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Nearly 100 waterfront condominiums for older adults have been proposed on a 9.5-acre property along Burbage Drive in North Suffolk.

A conceptual plan that has not been proffered depicts 50 condos to be built as 10-plexes and another 48 to be built as 6-plexes, and would be occupied by people age 55 and up.

The property at 7521 Burbage Drive, is next to the Virginia Department of Transportation district office and Col. Fred Cherry Middle School, and is also surrounded by vacant land and commercial businesses, townhomes and single-family homes and the Lakeview Commerce Park. The rear of the property where the proposed development would be located is along Mathews Lake.

It would need to be rezoned from office-industrial zoning to residential urban-18 zoning. Jerry Bowman of Eastern Virginia Law Group LLC on behalf of the property owner, LVTC Two, LLC, has applied for the rezoning.

Melissa Venable, co-owner of Land Planning Solutions in North Suffolk, speaking on behalf of Bowman during a Planning Commission public hearing Feb. 15, said the site has been eyed for years for civic, commercial and residential uses.

Commissioners unanimously recommended the proposed rezoning, and council is expected to take up the rezoning request at its March 16 meeting.

She said the current zoning is difficult to work through because the site is on a local road and limits the uses of the property.

“It has become less attractive to office users when competing with mixed-use communities like Bridgeport and the Pointe, which we have very close proximity here in Suffolk,” Venable said.

Venable said that when taking in the surrounding properties, and the residential neighborhood in Burbage Grant, age-restricted housing appeared to be the best option. The property also is not visible from — and does not front — College Drive.

Because there are about 1.6 acres of wetlands at the rear of the property, which extends down the southeastern property line, it reduces the number of condos that can be built.

The staff report from the city’s planning and community development department notes large tracts of undeveloped commercial and industrial land, and “a significant amount” of developed or under-development mixed-use property, in particular at Hampton Roads Crossing and the Pointe at Harbourview.

Planning staff has found the proposal to meet the intent of the 2035 Comprehensive Plan provisions and the unified development ordinance, and offers a variety of age-restricted housing types and allows for a transition between the core commercial area of Harbour View and the residential neighborhoods along Burbage Drive. It recommended approval of the proposed rezoning.