Norfolk Federal Courthouse (Land)

[mintscraft56]

I dont want to seem stupid, for asking after so long but are there any actual plans to expand the courthouse yet? That patch of grass has been sitting there giving the centre of our city some farmland. A city like Norfolk should never have fresh grass like that unless it was a valuable park but that grass is far from valuable or even needed. I bet developers would flock to that land to build something if the fed would open it up.

[Buildthetowers]

Some ego power hungry bureaucrats want to have their personal greenspace view at the expense of the peon public! 

[Norf Native]

I hope the city is actively trying to get that land back.  The piles are already driven so maybe Granby Tower can resume at some point (I know, that's wishful thinking).

[mintscraft56]

19 minutes ago, Norf Native said:

I hope the city is actively trying to get that land back.  The piles are already driven so maybe Granby Tower can resume at some point (I know, that's wishful thinking).

Oh they never took them out?

[Norf Native]

They were not removed.  They are under all that grass.

[mintscraft56]

5 hours ago, Norf Native said:

They were not removed.  They are under all that grass.

Now thats great news.

How ever what do you guys think? Should Norfolk try to buy back the land or trade out the land? And if they ever do should it be split into two development sites or stay one single site.

[carolinaboy]

I think the Federal Government should build a new, modern, secure courthouse on the Granby Tower site. Seems a better option that trying to retrofit/upgrade the existing courthouse. If they do and it meets their current requirements they should sell the land the current courthouse is on for development.

 

If they just sit on it I would love to see it become a real park of some sort.

[Norva757]

On 4/6/2022 at 12:25 PM, mintscraft56 said:

Oh they never took them out?

It would cost a bunch of money to remove them

[baobabs727]

13 hours ago, carolinaboy said:

I think the Federal Government should build a new, modern, secure courthouse on the Granby Tower site. Seems a better option that trying to retrofit/upgrade the existing courthouse. If they do and it meets their current requirements they should sell the land the current courthouse is on for development.

 

If they just sit on it I would love to see it become a real park of some sort.

That is a nationally listed building.  That building is not going anywhere.  It might be a candidate for an office or mixed-use conversion at some point, but it’s not getting torn down.
 

https://www.gsa.gov/historic-buildings/walter-e-hoffman-us-courthouse-norfolk-va

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Hoffman_United_States_Courthouse

 

 

[carolinaboy]

10 hours ago, baobabs727 said:

That is a nationally listed building.  That building is not going anywhere.  It might be a candidate for an office or mixed-use conversion at some point, but it’s not getting torn down.
 

https://www.gsa.gov/historic-buildings/walter-e-hoffman-us-courthouse-norfolk-va

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Hoffman_United_States_Courthouse

 

 

Thanks for the information.

[baobabs727]

1 hour ago, carolinaboy said:

Thanks for the information.

yw

[mintscraft56]

I honestly just hope the feds develop the land soon or sell the land back to Norfolk. Like @Norf Nativesaid the piles for the building are still in the ground so its possible. Also for a little brainstorming its possible the project can be revived just like what they did with Hilton.

[757pilot]

 

Sorry to get anyone's hopes up with a new post on this thread but was trying to conceptualize what the city would look like without this vast lot of empty space. AI Image Generation has come a long way and hopefully the more we can pitch a dense, walkable downtown area to City Council, the faster these ideas develop into actual projects for the city. Anyone else play around with these tools yet? Might be worthwhile starting a new thread for different ideas around the city without mixing real development and AI Generated content!

[BFG]

I really shouldn’t look at the pictures before reading the text lol…

That apartment building alone would transform OV if they put it somewhere near East Beach. 

[urbanlife]

I still can't understand why the Federal Courts would want this land, I would have imagined they would want to do a more secure location than the current location.

[mintscraft56]

On 2/27/2024 at 9:28 AM, 757pilot said:

 

Sorry to get anyone's hopes up with a new post on this thread but was trying to conceptualize what the city would look like without this vast lot of empty space. AI Image Generation has come a long way and hopefully the more we can pitch a dense, walkable downtown area to City Council, the faster these ideas develop into actual projects for the city. Anyone else play around with these tools yet? Might be worthwhile starting a new thread for different ideas around the city without mixing real development and AI Generated content!

The second I looked a the picture I almost had 3 heart attacks. Then I read the word "Sorry". I was happy for 3/4ths of a second