virginia pe

This one was my favorite, because of the older buildings that I recognize. Loew's Theater is now the Roper Center for TCC. Of course, Norva is still the Norva, but they revamped it so the entrance is now on Monticello. The guy standing in the lower right corner adds a human touch to the streetscape. The sign at the shoestore in the middle of the photo with a burned out "S" has a totally different meaning in 2009 than anyone would have thought of in 1955. The Commodore Maury Hotel on the right side still exists, and is being converted to offices. By the way, the TCC Walker Building is next door to the Roper Performing Arts Center (formerly the Loew's Theater). Before TCC converted it, it was a W.T. Grant's Department store, complete with a snack counter in the back (inside the Monticello Avenue entrance). Before it was a department store, it was a YMCA. I've been in the basement where the swimming pool was. The ceramic tile with numbers indicating the pool depth were still visiible.

Only the lower portion of the parking garage will have brick. Look closely at the precast concrete wall panels on the garage. The lower panels have thiin vertical white stripes. These stripes are for the anchors that hold the brick to the concrete wall. Where there are no stripes, there will be no brick. Even with the brick, it is a very massive parking garage in a very visible location.

Gateway to what? For whom? This sounds like Virginia Beach. VB wants to upgrade Laskin Road/31st Street as a gateway to the oceanfront. But who enters the oceanfront along Laskin Road? Only locals. Spartan Village is adjacent to NSU, but who approaches NSU from the north? Just students. NSU's "front door" is on Brambleton Avenue/I-264, not Corprew Avenue and Park Avenue.

Some random musings regarding Mobius' photos. Great shots!

Yes, I do. None of these commits the city to anything. Buying the right-of-way was necessary just to keep LRT as a viable option. If Norfolk Southern started selling off parts of the ROW piecemeal, LRT would be out of the picture entirely. VB had to buy it. If LRT does not occur, VB will have one of the nicest, longest, bicycle and walking trails in the state. The Circuit City lot was a steal due to their bankruptcy. VB was smart to buy it. If LRT happens, it will be a great place for a park-n-ride station. If LRT doesn't happen, it will become an extension of Town Center. Buying the lot prevents a big box retailer or some other developer from building something that is not compatible with Town Center. So the $45M spent so far would not be wasted if the city shoots down LRT. The city has other acceptable options for using that real estate. The $3 million spent for the DEIS is just a preliminary cost to gather information on the viability of LRT. They have to have the DEIS to make any kind of an informed decision on LRT. So yes, I think the city could easily back away from LRT and not even blink about the money they have spent so far.

Regional cooperation is harder to achieve in Hampton Roads than in most regions. Most metropolitan areas have one dominating city and a cluster of bedroom communities. There are only a few metropolitan areas that have more than one major city - Tampa-St. Pete and Minneapolis-St Paul come to mind. Hampton Roads has Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Newport News - each a strong city in its own right. So we end up naming our area for a body of water (Hampton Roads) instead of a city. The lack of a strong, dominant city makes it harder to accomplish major projects in this region. To gain regional cooperation, a regional authority is necessary to make all of the cities work together. We managed to do it with transit (HRT) and sewer treatment (HRSD); we had no choice. Because of economy of scale, those amenities cannot exist on a city-by-city basis, and a city cannot survive without these amenities. We were less successful with trash disposal (SPSA). Getting enough cooperation from all of the cities to form a regional sports authority, or a regional sports venue authority will be difficult, expecially since a sports venue is not a necessity. In addition, because of Virginia's unique constitution, any such regional authority has to have the blessing of the General Assembly, and sometimes that is not easy to get. A few years ago, Norfolk brought in some hotshot consultant that had successfully worked with other metropolitan areas in establishing regional authorities for issues like transportation and entertainment. I haven't heard anything about him for quite some time.

It makes a huge difference. It is definitely not "petty". An arena or stadium becomes a capital asset once it is built. No city wants to spend its tax money on a capital asset in another city. It would be like you and me agreeing to build a swimming pool and splitting the cost 50-50, but the pool will go in my back yard. Would you agree to that? There are other issues, as well. Who gets the revenue from parking and concessions? Who controls the venue and determines which events to book? Who hires the ushers, concessionaires, janitors, etc? If my tax money is paying for the venue, I would expect my city to recoup some of its expenses indirectl by increased employment, etc. Benefits to the region do not necessarily equate to a benefit for my city, or a return on my city's investment. There are some petty issues as well, like bragging rights, egos, and convenience. But the real issues are about the money. For us taxpayers, it's always about the money.

That parking garage is not city-owned. It is owned by Bank of America. I do not see the Monticello Arcade (the building immediately east of Dominion Enterprises) being torn down any time soon. And City Centre is relatively new, and I think Norfolk Southern may be a major tenant, so the building should be financially solid. I think a developer could find other sites for a tower that would be easier to develop than having to tear down those two buildings. I still think the most logical place for a tower near Macarthur Station is above the station.

Norfolk officially gave up on getting an NBA team a few years ago. Norfolk tried to get the Charlotte Hornets, but the Hornets ended up moving to New Orleans. From that effort, Norfolk learned that it was nearly impossible to land a team without an arena already in place and ready for play. (No, Scope doesn't cut it, even as an interim venue.) And Norfolk is too conservative to build an arena and then hope to land a tenant. The land that Norfolk had identified for the Hornets' arena was the old Monticello Parking Garage and the adjacent surface lot. When S.L. Nusbaum came calling with a proposal to build Wachovia Center (now Wells Fargo Center), Norfolk officially gave up on plans to lure an NBA team or to build a new arena and decided that Wachovia Center was a much better use of their land, tax dollars, and efforts. In my opinion, they made the right choice.

Although HRT doesn't talk about it yet, they already have plans in place to re-design all of their bus routes in the areas served by light rail. Once LRT is in place, there is no need for buses to run east-west along I-264. The busses will run north-south to transport people to the LRT stations.

Give it time. If light rail is successful, TOD's will pop up at every station, especially at the terminus. (Hopefully, the terminus will become a hub in a few years when the Virginia Beach extension and the Naval Station lines are added.) Some people are not thrilled with the spartan design of the light-rail stations, but they are designed to be throw-aways, to be replaced by TOD's. Once LRT is up and running, developers will start to build TOD's that incorporate the light rail station into the new buildings. It is proper for the government to build the LRT, but the TOD's should be left to the private sector.

I agree that this would be a good thing, but what does it mean? As usual, the devil is in the details. Here are some scenarios to consider: 1. Someone living there has a job but gets laid off. Obviously, you don't kick him out on the street that same day. How long do you give him to get a job? Who monitors it? 2. How much work do they have to do? One day a week? One day a month? 3. What if someone is self-employed? What's the difference between not having a job and being self-employed but sales are way off? 4. Momma has a job but Daddy doesn't. Can he live there? How about Grandma? 5. Momma has a job but her two teenage sons do not. Can they live there? 6. Momma has a job but her two adult sons do not. Can they live there? 7. Momma has a job but two people unrelated to her do not. Can they live there? How about three people? Four? 8. How close do the relatives have to be to fall within the protective shelter of her job? Sons are probably okay. Step-sons, too. Cousins? Nephews? In-laws? Step-nephews? Nephews-in-law? Step-nephews-in-law? Someone has to draw a line somewhere, and no matter where you draw it, somebody will be upset. And somebody will fall just on the wrong side of the line and ask to stretch the limit just a bit. I suspect this is why it hasn't been made a requirement before. It sounds good, but in reality it is unenforceable.

I think the route to the Naval Station will use either the Military Highway Corridor or the I-64 Corridor. There are not enough potential riders in Norfolk to justify the Naval Station route. They will have to include the Virginia Beach riders to make the numbers work, so I do not think the Naval Station route will be built until after Virginia Beach has tied into the system. The Virginia Beach riders will not want to go downtown and around the medical center to get to the Naval Station; they will want a more direct route. Also, with either the Military Highway option and the I-64 option, they could easily add a spur to serve Norfolk International Airport.

I don't have any special knowledge, but from the way I read it, it is only a vision. There have been no comprehensive economic studies or market studies completed for this area. The portions that the city can control, like the new street grid or the storm water retention pond and recreational areas, have a good chance of happening. But even that is subject to the changing political tides. Unless the city subsidizes construction, the actual buildings could be very different, depending on the economics. Does anyone really believe that if a develop shows up next month with a totally different plan, but he has the $$$, that the city will not go along with him? For my part, I am severely disappointed with the plan. This is not an expansion of downtown. The way I read slide #24, except for a few odd parcels, the entire quadrant will be devoted to public housing or to recreational spaces and storm water retention to serve the public housing.

These are not piles, and they are not pounded into place. These are the foundations that support the poles that carry the overhead electrical wires to power the light rail trains. They are constructed by augering a hole in the ground, placing a cylindrical form in the hole and then filling it with concrete.

The architect firm is Tymoff+Moss Architects. www.tmarchitects.com Their homepage has a note "News: We've moved across the street".

Not exactly, but it's close. The last station is at Colley and Brambleton, roughly 700 feet from Fort Norfolk Plaza. It's about the same distance from the station as CHKD, and a little bit further than Norfolk Sentara General or EVMS. So it is not on the light rail line, but it is served by light rail. It would have been much closer to the light rail station, but on March 27, HRT moved the station about 300 feet to the east (away from FNP).

I would be against any high-rise at the Waterside site. The river is a public asset. Lining the river with high-rise towers is not good use of this asset. In my opinion, allowing the construction of Dominion Tower and the Sheraton was a mistake. The views of the river should not be restricted to the select few tenants in one building, while blocking the views for BofA, Marriott, 300 Main Street, etc., even if the views are only the drydocks at BAE Systems. I do not care if they totally gut and renovate Waterside, or even tear it down and build something else. Just keep it public and keep it low rise. Jacksonville, Florida has a similar waterfront along the St. Johns River. They have preserved the waterfront property by limiting the height of waterfront buildings to two or three stories. They have similar density and number of high-rises as Norfolk, including a large financial services company with a high-rise tower located a block back from the river. Their version of Waterside, Jacksonville Landing, is located on a prime site right on the river, and is low enough so it does not block the view of the other offices in downtown. Norfolk could do worse than to emulate Jacksonville's city planning for their waterfront.

In a word, money. It was cheap, and Altschul's only cared about the first floor.

Waterside followed the concept of "festival retail" established by Roush at their other developments, most notably Harborplace in Baltimore. It worked well in some places (Faneuil Hall in Boston) and failed miserably in others (6th Street Marketplace in Richmond). (Please don't start another Richmond vs. Norfolk argument!) Waterside was somewhere between these extremes. It was a vibrant, bustling place at times in the late 80's and early 90's. It was even successful enough to expand the building. Originally, the western end of Waterside was near where the bridge from the parking garage enters the building. The part that now houses Hooters was an expansion. Eventually, though, some of the excitement wore off as the shops and the merchandise became stale. But it still had life. So what killed Waterside? It was not that the festival retail concept was no longer viable. Waterside needed a pick-me-up, but it was far from the dead atmosphere we see today. About twelve years ago, the city of Norfolk decided to change the concept. Why? MacArthur Mall. Norfolk did not want retail at Waterside to compete with the new mall. Who knows? Perhaps the mall developers refused to even build the mall if the city was going to operate a competing mall at Waterside. So Waterside had to drop the festival retail concept, although by that time the festival part was pretty much non-existent anyway. It was just a small shopping mall of speciaty retailers. Norfolk had to do something with Waterside, though. If I recall, they hired a consultant (don't they always?) and based on the consultant's recommendation, they decided to turn Waterside into a dining and entertainment venue. It seemed like a reasonable idea that would be compatible with the marina and Town Point Park, and still be a part of the downtown experience. It was hoped that the new concept would continue to draw customers, but not compete with their new baby, MacArthur Mall. We now know that it was not successful. Even though Waterside is now on life support, overall I would say the city made a good trade to get MacArthur, even if it hurt Waterside. If you disagree, just look at the 1968 photo posted on the Norfolk History thread today. That vacant parking lot between the MacArthur Memorial and the church is now MacArthur Mall. And there is still hope for Waterside. The city may still hit on a concept for Waterside to revive it. That is how Waterside got to where it is today (at least as I remember it). I hope this gives you a better perspective of what happened.

I do not have much sympathy for him. He seems to be more interested in complaining and making waves than in getting his issues resolved. The city asked to do a pre-construction inspection of his house to document any damage that was evident before construction began. He refused to allow the city to do the inspection. One has to ask "Why?" While it is true that a pre-construction inspection protects the city if there is no damage from the construction activity, it also gives him a much stronger case if the construction does cause damage. The city has been sending him letters, which he refuses to accept. Again, why? He says "Call me on the phone." There is no way the city's lawyers would allow this to be negotiated verbally - it has to be in writing. Once again, he refuses to cooperate with the city. It makes you wonder what his ultimate goal is. It appears that he wants to go to court, and he doesn't want any facts to interfere with his opportunity to cash in with the city. One of the cracks shown on the videa is a stair-stepped crack. Stair-stepped cracks are usually caused by foundation settlement. It is unlikely the construction caused this crack. On the shot of his garage doors, there appears to be a another stair-step crack at the upper left corner of the garage door. It's hard to tell from the video, but it looks someone tried to repair this crack in the past. As for the reporting, it is what Andy Fox does. I suppose he has helped some people. It brings in viewers and gives WAVY a kind of identity -"on your side". It is what it is.

No way! Craney Island is not a waste of space. It is a tremendous asset for Virginia's ports. The Craney Island Dredged Material Area encompasses 2,500-acres to contain material dredged from Hampton Roads channels. The area is divided into three cells; one cell is always being pumped into while the other two are drying out. Without this space for receiving dredged material, keeping the shipping channels open would be much more expensive. None of the other east coast ports that compete with Virginia have anything close to what we have at Craney Island. Craney Island plays a big part in making Virginia's ports among the best in the country. In case you haven't been following closely, the Corps of Engineers has plans to expand Craney Island to the east. After it is expanded, the reclaimed land will become a new port for Virginia. The Craney Island expansion is not just another project - it is a world-class land reclamation project on a scale of the Kansai Airport in Japan or the Palm Islands in Dubai. It was scheduled to be operational by 2017, but the economy has delayed those plans somewhat. Not coincidentally, the expanded Panama Canal is scheduled to be opened in 2014 or 2015. Hampton Roads is the only east coast port with approved plans in place to accommodate the increased tonnage that will occur when the enlarged canal opens. Part of the reason for the Third Crossing is to serve the new port on the expanded Craney Island and the new APM Terminals just south of Craney Island. So believe it or not, the Third Crossing as well as the Craney Island Expansion, are related to the Panama Canal Expansion.

I'll try to pull this discussion away from "Off Topic" and back to the Light Rail thread. Market Square is the ideal plan for the light rail station at the Kirn site. Here's why. . . HRT is strapped for cash because of light rail. If they built a building there, it would probably be underwhelming. If the city builds something there, they would be spending taxpayer dollars, and they would probably botch the project. Either way, once they build it, it is there forever (well, at least for a couple of generations). What makes Market Square so great is that it is so disposable. A bunch of tents, kiosks, and sidewalks. Unlike a building, no one would care if they get torn down and thrown away, and there is no big capital investment lost. Once light rail is up and running and successful, some developer will realize he can get higher than average rents if he offers his tenants access to light rail without them even leaving the building. He will pay the city for air-rights for the site and build a real building, one we will be proud of, and pay taxes on the property instead of spending taxpayer dollars. The same can be said for other light rail stations, like Ingleside and Newtown. They are throw-aways. Eventually, developers will build office buildings there and incorporate light rail into the ground floor amenities. It will take time, but it will happen. Be patient.

Has anyone eaten at The 219 on Granby Street? I've never been there, but a group was planning on meeting there for brunch on Sunday. They called last night and told us not to come. They were closing as of Thursday and will not re-open. Another one bites the dust.

How so? Good or bad? Can you share some of the impacts the smoking ban has had? Any cases of the law of unintended consequences? I would like to hear how it is working. Just to help us understand your perspective, if you don't mind, would you also let us know if you are a smoker, or if you had strong personal opinions on the smoking ban, either pro or con?