The Manor Develops Plans
Reprinted from the Farmville Herald 10/29/08.
By ROB CHAPMAN
FARMVILLE — The paper on the windows at the former bank building on the corner of Main and Third streets has been removed and inside in full color is the vision for The Manor.
There’s a sales associate on staff and Michael Heffernan is the Managing Director overseeing the development of the 1,000-plus acre project south of Farmville off of U. S. Route 15.
So what’s new?
A long-planned-for inn — at least in the traditional sense — is out for now.
“The hotel is…a horizontal structure,” Heffernan said, noting that it’s divided into three villages.
The custom design cottages are projected to have two and four bedrooms in one of three styles named for former owners and are all lock-out fully furnished units.
They plan to start with 46 such structures to be located on three village locations within the hospitality core.
“We’re clearing the sites for the cottages now,” Heffernan said of the timetable. “We’re going to build the first three as soon as possible. When I say as soon as possible, as soon as we can clear the ground…imminent.”
He also explained, “So our strategy is, rather than building a large single structure, is to create a bed base with…cottages that fit the Virginia architectural vernacular. And we’re offering these cottages for sale to two different buyers. One buyer would buy one to use for their vacations or a second home, which we can use in our hospitality management program when they’re not using it. The second buyer is an investor buyer, where they’ll buy a cottage and put it into the hospitality management program for 50 weeks of the year.”
And there’s revenue sharing on the room rate.
The plan for Phase I, according to the Manor’s brochure, is to make ten cottages available for sale. Once they have been reserved for purchase, the Resort “will commence construction of the infrastructure and the cottages.”
So is the hotel concept completely gone?
“In the passage of time, and underline based on market demand, we may decide to augment this additionally with a single or double story structure that’s more like a hotel, but until we see market demand and occupancy, it makes no sense to do that,” Heffernan said.
The complicated development offers a picturesque setting. Only a few turns and traffic lights to shopping and access to the well-traveled four-lane U. S. Route 460 thoroughfare, it nonetheless has all the feeling of country.
It is here a few local officials with the Poplar Hill Community Development Authority teed off their dream for a championship style golf course. There were plans for an inn and conference center as well as residential development.
The sprawling 18-hole bent-grass course has garnered some attention — recognized by one publication as the fourth best such course in the country — but residential development and the hospitality development has been slower to come.
Heffernan, whose group purchased much of the collective development in 2007, closed on a house locally in June. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Heffernan moved to be closer to the project.
“My vision…and dream and aspiration…is to complete this and get it to a point of, you know, the point of these things where they’re sustainable and successful,” Heffernan said. “That’s my personal goal, but you know as somebody who is managing director, I have my overarching responsibility…to others. Like anybody in this role, the overarching (responsibilities) are to all the stakeholders.”
It has, of course, had its share of ups and downs even before it was purchased by a multitude of entities under the Herberton Group umbrella last year. The original 1,000-plus acres had been owned by several entities before much of it was reunited.
Now it collectively falls under The Manor development.
Residential Plans
It may have been long in the planning process, but The Manor is offering lots for sale in two development areas, Carriage Run Village (just off of the main entrance along U. S. Route 15) the first residential release phase.
“And the approach to residential development here is all around the development of villages or neo-traditional neighborhoods,” Heffernan said.
It’s designed around pocket parks and open spaces and places for people to create community and gather, he explained.
The first part of the residential release includes 48 lots in Carriage Run Village and ten lots overlooking the third hole on the golf course (Manor Heights).
“…We have crafted the pricing of these lots by where we believe they’re affordable, but they’re also discounted to be very attractive in this current environment as an investment,” Heffernan said.
Phase one pricing for carriage run lots start at $66,300 according to their brochure; prices for The Manor Heights lots start at $106,250. Buyers receive a full sports membership, access to walking trails, and promised swim and tennis facility. (The swimming pool is projected to open in May, no specific timetable for tennis courts.)
There’s no moratorium, Heffernan also cites, for when people need to build. (Three home styles have been designed which would be in agreement with the manor house.)
“The way we’re selling these is we have…set pricing on the first twenty and to purchase a lot, you put $5,000 in a refundable escrow. When we reach 20 lots, we close and we put in the infrastructure,” Heffernan explained. “And we also file for HUD, because of the size of this development and our HUD filing is ready to be filed at that time. So it will all happen simultaneously.”
“And we can put in this infrastructure in about 90 days,” he added.
The hospitality core is planned to have a fine dining restaurant on the first floor in the manor house, as well as rustic pub in the basement, private rooms for events and meetings. On the second floor, three exclusive suites are planned, the largest of which is 1,000 square feet.
“And of course, that forms the iconic center of this hospitality village and that’s why we renamed it to the Manor Resort, Spa and Residential Estate…,” Heffernan said.
They are also working to restore the formal garden and plan for piazza and amphitheater.
Also still planned is a conference center, which Heffernan cites will look like a historic barn, offering about 6,000 square feet of conference space. Heffernan assessed that it will comfortably accommodate 150 guests. (While the timing is market-driven, Heffernan said he would like to start construction in the next 12 months and completed within two years.)
They also plan a stand-alone destination spa that is planned to have six treatment rooms. (The timetable for the spa, he cited, is “certainly within the next 12 months.”)
As for the start of the manor house, he would like to start it in the first quarter of next year.
But a new golf clubhouse, he cited, will not be done until they increase their membership.
Drawing Attention
Heffernan noted that they believe with the aid of a “team of people — best talent we could get in designers and engineers and architects — arrived at a solution that is deliverable, that is appropriate for the landscape, and that would stand the test of time,” Heffernan said. “And that is designed…to fit in the rolling hills of this landscape and…must be environmentally sensitive. So they were kind of the cornerstones that have guided our thinking in trying to understand this, figure it out and make it economically deliverable as the new owners and developers of this important project.”
Heffernan says it’s “extraordinary” to him that there is a 1,116-acre estate with an 18-hole championship bent-grass golf course that has won a Golf Digest 2007 award as the fourth best bent-grass golf course in the nation “and I guarantee if I went out here…and I stopped people on the road and I ask them ‘Do you know where the Manor Resort is, have you ever been out there,’ I doubt I could find one in ten people who could tell me they were.”
He recognizes that they have a job to do in terms of creating a point of destination at $4 a gallon of gas.
“And if we’re not successful in that, we’re not going to succeed,” he said. “And, so as a development company, we’re as much in the business of economic development tourism for Prince Edward County, for Farmville and for South Central Virginia as much as we are in the business of developing The Manor, because one has to go hand-in-hand.”
They create “an awful lot of jobs” already in the development, Heffernan noted. As a policy, they employ as much local talent and expertise as they can. The only firm not Virginia based involved in the project, he cited, are some land planners from North Carolina because of their unique expertise.
It’s important culturally, he cited, when people go there to be greeted by folks from here.
“It means that we have to collaborate with education institutions for training and we have to make sure that we have people that we can grow natively, otherwise people will come and visit…and have people from Eastern Seaboard or from Florida or somewhere and that’s not going to work,” Heffernan said. “Because then you’re not getting a taste of South Central Virginia….”
Changes
The blinds were down for a year at the corner office building. That, Heffernan cited, was intentional.
“I don’t believe in opening the doors and telling people what it is we’re going to do and then change midway,” he said. “In these challenging economic times, both nationally and globally, there are things (that) happened outside of our immediate community that cause and influenced us to change. And, like any successful business, we have to be nimble and we have to be able to change if we need to, but at the same time (there) must be integrity in our communications and integrity in our planning process in how we communicate and manage expectations to be successful.”
He believes they are now pretty close to a clear vision. They are now moving into a different phase, an execution phase.
“…The phase up to this point was planning and designing and evaluating and studying and doing feasibilities and…we’ve used a lot of outside …specialty firms to advise us,” Heffernan said.
He later noted that they have “spent time and capital on understanding the market, understanding where our customers are, where they’re going to come from and the issues that affect people’s desires — whether it be for retirement for second homes or for single family living— and to understand those markets and listen to them so that we can arrive at a product mix that people want, not what we think they should have. And, in relation to hospitality, to understand where those people…come from and why would they come here and how long (would) they stay.”
The more recent life of the economy has been a tumultuous one and, added to the mix, the political season, sub-prime lending issue and the credit crunch.
“…I think that when you’re doing what we’re doing here, you can either…fold up your tent and wait, or if you’ve…belief in your project and a belief in the American economy as I do, you look forward with optimism to the year ahead, post-election, post-economic stabilization in the banking vista, and hopefully a better consumer outlook as we roll into 2009.”
The things that don’t change in this economic downturn, he cited — baby boomers are getting older and retirees are looking for places to retire.
Infrastructure
The issue of water and sewer service and who would provide the service for The Manor development has ruffled some feathers in the past.
Are they a county customer, even though Prince Edward currently has no infrastructure of its own?
Or will they look to the Town, which has utilities, even though their relationship with Farmville in the past has been strained?
“My position with water and sewer is very simple,” Heffernan cited. “I’m a customer like everybody else and—albeit an important customer…”
Heffernan has taken the position “to give both the Town of Farmville and Prince Edward County plenty of space and time to conclude their discussions with respect to what’s best for the community at large. My understanding is that they’ve arrived at a solution and…my overarching obligation or concern is that we’ve access to water and sewer.”
He says he’s not in the water business, doesn’t want to get in the water business and doesn’t want to get involved in municipal delivery systems.
“I’m a customer and this company should not be involved in those discussions or involved in the mechanics of how that’s delivered. It’s not why we’re here,” Heffernan said.
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