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Belmont @ Freemason Progress


okinawatyphoon

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It would be nice if it made it to the 25 story range. They said there is a major demand for housing in the DT area, which is why i don't understand why they are building some low rise condos DT.

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Don't know when those low-rise condos were planned, but if it was a couple of years ago that would make sense. From what I have seen, downtown Norfolk development has been snowballing to say the least. :wacko: So my guess is that choice Real Estate is starting to become scarce. I heard an old axiom once that might apply. It says "You don't build up because you can, you build up because you have to". IMO high-rises "ain't" cheap and developers are now starting to look at the most cost effective way of investing their money. Thus the projects announced most recently and those that will follow (in my opinion) will go with the high-rise trend. Why? Because you have to maximize what ground you have available.

I think the lowrise/highrise mix is actually what gives Norfolk it's flavor. It allows us to keep a pedestrian friendly environment while still letting you know you're in a major ctiy.

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Well, I hope your right. Remember, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I often look at some of the skylines that everyone talks about and think..so what. :unsure:

Agreed. Bigger does not always equate to better. As always, its important to look at what the renderings will look like, but what was originally proposed seemed to be a perfect fit for that spot. Two 7 story buildings seemed to present a nice transition. As well, the taller building is not resulting in any changes in the number of available units from the previous proposal.

One of the nice things about HR is that it still respects older architectural styles, in that if you see a lot of the buildings going up, they have strong elements of colonial or federal design in them, which ties in not only with the surrounding homes, but also with the history of the area. The Granby tower being constructed with some art-deco elements is very appropriate. A 20+ story tower on the cusp of the oldest buildings in Norfolk is not.

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Respect for older architecture may have come purely through serendipity. In other words, 30 yrs ago the people who wouldn't have hesitated to tear down everything in sight..didn't have the financial means to do so. You are very correct, those treasures are still there and should be preserved whenever possible. :thumbsup:

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Agreed. Bigger does not always equate to better. As always, its important to look at what the renderings will look like, but what was originally proposed seemed to be a perfect fit for that spot. Two 7 story buildings seemed to present a nice transition. As well, the taller building is not resulting in any changes in the number of available units from the previous proposal.

One of the nice things about HR is that it still respects older architectural styles, in that if you see a lot of the buildings going up, they have strong elements of colonial or federal design in them, which ties in not only with the surrounding homes, but also with the history of the area. The Granby tower being constructed with some art-deco elements is very appropriate. A 20+ story tower on the cusp of the oldest buildings in Norfolk is not.

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Doesn't seem to detract from Philadelphia's historic district. High rises are built surrounding the whole area and it has yet in my mind detracted from the value or the scenery. If this tower were being built here and it was the only one for a half-mile I could see the concern. If it were being built in the middle of the historic area then yes I would be concerened. But this building is in no way encroaching on this historic district (In fact it's across the street.) Otherwise a tower being built a block or two from a couple of existing towers and the future Granby tower is hardly out of place. You can build around things responsibly without degrading the beauty of older places. This building will only add to the beauty of the area. Let's face it. That area has some of the ugliest buildings butting up to it. If I were a resident I would be completely happy that someone is starting to take care of the blight that surrounds this historic district.

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Doesn't seem to detract from Philadelphia's historic district.  High rises are built surrounding the whole area and it has yet in my mind detracted from the value or the scenery.  If this tower were being built here and it was the only one for a half-mile I could see the concern.  If it were being built in the middle of the historic area then yes I would be concerened.  But this building is in no way encroaching on this historic district (In fact it's across the street.) Otherwise a tower being built a block or two from a couple of existing towers and the future Granby tower is hardly out of place.  You can build around things responsibly without degrading the beauty of older places.  This building will only add to the beauty of the area.  Let's face it.  That area has some of the ugliest buildings butting up to it.  If I were a resident I would be completely happy that someone is starting to take care of the blight that surrounds this historic district.

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That is true. Additionally, I think the tower "sticking out as a sore-thumb" is being taken too far. The tower if located along Brambleton will fit nicely. I'm sure along with its low-rises, it will be architecturally beautiful and then its height will fit along with the Hague across the street, the nearby York building, AT&T tower, and the upcoming Granby Tower.

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Agreed. Bigger does not always equate to better.

A 20+ story tower on the cusp of the oldest buildings in Norfolk is not.

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I think that the Hague tower looks very interesting and think ofit as truly part of Ghent despite the fact that they tower over everything nearby and does not blend at all. Whatever new building they build will fit better with the Freemason area, I'm sure. The way there is a 10-12 story apartment nearby as well (an old one). I think that this is a good way to spread development up to and over Brambleton.

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  • 4 months later...

I can't believe I forgot to move this thread in here. I thought I lost it. :shok: It's been languisihing on the back page of the HR forum for months now. Someone asked me a question about this tower and I couldn't find any info on it, I was going crazy! :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

When announced back in June, they indicated it would be at least 18 months til construction starts. We probably won't hear anything more concrete for a bit. They didn't even have a rendering and were in the very early design stages. It has not been put to the design review committee yet and probably won't be for a few months.

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Has the developer of this project done anything on this scale before?

Hague towers was originally planned as a two tower complex. Can you imagine the wall that would have created on the Hague? (Two 30 story towers were also planned for Portsmouth back then).

I never knew that! :huh:

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  • 2 months later...

I don't think that this has been posted anywhere on the site yet. If it has, sorry for not putting it in the correct thread.

The image says it all:

DSC01338.JPG

This is fantastic!!! I don't know if I can handle all this development information coming out in one day!!! Norfolk is being transformed right in front of my eyes :shok:

This would explain why it took so long to get a new rendering for the Kotarides project... they were waiting on the LRT approval. :D

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I was always frustrated with Virginia Beach for not going through with light rail, despite the referendum that was voted down by the citizens a generation ago. Now we can see that Norfolk's progressive attitude has paid off and it looks like they are kicking VB's butt on the development front. Way to go Norfolk.

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My god, I can keep up with this. The projects list is gonna explode. What a great rendering. Not disappointed with the height however, it could be a mistake but if not it's a great building anyway. Our city is having a development blitzkrieg.

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WOW. I love the light rail component. The building reminds me of a project in Tampa......

rendering.jpg

I think this picture actually reminds me more of the newly proposed building in Fort Norfolk. Its almost exactly alike.

Man major mistakes, Editing!

I'm too friggin excited with all of these announcments today!!!!!!!!! :yahoo:

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The rendering looks great! In order to be a true TOD with over 550 parking spaces it had better have at least 688 units!!! <_<

At 250 units it should have no more than 200 parking spaces. OVER 2 spaces per unit is more than typical non-transit exurban developments construct. TOD range is 0.6-0.8 per unit

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Happy that we got a rendering for this tower...

Disappointed that it was announced at 15 stories knowing the last time we heard news about this, it was said to be 18-20 stories

There will be 15 floors of apartments, all of which will be situated on top of the parking garage, which in the rendering is the first six or seven floors, much like trader, that is why the building is twenty two floors. This building should have some height to it and will compliment the midtown skyline very nicely.

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There will be 15 floors of apartments, all of which will be situated on top of the parking garage, which in the rendering is the first six or seven floors, much like trader, that is why the building is twenty two floors. This building should have some height to it and will compliment the midtown skyline very nicely.

ok, i thought that was garage under them but not sure. We're looking at at least 20 stories then.

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There will be 15 floors of apartments, all of which will be situated on top of the parking garage, which in the rendering is the first six or seven floors, much like trader, that is why the building is twenty two floors. This building should have some height to it and will compliment the midtown skyline very nicely.

"The midtown skyline".. I like the sound off that.

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