evident in the May board meeting agenda. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, May 15, 2009 at the Fort Monroe Community Center.

The next major effort is to set the goals and objectives that will move the project forward and generate a stable stream of revenue. In the near term the Fort Monroe FADA will begin short-term rental as soon as the Army makes property available.

The Fort Monroe FADA implementation strategy is focused on long-term real estate management to be ready to generate adequate revenue to preserve and protect Old Point Comfort's rich historical, cultural, and natural resources. Armbruster adds, "We must gain a fair and reasonable rate of return on the Commonwealth's newest asset, a historic spit of land with splendid waterfront views located at the entrance to the Hampton Roads Harbor and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay."

"Our first step will be to establish a long term pre-paid residential leasehold program to generate one-time revenue to match against one-time capital improvements at the site. Then we will use long-term leases to generate tax income to the City of Hampton to offset its cost of providing municipal services at Old Point Comfort. Our objective is to structure long term (50 plus years) leases to maximize use of state and federal investment tax credits in the rehabilitation of historic properties," says Bill Armbruster.

The FMFADA board members will also be exploring the operational needs of the Fort Monroe FADA, a Commonwealth of Virginia independent political sub-division, with the aim of building an organization that will remain lean and efficient with an appropriate and limited number of permanent staff positions. This will be accomplished by privatizing major rehabilitation and new development and bringing in one or more third parties, who will design, fund, construct and manage residential, commercial and recreational projects at Old Point Comfort.

"It will take a team," says Armbruster. "We will work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, and the City of Hampton Economic Development offices to formulate a tenant marketing campaign and seek an 'anchor' tenant for office space at Fort Monroe/Old Point Comfort."

"We are going to ratchet up the pace over the next two years." Armbruster goes on to outline the major infrastructure cost and charts the way ahead to accomplish the needed upgrades to the historic site."

"We have spent two years, reviewing existing Army studies and adding to the body of knowledge with a fresh look at what is needed. We must bring Old Point Comfort up to current infrastructure standards. In order to do this we need to look under the land surface with invasive studies that will provide the details needed to set exact priorities for needed repairs or replacement."

"Then our aim is to map out a ten-year plan for the amount of capital improvement funding needed to complete our required upgrades. Once we have a complete view of exactly how much funding will be needed to bring Old Point Comfort to the current standards required by our service providers, then we will work out a timeline over the next 10 years for implementation of the upgrades and a funding strategy that may include the issue of long-term revenue bonds."

Estimates for upgrading infrastructure to currently accepted standards are:

"We know now that the nearly $100 million we have estimated is not all we will need. However, with great appreciation to Congressman Glenn Nye, we are on our way to moving forward on some upgrades that can begin before the transfer date."

The Fort Monroe FADA submitted an ambitious list of projects to Richmond and Washington in January. Unfortunately, they did not make the cut in this round of stimulus funding.

Editors Notes:

Presentations on the subjects covered in the agenda and this press release will be available immediately following the Fort Monroe FADA board on Friday, May 15, 2009.

To arrange a phone interview with Bill Armbruster, please contact the Fort Monroe FADA office to and speak with Joan Baker, 757-637-7778, ext. 100 to arrange a telephone interview.

For additional press material or information please contact, Trudy O'Reilly, 757-722-8163 or orpr@msn.com. On Friday, the day of the meeting, call cell: 757-268-2436.