VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – What a difference a few years and some hard work make. 

Since August 2019, 10 On Your Side has been reporting on the mountain of concrete off of Witchduck Road that could be seen from Interstate 264, but now the only thing remaining are piles of crushed concrete ready to be recycled and it’s worth a lot of money.

Today, the land has been cleared in preparation for future luxury apartments. 

The only things left on this 12-and-a-half-acre site are $750,000 worth of 21-A crushed concrete. 

“We sell it to folks who are doing road projects for road stabilizations underneath asphalt, and we sell it to private contractors for paving projects,” said developer John Mamoudis.

Do not underestimate what Mamoudis has done.

One year ago, he promised the city of Virginia Beach this public eye sore would be cleaned up.

“That became a thorn in the side of the average citizens as they ride by, and see the pile get higher and higher,” Mamoudis added. 

One year later, a Drone 10 view of the site shows stunning, impressive results. The concrete and the dilapidated buildings are gone. And the Mamoudis promise to the city – kept. 

However, remember this took time over three-and-a-half years when 10 On Your Side first started asking questions – what is this concrete mountain? 

“You started the process by having some controversy with the owner in regard to violations with the city, and you confronted him on it,” Mamoudis said.

We chased down and confronted property owner Mark Calgagni at the Virginia Beach Courthouse. 

10 On Your Side questioned Calgagni after chasing him through the parking lot.

Have you driven by on I-264 and seen it over the condos over there? … Have you seen the eyesore? What are you going to do about it?

His reply?  

“Yea, well they bought the property not me,” Calgagni said. “I didn’t build the condos.”

Enter Mamoudis, acting like the good negotiator. He made things happen.  

“We got to clean this up,” Mamoudis said, “protecting the rest of the world, so to speak.” 

Mamoudis came in with a can-do attitude to clean it up, along with the Breeden Company that announced a massive development on the property, turning the eyesore potentially into a first-class luxury apartment complex on the west end of Town Center.  

The bottom line?

What was the biggest eyesore in Virginia Beach is now a cleared lot, soon to be home to 438 high end luxury apartments.