The Northern Virginia Daily

Article date: March 21, 2006

 Superfund site sale negotiations continue

Authority hopes to sign purchase accord by June

“This is a multi-stage very complex deal.  And it’s extraordinarily important to the EDA, the town and the county... it’s certainly prudent for them to take the time that’s required."

Will Clark, Feasibility manager for Lerner Enterprises.

By: William C. Flook

By the end of the month, the executive director of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority plans to send to the EDA board a draft agreement on the sale of part of the Avtex Superfund site.

Paul Carroll, who heads the joint town-county body responsible for the redevelopment of the Superfund site, said negotiations continue between the EDA and Lerner Enterprises, a Bethesda, Md-based firm interested in taking on the 160-acre business park project.

The EDA was aiming for the end of February to finish the draft agreement, Chairman John LaBarca said in late January.

“Basically the process has taken longer,” LaBarca said Monday.  “There are some new wrinkles coming in.”

These “wrinkles,” however, are not negative, according to the chairman.  Though he would not provide details, LaBarca said the delay stems from an opportunity related to the site’s anchor.

“Things are changing and we’re having to hold off a bit until we see what we’re doing,” he said.

The sale and redevelopment of the business park is part of the EDA’s Royal Phoenix project, which also includes an adjacent 240-acre conservancy park.  The entire 440-acre site was once home to a gigantic rayon plant, which closed in 1989, three years after it was declared a Superfund site.

The EDA announced in October it would enter negotiations with Lerner over another firm that had expressed interest in the project.

The draft agreement would be sent to the EDA board for consideration and comment, and the board would eventually pass the pact on to Lerner, Carroll said.  He said his goal is to have a final agreement with Lerner by June for the purchase and development of the business park.

That agreement, he said, would include prices and terms of the sale, and probably a time frame for the project.

“I think that the EDA is progressing cautiously,” said Front Royal Mayor James M. Eastham.  “They have no model to go by, so they’re being very methodical about it.”

Neither Lerner Enterprises nor EDA officials will comment on the specifics of the negotiation.

“This is a multi-stage , very complex deal,” said Will Clark, feasibility manager for Lerner Enterprises.  “And it’s extraordinarily important to the EDA, the town and county ... it’s certainly prudent for them to take the time that’s required.”

Complicating matters is the ongoing cleanup on the site.  Carroll said the Environmental Protection Agency will need to declare it has “no further interest” in parcels before they can be redeveloped.  He expects the developer for the business park will purchase available parcels and take an option on the others until the EPA releases them.