First off, this land is being sold because of the housing crisis in our country, and yes, even our town. It was originally designated for a development of single family homes, which apparently aren’t in demand at this time or they would be built. Student housing is actually in need. Why else would the developer consider buying and developing it? Why would the current owners sell such a prime piece of land? Simple, single family homes are just not selling right now and the buyer feels they can make a profit by renting to students. Last time I heard there was nothing wrong with making a profit in our country.
Higher rents for this “Resort” as some of you call it? I won’t mention any names, but I know several apartment/townhouse locations geared towards students with some pretty high rents themselves. The fact is, the more housing available, the lower all the prices will eventually get. Maybe some of you have heard of supply and demand? I have two kids in college and believe me; I know how much rent is in this area.
Second, let me remind all of you that if not for all these “evil” students who need housing and Virginia Tech itself, probably not a single one of you, or the town of Blacksburg as it is, would even be here. I know I wouldn’t. I do not work for Virginia Tech, but the company I do work for was started by several Tech grads many years ago.
I have viewed the websites and looked at the “propaganda” on both sides and have even spoken to some people I know involved and what I see is the typical “not in my backyard” attitude and the overly done “good for the community” on the other side.
If this land was in my back yard, I would say build away. In fact, when I lived in Christiansburg, which would probably not even have an interstate exit if not for VA Tech, they built an industrial park literally almost directly in my back yard. Maybe you’ve heard of it, The Falling Branch Industrial Park? My kids went to Falling Branch Elementary School when they were building the industrial park and I was 100% ok with it. I knew that eventually it would mean jobs for our community.
I know that most, if not all of you have your minds made up. I remember trying to convince my neighbors years ago that building an industrial park in our back yards wasn’t going to cause their houses to blow up. And guess what, their houses are still there!
Things are never as good or bad as two sides make it out to be. I am just asking everyone to have an open mind. I know that’s a lot to ask, this is Blacksburg after all.

Recent studies show Blacksburg has a need for retirement style housing and housing for young professionals and graduate students. Either of these could be built on the same property and stay within current zoning. A project of this size could potentially be built by a local developer and truly generate local revenue and jobs. They would also be more likely to bring new residents to the area. You cannot just develop for the sake of development- you have to develop based on the needs of the town, and with the least amount of distruction to the environment. There is vacant land in town already zoned for higher density housing as well as areas that are underdeveloped for the current zoning. These areas already have the infrastructure to support growth and should be maximized before we encroach on surrounding areas preserved by the 2046 Comprehensive Plan.

Yes, this project could generate some jobs and some revenue but nowhere near what Landmark claims. And the same amount of jobs and revenue could be generated by developing in areas already zoned for it.

This is not good for Blacksburg! This only good for Landmark Properties out of Georgia-

The real questions are whether the proposed development is more than just a “sweet” place to live for the students who are lucky enough to live there but also good for the residents of Blacksburg over the long run, and whether the proposed site is appropriate for the density of development and the traffic, wastewater, noise, etc that will surely come as part of the deal.

Landmark says Blacksburg needs this kind of housing. After all, what undergraduate student could possibly live without granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and top-of-the-line amenities?

Landmark cites enrollment projections from a source that is almost 10 years old to say that the need for undergraduate housing is increasing. But more recent enrollment projections from Virginia Tech actually show that enrollment is increasing for graduate students and hardly at all for undergraduates.

Landmark says that there is not enough undergraduate housing in Blacksburg. But a recent call to many Blacksburg apartments showed that most apartment complexes have many openings for the coming fall.

Landmark uses lots of friendly-sounding buzz words like ‘low density’ and ‘sustainable’ to describe their proposal. But the fact of the matter is that they want to quadruple the density of development from how it is currently approved, and the Comprehensive Plan specifies the need to protect this sensitive environmental area from this very type of over development.

A closer examination of the facts leads me to believe that Blacksburg neither needs this type of housing, nor is the proposed site appropriate for it.

It seems clear that Landmark is simply saying whatever they want to, whether or not it’s true, to paint the picture that they want painted. Perhaps the real need here is the need Landmark has to sweet-talk themselves into a deal that would not be nearly as good for Blacksburg as they want people to believe.