omegastar

Love you pics! There is one shot that I tried to get but I keep missing it. Perhaps someone with a camcorder can capture the shot of both skylines about a mile and a half from the downtown tunnel going east toward downtown Norfolk. There is only a one second opportunity to capture the picture before the trees quickly hides the angle. I am sure that I am not the only one who marvels at the appearance of all those buildings appearing to form one incredible downtown instead of two. Anyone else know what i'm talking about?

I guess the city of Norfolk doesn't need 300 or so new workers downtown. Waterside 2 will last about 10-15 years before it is torn down. Who knows, maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I just hope that we can salvage a large hotel on day in the future. That being said, I am happy to see Town Center getting a new tower. Honestly, 14 stories doesn't exactly make me want to shout from the mountain tops.

True, I agree with you! I am going to give them a new name and will continue to refer to them as "Dixiedoodles"!

You just can't please some people! They blame the President for not creating more jobs, then given an opportunity to create jobs, they don't want their taxes raised. They want better public services yet want smaller government. They insist on better roads but refuses to consider alternative proposals such as light-rail. Since I can't think of anything nice to say about them, I am done ranting about these idiots!

Has anyone heard the radio ad about light-rail? I love it! Nooooooooooooo This Nooooooo crowd tries to kill every project the city proposes regardless. They don't care if it's a great deal, if it cost them one dime in taxes, the scream Noooooooo. What in the hell else does these idiots think generate tax revenue that keeps their taxes low? You can't keep expecting services but refuse to pay for them. Besides, Virginia Beach may be the largest city in America without an arena. Can anyone think of a city with a population over 400k without at least a 10,000 seat arena?

Do you guys remember back when Norfolk was courting I believe the Hornets and Smithfield Foods offered to pay millions for naming rights? I also believe that there was a great demand for luxury boxes in proposed arena. These boxes generated millions of dollars in leasing and rental fees. Also, the Richmond market was very supportive of us and many of the Fortune 500 companies expressed interest in leasing sky boxes. I know that the governor is pledging his support with perhaps some state help and Comcast is offering a 25 year deal as an incentive to get this done. It would appear that Virginia Beach is being offered a once in a lifetime deal for something they have plans to build anyway in the future. It will cost the city tens of millions more if they wait.

Yeah, Moss is a tea-party poster grump. He hates everything! The presentation was well-prepared for such a short notice. I really like the players in this proposal. The time is now for the city of Virginia Beach while everyone seems to be onboard with the idea. If they wait, it will be another 20 years and cost $150 million more to build. If we can somehow land this deal, I can see us landing a professional sports team within 5 years and perhaps becoming the new home of the ACC tournament. The arena has to be expandable to 20,000-25,000 for basketball but it would be a true neutral location and centrally located both north and south. I can easily see the need for a couple more new hotels and the players and fans would love the new location and entertainment venues.

Anything new on waterside? I hope this isn't going to be another wait until the economy improves deal. Harvey Lindsay would probably have already started construction if chosen. Damn we seem to make all the wrong choices! On the other hand, good luck to Virginia Beach and I hope that they land the NBA. If it happens, I could see a new hotel developed in downtown Norfolk happening sooner than later. The area will need the hotel rooms to support professional sports.

Hey Vdogg, I know that the city raised money using meal taxes, etc, for a new conference center but didn't they do the same thing years ago for a new arena? I wish that we would focus on this instead of the conference center although I know the opposition will be just as fierce. I think that Scope would be a great addition to a growing TCC downtown campus and could serve many uses. The city should offer them a chance at expanding it's downtown presence and build some on campus housing in anticipation of them becoming a 4 year institution.

Rocktop, the sticking points will be the razing of waterside, the conference center, and parking issues. You will have a much better chance if you could alter you plans to co-exist with waterside. Also, the conference center idea should probably be a compromise of a pavillion that offers entertainment first with substantial space for conference meetings. I say market it as a entertainment venue. Your hotel could be designed to share conference space with the pavillion thus creating an appealing alternative for the city. Your plans sounds great but changes will have to be made if you want the city to take your plan seriously. It would be great if Harvey Lindsay would also come aboard and build his office tower and perhaps his proposed hotel. Let us know what happens Rocktop, we are all pulling for you!

Regionalism makes sense! It's time for this region to make the next step toward becoming one united city. There are still those who are afraid of change and others who would prefer us to remain a small second-tier region with independent entities. Times have changed and people demand services that are no longer affordable under our present state. I believe that once the ball gets rolling, there is no stopping it. Every prloposal to make this happen has in the past has been defeated but it seems that the majority now is in favor of seeing change which will benefit the entire region rather than the needs of a few. Norfolk and Portsmouth should seek a merger thus creating a city of almost 350 thousand people and ensuring that Portsmouth's waterfront will get developed properly and eliminating the need for their waterfront city hall and jail. We could move all jail services from both cities to the regional jail location and creating a municipal complex in downtown Norfolk along with a new high-rise city hall which will house all employees. The school systems will more than likely improve as we can focus tax dollars more substance and less duplication of services. Light-rail would then service both waterfronts and we could focus on developing the Portsmouth waterfront to compliment Norfolk being that we are one and the same. The best part of the regionalization idea would be the increased media and national exposure we would benefit from. Louisville, Kentucky almost doubled it's population by annexing land as did Raliegh and Charlotte. We must grow somehow and this is the only way to do it since the state has laws the prevent discourages growth through annexation. Look at those cities now as compared to us.

Rocktop, now that's what I am talking about! Creative ideas thinking outside of the box with something for everyone to like. The question is, are you serious and have you spoken with anyone from the city to fly your ideas? I would think that your proposal would have to include the Coordish plan since they are apparently going to win the Waterside lottery. Is it possible to build your proposal and keep the Coordish plain intact? I also would like for Harvey Lindsay to develop his office tower and hotel if they are still interested. I look forward to hearing more about your ideas and hope that you will keep us informed.

Portsmouth's waterfront would be ideal for a Coordish project! I would love to see Portsmouth become a player and develop something to compliment Norfolk thus creating a bustling mega-district shared by two cities separated only by water. Now, a riverboat casino would be perfect somewhere perhaps in old Atlantic City.lol Seriously though, we need to do something since the state is willing to let our region sink or swim on our own. The city has a large chunk of money put aside for a conference center which may or may not be needed. If the city decides that a large convention center is not needed, why not build a large hotel with several floors for convention space and build a new arena with 20k seats for large concerts, NCAA regional sports, and possibly an NBA franchise. I know that a lot of these things has been discussed to death but I would hate to see the day that gave up all hope. I see a lot of promise with you guys and I hope that you never lose the hope and love for our region as I haven't.

Ok, If the Coordish company wins the Waterside project then do you think that Harvey Lindsay will still be interested in building the hotel and office tower downtown? I hope that city council members will offer them other options of development so we will continue to have a good relationship with the company. I can't imagine why the office tower can't still be on the table. I can understand about the convention center and hotel being on hold but since the city has money put aside for such a project, why not use those funds toward a new arena/convention complex near Harbor Park? I wouldn't be too disappointed if Harvey Lindsay chooses another location but I will be angry if we lose 1500 downtown workers and 2 high-rise towers because we can't find a reasonable alternative to offer them. I kinda wish that we could tear down the Royster building next to Norfolk Southern tower and build an iconic signature tower there. I have always thought that a signature tower in that location would make a huge impact on the impression of our downtown. If you put a 28 story office tower on the former Westin site along with a new signature tower on the Royster site, that would make for a very impressive downtown.

Zeppelin 14, I enjoy reading your posts but city council has m.embers of both parties and some members are self-serving. I am mostly talking about private citizens like tea-party members who like to organize and protest every Mistermetaj, I agree with most of what you said. I am much older than most of you up here and I have long heard rumors of Burfoot showing favoritism to his personal benefit but I disgress. I can't imagine anyone wanting to keep the projects in place in the SPQ when you have the opportunity to expand downtown. I am a black male and I used to have a brother who was a high ranking city official who would keep me informed on what plans the city for downtown Norfolk. Actually, he was interium Police chief for a year prior to Marquise joining the force.