VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The city has officially terminated its agreement with a developer to build an arena at the Oceanfront. A letter was delivered to the developer on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday night, city council members voted 9-1 to terminate the agreement if the developer, Mid-Atlantic Arena, LLC, failed to meet a midnight deadline to close the loan to begin building the arena. A city spokesperson says the deadline was not met.
“I am extremely disappointed the terms of the development agreement were not met,” said Mayor Will Sessoms.
The city had not received all of the necessary documents and says required equity had not been committed to the project, according to a press release.
At the city council meeting, Andrea Kilmer, CEO of the developer, contended her staff had met the requirements. “We have worked diligently to be in compliance to put this loan on the table,” she said Tuesday night. “We are ready to send over $250 million and bring an area to the city based on that development agreement.” City council members disagreed the terms of the agreement had been met and voted to end it.
News 3 reached out to Kilmer on Wednesday morning, but a reporter has not heard back.
City council voted to approve the arena in December 2015 following years of talks about bringing a sports and concert venue to the Oceanfront. Since that initial vote, the developer asked for extensions on working out the financing. City council agreed to numerous extensions.
