mistermetaj

There has been silence on this project, and there has been silence from Burfoot. Ever since Burfoot was accused of bribery so his girlfriend could get a loan, he hasn't made a hint of noise about this project or really anything else. He was the big proponent of this project and was lobbying for it well before all the proposals were even announced. I have no doubt he made promises he couldn't keep to Cordish once his corruption was exposed. (Can you tell I'm not a big fan?) I hope this proposal fails and he gets blamed.

I hate this. Again, the cities are just building themselves further and further apart. Is there no land in DT Norfolk or VB Town Center for Dollar Tree to build? So now we'll have Town Center, Downtown Norfolk, and Chesapeake all trying to build an urban area, all small and barely significant. Great...

I think the timing is fine. A parking lot can always be built on one day. Town Center and the Pembroke area haven't come close to hitting critical mass. I think having pseudo-urban designs, such as the "urban" Wal-Mart goes a long way to bring the Town Center area to the critical mass point. It's a good step, similar to the rezoning of the Oceanfront.

Town Center is mutually exclusive from the oceanfront. In retrospect, maybe that is the problem. Had the city focused on creating a central business district at the Oceanfront rather than the intersection of Va Beach Blvd and Independence, then the Oceanfront would function year round and bring locals and tourists together.

If they re-establish the grid (was part of the original draft), that will be the most important part. As much as the city is giving concessions to those living in TG, they cannot control private market development, only the zoning of the area. At worse, they will tack on requirements like 10% of all new housing built in the area must be affordable. However, until the city improves the infrastructure of the SPQ, there won't be anything to see for a long time.

It looks like Thompson is holding the Cavalier ransom. If the city is going to pay torenovate it, why give Thompson the rest of the land to build on. I dont like anything about the deal.

There is such a huge influx of apartments coming to downtown right now. I hope they can fill them.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/05/va-beach-wanted-kings-got-played-pawns I am mad Im even commenting on his article but nothing disgusts me more than an opinion columnist like Rogwr Chelsey referring to a non southernor bringing a business here as a "carpetbagger". I guess for some the Civil War reconstruction era has not ended yet. He is such a pessimistic joke in all of his articles about new business ventures, just like Kerry Daugherty, but even she doesnt divide along the mason dixon line like this idiot. i am embarrased my local newspaper would print such a ridiculous comment.

I don't know why the city can't make a civil investment into the high line idea anyway. It's an urban park which would definitely fall under the city's jurisdiction.

I agree with you. That doesnt change the fact the city wanted to dump the property. They wete losing $1M a year maintaining it. Downtown Norfolk and the powerplant area in Baltimore are completely different situations. There is no comparison to make between them any more than comparing the Baltimore vs Philly development. The one in Philly is next to all the sports stadiums.

The city was looking for the quickest and cheapest way to get Waterside off their books. They found it with Cordish. Once the property changes ownership, the city wouldn't care if Cordish let it decay to rubble. This wasn't a competition for a project, it was a fire sale by the city. The only winner will be Burfoot who got his under-the-table money.

Went to better block. It was very nice and made a very good connection across Granby. I still don't think anyone will stay there until the projects are removed. They are too close. Norfolk needs to focus on that problem soon.

Obviously more details need to be released, but this does sound promising. It seems that Va Beach's planning around "strategic growth areas" is really a driving factor for lightrail placemeent. I do wonder how they feel Rosemont will be transformed since it's really a hodgepodge of shopping centers. Frankly, if they just extended this to town center it would be a plus. Ultimately, I hope this will give the city a chance to expedite lightrail to the oceanfront. I'm still waiting on the Kerry Daugherty piece which bashes the plan before details are even released. I'm sure she'll take her liberties attacking the former HRT CEO and talk about how incompetent city council is for even accepting the proposal. That and how John Moss is the savior of the city. Maybe DeSteph realized that the majority of the city does not feel his way, and a good politician represents his city. Or, maybe he just saw less tax money and just made a statement, not realizing he was supporting lightrail with his comment. I believe it's the latter.

I knew it! The way he was parading around and all but demanding Cordish receive their money from the city manager when he still wanted more time was enough for me. He was so transparent about it it's ridiculous. I have no doubt his bank account was filled with Cordish money. I am very curious to see where all of this goes. IF he did do what the article says, then he needs to be removed immediately from his position.

Tear down everything on the inside, but do not touch that dome. It is iconic and should be landmarked. It is the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world. It is iconic, and should be celebrated.

Truth be told, regardless of what City Council wants, it's all contingent on can the city attract business to Norfolk. I know they are on a residential building binge right now, but ultimately we need jobs. And we need jobs that aren't in the defense industry or government. If we want higher wages and bigger buildings, we need to attract banks or fortune 500 companies to move here. Now, that does beg the question, what attracts a large company to Norfolk (or Va Beach). Outside of tax incentives, I would have to assume quality of life. Now that includes cost of living, transportation, extracurricular activities, school systems, etc. Norfolk is making headway in transportation with light rail and the amtrak line. That is going to pay major dividends in expanding the city over time. The greater connectivity to other cities (DC especially) the more marketable the area is. However, our roads are awful and we only have one major highway running through to it. That is a hindrance. It would be fantastic if Route 17 became a highway so we didn't have to drive all the way out to Richmond on 64 to then turn north to DC on 95, but instead connect in Fredricsburg. The Norfolk public school system is also atrocious, so many people with children would think twice about coming here. South East Hampton Roads is also very expensive in the real estate market. For comparison, look at what $300,000 gets you in this area vs. Charlotte, NC. My point being, there are things well beyond the scope of what city council can do to make Norfolk a larger more vibrant city. They are taking progressive steps with what they have, but it will take a large company moving in (See BoA in Charlotte) and a great restructure of our infrastructure and interstate HW to alleviate the "cul de sac" issue we are dealing with to really lead to city and regional expansion. Norfolk city council seems more focused on quality of life, hence the art district, investment in schools, and some business ventures like Waterside which are also profitable.

A lot of council members and especially our deputy Mayor does not necessarily want Norfolk to become a large vibrant city. They want small neighborhoods connected to a small downtown that caters exclusively to the locals. That is why "neighborhood input" was so important for St. Paul's quadrant even though the "neighborhood" was subsidized housing. It's not everyone, but to say there's resistance to expanding the DT and Norfolk as a whole is an understatement. Don't forget the rampant racism and reverse racism at all levels of govt especially in Norfolk as well.

Yes, I know all about that. I have been going to NYC since I was a child (my whole family is there) and I lived in the east village (Stuytown) for 3 years up until last year. I have experienced subway car monologues, subway car mariachi bands, subway car a capella groups, drum groups, guys who were laid off and their wives and kids left them, break dancing gymnast, acrobats, crazy people who smelled, crazy people yell at me for not giving them money, one even yelled something antisemetic at me. I currently live between DC and Virginia Beach now depending on where my work needs me for long periods of time. You are right, there will always be problems with the homeless and panhandling. I can accept that with major cities, especially in the Northeast. However, downtown Norfolk is a much smaller city, and I think Norfolk can afford a police presence at all transit hubs to prevent those kinds of things. You can't redevelop blighted areas and try to attract new people when those kinds of things are happening. It will immediately turn off people who aren't experienced with it. Heck, I am experienced with it and I still hated what happened in Philly. In all my years living in NY and DC, it's the first time I felt almost threatened by someone begging for money by starting the conversation "I just got out of prison." Once Norfolk becomes a well established city like NY, DC, etc, then it can loosen restrictions on the homeless panhandling. Right now it is fighting against a stigma, and those things just add fuel to the fire.

I just don't like the fact they are already placing a superblock in St. Paul's quadrant after a big to do was made about reestablishing the street grid. This belongs at a large multimodal center near harbor park, not off st. pauls. Hopefully it will at least look nice. Also, with these kind of stations comes a very large group of undesirable homeless people who can make the whole experience awful. I hope Norfolk intends on having a police presence there 24/7. Remember, this will still be very close to the largest projects in Norfolk. I had to take a red eye train from Philadelphia's 34th St station to Union station a few months back. For those of you who haven't been to the station, it is a gorgeous station. However, while my friend and I were eating our breakfast, a man comes up to us, asks for money saying he just got out of prision and needs money to catch a bus. It DESTROYED our experience.

MLB has more games, bigger stadiums, and more seats to fill. We'll get an NBA team before we'll ever get a baseball team.

This project could be as revolutionary to the area as the arena. Putting VB on the map. Jenkins is the real deal.

Basically this will allow VB to build the arena without a sports team by issuing their own bonds. The only "aid" the state is providing is giving back taxes from the arena to pay back the debt. Its a good idea, Im glad it passed.

Unless you guys know something I don't, every idea from re-establishing the grid and building out office space to the renderings themselves have been very urban. Even the most recent plan posted, which I think they are going to adopt all show an urban setting. I wouldn't be too worried about another broad creek development. Even the recommended housing in the area are attached town homes, nothing detached or single family.

I know its expensive, but if they could begin with a complete re-establishment of the street grid in the area it would be a massive leap in the right direction. They would initially displace a few families and could figure out how to handle a complete relocation before an entire overhaul of the area takes place.

Love it. I hope they do it but it makes me wonder how plausible this all is with the projects so close by. I wish the city would move forward with eliminating them.