Figuring out the future of Fort Monroe

Virginia Business
November 2005

Hampton Mayor Ross A. Kearney II feels like he’s spent an “exhausting 15 rounds” in the ring. He has been fighting the Department of Defense’s proposal to close Fort Monroe, an Army garrison established in 1823.

Now that the Pentagon has decided to cease military operations at Fort Monroe within six years, Kearney is gearing up for another fight. He wants to transform the base into a mixed-use development that will provide high-paying jobs while offering historic attractions, affordable housing, public parks and other green space. “It’s a ton of responsibility,” he says. “I fear all the time that we could make a mistake or do something that takes us down the wrong road from which there is no return.”

Kearney and his administration are taking the offensive in planning for the fort’s future. He is putting together a steering committee of Hampton economic development experts, local residents and representatives from business, academia and the military. Additional feedback will be sought through public hearings and a newly established Web site. And Kearney is pushing for the completion of a master plan as a way to jump-start Army efforts to clean up the site and take early steps towards redevelopment.

“I don’t want to wait until the end of 2006 to see something,” he says, noting that his staff has already begun working on a concept for a new zoning plan. “We want to get everything lined up and in place so that we can then ask the Army to move a little faster, because we cannot afford for them to downsize their work force slowly and leave us looking at an empty post.”

The stakes are high. Fort Monroe, which employs 3,300 civilian, contractor and military personnel, generates more than $300 million in economic-related activity for the Hampton Roads region. Its closure will cause a 7 percent drop in the local economy, according to a study done by the Hampton Roads Planning District.

The property is drawing interest from the business community. The mayor and his staff have met with a number of management teams. They appear undeterred by challenges posed by the fort, such as buried armaments and other environmental issues and the need for roads and bridges. “Some of these companies that we’re dealing with have more money than entire countries,” says Kearney. “And they are willing to spend it here.”

Still, if the frenzy gets too great, he’s prepared to exercise his authority to rezone the base as farmland. By doing so, any less-than-scrupulous developers who attempt to get their hands on fort property will have to go through the local government to get the land rezoned.

Kearney doesn’t apologize for considering such measures. “This is serious business,” he says. “Everything we’re doing will affect our grandchildren and the future of this city. We have to do it right.”