Ed. — From the Sunday, Aug. 27, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — Bart Frye was known for major development projects throughout the region, including the ambitious East Beach redevelopment project in Norfolk and the Cavalier Residences at Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, but he also had a deep appreciation for rural Virginia Beach and worked hard to preserve its farmland.
Frye’s love of the rural community included buying his own farm in the Pungo area in 1974, which in the 1980s became home to the Virginia Beach Polo Club, and his years of service as a member of the Virginia Beach Agriculture Advisory Commmission.
Frye died on Friday, Aug. 11, at the age of 79, leaving behind his wife, Abigail, a daughter and grandchildren, among many loved ones, according to an obituary. He has been remembered by local leaders and in the agriculture community for his work here and beyond the city’s borders.
“What a stellar reputation,” said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer. “I think you’ve heard me say what makes Virginia Beach great are the people. Obviously, Bart Frye played a great role in the success of Virginia Beach.”
“He was a such a supporter of the agricultural reserve program,” said City Councilmember Barbara Henley, a farmer who represents District 2, speaking of the city’s farmland preservation program. “We’re going to miss his expertise. … He’s going to be such a loss.”
Henley said she did not believe many people knew how much Frye supported the program and rural communities.
Among other recognition, Frye earned the 2018 Excellence in Agriculture Award, bestowed in 2019 for his contribution to the equine industry and his service as a member of the commission. That year, Frye said Virginia Beach’s agricultural reserve program, which buys development rights to preserve farmland, has environmental and economic benefits for Virginia Beach.
“I believe in the program,” Frye told The Independent News. “I think it’s a good one.”
“I think his impact is he was vocal on the equine side and on the agriculture side as it being a mainstream industry,” David Trimmer, the city’s agriculture director, said. “He looked at it as he did his development business. It was an industry. It wasn’t an afterthought. It had a relevancy as an industry in Virginia Beach … and he wanted to see that continue.”
Frye grew up in Alexandria and earned his undergraduate degree at Randolph Macon College before earning a master’s degree in public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York, according to a biography.
He came to Hampton Roads to work at the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority in 1966 and worked on major projects, including assembling the land for expansions by Eastern Virginia Medical School and Norfolk State University. He led the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the 1970s, where efforts included the preservation of the historic Olde Towne neighborhood, according to a company biography.
He formed a real estate and development firm in 1978, later expanded to Frye Properties, according to the biography, which notes that he ultimately built the East Beach project in an area of Norfolk in which he once had gotten lost decades earlier when he first visited the region.
That section of the city had deteriorating housing, and it was redeveloped into a new neighborhood in partnership with the city and housing authority. It eventually became a successful project recognized nationally.
In 2019, Frye told The Virginian-Pilot the major project wasn’t always a sure bet. “I took a big gulp knowing if it failed, all our money would be lost,” he said, recalling a visit to the site nearly a decade earlier.
Former Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim remembered leaders were drawn to Frye’s commitment to the project, and he said Frye followed through on promises.
“It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did in my 22 years as mayor was to pick Bart to do this job,” Fraim said, and he noted that East Beach maintained its value even during difficult times for real estate. “It’s because of the quality that Bart built into the project. Bart was just bigger than life. There just wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, and he lived a very full life.”
Former Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms said he had visited the East Beach project in Norfolk with Frye and saw its transformation years ago. At the time, Frye said he wanted to do a project in Virginia Beach.
“Who knew that the Cavalier was down the road?” Sessoms said.
The Cavalier Residences, the housing component of the project that redeveloped the area near the historic Cavalier Hotel, was a key piece of the overall effort.
“If those homes has not been built and been successful, we wouldn’t have been able to save the Cavalier,” Sessoms said.
The former Virginia Beach mayor noted Frye’s work preserving rural Virginia Beach.
“Usually, a developer wants to do the exact opposite down there,” Sessoms said.
“He could have lived anywhere,” said state Del. Barry Knight, a businessperson and retired farmer from Back Bay, noting Frye’s decision to make rural Virginia Beach his home many years ago. “That’s where he wanted to live. He chose us, so to speak.”
Knight, too, mentioned Frye’s support of farmland preservation, calling him a “true conservationist,” and how Frye helped put polo on the map in Virginia Beach.
“He will be missed in the neighborhood,” Knight said.
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