Redevelopment Possibilities
The Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA) was established as a public body corporate and as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve as the official “Local Redevelopment Authority” (LRA) recognized by the Department of Defense. The task of the FMFADA commission was to study, plan and recommend the best use of the resources that will remain when the Army closed the fort in September 2011. The Fort Monroe Reuse Plan was officially adopted August, 2008 and planning updates are available on the FMFADA website.
The FMFADA relies on the expertise of national consultants in the areas of BRAC law, environmental engineering, historic architecture and preservation planning, structural engineering, housing market analysis, commercial/retail analysis, public relations/marketing, and tourism planning.
The FMFADA was created by legislative action of the Virginia General Assembly in 2007. Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality have major regulatory authority that influences the work.
The state took a lead role in planning because most of the land that Fort Monroe occupies will revert to the Commonwealth when the Army closes the fort. The effort was guided by three priorities; keep Fort Monroe open to the public, respect the rich history and advance economic sustainability.
The Authority is an 18 member body consisting of appointees from the city of Hampton, the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate and the Virginia governor’s cabinet, with two specialists in historic preservation and heritage tourism.
Generally, surplus military installations are turned over to the respective states. Redevelopment will be facilitated by the fact that most of the land on which the fort stands was loaned by the state of Virginia to the federal government, and will revert to the state once Fort Monroe closes.
Virginia historically has given local government strong consideration in determining disposition at that point, such as occurred at Fort Pickett in Nottoway County (near Blackstone) in the Southside region. Given the historic significance of the post, the decommissioned fort will be a good candidate for heritage tourism along with many other historical sites located throughout the greater Hampton Roads area. Redevelopment to help offset the economic loss of a base closure is usually a priority as well.
Fort Monroe is a National Historic Landmark and the moated fort and the 190 historic buildings on Old Point Comfort will be protected with historic preservation design guidelines for reuse. Old Point Comfort is prime development property and some mixed used new construction will be allowed within strict guidelines. For example, the historic Chamberlin Hotel has already been leased to a developer by the Army and beautifully renovated as retirement apartments.
The National Park Service and the Fort Monroe FADA are communicating to identify the best way to achieve a partnership and several options have been presented to the FMFADA board by the park service.
Read more about this topic: Fort Monroe