MOUNT HOPE, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – For more than three decades, 100 acres of prime, flat land has sat unused beside U.S. Route 19, less than half a mile from the North Beckley exit. This land has never been developed due to a lack of water and sewer and while many developers have come to the area promising to bring resources and capital, none have succeeded.
W.D. Smith, New River Gorge Regional Development Authority (NRGRDA) board member and former Executive Director of Region 4 Planning and Development Council, believes this longstanding issue may have finally found a resolution.
The City of Mount Hope has joined with a team of successful local developers and has announced that, together, they will install water and sewer into the land, which already has an abundance of power established.
The group- which consists of Mayor of Mount Hope Michael Kessinger, Jerime Dudding of Dudding Commercial, Smith and successful developer Rodney LeRose- met in Mount Hope on Thursday to discuss the project.
According to Kessinger, LeRose, who has developed numerous projects across southern West Virginia- most recently Crossroads Chevrolet, Buffalo Wild Wings and I Heart Church in Beckley, first approached the city about this type of project five years ago but didn’t have access to the land. He was finally able to purchase the empty property last year, which can be used in addition to the residual property located behind the Crossroads Chevy dealership.
Mount Hope, which has an abundance of water available, was more than happy to supply the resources for the project.
“We have great infrastructure and all the water and sewer capacity that you could imagine…so where that property has always been held up over the years, it’s because it didn’t have any infrastructure,” Kessinger said. It couldn’t be reached. From Beckley water, it was a big reach, a lot of money, a lot of expenses and different things. Over the years, the City of Mount Hope has developed the capacity, but we’ve also been dealt some very tough licks.”
Kessinger continued, explaining that the city extended water and sewer towards the area more than a decade ago for another project, which never went through. The city was left with an enormous bond that was incurred to bring sewer to what is now non-community. However, because of this, those lines are close enough that the infrastructure simply has to be built.
The project is currently in the engineering selection process, and much has already been done to get development underway.
According to Smith, they currently do not have a dollar figure for how much money it will take for the extension of the public water and sewer, but that one of the main goals right now is to find funding.
West Virginia’s Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael was also present on Thursday and says he will work to find this project as much funding as possible. He mentioned sourcing funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and discussed other avenues that the Development Office can explore.
“This area is poised for growth anyhow to the extent of people from the community are willing to invest their time, effort and talent to bring more prosperity to this area of West Virginia,” Carmichael stated. “We are thrilled to work with them. We have a lot of plans to make West Virginia the most prosperous state in the nation…in areas like this with the talent you have in place locally, you can do nothing but go forward.”
LeRose believes that the property’s position to Route 19, the Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve and the newly designated National Park will make it a hotspot for future developers looking to bring jobs into West Virginia.
“There are a lot of opportunities in this area to build on. Everybody is excited about this piece of property,” he said, adding that the land is inquired about for development frequently. “There isn’t a better time than right now with this current team.”
In terms of the team, Kessinger says the city is excited to be working with a local developer like LeRose who and understands the area, knows the challenges and knows the opportunities.
“He cares about the community and wants to see the community grow, and that says a lot,” Kessinger said. “You don’t get that, and you don’t find that every day. We are thrilled to partner with these guys and achieve this goal that the city has going. It is going to be a complete gamechanger for us, so I am excited.”
Kessinger stated that the development of this land will bring success to Beckley, Mount Hope, Fayetteville and the surrounding areas. He says it will not only help create jobs in the future but allow the City of Mount Hope to grow, providing quality of service and of life to the people of the town.
Smith and LeRose agreed that a normal project of this size could take close to two years to see completion; however, LeRose noted that if all the funding were to come in, it could be possible to finish the project within six to 12 months.
Although ground has not even been broken, Kessinger says there has already been talk of utilizing the land for resorts such as the Great Wolf Lodge or home improvement type places.
“Nobody can find flaws with this project, nobody. We just have a great opportunity right now, and it’s tremendous.”