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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Closing Area Bases Could Present Wealth of Development Opportunities

WASHINGTON, DC-Local real estate players envision countering the loss of the military presence at Fort Monroe in Northern Virginia and Walter Reed Medical Center here by putting the properties to commercial use.

By Barbra Murray | Updated on August 25, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC-With the BRAC commission’s votes confirming the US Department Defense’s decision to close Hampton, VA’s Fort Monroe and Washington, DC’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center, local real estate players mull the reuse options for the large properties.”Without a doubt, Fort Monroe is one of the most unique and beautiful properties in the area,” Tom Waltz, director at Drucker & Falk, tells GlobeSt.com. Fort Monroe occupies approximately 600 acres surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay. “It already has its own marina; you can see the carriers go by on their way to Norfolk.”

Waltz speaks with authority on the issue of the land’s potential, as his firm spearheaded the redevelopment of the historic Chamberlin hotel at Fort Monroe into a retirement complex. “We looked at Chamberlin and realized that the guards at the gate with M16s were a deterrent, so we decided to turn a negative into a positive; those in the retirement community appreciate the security at the gate, they feel safer.” He adds, “It’s such a unique piece of property that it has all kinds of uses–mixed-use, residential, high-rise residential.”

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