New Urbanism in Newport News - Port Warwick

[mercuex]

I thought I would showcase the recently completed Port Warwick development here in Newport News as an example of New Urbanism gone right ... it's an infill development on a former industrial site that's become a nucleus for the urbanization of a once decidedly suburban city of 185,000.

You can find more information about the development at here.

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Here is the entrance to the development from Jefferson Avenue, one of the two primary arteries running through Newport News. Good signage but unfortunately I forgot to include the "Spring Breeze" public sculpture on the other side of the street that welcomes people to Port Warwick.

Here we go ... I stole this off the Port Warwick website.

Here is one of the (three?) small traffic circles in the development.

This is a shot overlooking one of the residential village squares. The development is in a grid pattern with multiple public squares in a very european style.

Here is an old rendering of the project. It's not entirely accurate but you get a sense of how the grid was laid out.

From the website:

[Cotuit]

[Seven Cities]

Thanks for sharing. I actually went to Port Warwick for the first time last weekend. Its a really nice place.

[mercuex]

As you may know, there is a Newport and a Warwick in Rhode Island (two of our largest cities). One of the major roads in Warwick is Jefferson Avenue. Weird. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Haha that is weird. Speaking of RI, and entirely off topic, I love Providence. That has to be one of the most pleasant mid-sized cities in the country and it definitely needs more coverage. Where are the Provo forumers anyway?

7Cities - Where are you from in HR? You should definitely try and head over to Port Warwick one wednesday. Those free Jazz concerts I spoke of start at 6 and are awesome. Bring friends.

[DigitalSky]

It's nice to see that the retail at the center is not dominated by chains.

[mercuex]

It's nice to see that the retail at the center is not dominated by chains.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah ... the whole idea behind the development was really to return to the olde towne sort of development. Across the way is Oyster Point City Center, which is a public-private neo-urban development meant basically to recreate an urban core. THAT is bringing in chains like Ann Taylor, Jos A Banks, Black + White, Red Star Tavern, Forkin Pubs, etc.

Best of both worlds, I guess.

[Recchia]

Looks pretty nice, good to see NU developments as infill rather than little subdivisions dressed up as NU like Celebration, FL out on the fringes.

Is it ridiculously expensive to live in this one, or does it have affordable units too?

Oh, and mercuex, I'm a Provo forumer, check out the Providence section under North Atlantic Seaboard/New England, lots of new stuff happening there.

[mercuex]

Looks pretty nice, good to see NU developments as infill rather than little subdivisions dressed up as NU like Celebration, FL out on the fringes.

Is it ridiculously expensive to live in this one, or does it have affordable units too?

Oh, and mercuex, I'm a Provo forumer, check out the Providence section under North Atlantic Seaboard/New England, lots of new stuff happening there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's relatively affordable. At leasthe apts are. They start at like 750 for a 1 bdrm. The condos ranged (when they were on the market) from like 250 to like 500 or so ... but I was told that by the time the thing was built, like 12 of the units (out of 48) had been sold multiple times. Some for several times the orig price. Its ridiculous the way these condos are going.

The houses are supposed to be in like the mid 200s starting and ending up in like the 600s ... but I'm sure market demand has boosted them a bit since then.

[cheeriokid61]

That's very nice. Very nice. And also pretty large. I know in my town we have two NU communities, Tollgate and Gateway, but I would say each of those are around 500 acres.

[mercuex]

That's very nice. Very nice. And also pretty large. I know in my town we have two NU communities, Tollgate and Gateway, but I would say each of those are around 500 acres.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh wow that's really awesome. I keep hearing such awesome things about Nashville.

The greatest thing about my city right now there are currently 7 concurrent New Urbanism projects being worked on or planned.

They are:

-Port Warwick (above)

-City Center at Oyster Point - infill in a successful high tech/business park meant to recreate an urban core in the center of the city, since the traditional DT is taken over by the shipyard)

-Lee Hall Village - bordering Williamsburg and site to battles in the Peninsula Campaign in 1861, plans involve a half billion dollars of development there to make it a synergistic apparatus to Colonial Williamsburg as well as Yorktown/Jamestown.

-Mariner's Watch - Infill development in the traditional "poor" section of town along the Chesapeake bay that could eventually be the priciest real estate in the city. The development centers around a marina, apartments, condos, and shops in a truly maritime atmosphere.

-Christopher Newport University and CNU village - CNU was once known to be a local, blue collar 4 yr college but is now rapidly becoming a burgeoning residential university. Most of its students now come from Northern Virginia and it has recently gotten hundreds of millions of dollars to expand including 60 million dollars for a state of the art performing arts center designed by renown architect IM Pei (Louvre pyramid, among other things). CNU village is meant to capture the spirit of urbanization in the city and has an architecture that is a clean hybrid between the other buildings in CNU and nearby Port Warwick. It features student apartments on the upper floors and restaurants/shops on the first floor.

-Village At Stoney Run - this is a development being done on the Northern part of the city also featuring a Hotel, apartments, condos, and ground level retail. Was announced soon after Port Warwick came onto its own.

-Patrick Henry Marketplace - originally touted as a strip retail center with national anchors, it was quickly refit to accomodate the urbanizing character of the city. It instead will focus on high-end restaurants, condos, apts, and hotels in a pedestrian friendly orientation. It's close proximity to the airport and the very successful Patrick Henry Mall makes it a jewel of a location.

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Of course there are a number of smaller scale projects that are somewhat urban in character but one couldn't really call it a NU development per se so much as maybe an instance of the New Urbanism credo at work. The most exciting thing about all this stuff is the fact that they will each serve as a nexus for citywide urbanization that has become the framework for growth. The city is largely built out so density has become the new tune. It's an incredibly exciting time.

[cheeriokid61]

Are all those in Hampton Roads or just in the Newport News area? That's a lot of projects. Congratulations.

[rusthebuss]

Are all those in Hampton Roads or just in the Newport News area? That's a lot of projects. Congratulations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just in Newport News. You should see the projects in Norfolk, Vabeach, and Portsmouth. We have seven cities and Norfolk is the main Urban vein for the area.

[cheeriokid61]

How big is Newport News?

[rusthebuss]

How big is Newport News?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

around 180k people. We have around 1.7 million in the metro area.

[SMD]

The Melville:

Cool looking commercial building across the street from the Melville:

[babiko]

The second picture is not a commercial building, it is the home of the developer of Port Warwick, Bobby Freeman...it is a testament to the PW project that the developer decided to build his own house there. My fiance has been inside the house, and she said that it is very nice.