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Shortly
after Bill O'Keefe retired from Northern
Virginia to a golf community in New Kent County, he
read in the local weekly that the planning
commission had voted unanimously to oppose a $1.5
billion development project, the New Kent Vineyards.
The planned community, which would add 2,500 housing units
over 15 to 20 years, would bring unalterable change
to the county of 16,000 residents, and not everyone
liked the idea.
Typically,
newcomers oppose such projects on the grounds that
they would ruin the bucolic setting that brought
them there in the first place. But O'Keefe viewed things
differently. A former senior executive with the
American Petroleum Institute, he looked forward to amenities that
Pete Johns, the project developer, planned to
provide -- a winery, a town center, golf course and upgrades to the county's roads
and water-sewer system. The mix of
high-end, age-restricted housing also meant that New
Kent Vineyards would be a net tax contributor,
not a drain on the local budget.
The
way O'Keefe saw it, the county was going to
develop one way or the other. Straddling Interstate
64 between Richmond and Williamsburg, the county was
growing with New Kent Vineyards or without it.
The question was, what pattern would development
take? Would
growth consist of scattered shopping centers and cul
de sac subdivisions as
landowners sold off chunks of land for by-right
development? Or would growth be orderly,
compact and efficient? Would growth strain county
finances, or would it pay for itself?
"I don't think you
can hold the population at 16,000. I don't know how
you would shut the door," O'Keefe says. The
developers of the mega-project "have gone out of their way to plan
a first-class development. They've made very
attractive proffers to the county. They're going to
build a first-rate community that will be the
foundation for smart development in New Kent
County."
O'Keefe
helped organize a grassroots movement to
win approval of the project. Snagging an
endorsement from the board of Brickshire, the
planned community where he lived, he set up a
homeowners PAC and appeared at public gatherings to
provide critical citizen support.
When the Board of Supervisors held a vote, the
project won approval by three votes to two.
New Kent Vineyards is now the face of New Kent's future. There
is no going back. Construction is
transforming rural Rt. 106 north of the I-64
interchange. Bulldozers
are widening the road and
laying pipe. Vineyards are being planted, and the
winery is arising from the ground. Developers have
been lined up to build four distinct residential
communities and a commercial district at the I-64
interchange.
The
blue
dot indicates location of New Kent Vineyards.
in
relationship to Richmond and the Virginia Peninsula.
Other
than the Colonial Downs race track and a couple of
golf communities, growth has largely eluded New
Kent County until now. For decades, the Chesapeake Corporation
and a handful of families had tied up 80 percent of
the land, from which they supplied
timber to the paper plant in nearby West Point.
After a change in ownership, the facility adopted a new mix of products and
started consuming recycled paper. Demand for local
timber tumbled. The loss of income prompted
the second and third generations of the landowning
families to break up their holdings and sell off
pieces of land. Growth pressures emanating from Hampton Roads and
Richmond ensured that someone would be willing to
pay.
Pete
Johns, a businessman who had moved to
New Kent nearly 20 years ago to help recruit the Colonial Downs
parimutuel racetrack to the area, was one of the first to
spot the emerging opportunities. Teaming up with
Pace Fonville, founder of the old Bowers, Nelms and
Fonville real estate agency in Richmond, and
Bodie-Noell Enterprises, a North Carolina holding
company best known as owners of a major Hardees
restaurant franchise, Johns purchased some 4,000 acres of land
extending three and a half miles along Interstate
64.
With Colonial Downs and the
Marengo Plantation steeplechase track right down the
road, Johns and his partners fixed on a
"colonial hunt country" theme for New
Kent. "New Kent has a wonderful
rich history," says Johns. "We’re
playing that up."
Not
only will New Kent Vineyards create the largest mixed
use development the county has ever seen, it will
transform the backwater stretch of timber and
farmland into a tourist destination, pulling beach-bound
traffic off Interstate 64. Destinations will include
the winery, a Rees Jones-designed golf course, a
polo field and a traditional town center modeled on
Merchant's Square in historic Williamsburg. The developers will organize
antique car shows, hot air balloon rides and carriage events
to bring in visitors.
As
he contemplates New Kent's future, Johns
sees development blossoming in nodes along New
Kent's four I-64 interchanges. "The further you
get from the interstate, he says, "the more the rural heritage
comes into play. When you get
to the rivers -- the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey
-- we hope they will stay forever in a preserved
setting."
Not
only will New Kent Vineyards prove to be a boon for New Kent County, it
could potentially provide an economic
development template for some rural Virginia
counties, supplanting
the farm and timber economy with agri-tourism,
landscape enhancements and quality development that
attracts the 55-and-over demographic. (See "Honoring
Hallowed Ground," for a discussion of a rural economic initiative in Virginia's
northern piedmont based upon heritage tourism,
sustainable agriculture and landscape preservation.)
Retirees
and pre-retirees are the driving force behind this
new template. This affluent group can support
urban-style amenities that long-time residents could never afford.
Newcomers also create a demand for jobs,
providing close-to-home employment opportunities for
locals who now have to commute to Richmond and Williamsburg. Because the
newbies live
in age-restricted housing and don't send children to
local schools, they pay more in taxes than they
demand in services. Through proffers and Community
Development Authorities, they also pay for infrastructure
improvements the county could never undertake on its
own. In theory, everyone comes out ahead.
Pete
Johns, the managing developer of New Kent Vineyards,
spent much of his youth in the Niagara region of Canada, noted
not only for its famous falls but its vineyards, golf courses and other attractions that draw
more than 12 million visitors per year. The Johns
family owned a vineyard, and an
uncle was instrumental in the redevelopment of the
Niagara-on-the-Lake township.
After
his family moved to Ohio, Johns attended Tulane
University, where he excelled at football. Drafted by the Houston
Oilers, he played three years as a free safety, but his natural aptitude
took him to the business side of the organization.
Taking Johns under his wing, Bud Adams, owner of the Oilers at the time, put in him charge of a
number of sales-and-marketing projects and
real-estate ventures.
Eventually, Johns struck out
on his own. He
can laugh about the experience now, but it was
painful at the time. "I
was president of an oil company," he
recalls, "but I barely knew how to spell
'oil.'" Petroleum prices dropped from $50 per
barrel to $15, and the Houston economy went all to
hell. Says he: "I lost my ass."
Among
his many activities in Texas, Johns had gotten involved in
an initiative to bring parimutuel betting to the
state. After the oil bust, he was recruited to
Virginia to attempt the same thing. Against all
odds, he succeeded in getting the state's sole
racetrack located in New Kent County. He liked the
area so much that he settled down there and took a
series of jobs in real estate development. Among
other well-known projects, he worked on Wyndham in
Henrico County and Waverly at Smith Mountain Lake.
Johns also was a key player in New Kent County's early
developments, including Kentlands, which encompassed
Colonial Downs and Brickshire, as well as two golf
courses.
A
record of accomplishment in real estate development
gave Johns the credibility to recruit high-caliber
partners for his most important project. Key players in the
project include Republic Land, a Northern
Virginia developer active in the Mid-Atlantic, and
K. Hovanian Four Seasons, a national developer of age-restricted
residential housing projects.
Johns is
targeting the retirement and pre-retirement market
-- successful professionals and business executives 55 years
and older. "The panacea of going to Florida is
a thing of the past," he says. Florida is losing
retirement market share to North Carolina
and, increasingly, Virginia. Over and above well-publicized
threats such as hurricanes, rising sea levels and sky-high disaster
insurance, Johns says, people are more reticent than
previously to move long distances from family and
friends. "People want to be a day's drive
away" from their children, and Virginia just
happens to be situated within a day's drive of 50
percent of the population of the United States.
Eastern
Virginia has abundant attractions for active
retirees -- the beach, deep sea fishing, sailing on
the Bay, easy access to Washington, D.C., and the
mountains. And that doesn't include the amenities of
New Kent Vineyards itself.
The
centerpiece, as the name of the development implies, is the winery. The
eye-catching building, which will be large enough to host
receptions and events, is being constructed with
recycled materials -- heart pine salvaged from old
industrial buildings, Civil War-era brick
saved from the ruins of Richmond, hand-made shingles
from old-growth cypress, sinker logs reclaimed from
rivers and piers, and trusses from an old Richmond
railroad depot. Says Johns: "We believe the experience of
the winery helps to sell the wine as much as the
quality of the wine."
Not
that he's overlooking wine quality. Knowing little
about wine-making himself, he has brought in top
consultants -- "the best in
the industry" -- to advise him. Having made the initial grape
planting five years ago, he is adding new vineyards each year. When the winery opens in 2008, it will
offer six vintages: two Chardonnays, a white sweet wine, a
white Norton blush, a merlot and a
merlot/cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon blend. The
Norton blush, made from a grape indigenous to
Virginia, will be unique.
Although Johns will rely upon
outsiders for making the wine, he's taking a
hands-on approach to building and marketing the
winery. He's
working with the New
Kent Chamber of
Commerce to organize a wine festival. He foresees
galas at the winery in conjunction with polo
matches. He expects to partner with local
restaurants, sell private label wines and
collaborate with K. Hovanian to bring busloads of
prospective buyers to view the upscale homes.
But the
best marketing tool may be signs on the
Interstate exit ramps. Johns figures he'll capture a
steady stream of tourists during the summer.
"We expect to sell 80 percent of our wine
direct to the public."
Proposed
farmer's market in the town center
Second in
importance will be the neo-traditional town center,
with a farmers market and two-block pedestrian mall
modeled on Merchants Square in downtown
Williamsburg, as a focal point. This mixed-use zone
will provide 200 housing units, including
condominiums and apartments over shops and
restaurants. Forty of the units will be reserved for
affordable housing.
Another
critical asset is the golf course. Combined with
other golf courses in the area, says Johns,
"New Kent will become a true golf course
destination. We plan on marketing that pretty
heavily."
A
larger retail zone, developed conventionally, will
be
situated off the Interstate. That district will include
a number of big box stores, although Johns
swears they won't look like big box stores.
"We have architectural control," he says.
For inspiration, designers
have looked to projects in Hilton Head, S.C., and
Cary, N.C., that have kept the quality image he's
looking for. Strategies include creating buffer
zones to limit visibility, breaking up the parking
lots with islands and plantings, and interrupting
flat facades with architectural features. The
interchange at Rt. 106 will be the largest retail
center between eastern Henrico and Williamsburg.
New Kent
Vineyards will have four distinct
neighborhoods (including the town center), with a range of housing types geared
to security and easy maintenance. One will offer a
small equestrian center, with 20 stalls, bridle
paths and carriage trails, which will complement a
nearby polo field. Another neighborhood will provide
a swim-and-racket club, and the third a
29,000-square-foot clubhouse.
Blue
shaded area shows rough location of
New Kent
vineyards in relationship to Interstate 64,
the
Pamunkey River and Brickshire.
To
connect the neighborhoods, the development team is transforming Rt.
106, now an undistinguished country road, into a
landscaped parkway. Finishing touches include
vineyard-covered embankments and roundabouts with
clusters of seasonal plantings.
Johns
is especially proud of the two roundabouts that will
expand the capacity of the I-64 interchange. The
current interchange is a simple diamond
configuration, typically used when traffic
counts are low. The next step up, a cloverleaf, requires a lot of land, which is expensive to
acquire, as well as more grading and paving. Other
Mid-Atlantic states states have begun introducing
inexpensive, European-style roundabouts at
diamond intersections, which increase traffic volume
10-fold at very little cost. Johns has adapted the
design for New Kent Vineyards. "This is the first
time a roundabout has been approved for an
interstate interchange in Virginia," he
enthuses.
For
all the project's features and amenities, there's
only one reason that Johns can get it built: The
project is paying its own way. Well, to be more
precise, it is covering the readily identifiable
costs that New Kent County taxpayers will incur. Whether
the Vineyards will pay
the costs to the state for added strain the
development puts on I-64 is an open question.
Whether there is a sufficient supply of affordable
housing to accommodate the anticipated demand for
retail/construction/service labor also has yet to be
determined.
Instead of relying
upon proffers, in which the money dribbles in as the project
develops over two decades, New
Kent Vineyards will fund major infrastructure improvements up
front through a Community Development Authority.
Explains Kenneth E. Powell, a managing director with
Stone & Youngberg, the firm that packaged the
project's bonds: "With CDAs,
you get your money up front. You can make the
developers build the road, build the school and
improve the interchange on the front end -- before
they bring the houses and people."
According to the bond prospectus, the project will
cover $154 million in total infrastructure
improvements: $74.7 million contributed by the
developer and $66.4 million by the CDA. The CDA,
whose costs ultimately will be borne by the property
owners, will pay for upgrading Rts. 106
and 249, building the I-64 roundabouts, and a major
expansion of the local water-sewer system that will
benefit county residents for miles around.
In addition, New Kent
Vineyards will contribute $7,500 per residential
unit in proffers. The most important of these will
be construction of a $1.5 million police/fire/rescue
sub-station to serve the community and a visitor's
welcome center right off the Interstate.
For all practical
purposes, the development team has taken the tax issue off the
table. Most of the houses will cost $350,000
and up. Tax break-even for age-restricted households
with no children to send to school is about
$250,000, according to O'Keefe, who recalls seeing a
study showing that the project would net the county
more than $1 million a year. Johns isn't willing to
venture any predictions how much the project will
yield -- there are too many uncertainties -- but
says
"it is designed to be cash positive for the
county all the way through."
The
sticky issues are traffic congestion and affordable
housing. Both Johns and O'Keefe agree that I-64,
which has only four lanes through New Kent, is a
mess. The interstate slows to a crawl during the
summer when thousands of vacationers head to
Virginia Beach and Nags Head. Traffic will get worse
as added port capacity comes online in Norfolk and
Portsmouth, spitting out more container-hauling
trucks. However, fixing the I-64 bottleneck is a state
responsibility, they say, not New Kent's.
More
to the point, New Kent Vineyards will have a minimal
impact on I-64, Johns contends. The project's
retiree residents won't be hopping on the
Interstate to commute to jobs in Richmond or
Williamsburg. They will drive into town to shop, get
medical care and seek other services, he
acknowledges, but they have the flexibility to
schedule their trips during off-peak periods.
Further, Johns argues, Rt. 60, a four-lane highway
paralleling I-64, is one of the most under-utilized
roads in the state.
Johns
has a tougher time fielding the affordable housing
question. He acknowledges that New Kent Vineyards will
create "hundreds" of new jobs -- jobs in
the winery and clubhouses, maintaining the
landscaping, staffing the stores and providing a
wide range of services to an affluent
clientele. They won't all be low-income jobs, he
argues. Many of the jobs will be filled by stock
brokers, financial planners and attorneys.
But
when asked where they will all live, he confesses
that he doesn't know. March 2007
unemployment ran 3.2 percent in the Hampton Roads
MSA and 3.1 percent in the Richmond MSA. At last
count, New Kent County's unemployment rate was 2.4
percent. It's a good bet that the new jobs will be
filled by people moving in from outside the region,
and the 40 affordable housing units in the town
center won't come close to providing enough room for
them. Where will the workers live? Will they drive
in from the major metro areas, clogging the
arterials?
Or will they convert single-family dwellings into
boarding houses for men whose wives and
children live in Central America? (See "Multicultural
Diversity in a Liberal NoVa Neighborhood.")
Those, I think,
are legitimate issues. If
the standard for new development is utopia, Farms at
New Kent falls short.
But as Bill O'Keefe was
keen enough to understand, that's the wrong basis
for comparison. If the Kent County supervisors had
voted down the project, they wouldn't have stopped
the county from filling up. Development would just
look different: a parcel here, a parcel there,
scattered all over the countryside in a pattern
impossible to serve efficiently with utilities and
public services. Moreover, under a by-right scenario,
developers wouldn't help pay for water, sewer and a public safety
building. Traffic would be just as bad, but the
private sector wouldn't be building roundabouts or
making other road improvements.
By
contrast, if
the yardstick for judging New Kent Vineyards is the
kind of development that would take place in the
project's absence, then citizens should erect a statue in
Pete Johns' honor.
-- May
14, 2007
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