Virginia Beach off-topic

[varider]

Nobody is going to want to get off of a train, and then wait for a bus to get on.

We need LRT all the way to the Oceanfront.

Pembroke will not be able to grow unless LR is built. Traffic is too bad and the infrastructure is jacked up.

[ronsmytheiii]

Political and business leaders announced Friday the formation of a group to promote building a wind energy farm off the coast and to attract businesses to supply what members hope will be an emerging green industry. Members of the new group, the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition, said they want to make Hampton Roads and Virginia a national wind energy hub.

"This is an immense opportunity," said Josh Prueher, vice chairman of the coalition and president of Earl Energy, a Portsmouth renewable energy firm that's part of Earl Industries, a ship repair company.

He estimated the industry could create 10,000 jobs and be worth $80 billion to the region. Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms said he wants Hampton Roads to be the "Silicon Valley" of wind energy

Now to fix that radar.....

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/group-aims-puff-support-region-wind-energy-hub

[varider]

The city needs to pay that X amount of dollars to move that radar. 10,000 jobs and $80B is worth the few million it would take to reloacte the radar. Not to mention the high-rise building problem.

[ronsmytheiii]

Interesting points in the McDonnell policy related to Virginia Beach:

But he asked lawmakers to double the fund he uses to lure corporations to Virginia from $10 million a year to $20 million and to spend more money airing Virginia tourism ads in other states. McDonnell says he wants Virginia to be the first East Coast state to drill for oil and natural gas offshore. He proposes one-fifth of the revenue go to renewable energy programs and four-fifths to transportation.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/mcdonnell-cut-spending-some-taxes-increase

[ronsmytheiii]

Norfolk-Va Beach area is the fourteenth metro in multi family permits issued for the last 12 months in the US:

http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/news/2010/01/texas-remains-top-single-family-housing-market/

[ronsmytheiii]

Off to a good start:

Judging by the early success the newly created Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition has had in attracting support from private industry and the political world, it's clear just about everyone wants to stake a claim in the rush to develop a multibillion-dollar wind-generated energy industry off the Atlantic coast. VOW, as it calls itself, was incorporated in Virginia Beach in late 2009 with the goal of helping Virginia, particularly Hampton Roads, to capitalize on what it believes is an opportunity to transform the region into the hub of the offshore wind industry.

"We're hopeful to become the Silicon Valley of wind for the East Coast," said Bob Matthias, assistant to the city manager of Virginia Beach.

VOW was officially unveiled to the region in a press conference on Jan. 15.

http://www.insidebiz.com/news/va-coalition-vows-create-offshore-wind-industry

[varider]

What do you guys think about offshore wind. Think it will be a big deal for HR?

What will happen to the region if the proposed 70,000+ jobs are actually created by 2030? (50,000+ from Craney Island, 20,000+ from offshore wind)

[ronsmytheiii]

Nice to see something being done to Pembroke Mall, but I have the feeling the place is on its last leg:

In recent decades, local shopping centers have occasionally offered vacant stores to galleries and performing arts groups, often subsidizing the effort through low rates. Pembroke Mall has had such galleries before, and at least one theater. This latest endeavor, which also includes plans for a dance group and a theater company, was initiated by the mall's owners, Jones Lang LaSalle, based in Chicago. The corporation's similar ArtSpace at Crestwood Court, a mall in St. Louis, was featured in Parade magazine in November.

Some 10 percent of stores in the nation's malls are empty, Parade reported. At Crestwood Court, the idea arose to let artists use some of the available spaces for reduced rent.

At Pembroke, artists opened within a few days of signing their leases. They painted the walls, ordered a sign, bought some furniture and hung the art. Cross' gallery was the last to open, on Dec. 20.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/brushing-pembroke-mall-art

[ronsmytheiii]

This is wrong, the only thing that should be developed in the land taken for Oceana is industrial development.

The city began buying property around Oceana Naval Air Station in 2006 to roll back residential growth near the master jet base. In the past year, it has resold 22 of those lots to individuals and developers who have sometimes built houses even larger than those in the neighborhoods.

In some cases, the city resold the lots for less than half of what it paid.

“I really didn’t think that they were going to build anything there,” said Patricia Groman, who sold her family’s two lots on Reuben Street to Virginia Beach in 2007 under the city’s $15 million-a-year program to preserve Oceana.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/beach-initiative-oceana-yields-new-homes-less-density-near-base

[ronsmytheiii]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he is nearly ready to begin an environmental analysis that could lead to drilling 200 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. Salazar told reporters he will soon launch a 45-day comment period on a planned study of how drilling would affect the ocean floor. He said federal officials know little about the Atlantic Coast because of a long-standing moratorium on oil and gas exploration across much of the nation's Outer Continental Shelf.

Hopefully we will put that oil drilling money to good use:

http://www.wvec.com/news/business1/Interior-Dept-to-look-at-drilling-in-Atlantic-Ocean-82635487.html

[varider]

Have any of you guys noticed the shocking presence of the Westin VB while driving around HR? I've seen that tall mammoth of a building on I-64@ Battlefield, I-264 @ the Berkely Bridge, Rt. 13 @ the CBBT, etc. I just think it's so cool how I can be 25+ miles away and still see the "skyline' of TC. It'd be really cool if we could get a building taller than the Westin one day.

[mikeas]

You can see it from the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel on a clear day and the James River Bridge on a very clear day.

Another very odd angle that I have seen that was very confusing at first...

Driving on the West Norfolk Bridge towards the Midtown tunnel there is a point where you can see it sticking up next to the AT&T building in the Norfolk skyline.

[varider]

You can see it from the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel on a clear day and the James River Bridge on a very clear day.

Another very odd angle that I have seen that was very confusing at first...

Driving on the West Norfolk Bridge towards the Midtown tunnel there is a point where you can see it sticking up next to the AT&T building in the Norfolk skyline.

Interesting. I just think it's awesome, lol. I absolutely love when I'm heading from the Oceanfront on 264 and come up on the Westin which I can see for miles and miles, and then a couple more minutes and I'm approaching Downtown Norfolk.. I just think it's the cooolest thing ever , haha.

[ronsmytheiii]

The nation’s largest shopping mall owner, Simon Property Group, made a $10 billion hostile bid Tuesday to acquire its ailing rival, General Growth Properties. The deal would allow General Growth, the No. 2 owner of shopping centers, to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. General Growth filed for bankruptcy last year after buckling under the weight of billions in debt it racked up during a massive expansion effort fueled by cheap credit.

General Growth acquired Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach from the New York State Teachers Retirement System for $256.6 million in 2003 during that buying spree. The 29-year-old mall is the largest in Hampton Roads, with 1.8 million square feet of leasable space and about 180 tenants, including Dillard's and Macy's.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/simon-bids-rival-mall-operator-owns-lynnhaven-mall

Sorry, never liked Lynnhaven Mall. To far away from me and too suburban. If that mall did not exist there would be much more retail at Town Center and Downtown Norfolk, especially a Mac Arthur third anchor.

[varider]

http://hamptonroads....-lynnhaven-mall

Sorry, never liked Lynnhaven Mall. To far away from me and too suburban. If that mall did not exist there would be much more retail at Town Center and Downtown Norfolk, especially a Mac Arthur third anchor.

It is pretty suburban, it's "footprint" is enormous. But it has the most stores and arguably the best shopping in the metro.

[ronsmytheiii]

Gov. Bob McDonnell and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar don't have much in common when it comes to offshore drilling, but wind energy may be another story. Later this week, McDonnell and other mid-Atlantic governors will go to Washington to discuss how states can proceed in a "coordinated" fashion to access wind energy off the Atlantic coast.

Wagner said now is the time to act if Virginia hopes to draw federal renewable energy dollars. He cited a recent analysis by the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium, which found that a wind farm of about 200 tall turbines could produce electricity and generate roughly 1,000 jobs.

"If we get started right away and choose our sites responsibly, in 10 years we could be producing 20 percent of the state's electricity needs from offshore wind turbines. Our wind resource vastly exceeds the energy potential of all the oil and gas thought to lie off our shores, without the huge risks to the environment and Navy and NASA operations that would accompany offshore drilling," the group said in a statement.

Two unsolicited applications for wind projects south of the Chesapeake Bay and 12 miles offshore have been submitted to the federal Minerals Management Service, according to an agency spokesman.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/governors-come-together-over-wind-energy

[mlsimons]

I'm sorry but I never go to Lynnhaven mall...except for $5 movies at AMC....but I despise suburban style malls!!!

[HarryVB]

I rode by today near town center and I noticed the taco bell lights were off. the whole building was gutted out from the inside to out.. There is nothing left except lights and a taco bell building. I wonder if they are getting ready to break ground on the phase IV project for the new office tower. Bank of Hampton Roads.. Moving their current HQ from downtown to town center.. This would be great if the taco bell is finally going away. its quite a eye sore the town center area.. It does not fit.. I know its been there before town center. but its time to get replaced

[varider]

Interesting that Taco Bell has been gutted!! What's that all about?

But BoHR is not moving their HQ to TC.

[urbanlife]

I rode by today near town center and I noticed the taco bell lights were off. the whole building was gutted out from the inside to out.. There is nothing left except lights and a taco bell building. I wonder if they are getting ready to break ground on the phase IV project for the new office tower. Bank of Hampton Roads.. Moving their current HQ from downtown to town center.. This would be great if the taco bell is finally going away. its quite a eye sore the town center area.. It does not fit.. I know its been there before town center. but its time to get replaced

This is news, I remember when the town center was starting and the city tried to buy the taco bell lot and the owner turned them down because he figured it would eventually be worth more money. I figured it would be held onto for longer than this. Also I though the Bank of Hampton Roads was going into a building that would be located next to this site, has things changed with that or is this something different and new we should be paying attention to?

[varider]

My guess is that it's just renovations. The McDonald's/Wendy's on Indy have beeen given facelifts within the past year. Taco Bell is probably following suit.

[ronsmytheiii]

The BoHR building would go on the old Pilot Building lot, even if built the Taco Bell lot would not be affected.

Edit map:

Edited February 18, 2010 by ronsmytheiii

[urbanlife]

My guess is that it's just renovations. The McDonald's/Wendy's on Indy have beeen given facelifts within the past year. Taco Bell is probably following suit.

That would suck if that is all that is going on with the building...though eventually the owner will sell it and something will be built there, it is just a matter of time. It would be interesting to see an outside developer build another signature tower there and brought in a high end architect for it, that lot would definitely have a visual presence over the area. (well we can always dream anyway...at least until the economy gets better.)

[ronsmytheiii]

That would suck if that is all that is going on with the building...though eventually the owner will sell it and something will be built there, it is just a matter of time. It would be interesting to see an outside developer build another signature tower there and brought in a high end architect for it, that lot would definitely have a visual presence over the area. (well we can always dream anyway...at least until the economy gets better.)

So looking at the rendering posted on site, it is simply a "knock it down and rebuild it" project. No biggie, not the greatest spot for on street retail or apartment views with two roads on two sides and the loading docks for the Sandler center on the other. With two large office buildings planned for Town Center, there is not much demand for another building right there . Not the greatest looking building, but not the worst either.

Edited March 15, 2010 by ronsmytheiii

[ronsmytheiii]

In between a tailor's shop and a bus station advertising service to New York, two For Lease signs hang near vacant suites. One of the suites has been vacant for nearly a year, said Karen Stephens, property manager for Newtown Shoppes. Along Newtown Road at Virginia Beach Boulevard, Stephens' property, a strip center with outdated signs and a dingy facade, stands out. Stephens said a sluggish economy has something to do with the vacancies, but admits the plaza needs sprucing up.

Virginia Beach city officials want to help retail property owners and managers like Stephens give their buildings makeovers.

"A lot of commercial retail centers are older and have lost their polish," Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson said. "It's not good for our city, retail businesses or property owners.

NO NO NO NO. There is a reason they are decaying, strip malls should die the worst death. Stop using tax payer money to fund a failed dream.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/03/150000-makeovers-proposed-va-beach-strip-malls#comment-869684