VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – There are lots of questions surrounding Virginia Beach’s plan to build a new Oceanfront pier.
The city wants it to have a SkyWheel, retail and restaurants. Some nearby businesses have concerns it could take away from their bottom lines.
So far, the renderings of a new pier are as far as the project has come. The plans, unlike the proposed pier, still aren’t concrete.
City auditor Lyndon Remias still has to look at the entities vying to develop the land.
“Can those companies, no matter who it’s awarded to, actually be able to deliver a pier project?” he said.
Here’s where the project is. Two bids came in to lease the land. One is from the city’s Development Authority, at $1 a year for 40 years. The second is from a company called Wool Services and Logistics out of Virginia Beach, which proposed $12,000 a year for 40 years.
“Obviously we would have to look at their history, their work with the city, their ability to have the funding,” he explained.
This week, we heard from business owners concerned the pier project will take their business. Remias said the bids don’t have that information.
“There were no financial figures, there were no financial estimates provided with the bids,” he said.
In the coming weeks, Remias will give the results of his audit of both groups. Then, the council will vote who would get to lease the land and further down the line the city would look at the economic impact.
“Going forward an economic analysis can be performed either by city or if they choose to go to an outside organization,” he said.
At this point the pier plan is just that, a plan. It is still not ready to be a reality.
