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Next in Norfolk


Greekboy80

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It's the only way to get large stores into downtown.  I doubt a big box like Target or Lowe's would be involved (just too large), but stores like Best Buy, B&N, BB&B, Office Depot, etc. have no other options DT if they want a full service store.  They could be involved in a high-rise development but one retailer would take the entire ground floor.  Economics doesn't justify a stand-alone.  Putting them together provides a combined draw.  If you live in Cpeake and you want a book, you can go to your B&N.  But if you're in DT for work, shopping, or whatever, a power center could draw you over to buy that book or DVD player.  And the power center wouldn't just be for DT residents.  It's for everyone living in west and north Norfolk unless someone wants to redevelop the mess that is Ward's Corner.

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They are planning on redoing the Ward's Corner area with outdoor cafe's and such and more urban housing in that area too!

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They are planning on redoing the Ward's Corner area with outdoor cafe's and such and more urban housing in that area too!

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Thank God. When I went to one of the bookstores there in July I caused two 3-car pile-ups trying to navigate the dysfunctional parking lots and streets. And to top it off, Andy Fox chased me down. It's ok, though. I hit him over the head with his mic. Anyway, do those plans include spaces for larger retailers or will it be geared more towards the mom&pop stores that are there now?

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Does anybody have a link to one of these "Power Centers?"  I get the concept, but would like to have a visual of one of these structures in my head.

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Yeah I too would like to see a pic of what these structures look like. I would hope that things like this would be successful in our area! I'm hoping that we have additional condo towers that have good height to them are going to be announced!

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Thank God.  When I went to one of the bookstores there in July I caused two 3-car pile-ups trying to navigate the dysfunctional parking lots and streets.  And to top it off, Andy Fox chased me down.  It's ok, though.  I hit him over the head with his mic.  Anyway, do those plans include spaces for larger retailers or will it be geared more towards the mom&pop stores that are there now?

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They showed the meeting of it at Granby H.S. auditorium on Norfolk Neighborhood Network. They have plans on working on Tiitus Town too. They were trying to attract a possible hotel in the area with a little bit of height on it. They were trying to make the roads more walkable and it looked really nice. There is a Wards Corner section in here and will provide you the link.

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Metro Pointe

Triangle Square

Triangle Square is hitting rough times because its location is too close to several shopping malls including Metro Pointe and it can't add more bars because of parking requirements. At one point, Triangle Square had a NikeTown and a Whole Foods market, which was underground in the garage.

Westwood Village power center

In the middle of the picture you can make out the bright yellow Best Buy sign. In front of it is a parking lot. Hidden from view is a Ralph's market (bright lights through the trees on the bottom-right). There's also a ramp leading to parking on top of Best Buy and Ralph's. A building that protrudes from this parking area is a Long's drugstore (top part of building is illuminated, center-right). Underneath all of this are two more parking levels and an Expo Home Design Center. Because of the hilly terrain, the Expo opens onto a street on the back side of the center.

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Thank God.  When I went to one of the bookstores there in July I caused two 3-car pile-ups trying to navigate the dysfunctional parking lots and streets.  And to top it off, Andy Fox chased me down.  It's ok, though.  I hit him over the head with his mic.  Anyway, do those plans include spaces for larger retailers or will it be geared more towards the mom&pop stores that are there now?

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Thats Halarious(sp?)!!!! :rofl: i was laughing outloud at work.

When you said andy fox chased you, i was rolling. I always see his JackA*s running around chasing people, and i always thought.."hes gonna get A*s kicked if he keeps that crap up".

Funny stuff man!

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Thats Halarious(sp?)!!!! :rofl:  i was laughing outloud at work.

When you said andy fox chased you, i was rolling. I always see his JackA*s running around chasing people, and i always thought.."hes gonna get A*s kicked if he keeps that crap up".

Funny stuff man!

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He did he got maced by a prostitute in P-town. It was so funny dude!

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Metro Pointe

Triangle Square

Triangle Square is hitting rough times because its location is too close to several shopping malls including Metro Pointe and it can't add more bars because of parking requirements.  At one point, Triangle Square had a NikeTown and a Whole Foods market, which was underground in the garage.

Westwood Village power center

In the middle of the picture you can make out the bright yellow Best Buy sign.  In front of it is a parking lot.  Hidden from view is a Ralph's market (bright lights through the trees on the bottom-right).  There's also a ramp leading to parking on top of Best Buy and Ralph's.  A building that protrudes from this parking area is a Long's drugstore (top part of building is illuminated, center-right).  Underneath all of this are two more parking levels and an Expo Home Design Center.  Because of the hilly terrain, the Expo opens onto a street on the back side of the center.

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Not quite what I had in mine, but seeing as though Norfolk wouldn't likely have underground parking, it would add to the building height. They kind of have a suburban feel to them :sick:

I still like the general concept though... the first image that came to mind was the Gallery in Philly (the real one, not the imitation at Military Circle)... from the outside of the building (minus the department store names) you wouldn't know there was a shopping mall inside. The gallery doesn't have any parking though... it's every man for himself on the streets!! The subway runs underneath it, which alleviates some of the need for parking.

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Not quite what I had in mine, but seeing as though Norfolk wouldn't likely have underground parking, it would add to the building height.  They kind of have a suburban feel to them  :sick:

I still like the general concept though... the first image that came to mind was the Gallery in Philly (the real one, not the imitation at Military Circle)... from the outside of the building (minus the department store names) you wouldn't know there was a shopping mall inside.  The gallery doesn't have any parking though... it's every man for himself on the streets!!  The subway runs underneath it, which alleviates some of the need for parking.

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The Gallery is a mall. It's like MacArthur, Horton Center in San Diego, Shops at Georgetown Park, and San Francisco Centre. I'm talking stores that you usually find in a one-story shopping center now stacked on top of one another and intertwined with a parking structure. Metro Pointe may be the most suburban of them, but the one in Westwood is definitely urban. Believe me, you don't want to drive or try to park in that area. Notice the high-rises. They're all higher than any building in Norfolk.

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The Gallery is a mall.  It's like MacArthur, Horton Center in San Diego, Shops at Georgetown Park, and San Francisco Centre.  I'm talking stores that you usually find in a one-story shopping center now stacked on top of one another and intertwined with a parking structure.  Metro Pointe may be the most suburban of them, but the one in Westwood is definitely urban.  Believe me, you don't want to drive or try to park in that area.  Notice the high-rises.  They're all higher than any building in Norfolk.

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With all the residential construction downtown, I can definitely see the need for a project like this. I live in Berkley and have to do most of my shopping in Chesapeake. The city has finally gotten around to building a shopping center to service my neighborhood... I get excited thinking about all the money I'll save in gas. :D

Still, I think Norfolk can do so much more with the DT Plaza site than put a bunch of shops there. It's in a prime downtown location, has easy access right off the interstate, and it's a huge lot (capable of supporting several projects)... the more I talk about it, the more It sounds like commercial property will be developed there. Maybe some "Mixed Use" buildings would better serve this area?

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  • 9 months later...

Just perusing through emporis looking at some of the taller towers in cities of similar size to our own and I came across Nashvilles signature tower.

Here are the details:

65 stories 1047 ft tall

- "In being a true mixed-use project, this would contain 400 condo units, a 100-200-room boutique hotel, 300,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of retail space. "

^^^What struck me is that a mixed use project of such size is completely doable here. 100-200 rooms is actually pretty small for a hotel, there is already demand for up to 300,000 sq ft of office space according to our single digit vacancy rates, We already have over 1000 condo units under construction downtown, 20,000 sq ft of retail is nothing. Sure wish someone would step up to the plate. :whistling: Even reducing all these components by about a quarter (just to be more realistic with what would likely come to Norfolk) you'd still have about a 45-50 story building. Ahh, one can dream can't he. :D

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Just perusing through emporis looking at some of the taller towers in cities of similar size to our own and I came across Nashvilles signature tower.

Here are the details:

65 stories 1047 ft tall

- "In being a true mixed-use project, this would contain 400 condo units, a 100-200-room boutique hotel, 300,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of retail space. "

^^^What struck me is that a mixed use project of such size is completely doable here. 100-200 rooms is actually pretty small for a hotel, there is already demand for up to 300,000 sq ft of office space according to our single digit vacancy rates, We already have over 1000 condo units under construction downtown, 20,000 sq ft of retail is nothing. Sure wish someone would step up to the plate. :whistling: Even reducing all these components by about a quarter (just to be more realistic with what would likely come to Norfolk) you'd still have about a 45-50 story building. Ahh, one can dream can't he. :D

I'd blame Norfolk for the reason something like that wouldn't happen here. Undstandably, Norfolk just doesn't want to oversaturate the market for hospitality, residential, retail, or office despite high demand and virtually no space at the moment. Trust me if Norfolk wasn't too strict on the building, we'd have another 4-5 towers currently under construction at the least just because the development community sees the opportunity and the market to support such projects.

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The problem is that these similar markets are having big economical booms compared to us. They are bringing in the higher paying jobs to sustain that kind of development. WE ARE VERY FAR BEHIND OTHER METROS smaller than us. Until we break this, we will never have these types of development.

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We could have lumped all the projects into one tower, but then we wouldn't have Atlantic City under redevelopment or consider a redevelopment push past Brambleton Avenue and the St. Paul's Triangle. Does Nashville have much else going on? Even Mobile, Alabama will have a signature tower taller than anything Norfolk has, but check out their skyline, its not necessarily the best approach to developing their city either.

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The problem is that these similar markets are having big economical booms compared to us. They are bringing in the higher paying jobs to sustain that kind of development. WE ARE VERY FAR BEHIND OTHER METROS smaller than us. Until we break this, we will never have these types of development.

I agree. The key is to bring in higher paying jobs to the area. High end commercial, retail, and residential projects don't work unless there is a large enough demographic base to support such projects. I remember reading that the new Brooks Brothers store at Town Center doesn't even carry the true Brooks Brother line. They carry a sporty, less expensive line. We still have a long way to go as far as building a stronger business base to support higher wages. Retail components are directly linked to customer demographics and if our "high end" retail component is mid range Brooks Brother and Nordstrom, we definitely trail behind other metropolitan areas.

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I agree. Luring the Trader corporation DT was a huge success however we need more of these occuring. And as you alluded to, high end retail will follow the high end jobs.

Speaking of good jobs, this may help. I also posted on the main forum.

Some good news from the Pilot :

$200,000 for the Hampton Roads Partnership to help create modeling and simulation jobs in the region. The partnership works with universities, military researchers and government agencies to promote high-tech industries that use computer simulation for transportation, medical and emergency response research.

link

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