WESTON in the News

June 2005

Newport News Daily Press Quotes WESTON’s John A. Walker on BRAC Real Estate Development

John A. Walker, manager of Real Estate Solutions at WESTON^®, knows a thing or two about real estate. For the many private developers around the country interested in possible development of  Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)-listed Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia, Walker has a bit of good news. He told the Newport News Daily Press, “We’ve done a bit of an investigation on many properties.” What he and his colleagues at WESTON have discovered could be of great interest to the real estate industry.

A little-known provision in the deeds at Fort Monroe states that most of the property will revert to state ownership in the event that the federal government stops using it for military purposes. A waterfront property located in the middle of a metropolitan area, the Fort Monroe site is prime real estate that is bound to receive much attention if it is approved for closure under BRAC. At least six private firms have openly expressed an interest in cleaning up and redeveloping the site. Although none of the firms are currently revealing their plans for the site, possibilities include the construction of multimillion-dollar homes and resort communities.

BRAC has been an area of interest to real estate and environmental industry professionals for quite some time.  Many private firms are competing for the chance to remediate and develop the sites appearing on this year’s BRAC list, which includes more than 30 large military bases slated for government-forced closures.