The owner of the former Virginia Intermont College property in Bristol has hired a security company that will provide around-the-clock patrols of the site and is in the process of hiring an architect who will assess the remaining buildings on the long-vacant campus.
“We’ve made some good progress on all fronts” to satisfy the city’s most recent demands that the property be secured and the buildings improved, said John Kieffer, the Bristol attorney who represents the owner, U.S. Magis International, which is based in China.
Kieffer’s comments were made Friday, which was 17 days after City Manager Randy Eads issued a 15-day “compliance ultimatum” that Magis hire licensed professionals, secure the property and mow the grounds.
Kieffer added that he also has a lead on hiring someone to mow the property, although he said there likely won’t be a need for a lot more mowing this year.
The city has been working for years to try to get Magis to improve the property, which it earlier had deemed derelict and blighted. That effort came to a head last December, when a massive fire destroyed four of the five original buildings on the campus.
The college was 130 years old when it closed in 2014. Two years later, Magis bought the property at a foreclosure sale and announced plans to open a business college there. Some steps toward establishing the college were made, but it stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent years, the buildings have deteriorated and have been repeatedly broken into and vandalized. The city’s fire chief said the December blaze was likely caused by someone who needed shelter and started a fire to get warm.
Just weeks after the fire, Eads successfully sought from the General Assembly legislation that would allow the city to petition the circuit court to take control of the property and sell it to a developer rather than to the highest bidder at auction.
On July 1, the legislation became law. On July 10, Eads filed a lawsuit in circuit court to gain control of the 37-acre downtown property.
The following day, city officials were surprised when Kieffer paid off all the current and back taxes Magis owed to the city, which totaled about $605,000.
Eads asked that the suit be dismissed, and on July 16, sent a letter to Kieffer and Magis giving them 30 days to respond with a written blight abatement plan outlining how they plan to deal with the issues at the site within a reasonable timeframe.
Keiffer responded on Aug. 18, saying that fencing erected by the city had solved the shorter-term objective of securing the property, but that the longer-term objective, remediation and reconstruction of the site, couldn’t be resolved in 30 days.
The following day, Eads issued the 15-day ultimatum, saying Magis did not provide a timeline for remediation work to begin or end.
“Obviously, the City is pleased US Magis has taken the City’s demands seriously, however, these initial steps taken by US Magis will not satisfy the City or its citizens,” Eads wrote in an email on Friday. “US Magis has much work to do to satisfy the City. The City will continue to push US Magis to bring the property into compliance as quickly as possible. If the City believes US Magis is not doing what needs to be done in an expeditious manner, legal action is still a viable option.”
Kieffer said he spoke to Eads on Aug. 29 to update him on the progress, and he said Eads was cooperative, arranging a meeting between the security company that Magis had hired, Tri City Security of Bristol, with the city’s police department.
He said the security company was starting patrols on Friday.
The city manager also arranged a discussion between the architect and the city’s building official, Kieffer said, adding that he hopes to walk the property this week with the architect. He said he expects the architect will be fully on board within a few days.
Eads said the architect will begin an analysis of the buildings to determine the steps that need to be taken to bring the buildings up to city code.
Magis is now primarily focused on working on the property, but still plans to open a business college at the Bristol site, Kieffer said Friday.