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Va. Beach Towncenter project

vdogg

By vdogg
in Virginia Beach

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Region's tallest building planned at Town Center

An artist's rendering of the proposed 30- to 32-story hotel/condominium building at Town Center in Virginia Beach. COURTESY OF BRENNAN BEER GORMAN ARCHITECTS

towncentera.jpg

By MARISA TAYLOR, The Virginian-Pilot

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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I was outside today taking a few pics in the community so I decided to take a few new pics of the Town Center. As you can see, the Cosmopolitan is still being applied the outer cladding as well as bricking at the bottom which is the retail level. I believe the bottom retail and perhaps some housing is slated to be ready by this fall.

DSC02059.jpg

DSC02057.jpg

If you take a hard look on the extreme right middle edge of the picture you will see a tree. That is the lot where the residences at town center/westin will be. Cmon, we want 40 stories!! :D

DSC02055.jpg

DSC02058.jpg

This building behind the Cheesecake looks about ready for a new tenant. :)

DSC02056.jpg

More to come soon!

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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yeah, same here. I think it is the same but I will check tomorrow. Did you notice the website is now called (at the top) Residences at Town Center instead of Residences at Westin? interesting....

Very nice pics. It'll look really nice once the Westin is added to the mix. Btw, Have they changed the sign for the Westin to the new rendering yet? The last time i checked they still had the old rendering up.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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yeah, same here. I think it is the same but I will check tomorrow. Did you notice the website is now called (at the top) Residences at Town Center instead of Residences at Westin? interesting....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, i was curious about the name change as well. Probably a marketing ploy to bring more attention to the towncenter development as a whole instead of just the Westin Hotel chain, which doesn't really need any more publicity (they already have a firmly established reputation).

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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I tried to save the new picture to post but no luck. I tried to save it on photobucket but I got an error. Even tried saving it with Word.

Yes, i was curious about the name change as well. Probably a marketing ploy to bring more attention to the towncenter development  as a whole instead of just the Westin Hotel  chain, which doesn't really need any more publicity (they already have a firmly established reputation).

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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I tried to save the new picture to post but no luck. I tried to save it on photobucket but I got an error. Even tried saving it with Word.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Been there, done that. They probably got some anti-hotlinking thing going on (do you think us hotlinking to the original site is what crashed it for so long?

:unsure:

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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Well, my printer is outta ink but I have to buy some anyway so I will just print it out and then scan it online for everyone to see. ;)

Been there, done that. They probably got some anti-hotlinking thing going on (do you think us hotlinking to the original site is what crashed it for so long?

:unsure:

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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Well I have good news and bad news. Good news first, I found this link http://www.vbgov.com/dept/planning/vgn_files/policy_ch2.pdf

To the city's master plan (created in 2003 and updated 12/20/04) with never before seen renderings of what the city plans to do with pembroke and the surrounding areas. (pay particular attention to pages 14 and 15, i think you'll like what you read :D ).

Now for the bad news

I found this excerpt in the city zoning code:

Within the B-3A Pembroke Central Business Core District, the minimum buildingheight shall be thirty-five (35) feet and the maximum buildingheight shall be four hundred (400) feet. In the B-4C Central Business Mixed Use District, minimum building height shall be thirty-five (35) feet and the maximum buildingheight shall be two hundred (200) feet.

(e) Notwithstanding the above, no building or other structure shall exceed the heightlimit established by section 202(B) regarding air navigation

^^^^This is the zoning sector that the Westin is in and therefore the Westin is not likely to exceed 400 ft (it will probably be exactly 400) without out a council approved variance (i.e. won't beat the James Monroe tower).

Now for more good news:

This is a council impossed height limit that has nothing to do with military or FAA flight paths (there are no restrictions due to either of those entities in that area). This limit exist solely to ensure that the surrounding area is not overwhelmed by some gargantuan tower before the area has a chance to fill in.

The area to the west and north is zoned B3 Central Business District and has no height limit. To the west of Towncenter is where a mirror development has been proposed for the HQ property. To the North is the pembroke parking lot. An office tower is supposedly being developed for the property where suntrust bank sits. Their lease runs out at the end of this year and once that tower is built it will be connected across Virginia Beach Blvd to the rest of Towncenter via a pedestrian bridge.

The B4C district is where cityview is going and as you can see above there is a 200ft height limit. In this case i agree with this limit because you want to step the skyline up towards downtown. Once there is more infill, all of these limits are likely to be relaxed seeing as they are self -imposed. Keep in mind that Downtown Norfolk has no height limit period so the Westin is not likely to hold the title for very long.

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Former Resident of HR Hamlet

Former Resident of HR

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I have a few questions about the Town Center/Pembroke area in general:

1) What can we expect to see vanishing soon (ie. Pizza Hut building, HQ, Kroger, that BX flea market/dungeon...) and what else is coming?

2) I heard that Barnes and Noble was supposed to move to the TC and be replaced by Old Navy or something... That B&N is so old and it's very crowded every time that I go in there...

3) When are some pedestrian bridges going over the blvd? It's very pedestrian unfriendly...

4) Are there plans to renovate/tear down the theater and strip mall where Columbus Theater/Bed Bath and Beyond etc. all sit? That area is going down hill quickly.

5) And the same goes for the dumpy area where KMart now sits. Yuck. Are there any plans for anything, even a renovation or "Sears Grand"?

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ace707 Hamlet

ace707

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I have a few questions about the Town Center/Pembroke area in general:

1) What can we expect to see vanishing soon (ie. Pizza Hut building, HQ, Kroger, that BX flea market/dungeon...) and what else is coming?

2) I heard that Barnes and Noble was supposed to move to the TC and be replaced by Old Navy or something... That B&N is so old and it's very crowded every time that I go in there...

3) When are some pedestrian bridges going over the blvd?  It's very pedestrian unfriendly...

4) Are there plans to renovate/tear down the theater and strip mall where Columbus Theater/Bed Bath and Beyond etc. all sit?  That area is going down hill quickly.

5) And the same goes for the dumpy area where KMart now sits.  Yuck.  Are there any plans for anything, even a renovation or "Sears Grand"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The only solid news i know is that the pizza hut should be renovated to fit with Town Center and the shopping center with Planet Music, Bed Bath Beyond and the movie theaters are already considered part of Town Center. I know work on refurbishments for those areas around TC are being planned but I don't think they have plans of buildings over 10 stories on those. I think they plan to add small offices, re-done shopping centers and some residential on properties. Still, better to renovate than to leave them looking abandoned

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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The only solid news i know is that the pizza hut should be renovated to fit with Town Center and the shopping center with Planet Music, Bed Bath Beyond and the movie theaters are already considered part of Town Center. I know work on refurbishments for those areas around TC are being planned but I don't think they have plans of buildings over 10 stories on those. I think they plan to add small offices, re-done shopping centers and some residential on properties. Still, better to renovate than to leave them looking abandoned

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a 12 story building that is going in the pembroke office park. The HQ property is going to be developed into a development that mirrors towncenter. That is in the very early design phases but is supposed to include some highrises. There is supposed to be a highrise that goes directly across from towncenter where suntrust is. Suntrust lease is not up til the end of this year. When that lease is up there will be a walkway connected from the new building to towncenter across virginia beach blvd. I have yet to hear of any plans mentioned for the Kmart property.

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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The old Pizza Hut is about gone, just a skeleton by now. I have seen a sign out front about a vitamin store but I am not sure what else. Yeah, and I agree about the B&N. I have written them several times about the crowded cafe with no where to sit. I really can't believe they would do nothing especially with all the new construction going on and the amount of business that they do. You notice they have not done much to the building in the last few years except new carpeting and a customer service center towards the back. I would not at all be surprised to hear they want to be in the Town Center. I do wonder where at though. I was thinking most businesses going in were like small shops and B&N is a pretty big store. Oh and Kmart's time is numbered here for sure. With the great likelyhood of Target and some other big box stores dying to come to Pembroke I wouldn't be surprised if they raze that whole strip center. And the Columbus 8 just got stadium seating in all theaters (this per the sign.)

I have a few questions about the Town Center/Pembroke area in general:

1) What can we expect to see vanishing soon (ie. Pizza Hut building, HQ, Kroger, that BX flea market/dungeon...) and what else is coming?

2) I heard that Barnes and Noble was supposed to move to the TC and be replaced by Old Navy or something... That B&N is so old and it's very crowded every time that I go in there...

3) When are some pedestrian bridges going over the blvd?  It's very pedestrian unfriendly...

4) Are there plans to renovate/tear down the theater and strip mall where Columbus Theater/Bed Bath and Beyond etc. all sit?  That area is going down hill quickly.

5) And the same goes for the dumpy area where KMart now sits.  Yuck.  Are there any plans for anything, even a renovation or "Sears Grand"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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vdogg Megalopolis

vdogg

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With the great likelyhood of Target and some other big box stores dying to come to Pembroke I wouldn't be surprised if they raze that whole strip center. And the Columbus 8 just got stadium seating in all theaters (this per the sign.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I will pray that this does not happen. Adding big box retailers to the area will absolutely kill all the progress they've made. I hope for our sake they are not seriously thinking of allowing this.

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urbanvb City

urbanvb

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I will pray that this does not happen. Adding big box retailers to the area will absolutely kill all the progress they've made. I hope for our sake they are not seriously thinking of allowing this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well I believe this would be in an urban context, kinda like this

target03.jpg

or this

2056.jpg

I live in Pembroke and our choices locally for shopping are pretty pathetic right now. The only thing is our disposal is the Big Kmart on Constitution which is quite old. Actually, I could see that whole plaza being torn down at some point. We definitely need some new retailers around though they don't wouldn't have to be directly in the TC area.

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