The October 2011 civic league meeting will be held on the 17th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.
The Agenda includes a Q & A with Delegate Kenny Alexander, Delegate Lynwood Lewis, Senator Ralph Northam, and Ben Loyola.
Here is President Jim English’s message for June 2011:
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Neighbors,
As fall approaches, so does election season. At our October meeting we hope to bring all of the candidates who represent us in our civic league area to our meeting. We are inviting the candidates who are running unopposed as well as those who are running with opposition. Invited are Delegate Kenneth Alexander and new Delegate Lynwood Lewis who is replacing Paula Miller as a result of redistricting. We are also inviting Senator Ralph Northam who is running against Ben Loyola. I am asking them to debate the issues for our area in a structured forum format as we have done before in our candidate forums. I am hopeful all of these folks will come to our civic league meeting.
At our September meeting I discussed the rumor and non-rumor mill that has been circulating around Wards Corner regarding future development in the business district. While I don’t want to beat a dead horse, I do want to share with you what I said at that meeting for those of you not in attendance. So here it is.
It was reported in the Virginian Pilot on September 15th that an Upscale Grocery Store was coming to Wards Corner. You may remember the headline.
“Harris Teeter to Wards Corner? September 15, 2011
The Virginian-Pilot is reporting that Chris Perry has plans to begin demolishing a dilapidated shopping area in Wards Corner within six months. He would replace it with a shopping center anchored by Harris Teeter.”
While we have known for some time that Mr. Perry does have plans for making extensive changes to his property, most, if not all of what is out there regarding his plans is rumor until he makes the announcement. Unfortunately, the civic league president from Suburban Acres Civic League made this announcement at his September meeting that was also attended by the reporter who broke the story in the Pilot. The problem with breaking this story is that it is not from Mr. Perry himself. If indeed he is negotiating with Harris Teeter to build a store on his property and the deal is not complete, the irresponsible release of this information, whether true or not, could kill the deal. That would be very unfortunate.
What is not rumored and also verified by me is that most, if not all, of the tenants on his property have been given 6 months leases and must vacate their businesses after their lease expires. Some may stay longer until the changes to the property are complete or under way. I also know that those current tenants that I have talked to plan on staying and relocating in the Wards Corner business district.
Therefore, what we know is that Mr. Perry is planning on redeveloping his property – and soon. What we don’t know is who will be there and what the new Perry shopping center footprint will look like. It is exciting to know that Mr. Perry is moving forward with the revitalization of Wards Corner. We have been waiting for something like this to happen. Hopefully this may encourage other large property owners in the business district to do the same – and soon. Some of them may need that encouragement to redevelop their properties. We can only hope that this will be the start of the revitalization that we have been working on for the past 15 years.
Regardless of whatever happens in the business district, we should be cautious in what we say and not spread rumors about possible land or business deals that may be in the works. To do so may kill any potential deals. It is the responsibility of the property owner to release this information when they are ready to do so. For anyone else to do so is irresponsible!
Please enjoy the information in this newsletter and I hope to see you at our next meeting.
Sincerely,
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Wards Corner Civic League 