Norfolk Off-Topic

[BFG]

Again, if Norfolk doesn’t take this as a lesson learned and use this as another thing they need to grow as a city, they weren’t paying attention. There’s been too many reports that reveal why people aren’t coming here outside of military, and now you’re about to lose a Fortune 500 company. 

[urbanvb]

This is really bad news for the city and the region as a whole. And these corporate good paying jobs are going to be difficult to replace.

[urbanlife]

On 11/6/2018 at 9:42 AM, BFG said:

Again, if Norfolk doesn’t take this as a lesson learned and use this as another thing they need to grow as a city, they weren’t paying attention. There’s been too many reports that reveal why people aren’t coming here outside of military, and now you’re about to lose a Fortune 500 company. 

I would argue that all of Hampton Roads needs to look at this as a major issue. Expanding the airport and building a regional transit system should be a priority. The area needs to true metro government that deals with things like this.

[BFG]

On 11/23/2018 at 4:45 PM, urbanlife said:

I would argue that all of Hampton Roads needs to look at this as a major issue. Expanding the airport and building a regional transit system should be a priority. The area needs to true metro government that deals with things like this.

This definitely sets up an argument for a stronger regional network, as well as transportation and the airport. I think the regional government would serve as the umbrella for everything else, with leaders from other cities mentioning how much this hurts them as well.

[BFG]

New hotel called Tru (Hilton) is proposed for Lake Wright, near the outlet mall. 

https://pilotonline.com/business/consumer/article_0b7d66c4-f1a2-11e8-a1f9-8fde4c4a45b1.html

Apparently, there's another hotel being proposed nearby, but council sent the design back for revisions.

[zeppelin14]

Looks like you can buy that hotel from an Ikea!

[lil-bear]

Me thinks that this area around the outlet mall and IKEA is ripe to BOOM.

New hotels, New stores, eateries...

[Willy18]

Looks like all Tru hotels look like that. 

[BFG]

Carnival returning to Norfolk with cruises to Cuba, starting in 2020.

https://pilotonline.com/business/consumer/article_2af54c70-f8c2-11e8-949c-8f81a6e5a788.html

[Urbanlooker]

6 hours ago, BFG said:

Carnival returning to Norfolk with cruises to Cuba, starting in 2020.

https://pilotonline.com/business/consumer/article_2af54c70-f8c2-11e8-949c-8f81a6e5a788.html

That is good news the question here though is will the Sunrise stay in 2020? Then Norfolk woukd have 2 home port ships from Carnival. Even if the Sunrise doesn't having a ship that goes to Cuba will definitely be a big draw.

[HRVA]

Hanbury Intern Project

Hanbury, the architecture firm behind the Wave proposal in Virginia Beach, had their summer interns work on a project that proposed the redevelopment of Tidewater Gardens & the areas around Harbor Park. The major components of the project included a redesigned interchange, a canal to provide drainage for Tidewater Gardens, a ‘boomerang’ waterfront, and the extension of downtown to Harbor Park & Tidewater Gardens. Although not a true proposal, it’s worth a quick look. 

[BFG]

City of Norfolk needs to take a close look at that presentation. Those students did an excellent job. I love the idea of there being an extension of the skyline on the other side of 264, as well as park space. Especially the "Boomerang".

Edited December 11, 2018 by BFG

[vdogg]

Not a real proposal but they labeled this one “JW Marriott”? That’s oddly specific. 

[Urbanlooker]

Norfolk should really take note of this if it's not a proposal. And should it be a proposal they need to approve it yesterday.

[Norfolk757Kid]

Rerouting the highway is gonna take some serious investment and political willpower 

[Norfolk757Kid]

It is weird though how the 264 interchange dominates that part of town and interrupts the street grid.  Having a nice trail along the waterfront is one thing, but developing that whole area, especially farther from the waterfront, seems unlikely without realigning or burying 264. 

[vdogg]

They’re realigning the entirety of the 264/64  interchange in Virginia Beach right now. It’s a huge project. If they can do it in Virginia Beach they can do it in Norfolk. We have dedicated funding now to get these projects done. Just need to have the political will. Norfolk needs to start advocating for this project.

[Up2313]

I've always thought that the interchange by harbor park made no sense. It's an incredible waste of space and too close to downtown. 

[HRVA]

Realigning the interchange is definitely doable especially with the amount of land there already owned by the city however I don’t see it as likely in the near term with the amount of projects already on the table, the cost that would be associated with the project, and that minimal improvement it would have on improving traffic flow.  The problem there isn’t getting in/out of Downtown but simply getting through the tunnel.  Also not a lot of demand for more space to build Downtown right now.

I also wanted to note that only a small portion of the 64/264 interchange is under construction (64W exit to 264E) and the rest of the project is focused on the Newtown & Witchduck exits for 264E. The remainder of the interchange is being studied as Phase 3 of the current project but no details have been released thus far. 

[urbanlife]

On 12/10/2018 at 9:56 PM, 23320 said:

Hanbury Intern Project

Hanbury, the architecture firm behind the Wave proposal in Virginia Beach, had their summer interns work on a project that proposed the redevelopment of Tidewater Gardens & the areas around Harbor Park. The major components of the project included a redesigned interchange, a canal to provide drainage for Tidewater Gardens, a ‘boomerang’ waterfront, and the extension of downtown to Harbor Park & Tidewater Gardens. Although not a true proposal, it’s worth a quick look. 

I always loved these awful site projects when I was in architecture school in college. Taking an area that has a massive thing like a freeway interchange and designing architecture around it. This is a really solid proposal that they did, definitely something worth looking into for the city to further develop.

[EJ_LEWIS]

Downtown Businesses are still bullish on the future of Downtown despite the loss of Norfolk Southern.

https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/maritime-and-transportation/article_c5620a68-ffe4-11e8-9305-d3670f114d8f.html

Edited December 18, 2018 by EJ_LEWIS

[Willy18]

"Panelist Brooks Rainwater with the National League of Cities advocacy group suggested the city, if it owns the property in the future, should look to smaller businesses to fill the space."

They are saying pretty much what we have been saying. 

Side note:

That has to be one of the coolest names I've seen in a while. 

 

[BFG]

I think getting smaller businesses in the NS building (esp. tech companies) will help Norfolk in the long run. Ten companies with 50 employees still looks just as good with one company with 500. If nothing else, it helps diversify the economy.

[vdogg]

I agree that this is not the catastrophe that we originally thought it was, but the city really needs to get it together before we do have a catastrophe that we can't recover from. Now is the perfect time to start looking at what type of businesses we really want downtown and how to attract them. I'm concerned that they're being a little too blase about all this.

[HRVA]

Dominion Tower in Norfolk sold for $79 million - The Virginian-Pilot

“Norfolk-based Harbor Group International bought the building in 2004 for $53.8 million and announced the sale late Thursday to an affiliate of the Southern California-based Hertz Investment Group.”

The article goes on the mention that HG will remain with a long term lease in the building.