Pending the approval of a special-use permit, the Centre Court Racquet Club in Newport News, Va., could be converted to self-storage. The property is under contract to be acquired by local real estate developer Commonwealth Associates Inc. as long as the city approves the permit to allow self-storage on the 2.56 acre property at 12445 Warwick Blvd, according to the source.
"Demand for indoor tennis facilities has declined over the years and no longer supports the economics of owning and operating the facility,” a representative of the club wrote in the permit application. "Self-storage facilities are in high demand and very low supply within a convenient distance from this area of the city."
The tennis club offers eight indoor courts and is owned by a partnership led by Bill Shivar, whose father founded Centre Court in 1972. The facility hosts several annual tournaments during the cold-weather months and has long served as a backup venue for the Virginia High School League championships and U.S. Tennis Association league championships during bad weather, according to the source.
If the club closes, the number of available indoor courts on the Virginia Peninsula would be reduced from 15 to seven, the source reported. Shuttering the club would be a “tremendous loss” for the area’s tennis community, according to Ned Haines, a tennis-tournament director and player.
The city could view the special-permit favorably based on property-tax projections. The club paid $10,819 in property taxes last fiscal year, but the application projects the self-storage facility would produce about $70,000 in annual property taxes, the source reported.
The city’s most recent property assessment increased the value of club’s operating parcel from $855,100 to more than $1.5 million. The club also owns a vacant 1.17-acre parcel at 12447 Warrick Blvd., which was assessed at $31,700, according to the source.
The planning commission will consider the permit request on Oct. 7.
