VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Beach City Public Schools annex on Laskin Road is going away, making way for new development.
On Tuesday evening, the Virginia Beach City Council voted unanimously to approve the sale of the School Board property at 1413 Laskin Road. The School Board would keep the proceeds.
According to the City of Virginia Beach, the property is approximately 12.4 acres. It was formally the home of Linkhorn Park Elementary School.
It's located in the Hilltop Business District, which is primarily known as a high-end shopping and dining corridor in the city.
According to Sondra Woodward, a spokesperson for Virginia Beach City Public Schools, Laskin Road Annex was used for administrative offices until about a year ago when staff moved to the new administrative location at Plaza Annex, 641 Carriage Hill Road. The building is now vacant and considered to be excess property.
The building was built as Linkhorn Park Elementary School in 1955. Linkhorn Park Elementary School was rebuilt & relocated to First Colonial Rd in 1998.
The Franklin Johnston Group is poised to purchase the property. After competing with various proposals, the Franklin Johnston Group offered $7 million for the land.
Developers told News 3 they plan to build a mixed-use development: apartments with retail and an office tower with a rooftop restaurant. It would also have a parking garage, and FJG would move its headquarters to the site.
“The Franklin Johnston Group was honored to be selected to redevelop the former school site and are excited to revitalize the property into something really fantastic,” read a written statement from Christen Faatz, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance and Accounting for The Franklin Johnston Group.
Faatz says an economic analysis shows the development will create and sustain 168 jobs and will raise annual economic output by $17.6M.
