News and Updates as of December 28, 2009:
The Letter of Intent between the County and "The Cliffs at White Rock" expired in February 2009. At this point, the County is finalizing actions related to the deposit agreement with the Cliffs at White Rock. Any decision about the deposit would be discussed in a Council meeting. This item has tentatively been set for the January 12, 2010 Council meeting agenda.
In the meantime, the County recognizes that having a plan for the future development of Parcel A-19 is a critical part of implementing the vision found in the White Rock Master Plan. Efforts since 2005 to find a developer for A-19 have not been successful (see “Searching for a Developer” section below. County Administrator Anthony Mortillaro discussed a path forward for A-19’s development with the White Rock Master Plan Steering Committee in September. The committee has indicated that they would like to take a more proactive role in preparing the development plan for the project, and consider funding the improvements such that the A-19 site can be developed in a phased approach. During their strategic planning meeting in November, Committee members presented this idea to the Council.
One possibility being considered is to seek out developers who might be interested in developing smaller parcels. Under this kind of scenario, the parcel could still be constructed to the development plan envisioned in the White Rock Masterplan, using the proposed design standards.
Mortillaro said he would anticipate that such an approach would take at least 12 months for the design stage and at least another 6 months for actual site development.
Searching for a developer…
In four years, two developers have been selected, but eventually decided not to continue with the negotiations process.
Gateway Builders entered into negotiations to develop A-19 in October 2005. They were selected by the County after a Request For Interest (RFI) process. Gateway submitted a letter to the County withdrawing from the development project in August 2006.
In September 2006, County staff sought direction from the Council regarding a new RFI for the A-19 parcel. Council authorized staff to proceed to seek development proposals for the site.
A new RFI was sent out on October 5, 2006 to nearly 100 developers. In December, three submittals were received from “The Cliffs at White Rock, LLC”, Los Alamos Housing Partnership, Inc, and White Rock Consortium.
The RFI Selection Committee reviewed the submittals in January 2007. The Committee consisted of (former) Councilors Ken Milder and Jim Hall, CDD Director Rick Bohn, (former) Utilities Manager Buck Monday, Chief Financial Officer Steve Lynne, and White Rock citizen members Leola D'Anna and Gary Stradling. The Committee selected “The Cliffs at White Rock” for an interview in February 2007, then recommended that Council authorize Staff to move forward with this developer for the next phase of the process.
In their February 20th, 2007 Council meeting, the County Council authorized County Staff to proceed with negotiations with "The Cliffs at White Rock, LLC” to develop Parcel A-19.
An appraisal of Parcel A-19 was completed in 2008. Draft development agreements, and a purchase and option agreement, were provided to “The Cliffs in White Rock” in December 2008.
More about Parcel A-19…
Parcel A-19 was transferred from the DOE to the County for economic sustainability purposes in the fall of 2002. The land parcel is located on the north side of State Rd 4 in White Rock (across from the Hampton Inn). It is approximately 70 acres in size. Sixty acres lie on the west side of a drainage channel and 10 acres are located on the east side of the channel. Approximately four acres on the east side were developed for the new White Rock Fire Station No. 3 in 2007. The remaining ~6 acres on the east side were reserved for future municipal uses and/or possible commercial uses.
Although the west side of A-19 is 60 acres in size, its estimated net developable acreage (remaining acreage once right-of-ways, parks, open space, roads, sidewalks, easements, setbacks and topographical limitations are accounted for) is approximately 42 acres.