94 replies to this topic

[urbanfan]

News Channel three has a sky cam on top of Town Center I. Just thought I would post the link to it.  They have the camera pointed at the 11 story Marriot going up at City Center. You can watch daily progress of the Hotel being built. Enjoy!

http://www.wtkr.com/...73&nav=J7JwH0sJ

[urbanfan]

Just thought I'd give an update on the City Center project in Newport News.  Construction is ramping up and I have a few renderings of what is being built.  The marriot hotel is already starting it's fifth floor. enjoy.

This is a rendering of the Marriot Hotel which is currently under construction.  The convention center in the Center already has masonry up and steel in place.  The building to the right is not being built as of yet.



The Garage to the left is under construction and will be wrapped with retail on the ground levels.  The building to the right is One City Center which is currently under construction.



This rendering shows the retail district across from the garage and beside/behind One City Center.  The tall tower in the back is not under construction and is part of another phase.



This is another view of the retail district which is currently under construction.  The Garage in the background is the same as the one shown earlier.



This is the One City Center office building currently under construction.



Here are a few shots of buildings that are already built. I couldn't get a photo of the residential district buildings which some have already been built. (4 stories with ground level retail)  Also their are new buildings being built in the residential district which are currently under way.  And another set of buildings which should be under way soon.  I'll try to get photos of these projects.





Can't wait to see phase three with the new tower. B)

[vdogg]

Wow, the more i see of this project the more i like.

[wrldcoupe4]

Where are these projects located? In the actual 'city center'? If so I kind of have mixed feelings about it. While it seems like a great development that will bring more people and revenue into NN, the project seems to scream out suburbia so far, especially those office buildings and the hotel. I might be wrong. How do others feel about it?

[rusthebuss]

Why would you have mixed feelings, it fits in the area that its going in. This area is not like a typical metro area. There is 7 cities but Norfolk is the real urban core.

[rusthebuss]

urbanfan, on Apr 13 2005, 01:48 PM, said:

Just thought I'd give an update on the City Center project in Newport News.  Construction is ramping up and I have a few renderings of what is being built.  The marriot hotel is already starting it's fifth floor. enjoy.

This is a rendering of the Marriot Hotel which is currently under construction.  The convention center in the Center already has masonry up and steel in place.  The building to the right is not being built as of yet.



The Garage to the left is under construction and will be wrapped with retail on the ground levels.  The building to the right is One City Center which is currently under construction.



This rendering shows the retail district across from the garage and beside/behind One City Center.  The tall tower in the back is not under construction and is part of another phase.



This is another view of the retail district which is currently under construction.  The Garage in the background is the same as the one shown earlier.



This is the One City Center office building currently under construction.



Here are a few shots of buildings that are already built. I couldn't get a photo of the residential district buildings which some have already been built. (4 stories with ground level retail)  Also their are new buildings being built in the residential district which are currently under way.  And another set of buildings which should be under way soon.  I'll try to get photos of these projects.





Can't wait to see phase three with the new tower. B)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It looks great and its a good play by NNews. I hope it explodes just like VaBeach, i really think we have alot of room for all the cities to have developments like this one. Its great to see these improvements in Hampton Roads

Edited by rusthebuss, 13 April 2005 - 12:30 PM.

[urbanfan]

wrldcoupe4, on Apr 13 2005, 02:19 PM, said:

Where are these projects located? In the actual 'city center'? If so I kind of have mixed feelings about it. While it seems like a great development that will bring more people and revenue into NN, the project seems to scream out suburbia so far, especially those office buildings and the hotel. I might be wrong. How do others feel about it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Suburbia is residential home lots or retail with sprawling parking lots and driving 30 minutes to get to work.  What newport news is doing is creating an urban environment (not just skyscrapers).  Live, work play all in a cultural center.  That is how urban is defined.  While most cities have tall skyscrapers newport news is only interested in medium rise density for now. The point is to get rid of the sprawl and create and urban environment that people can rally around instead killing the little bit of land left.  Cities are not all defined by skyscrapers.  Look at washington D.C., the city without a skyline or annapolis, maryland.  Not much skyline but alot of density.  This is what Newport News is interested in.  Leave the tall buildings to the major city. (Norfolk)

[rusthebuss]

urbanfan, on Apr 13 2005, 02:29 PM, said:

Suburbia is residential home lots or retail with sprawling parking lots and driving 30 minutes to get to work.  What newport news is doing is creating an urban environment (not just skyscrapers).  Live, work play all in a cultural center.  That is how urban is defined.  While most cities have tall skyscrapers newport news is only interested in medium rise density for now. The point is to get rid of the sprawl and create and urban environment that people can rally around instead killing the little bit of land left.  Cities are not all defined by skyscrapers.  Look at washington D.C., the city without a skyline or annapolis, maryland.  Not much skyline but alot of density.  This is what Newport News is interested in.  Leave the tall buildings to the major city. (Norfolk)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I totally agree with you. I see this happening alot around this area because of the lack of land to develop. We are out of sprawling area now and have to condense some of the land we have available.

[wrldcoupe4]

fair enough, I'll have to see what the project looks when it is completed... I'll still say that the office buildings look eerily like something one would find in a suburban office park. Perhaps the context they are in makes it different.

[rusthebuss]

wrldcoupe4, on Apr 13 2005, 02:43 PM, said:

fair enough, I'll have to see what the project looks when it is completed... I'll still say that the office buildings look eerily like something one would find in a suburban office park. Perhaps the context they are in makes it different.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it technically is a suburb of Norfolk and they have a 23 story office building proposed for the area.

Edited by rusthebuss, 13 April 2005 - 12:47 PM.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

I drove by City Center the other day and there was a large billboard up that said something like "Condos at the Point" on it and had a picture of 5-7ish story apartments on the triangle-shaped block that sits between the existing apartments and Thimble Shoals Boulevard.  I thought that it was supposed to be the location of the retail anchor or something, but I guess the plans were changed to include condos above?  If anyone can find confirmation of that or any additional info on this, please let me know!

[okinawatyphoon]

UPDATE ON CITY CENTER:

NEWPORT NEWS — When Joseph Frank was young, Oyster Point was a swampland dotted with military munitions storage sheds that youngsters sneaked into for fun.

“They took the metal doors off and built fires,” said Frank, now the mayor of Newport News. “I don’t know what else you could do inside. I want to hasten to say, I was never there.”

Frank spends more time in Oyster Point these days, now that those storage units have been replaced by office buildings, restaurants and shops. The 700-acre area at the intersection of Interstate 64 and J. Clyde Morris Boulevard is ground zero for the city’s hopes to remake itself as a business and entertainment center on the Peninsula.

In doing so, the city might cut its vulnerability to the ebb and flow of its traditional economic driver, shipbuilding.

At the heart of this plan is the $350-million City Center at Oyster Point, a 52-acre mixed-use development. Some of its features:

- About 300,000 square feet of office space, with another 700,000 to come.

- Six hundred residences, with nearly 480 scheduled to be occupied by late 2006.

- A dining, entertainment and speciality shopping district.

- An eight-acre city park surrounding a large pond with a fountain.

- A 256-room Marriott hotel that will be adjoined to a 70,000-square-foot conference center.

With the nearby Jefferson Boulevard commercial corridor booming with big box retailers, the area has become the northern point in the triangle of Hampton Roads’ growing urban environments. The other points are the Virginia Beach Town Center development and the area’s granddaddy of urbanism, downtown Norfolk......
Resto Story and some pics

[PeninsulaKiddo]

Thanks Okinawatyphoon:)  I drove by the city center again a few days ago (again with little time to investigate) but I noticed that the condominium building in question is actually 4 floors with ground-floor retail.  The main difference between it and the Park Place Apartments is the look and the fact that the new building will be condos.  I'm a little disappointed that they won't incorporate a major retail anchor on that site, but condos will possibly draw in more money--and more customers for the other shops.

[rusthebuss]

I bet some more retail will come there once people move in and the demand for it comes with the people.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

rusthebuss, on May 1 2005, 11:26 AM, said:

I bet some more retail will come there once people move in and the demand for it comes with the people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I hope that City Center causes development on some of the old office lots nearby.  One story office buildings + urban = a no go.  They're good-sized lots, like the International Trade Center buildings, and they're in close proximity to City Center.  I think they hold a lot of potential for developing into City-Centy-esque projects and could really turn that section of Oyster Point into (as it's been touted before) "The Peninsula's Downtown".

[JohnnyCockfight]

PeninsulaKiddo, on Apr 29 2005, 07:31 PM, said:

I drove by City Center the other day and there was a large billboard up that said something like "Condos at the Point" on it and had a picture of 5-7ish story apartments on the triangle-shaped block that sits between the existing apartments and Thimble Shoals Boulevard.  I thought that it was supposed to be the location of the retail anchor or something, but I guess the plans were changed to include condos above?  If anyone can find confirmation of that or any additional info on this, please let me know!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kiddo--2 of the 4 phases of the apartments are built, with the remaining two to be built soon.

What hasn't been as well publicized are two different condo projects that will also be built in City Center soon.  I can't remember all of the details, but know that one of the condo projects is going to be somehow related to the hotel, so that its residents can take advantage of the valet, gym, parking spaces, etc. that are connected with the hotel...I don't know whether they are being built on top of the hotel or not.  I'll try to find out the details sometime soon and report back.

The area from Oyster Point extended on over to Christopher Newport University is where all of the money in this city is being devoted.

I really wish they would throw the restaurants & bars up next, because the area is definitely lacking a good night life.  That's the part of the deal that the Town Center in Virginia Beach got right.

[rusthebuss]

I wonder what that 23 story building is going to be?

[PeninsulaKiddo]

rusthebuss, on May 1 2005, 06:30 PM, said:

I wonder what that 23 story building is going to be?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Judging from the renderings I've seen, I'd say it's the office building directly opposite from the existing 10 story office building across from the Hotel.  23 story will be a little out of scale to the rest of the development, but maybe it'll spur more of that size?  

Oh, and about restaurants/bars, I totally agree.  I like that TC is developing some sort of "Restaurant district" and I think something along those lines would be good for Oyster Point.  If they're going to form a downtown they need nightlife to keep it going 24/7.

[vdogg]

PeninsulaKiddo, on May 2 2005, 03:13 PM, said:

  23 story will be a little out of scale to the rest of the development, but maybe it'll spur more of that size? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was a little out of scale for Virginia Beach too and look whats happening now   .

[PeninsulaKiddo]

vdogg, on May 2 2005, 01:48 PM, said:

It was a little out of scale for Virginia Beach too and look whats happening now  .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That thought made me smile haha.  LORD do we need some "real" buildings in this area (I live about 10 min away).  It'll really bring about a fundamental change on the Peninsula (and take away the "Peninsula's Tallest" title from those hideous apartment towers in the old downtown Newport News).