NEWS: Colonial Williamsburg Confirms Potential Redevelopment of Downtown Parking Lot
Prime Williamsburg real estate attracts developers' attention, says Foundation head at community meeting
The President and CEO of Colonial Williamsburg, Cliff Fleet, spoke Saturday, January 4, 2025 to a meeting of the Neighborhood Council of Williamsburg held at the Quarterpath Recreation Center. During the presentation, he outlined several of the Foundation’s goals, including preparation for 2026 which marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as well as the 100th anniversary of the founding of Colonial Williamsburg.
After the presentation, Fleet took questions and comments from the audience. Several attendees congratulated him and mentioned improvements they had noticed in terms of the cleanliness and maintenance of the living museum. Among the Foundation’s recent accomplishments in its missions of conservation and education are the Bray School building, as well as other projects like the Archaeology Center, which is taking shape near the Bray site.
During the Q&A, an audience member turned the subject towards other construction plans CW might have. Specifically, Fleet was asked about the potential for redeveloping a large CW owned parking lot referred to as “P6.” The parking lot covers several acres of prime real estate downtown near Merchant’s Square and is also the site of a building that houses the Sons of the Revolution General Society.
Fleet said there are currently “no active plans” to develop the property but confirmed that the Foundation has been approached by developers interested in building on the city block-sized lot. He said there is “always discussion” about potential development and that CW leadership is currently “going through scenarios” in terms of uses for the parking lot as well as other land owned by the Foundation.
Fleet said he recognized there were “lots of different perspectives” in terms of future land development in the City and pushed continued public dialogue around the subject. He noted that CW has been an active land developer since its inception. More recently, he pointed to projects such as Busch Gardens and Kingsmill as examples of development the Foundation brought to the area.
In 2023, the Foundation failed to convince the city to get on board with turning part of the Spotswood golf course into a high-end, high density neighborhood. In 2024, the Foundation failed to rezone land across from the currently under-construction sports complex. That plan included building 500 apartments and 50 townhomes as well as 250,000 square feet of commercial space.
Fleet said that given the affordable housing shortage facing the area, it would be "irresponsible” not to have conversations about building more housing. He spoke of difficulties faced by employees of the Foundation finding housing locally and indicated a desire to make it easier for them to live nearby, rather than commuting long distances. Details about how the Foundation intends to ensure that affordable and workforce housing is a part of their future projects was not provided.
During his presentation, Fleet also spoke about the Foundation’s finances, remarking that 2024 might shape up to be the best year ever in terms of financial performance. “By every metric, things are going in the right direction,” he said.
George Arbogust is Founder and Editor of the Williamsburg Independent. You can contribute too by emailing tips, ideas and even complete stories: contact@williamsburgindependent.com