Town Center North

[metalman]

No way!!!

[tallguy81"]

yep it is true.  they own it.

[urbanvb]

Does Sears own the whole chain or just this location? 

[tallguy81"]

the property it sits on i believe.  has this ever been posted?  

http://wplsite.com/portfolio-items/pembroke-transportation-study/?portfolioID=3594

this looks to be the pembroke mall site as you can tell what looks like armada hoffler tower in the bottom right corner.

 

http://www.clarknexsen.com/go/project-types/commercial-municipal/  

[vdogg]

the property it sits on i believe.  has this ever been posted?  

http://wplsite.com/portfolio-items/pembroke-transportation-study/?portfolioID=3594

this looks to be the pembroke mall site as you can tell what looks like armada hoffler tower in the bottom right corner.

 

http://www.clarknexsen.com/go/project-types/commercial-municipal/  

Nope, never been posted. That definitely looks like AH in the foreground. Don't know how realistic this plan is though. It's dated 2012. I'd love to see it come to fruition but the mall just got done with extensive (and has ongoing) renovations. Not seeing them investing all that money just to tear it down. This would've done wonders in helping the area feel like a cohesive downtown though.

[HRVA]

Any updates on this?  The building at Broad & Independence was torn down earlier this year & Chick Fla A has been built on the site of the tallest proposed building. I came across some additional renderings with more details but nothing firm. 

Pembroke Station masterplan

• Mixed-use revitalization project.
• 400 Residential units.
• 200 Hotel units.
• 3 Parking structures.
• 750,000 SF planned office space.
• 100,000 SF planned retail space.
• Multiple courtyards and plazas.
• Pedestrian areas for urban parks and pocket parks.

https://archinect.com/saunderscrousearchitects/project/pembroke-station-masterplan

[vdogg]

That's quite a bit more fleshed out than the original renderings. This seems new. I haven't heard anything about it

[BFG]

Wow. This is going to create a nice bit of density in that area. Looks cool. 

[vdogg]

Also, I don't think Chick-fil-A is sitting where the tallest building sits. It's close to it but I don't think it's on the property itself.

[vdogg]

According to Google the master plan was posted on August 21st of this year, so fairly recent.

[HRVA]

18 minutes ago, vdogg said:

Also, I don't think Chick-fil-A is sitting where the tallest building sits. It's close to it but I don't think it's on the property itself.

Unfortunately it is. I'm at that Chartway a couple times a month. It and the old pawn shop are the two buildings on the corner & CFA is right next to them (like the tower in the design).   Assuming this is still happening, I'd focus on the NE portion as phase one since the building was demolished and the rest is surface parking.  

[urbanvb]

This is quite an interesting find. I noticed the last architect back from 2015 was Clark Nexsen but now the link is broken. I just emailed this architecture firm to see if this is plan is  under current consideration to be built. 

[metalman]

Wow.  They've added a lot more renderings since when I first found the site.  The vision just might be moving  along!  

Better than the market place across the street.

Did anyone notice Mona Lisa-like faces overlaying the windows on the tallest tower?  I wonder if that is actually part of the concept!

Edited October 29, 2017 by metalman
Addition

[BFG]

Just now, metalman said:

Wow.  They've added a lot more renderings since when I first found the site.  The vision just might be moving  along!  

Better than the market place across the street.

I just wish they could switch locations to create a nice fluid skyline. 

Hopefully Norfolk can follow suit and give HR a building boom.

[baobabs727]

Intriguing. Do we know how many owners/ownership groups are involved with the parcels w/in the subject area?  Have there been any transactions or consolidation lately?  Which ones do Sifen own? Have there been any plans filed with the city recently?  These are but some of the pertinent questions to which I have zero answers.   Trying to figure out how difficult this might be to pull off ...& anytime soon....

I like the basic premise here. The architecture isn't bad--quite appropriate for its location. I think, overall, it's a fairly modest stab at  re-development. Something I could actually see happening. Again, depending on property ownership and willingness, etc.

I read earlier in this thread that Sears owns the Village Inn property. Hmm. The way Sears has been hurting for cash, I can't believe that they haven't sold the land. Their rental ROI must be fantastic. 

Edited October 30, 2017 by baobabs727

[HRVA]

Sears does not own the land for Village Inn (at least not anymore). It's owned by a trust out of CA. I'm going to do a little more research into the rest of the parcels. I suspect this is a vision that would happen if the investors saw enough demand/return but that hasn't happened.  The new CFA is a bad signal to me but I'm sure we'll see something happen eventually. 

Edited October 30, 2017 by 23320

[urbanlife]

The renderings look nice, we will see if this pans out, but it does really showcase how much of a waste the plan for the HQ site really is because that could easily be the park of the City Center that ties the whole downtown together.

[HRVA]

Everything on the site plan is owned by Pembroke Office LP, which is at least partially owned by Great Atlantic Property. They've been talking about building on this site for over 10 years…

The remaining parcels are owned by variety of entities but nothing that stood out. 

[baobabs727]

Consolidated ownership. That's a good thing in my opinion. Thanks for the information.  Now we wait! 

[urbanvb]

The new chick fila and even the nearby Walmart to some extent  have an industrial or vintage look that I really appreciate and I think it would be neat to have the new hotel to carry on that theme. 

Edited November 19, 2017 by urbanvb

[baobabs727]

8 hours ago, Virginia City said:

Hyatt Place is very adaptable with their architecture. If its in the suburbs it looks like a suburban hotel if its in an urban/downtown setting it blends in to that look. It will be interesting to see what it looks like to get an idea of how Downtown VB is perceived. 

You sure were right. Here are but a few of the examples I located via Google.

[HRVA]

[baobabs727]

6?  Boo!  Now I'm imagining a squatty rectangle or something taking up enormous swaths of territory with acres of surface parking. Waiting for architectural rendering. Hopefully the architecture will be somewhat as good as the "better" ones above from around the country. I don't know. It's probably gonna look like a Holiday Garden Inn. 

OK, out of curiosity, I just googled "6 story Hyatt Place."  Totally different designs came up from the ones I had already posted above. So here they are. We might be able expect something as incredibly "beautiful" as these.  Yuck.

 

Edited November 30, 2017 by baobabs727

[urbanvb]

Well, I'm not excited about a hotel going in however most anything is better than those 70s Pembroke buildings lol. Hopefully this will continue to spur more redevelopment. I would love to see all of those buildings being redeveloped. That area has huge potential. 

[HRVA]

If they stick to the siteplan then hopefully they're prepping the area for a garage wrapped in apartments with bottom floor retail and keeping the hotel on the corner.