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Westin at Towncenter Progress

ToweringTurtle

By ToweringTurtle
in Virginia Beach

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rusthebuss Metropolis

rusthebuss

Posted
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lol so much for affordable condos in this thing

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All of the condos in dt Norfolk and TC in vabeach has always been leaning towards the high end. Real Estate is alot more expensive here than in Richmond. My wife looked at houses up there and then compared them to here and real estate is alot higher here.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Hey Guys  I have been in Vegas and just drove by the Westin site...HUGELY TALL Pile drivers workin full time :D

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Yeah, it looks like they were busy driving piles again today. This time they were at the very edge of the lot (hence why they erected that new fence). I know they're probably still testing, but it feels really good to see this project move from the dream state to something a bit more tangible. I always sweat a major project until the day i actually see work start to happen. It's a relief seeing this go on because now there is nothing stopping this project.

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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Today I went out and took a few pics of the Westin site. As stated they have started driving some pilings. I can hear em being driven from my living room.

DSC02362.jpg

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Also, I just found out that my cousin will be a sales manager for the Westin office. I don't have all the particulars as I only talked to her mother but she will be over here by September. I believe she said they have to build her office. Hopefully, she will provide us some great inside info. :thumbsup::whistling:

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Yeah, they're still testing I guess. I wonder if they're gonna clear that site off and move all those containers to the empty patch of land in the background. Only part of that site is for the Performing Arts center so it would make a good staging area. Speaking of the Performing arts center, what gives? They haven't done a lick of work on that site and groundbreaking was well over a month ago. In fact, it would appear that they have done far more work for the Westin (which I don't mind :) ).

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Westin permit

The above links to a pdf about a matter going before council next week (info on Westin starts on page 79). This will be the final approval process for the Westin. In it it list the height to top of spire as 497ft which is 11ft shorter than what was previously mentioned and list the structure as 36 floors (the # of condos has not decreased and is still 120) not 37 which may account for this 11ft . This may be a minor discrepancy as the paper work was drawn up before the newspaper announcement (The plans were submitted 3/28/05 but the article was 6/8/05 and these plans still list the hotel portion at 216 rooms which we know to be innaccurate cause the hotel portion is 236. I'm fairly confident this is still 508 feet). Also it mentions the 400ft height limit in the CBD. This I will quote directly from the document for accuracy "The proposed building design is contemporary, complimenting the existing buildings in Town Center. The height of the building, as reported to staff, is 497 feet (to top of spire). This height exceeds the maximum height limit allowed in the B-3A Pembroke Central Business Core District, which is 400ft. An amendemt to the City Zoning Ordinance is forthcoming, which will propose allowing building heights in the B-3A District such as that planned for this building."

Couple of things, I don't think this has been scaled back to 36 stories but if it has all Granby really has to do is sneeze to beat it. Also, we finally know what happened to that mythical height limit. It appears that council alters the zoning regs on a building by building basis. If a 600ft tower comes through tommorrow, they'll probably alter the regs to fit that one. Case by case is really the way to go IMO anyway. All this being said this matter was not supposed to be before council until August which means to me that they've probably moved up the construction timetable (hence why they're already driving test piles). To me this is very good news, I can't wait til they really get underway.

Actually I remember reading that the 37th floor would be a lounge area for the residents, so saying that the dwellings are on floors 17 through 36 may still be accurate.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Just like the roads my friend they take their sweet time and they might be waiting for materials. Its a low rise building so i imagine no piles driven for that building

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388 Boush is just as lowrise and they drove plenty of piles for that. It has to do more with the mass and weight of a building than it does the height when it comes to having to stabilize the foundation. They will probably be driving piles for this one as well.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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The Westin goes up for final approval today. The portion under discussion will be the conditional use permit for the 120 condos on top of the tower. The meeting will be taped and should be online by tommorrow and when it is I'll post a link here. The only other vote will be the approval of funds for the garage sometime later next month but that is a mere formality. The important vote is tonight as it finalizes all aspects of the tower. As they are already driving test piles, I assume they wouldn't be spending all that money if they weren't reasonably assured that the project will pass.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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The Westin has been approved, but with some objections.

Westin approval

Looks like construction is to begin in earnest on this project. The vote wasn't unanimous this time with 2 council members citing safety concerns. Bob Dyer surprised me but Reba Mclannon has always been pretty anti-development so her vote was consistent.

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PeninsulaKiddo Burg

PeninsulaKiddo

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The Westin has been approved, but with some objections.

Westin approval

Looks like construction is to begin in earnest on this project. The vote wasn't unanimous this time with 2 council members citing safety concerns. Bob Dyer surprised me but Reba Mclannon has always been pretty anti-development so her vote was consistent.

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Reba's getting on my nerves, frankly, and I've never even met the woman. It seems like every development, no matter how large or small, she always says "I don't believe it's right for the community" or "I haven't seen enough information on the project" which is usually bull as-is.

If she's going to represent a city of 1/2 million she needs to buck up and realize that it's a big city with a lot of new and coming interest. She should go be a mayor/representative of Roanoke or Staunton or something. Maybe Poquoson, but not a major, rapidly-growing city.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Reba's getting on my nerves, frankly, and I've never even met the woman.  It seems like every development, no matter how large or small, she always says "I don't believe it's right for the community" or "I haven't seen enough information on the project" which is usually bull as-is.

If she's going to represent a city of 1/2 million she needs to buck up and realize that it's a big city with a lot of new and coming interest.  She should go be a mayor/representative of Roanoke or Staunton or something.  Maybe Poquoson, but not a major, rapidly-growing city.

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Yes, i feel the same way. She is not a bad council member, I just think her talents would be better spent in a small town or community rather than a growing urban center.

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urbanlife Town

urbanlife

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They will probably need to address the fire issue soon however because if not the next tower will face far more opposition than this one.

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Instead of being anti development Dyer needs to start fighting to get a police and fire staion close to the town center. gee that only makes complete sense over trying to hinder development.

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PeninsulaKiddo Burg

PeninsulaKiddo

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Instead of being anti development Dyer needs to start fighting to get a police and fire staion close to the town center.  gee that only makes complete sense over trying to hinder development.

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I read an article about Loudon County where the new county reps are somewhat pro-development. The past concil members were vehemently anti-developers and therefore the developers bypassed the laws, built crappy projects, and contributed zero money to town improvements. If Dyer and McClannon got support for a fire/police complex in the vicinity and RAISED SALARIES then maybe there would be adequate protection, no? Hopefully they'll get it into their heads that with a little prodding they can convince the developers to contribute money for these services and higher-quality projects will happen. These developments are going to happen anyway, so why not get as much out of them as possible?

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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Ya know I was thinking the city was trying to locate a site to build a larger fire station for this area but I could be wrong. Also, I wonder does the city have a ladder truck tall enough should a fire erupt in a large building such as the AH Tower... :unsure:

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Ya know I was thinking the city was trying to locate a site to build a larger fire station for this area but I could be wrong. Also, I wonder does the city have a ladder truck tall enough should a fire erupt in a large building such as the AH Tower...  :unsure:

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There is no ladder truck period that is tall enough to reach the top of a 37 story building (They only go about 13 stories high). Firefighters have to be trained specifically on how to handle highrise fires, sometimes even special teams are formed.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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I thought those piles were just for the sales building or something..??.. :blink:  Someone help me please hahaha..

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The sales building won't be anywhere near that location. That entire plot of land is soley for the Westin and its foundation. The sales office won't even start construction until fall and won't be finished until winter. Needless to say, that would be a pretty bad a** sales office if you have to drive piles for it :lol: .

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