The gargantuan effort to build a surf park and entertainment district at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront remains alive after City Council signed off on changes to its multi-million dollar agreement with developers.
The development team’s financing on the first phase of the project now won’t be due until June of next year: a five-month extension from the current deadline of Dec. 31. The second round of financing will now be due Dec. 31, 2022.
In the same fell swoop, the city also agreed to loan the authority tasked with helping finance the massive project nearly $18 million to make infrastructure improvements around the site.
The extensions are framed as a way to help the city and developer navigate the supply and inflating construction costs issues they are currently facing. The mayor said he doesn’t believe the public-private partnership is at risk of failing as the proposed Oceanfront arena did several years prior.
In that case, the project fell apart when the city claimed the developer failed to close on their loan at the 11th hour, after several similar financing deadline extensions.
