Town, SHAH Development plan 174-acre housing development for Pulaski
Shah Development plan for 174 acres in Town
By WILLIAM PAINE
Patriot Publishing
The Pulaski Town Council voted to allow Town Manager Todd Day to work with Shah Development for the purpose of developing 174 acres in town. This was the first meeting of the Town Council this year and the three newly elected council members were present. Mayor Shannon Collins did not attend, so Vice Mayor Brooks Dawson led the meeting.
The vote came after Town Manager Todd Day announced that on December 17, 2024, the Town of Pulaski was given an unsolicited bid by Shah Development regarding the 174-acre parcel of land owned by the town, which sits just behind LewisGale Hospital – Pulaski between Memorial Drive, Pepper’s Ferry Road and Lee Highway .
The Town of Pulaski acquired 150 acres of undeveloped property in December 2023 for $1.2 million. In May of 2022, the Town acquired 14 acres of property that adjoins the 150 acres, for a total of 174 acres.
Day referenced a study by Virginia Tech made in 2021 that found the New River Valley, and especially the Town of Pulaski, was in need of additional housing to spur economic development.
Day went on to explain the plan put forth by Shah which would see the development of the 174-acre tract. The plan calls for 187 detached single-family dwellings, 102 Townhome units, 18 acres of commercial development and 72 acres of open space for recreation. Day noted that the 72 acres designated as open space was “terrain related.”
It is estimated that the project would occur in six phases over a 6-to-10-year time span.
“We’ve got $1.4 million invested in these two properties and we’re looking for a positive ROI (Return on Investment),” said Day. “We feel that this project is going to be the difference in Pulaski being successful in the future for economic development and will support more family sustaining businesses.”
Day then went on to estimate the revenue generated for the town by this development, noting that the real estate tax rate was 36 cents per $100 of property value.
Day then put forth a scenario where an average home in the development would cost about $220,000 and would have two vehicles worth $40,000 each. This would result in an average of $1,432 per dwelling in revenue for Town of Pulaski.
“I’m trying to be as conservative as I can,” said Day of these estimates.
The development plan consists of 289 homes and Day estimates that when all are built, the Town would receive an additional $413,000 in annual revenues. Building fees for the first year alone would total $152,000 in revenue for the Town.
“In a ten-year payout, this purchase will be paid for,” said Day of the $1.4 million spent on the purchase of these properties. “If you can buy a piece of property and have an ROI direct from the property, I don’t think your constituents could ask for any more than that. So, kudos to the previous council that pulled that trigger on that deal.”
Day added that the development would give Pulaski County approximately $1 million in real estate and personal property taxes under the current tax code.
Town Manager Day added that Shah Development is currently working on contractual documents, which will be presented to the Town, but that the council would have to approve these before they were made official.
“Some may ask, why didn’t we design it and then put it out for bid?” said Day. “In doing that we would have anywhere from $600,000 to $1 million invested in engineering and we would still be responsible for the outcome of a subdivision. To be honest, it’s not too many employees at the local level that do that every day for a living. Having a developer come in and say we’ll build the roads, we’ll build sidewalks, we’ll build the curb and gutter, we’ll build the homes, we’ll sell the lots and the locality can sit back and capitalize at a rate depending on the speed of development. I don’t think you could ask for a better transaction.”
Shah Development has also offered a direct trade for the structure that houses the Pulaski Fire Department’s ladder truck behind the fire department building on Jeferson Avenue if the deal goes through.
“I believe this will 100% grow our economy,” said Day. “We have a lot of vacant buildings. The old saying is ‘Build it they will come’ and we’re building homes for all levels of society including two other projects involving the schools in Town.”
Day asked for the Town Council’s unanimous support in continuing to negotiate with Shah Development to make this project a reality. The council agreed and all present voted to allow Day to continue to work with Shah Development. Councilman Tyler Clontz abstained because of a potential conflict of interest.
At meeting’s end, Vice Mayor Dawson said, “There’s two things I’ve heard the most is that we need more housing, improved housing and we need to support our businesses and we need new businesses. All of those things are addressed with us trying to grow our population by improving our housing stock. This gives opportunity for more business and support of existing business at the same time. As near as I can tell that’s what everybody is looking for in some form.”
Newly elected council member Joel Burchett Sr. said, “One of the main themes that I’ve heard from my constituents is that we need more income for the town. We need more affordable housing. We own that land and we’re not getting any income off of that land now and to me this looks like a great opportunity for the Town. I give it my full support.”
Proposed single family street rendering for Shah Development project
January 9, 2025 @ 12:28 am
Town, SHAH Development plan 174-acre housing development for Pulaski 👉 https://tinyurl.com/yuvhc337
January 9, 2025 @ 12:40 am
Don’t see how you plan for people to afford these houses when the highest paying jobs being 20$ hour🙄
January 9, 2025 @ 1:58 am
Tyler Nixon same way they’re affording the ones behind the middle school
January 9, 2025 @ 2:00 am
Andrew Bentley obviously it’s drawing people from other nearby counties this isn’t helping at all 😂
January 10, 2025 @ 10:07 pm
Tyler Nixon I hear from several factory skilled workers earn $38 an hour so they must be more in other jobs
January 9, 2025 @ 12:49 am
…
January 9, 2025 @ 1:10 am
The town infrastructure needs to be updated first for those of us who currently live here before they build any more houses. This whole purchase of that property should have been up for citizen vote. The money spent on that property would have fixed a while lot of the town infrastructure.
January 9, 2025 @ 1:19 am
Why not bring some money worthy, yet non expensive fun to town along with more jobs so people will actually want and be able to enjoy/pay for said housing? Just a thought 🤔 This town is just for retirement..
January 9, 2025 @ 2:35 am
Ellie King money worthy but not expensive. That will never be the case unless you want to walk a trail.
January 9, 2025 @ 9:58 am
Jonathan Stewart I’m meaning stuff like a bowling alley, a decent movie theater that plays the new stuff, etc. Non expensive such as $10-15 per person.
January 9, 2025 @ 10:19 am
Ellie King the cost to put that stuff in doesn’t equal out to 10-15$ per person Unfortunately. Real estate and and equipment alone, then add insurance,taxes,labor. The math doesn’t math right for that.
January 9, 2025 @ 1:26 pm
Jonathan Stewart right but that’s the point. Nobody wants to or can pay $1000 or more in rent/mortgage plus taxes, utilities, etc. on $20 an hour or less (job) and then drive 30min or more to do anything fun especially after working all day.
January 9, 2025 @ 9:45 pm
Ellie King it’s done everyday. These houses will be sold before they are finished. Radford has a new subdivision going in and they start at 330k so what they are priced at is really good.
January 12, 2025 @ 12:05 pm
Ellie King Yes, and we want an affordable family steak house. 🙂
January 9, 2025 @ 1:57 am
Meanwhile the homeless are still homeless. Empty buildings and homes everywhere but let’s build more homes that people can’t afford. Did I mention that the homeless are still homeless? This smells of greed and ignorance
January 9, 2025 @ 2:08 am
Jeffrey Manuel open you a homeless shelter in one of those empty buildings that are for sale.
January 9, 2025 @ 2:12 am
I think what folks are missing here are the young families that have a “starter home” that are ready to move up a little. When they decide that then their current home opens up and more than likely will be homes under 200k. My wife and I bought our first house in 2003 for 89k and today the value is over 220k, so it is super hard if not impossible to find a home under 200k that doesn’t need 50k worth of work done. The point is that it will trickle down and even out like it always does just be patient !
January 9, 2025 @ 3:27 am
Jason Price cool, STFU
January 9, 2025 @ 12:37 pm
@Jason Price the issue is affordability. Most people in Pulaski or Dublin can’t afford these homes on their current wages, and housing prices continue to rise. We need alternative housing options.
January 9, 2025 @ 7:06 am
The most important concept here is the Town (the government) is going to do whatever is necessary to garnish more income no matter what. Half of this story makes that clear as does the quotes of public officials. They can’t tax undeveloped land as beautiful as it might be, but they sure can tax developed parcels. The area does need more reasonably priced single family homes, starter homes as one gentleman put it, which this project seems to provide. We can’t have our cake and eat it too, either the area wants the potential for greater income and growth or it wants to remain as is. The larger concern is attracting the right type of people to the area. Not many families or individuals with any manner of education or skillset are going to buy a $200K home on a 1/4 acre of land when they have meth addicts crapping in the tree line, wanna be gang bangers driving down the road music blasting through their walls like it’s south central LA, bums infesting the decency of what little there is in the way of shopping, entertainment, and commercial availability in town. If the area wants to attract and retain potential home owners who bring in the $20-50 / hour required for such ownership, it needs to do a better job cleaning itself up through personal and legal accountability. There’s plenty of jobs that pay within that range available, anyone care to guess what the going rate is for an entry level electrician with no certification? $25 an hour on the low end, all you need is work ethic, show up on time with the required tools, and do the job. This project is going to require at least 100 long-term tradesmen. There in lies the underling issue….there’s too many people around here and at large who want the house but don’t want to put in the work it takes to get it. Who don’t have the knowledge, skills, or abilities to provide for it, and somehow that’s every one else’s fault but theirs….cue meth and social services.
January 9, 2025 @ 10:25 am
Pulaski’s decision to prioritize a large housing development for “normal” families while simultaneously targeting the homeless community with ordinances that criminalize their existence is a blatant contradiction. It exposes a disturbing reality: those in power are more concerned with appearances and property values than with the basic human right to shelter.
While the town boasts about providing “affordable” homes for the “normal” working family, they fail to acknowledge that even these prices are out of reach for many, especially those struggling with the additional burdens of homelessness. This development project, while potentially beneficial to some, further marginalizes the most vulnerable members of our community.
The town’s claim that this project won’t require any direct tax dollars is a hollow reassurance. The true cost is measured in the erosion of compassion and the perpetuation of social inequality. Pulaski must address the root causes of homelessness and provide meaningful support to those in need, instead of simply displacing the problem and pretending it doesn’t exist.
January 11, 2025 @ 4:52 am
Chris Alderman every town in America struggles with the homeless.
January 9, 2025 @ 11:06 am
Honestly, I’ve never seen this town in worse shape. We have a part-time mayor and we’re ignoring the town’s real issues while also living in some fantasy world. No, I’m not one of these “cheering for Pulaski to fail” people but there are serious questions that need to be asked. Almost 23% of our town’s population lives below the national poverty line. Many of those who don’t, work industrial jobs centered around Volvo and most of those jobs will be replaced by AI within the decade.
The town obviously sees this as a way to net additional tax revenue, assuming these homes fill up, because the town itself is out of money. In order to land one of these homes you need to be earning a lot of money AND have a great credit score, so where are these soon-to-be tenants coming from? You can buy a townhome in the Abington/Bristol or Blacksburg/Christiansburg area at these prices and both offer a lot more than thrift stores and speeding traps. In those counties you get to enjoy drinkable water and not constant warning letters in the mail or water breaks.
Can we please, for once, focus on existing problems first. We have many homeless and not enough shelters or funding. Our food bank lines look like the entrance to Dollywood. We can’t drink the water that we are being overcharged for to begin with. Our downtown area looks like the set of The Walking Dead.
Turning the other way hasn’t worked and having a part-time mayor has been a disaster. Good luck selling these homes to people that don’t exist. You might bait a few people in to Pulaski but certainly not enough to fix the town’s tax issues.
January 9, 2025 @ 12:22 pm
Two, $40,000 cars per home is being used as a conservative projection for tax revenue?
LOL
January 9, 2025 @ 9:27 pm
They obviously don’t know what kind of homes SHAH builds. Come down Hatcher Rd and look at that new development. That is all SHAH. Nobody will be able to afford anything they build, not the average working class family anyway. I have two of my kids living with me because they can’t even afford the rents now. We are honestly thinking about selling our home and moving to West Virginia. My son lives out there on the Greenbriar River and his total monthly bills are at about $1000 a month. And they have a nice place out there. Taxes are a lot cheaper out there and they don’t make you pay taxes on a car every year that you paid taxes on when you bought it. We spend more time there than here now. My house will be paid off in 4 years and we are going to take the money and run out of Virginia.
January 9, 2025 @ 9:59 pm
Moni amalawi nonse ndili pano kukuziwisani kuti fikani kwa ine pa vuto lililonse lomwe muli nalo kupatula HIV EDZE ndimathandiza or munthu ali kunja kwa dziko lino ndimalongosola zonse mosavut choyamba nambala yanga ndi iyi 👉 0980568798call /whastapp ine ndiwanu wanu DOCTOR MAKAlANI kuchokela boma la mangochi mbali ya makanjira ndimathandiza mavuto osiyana siyana mavuto monga awa
_Likango
_Bp
_Sugar
_Kusilika nyumba
_Kukumanga kuti musabeleke
_Athsm
_Mphamvu za abambo
_Muitano pa business
_Sendawana
_Mwayi wa ntchito
_Mwayi owina Lott kapena bet
_Kulandila katatu pa mwezi
_Kukondedwa ndabwana
_Kubwezeletsa wachikondi ngati wachoka
_Mavuto am banja
_Kubwezeletsa katundu obedwa
_Kulemela mwachangu
_Kusilika nkazi
_Shikwama wallet
Ndizina za mbiri ndikumathandiza ngakhale muli kutali monga south Africa Tanzania Zambiya Mozambiki Zimbabwe sizamagazi ngati mukufuna kuthandizidwa mwachangu ndipezeni pa WhatsApp /Call📞0980568798) ndiye wina nkumati pa ground pavuta kuti nanga anzanu zikutheka bwanji ndipezeni ine DOCTOR MAKALANI muone kusinda moyo wanu ndanena khale kuti namba yanga ndiimeneyi 👉0980568798) ine ndilipo ndikuthandizani mosavuta koma osafulacha mungo imba kapena WhatsApp/Call zikomo kwambiri !! 🇲🇼🙏🙏🙏
January 9, 2025 @ 11:09 pm
Who here in pulaski can afford 300,000 dollar homes
January 10, 2025 @ 2:57 am
Tammy Grubb Lytton People will move into these new homes which will leave their current less expensive homes for others. We definitely need more housing and desperately need senior housing for independent elderly people.
January 10, 2025 @ 3:53 am
Elderly people wont be able to afford the houses..I see it everyday elderly chosing between meds or food while most at methadone clinic is on Medicaid getting theirs paid for and elderly that worked their lives can’t get help..
January 10, 2025 @ 12:06 pm
Tammy Grubb Lytton Oh I would hope it would be tac credit or hud for elderly.
January 10, 2025 @ 3:26 pm
Charolette Tickle nope my understanding not
January 10, 2025 @ 5:34 pm
Tammy Grubb Lytton I meant we need tax credit or Hud senior housing, not these houses. I am always hoping for the best for our little town.
January 11, 2025 @ 4:55 am
Charolette Tickle amen. Yes, rentals for the elderly, like Pulaski Village are really needed.
January 10, 2025 @ 3:07 pm
Austin Harrell this is what I was talking about
January 10, 2025 @ 3:46 pm
They are going to end up with a lot of empty homes .
January 11, 2025 @ 1:01 am
Donnie Walls nah, corporations will buy them and rent them out, 1.2k per bedroom. 🙁
January 11, 2025 @ 4:49 am
Donnie Walls how do we know the future? He is selling every home he builds already.
January 10, 2025 @ 10:20 pm
Ryan Sarah Brockmeyer
January 11, 2025 @ 8:45 am
Before I started reading comments I figured it would be mostly whining and complaint and I was correct. For those who don’t understand the cost of a new home I suggest looking at Zillow or Realtor.com.
For those who believe Pulaski has never been in worse shape I have to wonder how old they are. I’ve been here since 86 and trust me thing have definitely been worse. It’s improving a lot.
For those who believe everyone is making $20 an hour, you don’t know anyone outside you circle of acquaintances.
This is a fabulous opportunity for Pulaski and Pulaski county. It’s really sad prospective buyers may read these down in the mouth comments and change their minds about moving here.
January 11, 2025 @ 8:58 pm
Pulaski county is literally like a tale of three cities. The poor are squeezed out to one side in order to make showplaces for the handful of wealthy. The police and infrastructure are neglected as we watch people live in poverty. How about you cut the fat around the county, so you don’t need more property tax revenue. Build affordable apartments, and work to bring in modest jobs.
January 12, 2025 @ 5:25 pm
I just heard about this purchase and plan on the WDBJ news the other night. I had not heard of it before, and I thought then that houses of $200,000 or more could only be afforded by a few, so how does this help the housing situation? I was hoping that someone would build some apartments which would be affordable to people with little, or some affordable housing for those with low incomes. I’m sorry about all of this. We also need good housing options for people with disabilities – those in wheelchairs especially.
January 13, 2025 @ 12:58 am
WHY