Good afternoon and welcome to the Hampton City Council work session.

Uh Madam Clerk, will you call the role, please?

Councilman Bowman.

Present.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Here.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Present.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper, present.

Councilwoman Muggler, present.

Mayor Gray.

Present.

And we have a presentation this afternoon.

So I'm going to ask the city manager to uh introduce that presentation.

Number one.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

As we move past the budget adoption and into our summer work session agendas, you'll start to see us bring some media topics for you that will take a bit more time and discussion.

The first one up this month is on the process of adaptive reuse or what we want to do now that the WIF fire station has relocated.

As our chief economic and community development officer Leonard Sledge will share, we did have a master plan done many years ago.

It's a bit dated, and it had called for one potential pathway forward, but part of that really resulted from the existence of the WITH Elementary School.

And the WITH Elementary School has since closed and been adaptively reused as a beautiful apartment building.

And so some of the original assumptions that were embedded in what would happen when the fire station closed are no longer valid.

And so we wanted to talk with you all about what you might want to do in terms of figuring out what we do now.

Do we keep the building and try to adaptively reuse it, preserving the history, or do we move forward with some of the ideas that were embedded in the original master plan, or do we do something else altogether?

So with that, as um a backdrop, I'm pleased to have Leonard Sledge walk you through the presentation again.

This is really designed at the end of the presentation to be more conversational for you all so that you can think through what are the next steps you'd like to see us as staff, you and the community do together to properly uh move forward with the old fire station building.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Good afternoon, Mayor Gray, Vice Mayor Brown, distinguished members of Hampton City Council, City Attorney Sidnore, and City Clerk Ms.

Glass.

Uh again, good afternoon.

Uh, we'd like to share with you again to the city manager's point options for the current old WIF Fire Station.

And so it's the adaptive reuse of the building that previously served as the WIF Fire Station on Kickatan Road from 1944 to 1925.

There are three parcels that make up the WIF Fire Station site.

It's a triangular uh shaped site that sits at the bend of in the road and in the WIF area on Kikatan.

The site is approximately 1.11 acres with an existing 7,856 square foot structure and surface parking.

This map gives an aerial overview of the location of the WIF fire station.

You will see it sits next to the WIF pool and ball fields and on Victor on Kikatan Road and a short block from Victoria Boulevard.

These images show the exterior of the building on all four sides.

It speaks to the relocated fire station and a traffic circle being constructed.

We know that we now have the beautiful new fire station on Pembroke, which effectively serves the greater width community.

One thing that has not materialized in our capital improvement plan and construction projects is that traffic circle.

The master plan also calls for allowing the grounds around the WIP elementary school to expand, allowing for the construction again of the new traffic circle or traffic square, enhance the aesthetics of the corridor while providing an additional opportunity to publicly celebrate the history and culture of the neighborhood.

And also to the city manager's point, since the adoption of the master plan, the school site, the school has closed, the property has been transferred to private ownership and adaptively reused as multifamily as a multifamily residential project, unique in nature.

And so options for city council to consider.

One to implement the recommendations in the 2005 Kikatan Road Corridor Master Plan.

There's also the option of demolishing the existing building and the asphalt and preserving the site as green space on Kikatan Road, or three, we could issue a request for interest or request for proposals for the adaptive reuse of the building and the site.

In terms of adaptive reuse, communities similar to Hampton, large and small across the country have adaptively reuse older firehouses.

Hampton has previously worked with the developer to successfully adaptively reuse an older sh older shuttered building in alignment with our master plan, and that specifically is the National Guard Armory.

It's reuse as the Vanguard brew hub and distillery, a great successful project in Hampton's CAP.

If adaptive reuse of the building is desired, staff would issue a request for interest, request for proposals by no later than August 31st of 2026.

And evaluation criteria may include the following: alignment with the city master plan and policies, public benefit and economic impact, qualifications and experience of the development team, the design quality, the financial feasibility, and the demonstrated capacity of the developer to deliver the project, the proposed purchase price and long-term return to the city of Hampton, a realistic development schedule, and also sustainability and environmentally conscious design.

And so the decision point for City Council, option A, would you like for us to pursue implementation of the 2005 Kikatan Road Corridor Master Plan?

Option B, would you like for us to pursue demolition of the building and preservation of the site as green space, or option C, issuing the request for interest, request for proposals for the adaptive reuse of the building and site.

And that concludes our presentation.

I would like to also extend a thank you to Mr.

Travis Rash, who was previously in the Department of Economic Development and now is on our community development team.

Travis did a lot of work around helping to frame out a lot of the information in the presentation today while he was in the department.

And so thank you, and we're glad to answer any questions that you might have.

Questions for Mr.

Sledge?

Councilwoman Harper.

Thank you, Leonard, for that wonderful presentation.

I just have one question.

With the demolition of the building, it wouldn't be.

No, no, ma'am.

I think there is the option of either.

Oh, and so it in one sense to preserve it as green space, that is an option.

Another option in terms of issuing a solicitation.

Someone could choose to adaptively reuse the building.

I don't think we would be opposed to considering uh new development new construction, but we're also mindful that the site is 1.1 acres.

It is a very small site, and it is limited in terms of the parking capacity on it as well.

Okay, thank you.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Thank you, Leonard.

Uh what's what's the bones?

I mean, structurally, is the building sound, the bones of the building sound.

I do not have a structural assessment, Vice Mayor Brown.

Uh, we do know I have been some pictures have been shared with me.

Uh there were some some long-standing maintenance concerns and issues with the building.

Uh, and so again, if if someone were if the desire of the of council is to is to move forward with the adaptive reuse, then of course we're looking for someone that has the experience and the and the and the wherewithal to be able to to do that successfully.

We have seen buildings, again pointing back to the National Guard Armory.

Uh, building was in very talent in a very challenging condition, uh, but successfully was rehabilitated and again uh producing great for the city.

I I I would like to see us maybe form or like some citizens and some partners to talk about reuse.

Uh what are some of the ideals uh thinking outside of the box that may be you know good for that site?

Yes, sir.

It's a historic building.

Uh I remember as a little boy, been around a long time, and uh if if you notice, uh of course the armory had stayed vacant for many years.

And then uh there is a little um little sandwich spot I like to go to in Fort Monroe, which is one of the oldest fire stations in the nation, I think in the 1800s, and they have you know transformed that into a nice little beast row, nice little sandwich shop.

Uh, it's very nice.

So I would hope that we would allow citizens to speak to the next use of that building if it is to remain as a structure.

Yes, sir.

So recommend that.

Councilwoman Ferraby.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor, and um uh thank you, Mr.

Sledge.

Um, if there were an RFI, RFP type of solicitation, how uh what would the timeline be on that?

Would it also be similar to the August 31st?

We would look to we would look to issue by no later than August the 31st.

It really boils down to the depth and the breadth of the information that we are that we will be asking for.

I would imagine at a minimum, just based on similar similarly sized projects, it will be no shorter than three months to allow us to get to get the word out uh to the development community, to the commercial community, but also to give them time to formulate ideas and strategies to be able to successfully respond.

Okay, thank you.

Um so I'm a little I think definitely we need community input for you know for the residents, especially in that area, but also um I can see a case for first looking to see if there's anyone interested in has some great ideas around keeping the building, but also in parallel, I feel like it wouldn't hurt to put out an RFI or RFP to get some creative ideas about that unique space.

Also making sure that whatever we do, and I don't know that what should come first necessarily, but I think it's all we definitely want to get input from the citizens as well.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Great job, thanks.

Do you happen to know if the pool or the ball field need more parking?

That question has not been asked by me, ma'am, and so I do not know that the answer to that question.

Glad to to inquire.

Okay.

Uh there's nothing that leads me to believe today.

Uh, to there's nothing that leads me to think today that individuals are not parking uh on that site when there is a ball game or individuals going to this one.

Okay.

And is the power and water on in the building?

I would need to confer with our facilities team.

Usually leave it on to get prevent mold and stuff.

So it's either we pay the power bill or we pay to clean it up.

So um I'm definitely for um talking with the community and seeing what they want to do.

Okay, thank you, ma'am.

Okay, so I guess I I too want to kind of explore the options um just to see, you know, what a you know, person uh similar to the company we work with on the WIS school and the Vanguard and the old Army building just to kind of get some ideas on what the possibilities are, and then certainly with you know community input from you know O With Neighborhood Association and others to uh get some ideas.

So I I mean, I don't know that there's a urgent need to move to demolition, uh at this point, and uh so I think we have time to kind of explore what the what the possibilities are.

Uh Vice Mayor, just one more comment, uh Lennon, mayor to kind of juggle my memory on something.

When the with school was re uh reuse, uh, I think multifamily housing, yes sir.

Uh the developer can't remember the developer's name, but he was a specialist in historic kinds of buildings, and he maintained the integrity, uh at least the facade integrity of the school.

We may, if we think about community being involved, if we go to the next step, we may want to get somebody with that kind of expertise to kind of help us think more about what that can look like and what ideals that person may have too.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Okay.

Councilwoman Mugler.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, so based on everyone's comments, and uh, I just want to wrap my head around are we going to put out the um request for proposals and then engage the community.

Um seems to make sense to me that we see what um developers might be interested in doing with the property so that we have some sort of talking points when we go to the community to have a conversation, um, that it might make sense for us to put put it out and then have the conversation about what what ideas have been presented to us.

Just want some clarification on that.

I didn't say that, but that was my thought of this sequence of how things would work, but anybody else have okay.

Uh Vice Mayor Brown.

Yeah, I Rena mentioned community.

I didn't mention the order particularly generally, but we do generally have developers look at it first, and then community can chime in.

So however that goes, that's that's okay with me.

I just suggest that community look at it.

Didn't particularly the order of it, but that it would be prudent to have developers look at it, you know, for us and others' interesting then have community chime in, you know, because what you don't want is something there that the community did not want correct, and and um so we had to be sensitive to that.

So I'll leave it at that.

Council is absolutely correct and and astute in those comments, because we don't want to get to the end only for the residents in the city of having to say I don't want that in my backyard, and at the same time, without clarity, without developers having clarity on the front end, they are less likely to put in the time, the effort, and the finances to put forward a proposal.

In the instance of what we did with the vanguard, we actually held developer days uh at the vanguard uh where we allow developer interested parties to come out and to get a sense uh and and so if it is ultimately the desire of city council, and I believe I'm hearing two things.

I believe I'm hearing one absolutely get input and feedback from the community, and to explore the adaptive reuse of the building, and so what we absolutely can and are willing to do working with our community development team is is run a dual path so that we can we can have the conversation and and get a strong sense from the community what's desired in tandem with potential development partners.

Uh but I I do get concerned about the type of interest we may generate or not generate if we're asking for developers to respond to a solicitation first without having a clear sense of what's desired, so wouldn't the proposed developer of a adapter reuse do community outreach as a part of their programming of what what could be there, only if we were to require it as a part of a solicitation.

It it it's not it's not a guarantee that they would.

Typically, developers would look at master plans, they would look at comprehensive plans, they would look to get a clear understanding on the front end what the localities desire is for a particular for a particular piece of property, a building, or so on.

And so it's not impossible to do it the way that that I'm I'm hearing suggested in terms of identify developers and then have the developer go ask the community.

Uh, but it is it is one where again the concern would be generating interest without a developer having a clear sense of what's desired by that community.

Councilwoman Fairb.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um I like the idea of um reaching out to the developers and having that kind of development day that you mentioned, which is similar to the process you'd use for Vanguard.

I was hesitant to say time anything about a timeline if we had to go down the RFI RFP route because typically, in order to have a strong RFI, we have to have a clear vision.

And I don't think um we're in a position to have uh an established vision at this point with the master plan situation and all.

Um so I I would like to see you move down the path of uh getting some developers that have that expertise with that type of building first.

Yes, ma'am.

Get some ideas and and weave in as appropriate the community piece.

And then if we can't get anywhere, then maybe by then we'll have a better, you know, maybe we'll have a developed enough vision to write an RFI or RFP if we need to.

But I I actually I would I would like to kind of rescind the idea of doing RFI RP unless we had to.

Um if it's because it sounds like there's a niche of um particular developers that have expertise with this type of um building, and if it can be restored, I'd like to see it restored.

Yes, ma'am.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

The only thing that I would say I agree with um Councilman Ferraby, but the I want to make sure that the it doesn't get out that we're going forward and doing a build.

So anyway we can communicate to the citizens that we're talking about this without them thinking that we've gone forward without their input.

So however we can make sure that we communicate with them that we're just doing homework to bring ideas to them.

Um, I think we'd save you know concern from the citizens ahead of time.

Yes, ma'am.

City manager.

I'm gonna try to summarize and and see if this is acceptable.

Um, our first step would be to consult with some historic preservationist like John Garland, which is the the developer you were recollecting, vice mayor, and see what they think about the building, what they think some of the potentials are.

Simultaneously, I would recommend we get on the calendar for um the various with neighborhood associations because there are a couple of them as you know, and just update them and let them know that what we're doing right now is consulting with some historic preservationist to see what the adaptive reuse potentials might be, and we'll share that information with them, and then we would put out an RFI, RFQ around those concepts.

That would allow in that process for anything that the neighborhoods might find absolutely objectionable, and I'm just gonna throw something out, not not picking on it, but like they might say no nightclubs, you know, and so we could just establish up front in the RFQ, RFI what we're looking for and what we're not looking for, um, and then we could be clear as we're doing that RFI, there's no preset determination we will accept them, but that we're doing the exploration process and we'll go back to the neighborhood.

So it's almost like an accordion model of sorts that we we build our understanding of what is the proper reuses that can be done with this type of building with the historic preservationists.

Then we move to the RFI, but at along the way we're keeping the name the neighborhood informed through those neighborhood civic associations.

Does that work for everyone?

I'm trying to restate what I heard from all of you.

Councilwoman Ferraby.

Thank you, Ms.

Mayor, and thank you, uh, Ms.

Bonning.

I yeah, I think that that pre-piece is kind of the vision and piece.

Right.

So because that's what whenever RFIs are don't necessarily go very well if you don't have some sort of a vision.

So I think that that ties it together for me, thank you.

Ice Mayor Brown.

Yeah, I know we need this final thing, but when I talk about community being involved, I want this meeting to be more structured versus having a community meeting so nobody showed up.

Understood, because it's just like when you buy house location, location, location.

This is so sensitive.

It's communication, communication, communication at every point.

And uh so the community didn't know assumptions right now.

Yes, sir.

And then you know, we will set down and come back to the community and say, listen, these are one, two, three, four, five things that we think could be good use for the building.

So therefore, nobody can say I did not know, I was not involved, but the communication is the key here to uh to sell it or uh get buy-in and collaborative support.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Okay, so all of that being said, we're not making any decisions on the building today, we're not tearing the building down, we're not doing anything like that.

This is just exploring the options of what the next steps could possibly be.

Crystal clear.

Okay, thank you, everyone.

All right, thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, that concludes our open session items as we have a uh major item for a closed session today that might take some time.

Okay, so are there any uh regional issues?

Uh is there any new business?

All right, there being none, I'd like to ask the clerk to uh read the motion for closed session.

The motion is to convene a closed session pursuant to 2.2-3711A3 and 8 to discuss potential acquisition of real property in the New Market Creek area, where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the city's negotiating strategy and consultation with legal counsel concerning specific legal issues related to the same pursuant to 2.2-3711A8 to consult with legal counsel regarding current and proposed collective bargaining laws, and pursuant to 2.2-3711A1 to discuss appointments as listed in the agenda.

All right.

So moved, second, just call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown, Councilwoman Campbell, Councilwoman Fairaby, Councilwoman Harper, aye, Councilwoman Muggler, Mayor Gray.

Okay, we will convene in the Lawson Conference Room at uh 140.

And um we adjourned.