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Norfolk Development

vdogg

By vdogg
in Norfolk

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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I have a bunch of large pictures packed away of what Norfolk's streets use to look like.  If they never tore down anything where MacAuthur mall sits now they would have a downtown that would compare to Portland's.  They use to even have a busy farmer's market in that area.

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It's kinda sad that they did all that. It really set downtown back by decades.

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rusthebuss Metropolis

rusthebuss

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INSIDER NEWS

Taylor charts new direction: real estate development

By Philip Newswanger

Inside Business - Hampton Roads

Monday May 30, 2005

The groundbreaking for a 65,000-square-foot office and flex building in Central Business Park in Norfolk signaled a new direction for the Taylor Cos., a warehousing and distribution firm whose creation dates back more than 100 years.

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rusthebuss Metropolis

rusthebuss

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INSIDER NEWS

Tax credits fuel Ocean View project

By Philip Newswanger

Inside Business - Hampton Roads

Monday May 30, 2005

Three years after the federal government announced its intent to stimulate investment in high poverty areas through tax credits, some deals are beginning to coalesce as more investors become aware of the financially attractive program.

A subsidiary of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Hampton Roads Ventures, has closed its second deal using these tax credits, known as

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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I hope that you are right but it might be just another 25 story tower and I also think it will depend on if private money will pay for the tower as well.

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25 stories is good. We've already wratcheted up the height a bit, now we need to bulk up the skyline. I don't mind if Granby remains the tallest downtown for 2 or so years. Something will be along soon after that to take its place i'm sure.

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PeninsulaKiddo Burg

PeninsulaKiddo

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DT is sizzzzling! And all of it (or almost) is private businesses that are driving this well oiled machine. Awesome news.

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:D Aside from the Courts Complex, the city isn't paying much at all, which is FANTABULOUSITYNESS news. And I made that word up.

For a long time I had questions about the validity of Norfolk's "comeback"... it's had an up and down past, but it's good to see that it's made major progress and it's showing ZERO signs of slowing down.

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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yeah that bank article is great! Norfolk is definitely the business and banking center of hampton roads, and this reaffirms it.

Oh yeah, and Dominion tower will once again get a new name on it! haha. The last time I saw it, it had First Union on it!  :lol:

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I don't care whos name is on it just as long as someone is filling that sucker up! :lol:

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rusthebuss Metropolis

rusthebuss

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yeah that bank article is great! Norfolk is definitely the business and banking center of hampton roads, and this reaffirms it.

Oh yeah, and Dominion tower will once again get a new name on it! haha. The last time I saw it, it had First Union on it!  :lol:

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It had Wachovia on it and i guess they will take over the building for the most part.

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Glassoul Whistle-Stop

Glassoul

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Yeah, it still don't work and probably never will. The only way to make this thing work is to basically get rid of Tony Morris and company and get ready to pour a ton of money into this to make it work. It's true that the technology DOES exists overseas, but they have been working on it for roughly 50 years and have spent billions on research. But in the end, even if you make the thing work, light rail is still the way to go because it cost WAY more to make a train car elevate than it does to make it roll. I think the only option is for ODU, since they have a track already, is to turn the existing track and car into a monorail type system. 

They did get more funding, but from what I've read it was just to work out the bugs not completely finish the project. My company works on transit systems and after talking with some knowledgeable people about this project. I've found that a LOT more money is needed to complete this project. Way more than they're estimating. Money that the Feds. are not going to give up easily just for experimental purposes. Because that's what this basically is, an experiment just to see if they can make it work. The Feds. have in the past funded such projects like the people mover in Morgantown W.Va., but those worked. Look at it this way, Norfolk has yet to convince the Feds. to give them the money for their light rail starter line. And the rider ship estimate numbers for Norfolk's is way more than the one at ODU and they still don't have the money.

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Agree with you about getting rid of Tony Morris. But it is HIS company, though I doubt he even has the money to tear the thing down now. However, with regard to overseas, the Maglev system that is in use in China for example, is about 5 times as expensive per mile than what they were/are trying to do at ODU. At that price, it is not a practical solution for transportation needs, unless you're a communist government and you just decide to spend $1 billion because you want it.

I also read that there was quite a bit of criticism about Mr. Morris' design from the engineering community, including the civil servant at the federal level in charge of developing this technology. The federal government gives billions of dollars each year to "experiments", they're called grants. And more often than not, the experiments yield no practical results. I wish someone like Lockheed Martin or Dominion Resources would just buy the company out, and work on it themselves. And a John Carmack wouldn't hurt either. ;)

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urbanfan Hamlet

urbanfan

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This is very good news, and just one more thing i have to add to the projects listing. I actually have a backlog now  :D .

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I'ts about time that buidling got ripped down. I consider crossing the bridge as being in 'Downtown'. The first thing you saw was that awful building. Not exactly the type of stuff you want to see as you drive into a downtown area. This is very good news. I'm sure the property will not last long at all. Could be a mixed use condo/boating dock area. Who knows. But this is just another testament to the revitalization of Norfolk. :D

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Former Resident of HR Hamlet

Former Resident of HR

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Wow so I guess that when it rains it pours with development news! I am happy that the Riverview thing is official.

On a slightly different note, I was in Chesapeake the other evening and decided to poke around their library (probably the nicest non-university one in Hampton Roads). In their historical room they have a few Carol Walker books with old Norfolk pictures. OMG!

Norfolk OBLITERATED the city center in such a short time it is amazing. You would think that we were blitzed during WWII or something! Most of the architechture that replaced what was lost was 60's styled crap (Civic Center, Kirn Library, etc) and PARKING LOTS!!!!!. I know that the housing projects were built to replace really awful slums, which I can apprecaite but everything else from Granby to 264 (except a few historic churches and houses) was wiped clean off the map. What a shame.

If any of you have the chance to go take a look at any Carol Walker books (or buy them) I would highly suggest it. Then you can understand why people were up in arms to save Blair MS and "the Beehive" that they are tearing down in Ghent.

At least now the stuff that is going up downtown is nice and makes a good effort to blend in. It is equally amazing to see that after sitting dormant for 30 years, the CBD has completely done another 180 in 7-8 years.

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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Yeah I have seen a few pics of DT that were old and I wanted to cry. I think it was called Hotel Norfolk and I think it was on Granby and it was HUGE!! Looked to be quite an ornate place. I agree it is a shame that they tore so much down. Luckily they do have some older buildings left though.

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baobabs727 Burg

baobabs727

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Yeah I have seen a few pics of DT that were old and I wanted to cry. I think it was called Hotel Norfolk and I think it was on Granby and it was HUGE!! Looked to be quite an ornate place. I agree it is a shame that they tore so much down. Luckily they do have some older buildings left though.

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Sad. It was a beautiful building from pics I've seen. I just hope that the Union Mission building is treated with more respect! I understand that Mr. Gadams is interested (he'll have to stand in line!) in renovating the structure for condominium living.

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