City Successfully Bids On Lord Paget Motor Court

By Kimberly Lenz Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A 1950s-era motor court in foreclosure was sold at auction last week to the City of Williamsburg.

Other bidders participated and the city did have a cap on what it was willing to spend, although City Manager Jack Tuttle declined to share that figure. The city’s winning bid totaled $697,400 – well under the property’s assessed value of nearly $1.2 million for the land alone.

City Council will discuss the purchase at their Thursday meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. in the Stryker building. Members are also expected to vote on ratifying the deal. Funds will come from budgeted but unspent funds for the Municipal Building expansion and capital contingency accounts of the Capital Improvement Program.

“The primary purpose for the city buying the Lord Paget site is to allow time for the best possible outcome on this important parcel,” Tuttle wrote in a memo to the mayor and city council. “The city’s goal should be to return this property to the private sector for commercial reuse/redevelopment at the most advantageous time.”

Tuttle said the city hadn't been looking to buy distressed properties, but took a look at the Lord Paget when the signs announcing the auction were posted.

Provided the council approves the purchase, the first thing to do is to open the door to proposals, Tuttle said. The city can also consider whether it wants to leave the property as-is, or level the collection of buildings and market the site as cleared.

“The property is sizable and strategically located in the center of the important Capitol Landing Road corridor. Its future will influence the future success of the corridor,” Tuttle said.

It’s not the first time the city has bought distressed property.

In 2007 the former Tioga motor court site on Richmond Road was also purchased by the city, with the decision made to level the buildings and clear the site for development. In 2003, the city bought at auction the Carolyn Court and Dew Drop Inn motels on Richmond Road. Both motels were razed, and the parcel combined with the former Torsion property to create what became the High Street development.

Tuttle said the city has often stopped short of intervention, instead using cooperation to facilitate redevelopment of older Richmond Road motel sites by the private sector. In a memo to city council, Tuttle listed several: The Walgreens (formerly Shawnee), Springhill Suites and Residence Inn (formerly the Mount Vernon), Hilton Garden Inn (formerly the Raleigh), Holiday Inn Express (formerly the Colonial Motel), Village Green (formerly the Southern Inn), Chipotle (formerly the Rodeway Inn), CVS (formerly America’s Best), and Yankee Candle (formerly the Williamsburg Motor Lodge), among others.

Availability of properties like the Lord Paget represent what Tuttle calls the “first wave of tourism product,” much of which has become obsolete. The good news, Tuttle says, is these properties are on well-traveled corridors and turnover is an opportunity to remake these routes between area attractions and the interstate.

The most recent assessment for the property puts the land at $1,192,800 and improvements at $1,560,600, for a total value of $2,753,400. The Lord Paget, a seven-building, 94-room complex, last changed hands in November 2007, when OAM Shree Corporation bought the seven-building complex for $3.1 million.