Virginia Beach Arena (Cancelled)

[BFG]

Something's gotta give. The issues that Michael described will hurt this area long term. Virginia Beach's inability to pull the trigger on three major projects (arena, light rail, the Dome site) in the last few years makes it look very small town*. Yes, Town Center has been a success, but that's one accomplishment in the last 20 years, against the other three I mentioned that fell through.

*Which is just the way the NIMBYs want it to be, unfortunately.

[Virginia City]

And you can see in the comment section of the Pilot in any article about Town Center just how much the NIMBYs hate it. Too many people, too much traffic, not enough parking blah, blah, blah

[Mike A.]

15 hours ago, BFG said:

Something's gotta give. The issues that Michael described will hurt this area long term. Virginia Beach's inability to pull the trigger on three major projects (arena, light rail, the Dome site) in the last few years makes it look very small town*. Yes, Town Center has been a success, but that's one accomplishment in the last 20 years, against the other three I mentioned that fell through.

*Which is just the way the NIMBYs want it to be, unfortunately.

I wholeheartedly agree. I didn’t understand just how much some people are against growth until I attended one of the town halls for the arena last winter. Those who opposed it came out in larger numbers and shouted louder against it. I’ll be honest,  I wish this stuff didn’t frustrate me so much but it seems we can never get out of this rut. I’m over seeing project after project fail and having to watch the steady flow of educated and hard working future residents of va beach leave because there simply aren’t enough reasons to stay. As much as I love it here, there’s an equal number of things that just drive me nuts and I’ve had to accept the fact that it won’t change anytime soon unfortunately. Which is sad because if this city/region would get it together we really could have it all here. 

[zeppelin14]

Here comes the finger pointing: http://wavy.com/2017/11/14/developers-accuse-city-of-breaching-virginia-beach-arena-deal/

[urbanvb]

I watched the news at 4pm. Mid Atlantic sent a letter to the city stating if the city doesn’t honor its obligations then Mid Atlantic will protect its interest and will exercise all of its rights and remedies relating to the city’s breach of contract. The mayor says they are preserving their rights by sending the letter. The mayor is hoping they will come to the city with satisfaction the loan is closed.

[vdogg]

Ok, I need to do A LOT of thread clean up in here. Until I get a chance to do that however, let's steer things back to topic please.

[baobabs727]

Sorry, Vdogg! (Halo emoji)

Back on track… Now, somebody direct me to Miss Kilmer's offices. I'd like to have her take a lie detector test. Does she really think that she can hide behind her lawyers... forever? Actually, I think she does, LOL. I think what she's hoping to do is to threaten a lawsuit to make Virginia Beach agree to either some type of $$ concessions or to renegotiate the agreement.  I don't think she really wants a court fight  including depositions because then all of her skeletons will come rolling out of the proverbial closet. It'll be public knowledge then.

So until such time as she's forced to reveal her so-called "proprietary information", she will keep her mouth shut. 

Ya know, I've been thinking. I guess if we had some perspective, we might say that a local group raising $60 million or more was pretty impressive. Apparently, they also qualify for a loan of an astounding sum of $170M. We are "this" close to doing something that most areas our size likely could never do… and likely have never or rarely  done ... Which is to *privately* build a genuinely first class, big arena ...absent a prof sports franchise. 

 Yes. So close, but so far away. 

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by baobabs727

[BFG]

Lawsuit filed against the City of VB. I think this was expected, but this could still get ugly.

https://pilotonline.com/news/government/local/article_960259dd-44b5-57c9-9111-09f3047db2e2.html

[vdogg]

Well, I have to wonder, why can't they just settle and build the arena. If the commitment is there, wire the money to the escrow account and proceed. The city made clear they'd still be willing to proceed under the terms of the original agreement. Something is still missing from this story.

[baobabs727]

You do know that city staffers and Dave Hansen apparently have now proposed giving away the arena site for this field house/sports complex. It came up during Council informal when the mayor was out of town. I think the first one after Christmas. One Councilperson objected.  That's the only way we found out about it. It wasn't discussed. This person  just happened to mention it. I already sent an email about it and got a boilerplate, polite response.

Unbelievable.  But hey. Let them do it. Who cares. They don't know what they're doing, and the arena will likely never come after that fiasco that unfolded so oddly.

[baobabs727]

Well, now that it's official that the sports/athletic/ Field House/center will be going where the arena was supposed to go, if we were ever to get an arena, where would we build it? 

[BFG]

Anywhere other than Military Circle is a mistake, IMO, esp. since Norfolk wants to eventually expand light rail along Military Hwy.

Honestly, with them considering that route, I wonder if this now increases the pressure to put a new arena there. Wherever it goes, someone needs to pull the trigger. I wish the Bruce Thompson/S.B. Ballard plan that fell through would resurface soon.

Edited April 19, 2018 by BFG

[baobabs727]

My regular connections never responded back then ..or recently ...when I asked:  If not there, then where on earth...where? If not now, then when? If ever?  I always thought it strange how very quickly they changed gears.. like it never happened...  and then added insult to injury by immediately & without discussion replaced  this monumental project with another ...a lesser one...on the same site. Fishy. Did they secretly want the arena to fail? Seemed like a rush job to deny the application and then move onto another one. Oh, politicians!

Edited August 14, 2018 by baobabs727

[Up2313]

The trial for the arena is underway this week, and will last two weeks. Bob McDonald took three stand Monday defending the arenas side. He even stated that he was in negotiations with the NHL commissioner to bring a team to Hampton Roads. 

This is a really sore spot for me and I'm sure for most of you, but I am very interested to hear more of what happened. While I hope the city doesn't loose the lawsuit I am holding my breath to see more of the details. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wavy.com/amp/news/local-news/virginia-beach/vb-arena-trial-former-va-gov-bob-mcdonnell-takes-stand-on-first-day/1908805745

 

[BFG]

Assuming McDonnell's testimony is true, I remember a few years ago, Andrea Kilmer from Mid-Atlantic Arena mentioned the group was in talks with a Big-4 team and possibly the Arena Football League. I know I harp on Virginia Beach for being slow on progress, but IMO they were 100% correct to cut ties. Mid-Atlantic kept asking for extension after extension after extension, when it was clear they weren't as serious as they made it seem.  Makes me wish the city had moved forward with the other arena proposal, even if it meant spending public funds. I still say it would've been a better fit than the sports complex they're building now.

Unfortunately, with Seattle and Vegas getting teams, that puts us at 32, so this area's best bet would now be relocation. It hurts to know we may have been closer than we thought to having a team here. It also hurts me to know no one will want to work with Mid-Atlantic after this fiasco.

[Up2313]

I don't think the NHL is setting a 32 team max. I've heard alot of rumors that the NHL is open to pushing that number. 

[BFG]

Well hopefully we stay on the NHL's radar and someone decides to build an arena elsewhere.

[BeagleAccountant]

VB won the breach of contract lawsuit;

https://pilotonline.com/news/government/local/article_719eada2-613a-11e9-8d84-fb94b753df2d.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

[zeppelin14]

1 hour ago, BeagleAccountant said:

VB won the breach of contract lawsuit

Either way, VB will NEVER get a proposal for an arena in this city again - at least in our lifetimes. Really wishing Mid-Atlantic would take a look at Norfolk.

[BFG]

I’m honestly concerned that they won’t have the credibility to work with any other cities at this point. Not being able to secure the money after 5 years can’t be a good look, and then this lawsuit. 

If they bring money to the table, then absolutely go for it. 

[vdogg]

Big News!

 

[urbanvb]

The Virginia Supreme Court sided with the city. I’m still bummed this didn’t work out...

https://www.pilotonline.com/cities/virginia-beach/vp-nw-beach-arena-appeal-20200528-oibvertpvrgrdj4vviqxj7pwea-story.html

[baobabs727]

1 hour ago, urbanvb said:

The Virginia Supreme Court sided with the city. I’m still bummed this didn’t work out...

https://www.pilotonline.com/cities/virginia-beach/vp-nw-beach-arena-appeal-20200528-oibvertpvrgrdj4vviqxj7pwea-story.html

http://www.courts.state.va.us/courts/scv/orders_unpublished/191020.pdf

Here's a link to the ruling if anyone  is interested. It's an interesting read.  I'm not sure every detail in here has been reported on before.