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Member of the Planning Commission here. We have not made a recommendation at all on Food Trucks, yet. Planning Department staff are the ones making the recommendations that you see in the newspaper. Staff will make a recommendation to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission meets this Thursday to discuss and vote on the proposed regulations for food trucks. We would love to see you and hear from you at the meeting. The meeting is at 6pm on the 10th floor of City Hall.

I was able to get Mayor Fraim's opinion on this and I tend to agree with him. He preferred that we stay with the Mets and his reasoning was marketing. Apparently during Mets games they do an update on how the farm teams are doing and mention Norfolk quite often. Combining the Tides affiliation with New York and the Admirals affiliation with Chicago, Norfolk was getting its name mentioned in stadiums and newspapers in two of the country's largest metropolitan areas. If the Tides do align with a team other than the Mets, I don't think it will be the end of the world. As far as attendance and support for the Tides locally, I don't plan on seeing much of a change. Harbor Park really is a gem and it is still the best place to catch professional sports in this area.

They are applying for their special use permit from the city. You can see the full document here: Link It lists the proponents as: Thomas Retnaver Hiren Patel

Seven's will include: Basement: 2700sq feet, bar area, 25 seats for patrons First floor: 2600sq feet, small bar, 42 seats for patrons Second floor: 2700sq feet, pool table, 540sq foot dance floor Third floor: 2700sq feet, 541sq foot dance floor, VIP lounge with 18 seats Total capacity = 325 people. DJ's and live bands will be allowed. This is the location:

Actually the company that originally partnered with ODU to build the maglev first approached Virginia Tech about building the maglev in blacksburg. Tech turned them down because they didn't believe that a maglev would fit in with the more rural blacksburg campus.

From what I have heard, the hotel sale goes through this fall and the hotel is still scheduled for renovations beginning in november. As a side note, I stayed in the Sheraton on harborfest weekend and I was dissapointed with the shape of the rooms. The rugs were stained and fraying at the seams, the ceilings had multiple patches, and every balcony door has been screwed shut. Some of those upper floor balcony suites are listed at over $400 per night and they don't even get to use their balcony! I'd say some changes are in order at the Sheraton.

I found this website today and it is a pretty excellent description of the light rail project. http://www.geocities.com/greg_vassilakos/n...norfolk_lrt.htm

Those pictures don't do Harbor's Edge justice. I think that building has turned into one of the best looking buildings in Norfolk.

Something will happen soon with the library. Remember, the city is on board with the light rail and for light rail to be installed, that building has to come down.

I agree. "The Greater <insert any Hampton Roads City name here> area" would be more effective as a regional moniker than "Hampton Roads". People around the country do not identify Hampton Roads as a place because our own residents dont identify it as a place. When Hampton Roads residents travel outside of the area they do not introduce themselves as being from "Hampton Roads". And the family members that Hampton Roads citizens go on vacation to visit don't tell their friends that they have cousins who live in "Hampton Roads". Instead, they tell their friends that they have relatives from <insert Hampton Roads city name here>. And word of mouth is the best advertising you can get. No one says "I am going on vacation in Hampton Roads" or "Remember beach week in Hampton Roads" or "lets go partying on Granby Street in Hampton Roads." So yes, "Hampton Roads" is a great compromise for residents within our area so we don't have to fight over whether we should be called Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, etc. But the compromise hurts us in the long run. We are a place with too many names.

From the Supplement to the Mayor's State of the City address: I am sorry that it came out so blurry.

From the Supplement to the Mayor's State of the City address:

From the Supplement to the Mayor's State of the City address:

From the Mayor's State of the City address Supplement: "A Fort Norfolk landmark is under development, soon to be known as "Ghent South Towers", a 24-story complex at its highest point comprised of medical office, residential condominiums, amenities and retail in a building with an innovative design, marking the gateway to Fort Norfolk and Downtown. Plans are for two towers. The office medical tower includes a story each for retail, a conference facility and a health club in addition to 7 stories for medical offices above 6 stories of parking. The residential tower will have 118 units, approximately 200,000 net square feet, and rise 18 stories above parking."

I agree in that the name should reflect Fort Norfolk in some way. I would guess the reason for the south Ghent name would be because he wants to link it with the rest of the medical complex which is generally considered to be located in Ghent, not Fort Norfolk.

Does anyone think the other area cities have the money/resources/need to join the light rail club? I don't think that Portsmouth has the finances to invest in light rail. I don't think that Chesapeake is dense enough yet nor are they willing to spend the money on light rail. Virginia Beach certainly has the money, and I believe that they have the density. I think they are ready and should connect to light rail. Newport News/Hampton probably is a viable option as far as density/need but a link across the water is certainly an expensive idea. Thoughts?

Here are a couple shots looking down Main St.

I know that Rent is coming. But there are more. Check out http://www.sevenvenues.com/

From the article, emphasis added: Chesapeake and Norfolk leaders stress the cities are not in competition with each other. In fact, new jobs in Norfolk often go to workers who live outside of the city limits. Chesapeake

Here is another tidbit from downtownnorfolk.org: Byrd & Baldwin Brooke Avenue Originally home to Byrd & Baldwin Brothers offices, this elegantly detailed turn of the century building will undergo an adaptive reuse. The ground floor will house a new restaurant with a condominium on the upper floor. A new penthouse will access a roof top patio. Project Cost: Not available. For further information, contact S-K Development at (757) 544-5757. And here is some more information from historicnorfolk.org (which seems to be a non-working website at the moment): Architectural Description: This two-story yellow brick building uses terra cotta detailing to produce a handsome example of Beaux Arts style architecture. The facade is divided into three bays by four, tall, engaged Ionic columns. The central entrance is framed by an elaborate aedicule doorway with a flat, heavy lintel supporting a cartouche. Wreaths appear around the brackets which support the lintel. All of the tall windows have scrolled keystones and flat arches. The full entablature has the name

BYRD AND BALDWIN BROTHERS STEAKHOUSE, for the following applications on property fronting 30 feet, more or less, along the northern line of Brooke Avenue beginning 165 feet, more or less, west of Granby Street and extending westwardly; premises numbered at 116 Brooke Avenue: Approved a. An adult use special exception to operate an eating and drinking establishment b. An adult use special exception to operate an establishment for the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption And right next door: ST. ELMO

A synopsis of the article: The Clarion hotel (325 Granby Street) has been sold to Eric Menden and George Hranowskyj (Norfolk Property Development) who are the current owners of the Wainwright building. The hotel will cease operations on January 20th and the new owners plan to turn the hotel into 45 condominium units. The units will be about 3,000 square feet each and will cost 300 to 450k. There will be two penthouse suites which will go for $1M+. The lobby of the hotel will be retail/dining with a restaurant and an ice cream parlor mentioned as possible tenants leaving a third area open for another tenant. The general manager of the Sheraton (Waterside) is quoted as saying that condominiums can offset the constructing cost of building a hotel and that the Sheraton is in a great geographic location for such a concept but there are NO plans for condos at the Sheraton. He did say that the hotel rooms will be getting a makeover starting in November.

California Pizza Kitchen will be opening any day now at MacArthur.

Yes.