Future of Port Orange’s Riverwalk Project Could Be Decided
With expectations dramatically lowered, city leaders are hopeful a potential land swap or sale that would add to a future riverfront public park will be the impetus to kick-start the development of Riverwalk.
City officials are considering the possible exchange with local developer Buddy LaCour and his partners, viewing it as a long-awaited “first step” that might encourage activity on the 35 acres of prime land after 14 dormant years.
A Request for Proposals (RFP) is expected to be approved Tuesday night by the City Council, following the unanimous support by the city agency that oversees Riverwalk. Anyone then will have a month to propose a deal, with a decision anticipated by mid-March.
The city owns 17 acres of Riverwalk, LaCour and his partners 11, while the rest is privately owned.
LaCour recently discussed a land deal with the city that would allow a riverboat restaurant to be docked off the former site of Sweetwater’s restaurant. The weathered boat currently is docked at Halifax Harbor Marina and will require renovations.
“This makes sense because we get what we want in parkland, and we get that secured,” City Councilman Don Burnette said of a deal with LaCour, Riverwalk’s long-time master developer and widely known property owner. “… Once we have those things, we can look forward and be innovative in the things we can do. A park would generate traffic and interest. This may drive the next set of ideas.”
From the beginning in 1998, conceptual plans called for a single-theme major development, a waterfront village on 35 acres extending north from Dunlawton Avenue to near the South Daytona line and west of the Halifax River to Ridgewood Avenue.
During the past year, grander ideas dating back to 2005 for high-rise condos have given way to more realistic goals in this economic downturn, specifically incremental projects like LaCour’s, which include the riverboat restaurant and possibly a family recreation center. City officials acknowledge that the new RFP is geared toward working with LaCour.
The Town Center CRA — made up of the five-member City Council and two residents — approved the new RFP last week, and support a mix of commercial, office, retail and residential development for the heart of Riverwalk — between Herbert Street and Dunlawton Avenue.
Donna Steinebach, who oversees the Riverwalk project for the city, called the new call for proposals a “very straightforward land exchange” with no obligation to select an actual project in March. That could come later.
“This is clearly a real estate exchange proposal,” she said.
Like his colleagues, Councilman Bob Ford said he was tired of Riverwalk being nothing more than a concept for 14 years.
“This makes eminent sense. Until we can get the land solidified in a single or at least marginal block, it’s not going to go,” he said of Riverwalk. “We’d like to get it into private hands as soon as possible. So hopefully something can develop.”
LaCour said a land swap makes sense for both sides.
“We hope sincerely that this will facilitate the first steps encouraging development of the Riverwalk area,” he said. “It gives the city control of the entire riverfront for planning and funding” and allows he and his partners “the assemblage of significant property for feasible land development.”
If a proposal for a swap is chosen in March, the city must hire two state certified appraisers to determine the property values of the parcels of land agreed upon before a deal is struck.
Then, many months, possibly years, of negotiations will follow on the specifics of developing a project in Riverwalk, covering everything from permits to parking, city officials acknowledged.
“We’re talking about some really heavy decisions that need to be made,” Ford said.
A frustrated Mayor Allen Green added: “I’ve come to a point, as far as I’m concerned, we ought to put a for-sale sign on it,” he said of Riverwalk. “Sell the property, put it back on the tax rolls and be done with it … We have to get this thing off the ground or get out of it.”