spiker3

Not sure where it's going but they're advertising illegally. In Virginia you have to be 21 to pour alcohol and be a bartender. 18 for serving alcohol.

Sorry guys, been away forever. Can offer some (belated) feedback on HMSHost leaving the mall. I left HMSHost in 2007, my counterpart left a month after I did, we were the store managers responsible for daily operations. Our boss, who was inept, made the decision to not replace us and go it alone. Service declined rapidly from that point, and our boss was demoted and shipped out to Florida. The company cut the number of managers on site in half, then in half again, then down to simply two to run all eight stores with little support staff. Since my counterpart and I left the mall had been flooded with complaints on service and otherwise, a short-term extensions was highly contested and ultimately approved (in 2009 - 2011). The mall did not want HMSHost back, but allowed them to use the declined to renew excuses as cover. HMSHost ran itself into the ground. It's nothing lost and a shame of the legacy at one point we had left there in the mall. *Unrelated* Public House (old Magnolia) is still undergoing renovations, five months past their opening date with no end in sight. Rumor had them running low on funds with the massive overhaul required for an old building in Ghent to get it up to code.

Found this from looks like 1992? Nauticus is just starting construction and I think opened up in 93? Long way in 17 years

Exterior lighting is installed and on at night....makes it looks a bit polished...like a polished turd.. :/

....so I'm speechless right now, cause if you're right about the Darth Vader building being built on that site, then I watched the National Commerce building be imploded from the then under construction Norfolk Southern Building. Because I know the building I watched made way for the Darth Vader tower...hm....

Max & Ermas at MacArthur remains in jeopardy of closing, their lease is up, they haven't paid rent in over six months (been on a deferment program) and have worked out a month to month situation while trying to get their rent reduced (currently $33k/mo) Rumor has a Toby Keith 'I Love This Bar' opening where Rainforest Cafe used to be, now Forever 21, when it moves to it's new two story location where EQ3/Redskins Store and the Hello Kitty store were.

Save that post and repost in 20 - 30 years. Because until downtown completely overshadows MacArthur, that type of pie in the sky will not happen. The city invested millions to get MacArthur built to cornerstone downtown revival. To suggest they need to demolish it a mere 10 years later is laughably insane. If and when St Paul's quadrant and the financial district and northern part of downtown are filled to capacity in terms of density and height, then you'll see a move to go beyond what MacArthur is today. And comparisons to PTC are a complete apples to oranges; if you want to compare a shopping area to PTC the closest are Pembroke and Military Circle, shopping malls that are far past their prime and popularity, exactly like Coliseum was. MacArthur is in the first quarter of it's life cycle and has decades before ideas on how to 'redevelop' are valid to even be considered.

Why does DT have absolutely no street grid and is basically disconnected with the city? With the rest of the city or with just downtown? There was a grid before MacArthur. Why does DT have an enormous suburban enclosed shopping mall? Without MacArthur nothing else would be downtown, nor would it be a hip, trendy place to be. Virginia Beach residents would never come downtown before, and if it weren't there now they still wouldn't be. Open air and urban designs such as Town Center didn't go in vogue until the turn of the century; MacArthur was planned in the midst of shopping craze but delivered on what it set out to do: be the cornerstone of downtown renewal. Mission successful. Why does DT have surburban, virginia beach-style apartments on Boush St on one side and tall condos and urban apartments on the other? It's actually a great transition from downtown to Freemason, an area of small rises and apartment buildings. Why does DT have only one coool street and even that has lots of vacancies and is full of blight? Because progress takes time...and I'm through going through the rest of these Why does DT have no building over 25 floors? Why does DT have less than 4,000 residents? Why does DT have a completey under-utilized waterfront? Basically.. why does Downtown Norfolk suck? && why can I walk entire DT in 20 minutes? Because there's only so much land and World War II we had to house soldiers and sailors. Get over it. Next time we compare Portland, Phily, Charlotte or whatever with downtown, let's not forget there are dozens of other downtown areas that have nothing like we have and are stuck where we were in the 80s and 90s, a downtown area that was vacant after 5 PM, where no one set foot during the weekends.

Hey strangers... Question, something I've somehow never noticed before. In the downtown picture, there is a large high rise, roughly twelve to fifteen stories, diagonally down from the Monticello Hotel and looks to be roughly where the Westin is planned. What is/was that building? How have I never noticed it before is beyond me

LOL, i read this in the paper this morning and just imagined what the reactions would be like, and sure enough, exactly what i thought they'd be, which i am in complete agreement with, probably the stupidest idea Norfolk has come up with in a long time there is some good news in the article, in regards to new entrances, tearing down walls and opening up views and windows within Waterside, and having it complete by July 4th

in comparison to...it's steel, which is certainly not cheap

Granby St depending on the night is generally always busy, always Friday and Saturday, pretty much every bar on Granby: Fahrenheit, Scottie Quixx, Baxters, Granby Theater, Guadalajaras, Velvet, Posh, Indra, Time, Hell's Kitchen, O'Malleys, Kelly's Backstage Tavern, Havana's (i might be missing one or two) it's just a matter of what's popular that night, who has the longest line, the cheapest cover etc. Generally there's anywhere between 800 - 2000 people on Granby on a weekend night, not Georgetown or Adams Morgan or DC crowd by any means, but more than respectable to double the business that the oceanfront or Town Center do currently, during the week it depends what promos they're running.....What's the Norfolk Theater, i'm not sure what you're talking bout with that one

Disorganized streets, dilapidated buildings and slums sounds ideal to you? Comparing NYC to Norfolk is apples to oranges. NYC at least still have standing buildings, structurally sound. Downtown Norfolk for large swathes did not. Something had to be done, and the odds of a retailer or catalyst coming downtown and magically solving everything was slim to none. Norfolk did what it had to do, regardless of how much damage it did historically. To be the thriving business and economic center that it is today, it had to carpet bomb downtown and drive the riff raff and hovels and slums out. Yes it's unfortunate, and it's easy to be angry about the decisions made thirty to sixty years ago with little consideration for the future, but those were the times. Urban renewal consisted of destruction and replacement, not revitalization like we have today. And believe it or not, Norfolk was a pioneer and national leader in doing so, and applauded as such for doing as much as they did. I don't disagree that things could have been done differently, or to less of an extent, but wish in one hand and $hit in the other and see which one fills up first. What's important now is that we keep and revitalize what we do have, in downtown, Fort Norfolk, Ghent, even Park Place to some extent. Make sure today's leaders don't repeat the same actions (i hesitate to call them mistakes) that the previous did. But Norfolk had to act to save the city and did so. You can't fault them for that. Inaction would have had far greater consequences.

Hey i'm only 26, it's not like i go way back like some of these guys, haha, you should read that link though, i'm reading it now, it's pretty insightful, especially the national and international recognition that we got from it as a result

check out this link for more information on Norfolk's history and urban renewal, very informative, it's also at the top of this thread page Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing History

Downtown Norfolk is the 50s and 60s had downgraded to slums. Buildings didn't have indoor plumbing, air conditioning and other necessary stands for living. The Monticello Hotel, the crown jewel of downtown for the early 20th century had become a drug and prostitution den. Revitalization wasn't at the forefront like it is today, while urban renewal was. While it's easy to sit now and say what a waste (which i have done) realizing what downtown Norfolk was back then will open your eyes and change your perspective. It almost had to be done, in order to get downtown to what it is today. Could it be better, more historical? Sure. But things would be different, more likely for worse in the area, depending on the foresight by previous city councils

It's called Peninsula Town Center. That's the official name

Yeah $1.6 mil If it was for the building i could see it, but just for the restaurant would be insane

Wow, all that in one inspection, what an operation. My ex worked there as a server briefly around Christmas too, glad i never went in to eat. 219 was for sale for the last year and a half, but i think you're right, they shut down as a result of this inspection, and decided to cut his losses.

Beautiful day yesterday, driving back from Wintergreen, looked over off the Monitor/Merrimac and saw downtown, took a quick pic

No, they break ground last month, there was little to no sitework done, so ground needs leveled (should be completed) and then piles driven, which is on-going, a project like this probably has 200 - 400 piles needing to be driven, so pile driving is gonna take two - five months, depending on the site requirements. You've got a little while before you see floors rising. Patience.

That's exactly what i described above...there is no maybe, this is Fraim's plan to extend LR to ODU and Naval Base...and i'm not sure what you mean about a flyover, unless you're talking about the overpass at 21st St...regardless, they've already said that LR would come down 38th St then meet Hampton Blvd and up through ODU to the base

They said they would shoot around Lambert's Point, then come down 38th St and join up with Hampton Blvd to go to ODU and then the Naval Base...that's just on paper right now obviously

Short article in the Pilot about MacArthur Center turning 10 years old last week yet no hope in sight for a third anchor tenant In ten years, the mall has generated $2.3 billion in total sales and $73 million in tax revenue

I'm sending in my application for an appointment to the Downtown Design Review Committee...everyone keep your fingers crossed! Plan B is the Craney Island Planning Commission, Plan C is History Committee