Marquis at Williamsburg development update. No Hotel, Fewer Homes, Larger School Site
In its October 4 2016 meeting the York County Board of Supervisors approved an application from Marquis Williamsburg RE Holdings LLC: ( the owner of the Marquis at Williamsburg Shopping Center) to rezone approximately 11.9 acres at the center and to amend previously approved conditions for the same parcel.
The changes will increase the size of the proffered school site, add a new area for sports fields/ recreation. Eliminate the hotel component and the parcel where a sign was to be situated alongside Interstate 64. All previously proposed town homes are eliminated but detached homes and apartments will see an increase in numbers. The net result will be a reduction in the overall number of proposed households at the Marquis from 650 down to 600 total .
After talks with York County Schools it became clear that the school site previous proffered in 2013 was too small. The site size has now been increased from 7 acres to 14.67 acres. Athletic fields utilized by both York County Schools and York County Parks/ Recreations programs will be constructed on a 4.67 acre parcel adjacent to the school site.
The county receives a tract of land as part of the deal but is not bound to build a school there. Should they decide not to use it the parcel could be sold for residential development possibly netting the county as much as $2 million.
The new changes are shown below in the proposed column..
A previous zoning change in 2013 approved a 136,500 square foot building for Sams Club. They will operate a gas station built into the parking lot outside its building. Other approval in 2013 included three restaurants, a 55,000 square foot anchor store and thousands of square feet of other commercial space. SamsClub has closed on the purchase of the land and appears to be moving forward as they recently submitted siteplan revisions to York County.
The residential component now brings 182 detached homes, NO townhouses and 418 apartments to the Marquis property. Those residential units will be complemented by more than 40 acres of open space, a 1-acre multipurpose activity field, two tennis courts, two outdoor activity areas, a swimming pool exclusive to the residents of the apartments and more than 1 mile of multi-purpose trails that will weave throughout the property.
The October 4th vote is the latest chapter in the path the Marquis has taken since it was first approved in 2005. It was originally envisioned as a massive community resembling New Town in James City County, with a main street component. There were talks of a library for Upper York County to be built in the development.
Four retailers are currently in place at The Marquis: Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The building previously occupied by JCPenney is vacant and for lease. . Before anything else could be built, the original developer of the property declared bankruptcy, setting off a chain of lawsuits and other maladies that left the development in stagnation until Todd Interests came along in 2011 and purchased the property.
Todd Interests bought the Marquis in 2011 from New York-based bank CIT. The original developer, Premier Properties, fell into debt and went bankrupt in 2008. Todd Interests bought the property without a debt burden, settled lawsuits, removed liens against the property and fixed leases with the tenants in addition to restructuring the bonds issued for infrastructure development in 2010.