Norfolk Development 2

[vdogg]

So you’re just gonna gloss over Gateway Tower as though that’s not the headline news...  And at 22 floors that’s been increased from 20. Mind making an additional post in the Gateway thread so we can discuss it there? Not sure what to make of the River Tower news. Well established developer with preleasing goal met should be a slam dunk. That’s disappointing. Any color you can add to that?

[vdogg]

On the casino issue my gut tells me that Portsmouth is far closer to making this happen than Norfolk is. They have the momentum and bipartisan political support. I think they’ll win this one, which I don’t mind, they deserve a win. Plus, a 600 room hotel will likely bring a new tallest. 

[BFG]

7 hours ago, baobabs727 said:

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES:  

Freemason civic league meeting tonight w/special guests  ...a councilwoman and a member of the city manager's office--

Gateway tower is a "go" with a big fish landed ...an out of town business as an anchor tenant. to be announced within 60 days,  building has been tweaked and brought closer to the street. still 22 stories.

MacArthur Center to be transformed completely within next 10 years ...massive changes and potentially disruptive changes totally redefining its purpose. remotely possible that it may be turned inside out, most likely to contain small service businesses, residential, office, hotel and experiential dining /retail… With potentially no anchors for retail. The Councilwoman said she is quite worried about the state of the mall. Of course they are also looking for someone to fill the Nordstrom space as it appears to be a foregone conclusion.  

The outlet mall performed very well during the holidays. Sales strong.

IKEA on track to open on-time hiring now 340 positions.  

Unemployment in the city at 3.1% ...lowest since 2007.  

River Tower dealing with some final financing hurdles which should be overcome soon.   They have met their sales goals, however.  

No new information on the casino wars or the African museum.

 Chrysler Hall renovations have been fully funded. Scope of design and execution strategy still under review and planning. They cannot rename the building, but they are considering selling the naming rights for the plaza and interior rooms.

The glass light autograph hotel to open summer this year on Granby.  

Granby's Leaning tower to re-open in two months.

The  Main performing phenomenally well.   It has set the bar for every other high rise & hotel development.

City has already been  fielding inquiries from outside of the area regarding the Norfolk Southern tower. 

This is great news, thank you. Downtown is going to look very different in the next few years. 

Hopefully the city will add Scope renovations to the list. I really want them to put that back on the table soon. 

[baobabs727]

1 hour ago, vdogg said:

So you’re just gonna gloss over Gateway Tower as though that’s not the headline news...  And at 22 floors that’s been increased from 20. Mind making an additional post in the Gateway thread so we can discuss it there? Not sure what to make of the River Tower news. Well established developer with preleasing goal met should be a slam dunk. That’s disappointing. Any color you can add to that?

Sure thing. Done! LOL. Nah, your're right: it's a very big deal! Especially considering this is an out of market anchor tenant.  I was in a hurry to get somewhere and was speed typing! "Jerry" definitely reported it to us as "22 stories." I wrote it down, but now just hoping he didn't misspeak!

River Tower: He said it looked like it was gonna happen. He was pretty vague on the final hurdles...except for what I reported. 

Ohh! Forgot to mention that he quickly mentioned that the EVMS & CHKD towers were "on track" for construction very soon. Emphasized that there would likely be 3 projects rising from the ground nearly simultaneously and how extensive the transformation of that area would be. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by baobabs727

[vdogg]

Good news on CHKD. Could it be that Norfolk is finally going to overcome it’s building boom curse, and we might finally get some of these buildings off of paper and into reality? I often visit DC, and I’ve always been jealous of all the construction cranes and buildings that seem to always be rising from the ground. I’ve been visiting DC regularly for about 20 years now, and there’s always been something major under construction when I went. It’ll be nice to see some of that down here for a change.

[SuffolkWahoo]

4 hours ago, vdogg said:

Good news on CHKD. Could it be that Norfolk is finally going to overcome it’s building boom curse, and we might finally get some of these buildings off of paper and into reality? I often visit DC, and I’ve always been jealous of all the construction cranes and buildings that seem to always be rising from the ground. I’ve been visiting DC regularly for about 20 years now, and there’s always been something major under construction when I went. It’ll be nice to see some of that down here for a change.

Been to Charlotte recently??  There must be at least 4-5 towers being constructed as we speak!!!  All 25-30 + floors!!!

[BFG]

I'll take whatever we can get. I'm tired of this area being behind all the others, and it looks like Norfolk is finally trying to put an end to that.

[Urbanlooker]

On 1/16/2019 at 11:34 PM, baobabs727 said:

DEVELOPMENT UPDATES:  

Freemason civic league meeting tonight w/special guests  ...a councilwoman and a member of the city manager's office--

Gateway tower is a "go" with a big fish landed ...an out of town business as an anchor tenant. to be announced within 60 days,  building has been tweaked and brought closer to the street. still 22 stories.

MacArthur Center to be transformed completely within next 10 years ...massive changes and potentially disruptive changes totally redefining its purpose. remotely possible that it may be turned inside out, most likely to contain small service businesses, residential, office, hotel and experiential dining /retail… With potentially no anchors for retail. The Councilwoman said she is quite worried about the state of the mall. Of course they are also looking for someone to fill the Nordstrom space as it appears to be a foregone conclusion.  

The outlet mall performed very well during the holidays. Sales strong.

IKEA on track to open on-time hiring now 340 positions.  

Unemployment in the city at 3.1% ...lowest since 2007.  

River Tower dealing with some final financing hurdles which should be overcome soon.   They have met their sales goals, however.  

No new information on the casino wars or the African museum.

 Chrysler Hall renovations have been fully funded. Scope of design and execution strategy still under review and planning. They cannot rename the building, but they are considering selling the naming rights for the plaza and interior rooms.

The glass light autograph hotel to open summer this year on Granby.  

Granby's Leaning tower to re-open in two months.

The  Main performing phenomenally well.   It has set the bar for every other high rise & hotel development.

City has already been  fielding inquiries from outside of the area regarding the Norfolk Southern tower. 

Gateway tower having a big name tenant is amazing but I think a lot of ya'll are over looking what could possibly be an even bigger news story here. The plans for MacArthur mall were there any details given? Is it a for sure thing or is this what the councilwoman wants to happen? 

[zeppelin14]

Aveda and Yankee Candle are closing as well. Also heard Zales will leave too because of rent being raised. This mall isn't doing too well lately.

Edited January 19, 2019 by zeppelin14

[BFG]

MacArthur going the route of Coliseum Mall (Hampton Town Center) could really do wonders for downtown. Not counting the Granby Mall experiment from the late-70s/early-80s, we don't have a downtown shopping presence outside of the mall. Much as I'd hate to see MacArthur go, I think a mixed-use development with shops, restaurants, and apartments would be great and would give Norfolk the true urban feel it needs to bring more people downtown. Honestly, that mall takes up a TON of land that could stand to be opened up to more roads, walkways, and courtyards/green space.

This may not even take 10 years, at the rate they're going, esp. if they lose Nordstrom.

[BFG]

On 1/17/2019 at 12:34 AM, baobabs727 said:

The  Main performing phenomenally well.   It has set the bar for every other high rise & hotel development.

City has already been  fielding inquiries from outside of the area regarding the Norfolk Southern tower. 

Could these two things spark the building boom Norfolk so desperately needs? I could only dream of a day where we have a good dozen or so 30-story buildings going up between downtown proper, St. Paul, and near Harbor Park. Not even counting Gateway Tower.

[Norfolk757Kid]

If Macarthur opened up its City Hall and St. Paul entrances more, I think that would make a dramatic change. Right now there's only a small entrance or two and the parking garage on those sides. 

[baobabs727]

23 hours ago, Urbanlooker said:

Gateway tower having a big name tenant is amazing but I think a lot of ya'll are over looking what could possibly be an even bigger news story here. The plans for MacArthur mall were there any details given? Is it a for sure thing or is this what the councilwoman wants to happen? 

This came from the city mgr's office guy. He seemed strong on the fact the mall would be transformed big time "within 10 yrs." in cooperation and participation with city since it still owns land beneath the entire mall according to him...plus Nordstrom land and building. Said city must not let mall go dark because would be a disaster. City Councilwoman McClellan simply said she was "very concerned" about the state of affairs at the mall.

18 hours ago, BFG said:

Could these two things spark the building boom Norfolk so desperately needs? I could only dream of a day where we have a good dozen or so 30-story buildings going up between downtown proper, St. Paul, and near Harbor Park. Not even counting Gateway Tower.

We could only hope so, yes! 

[BFG]

I couldn't find this specific project, but there's apartments planned at the foot of the Campostella Bridge, across from the Hardee's. One of my FB friends who's a property manager posted pictures of the vacant lot, and said this is set to open around 2020.

[HRVA]

Not sure where this was discussed previously but the site plan on the development adjacent to Ikea has been updated to increase the buffer area requested by city council. It will have to go back through the approval process as it was rejected. 

Property Listing Link

[Young75]

On 1/26/2019 at 12:28 PM, BFG said:

I couldn't find this specific project, but there's apartments planned at the foot of the Campostella Bridge, across from the Hardee's. One of my FB friends who's a property manager posted pictures of the vacant lot, and said this is set to open around 2020.

I’m always happy to hear more developments but does everything have to look the same? It’s just so suburban. That’s some nice waterfront property they could at least give us 10 floors lol

[Norfolk757Kid]

Yeah where is the creativity?? 

[Willy18]

It's because these cities let them.

 

This crap looks like everything else in VB and Ches....on a prime piece of waterfront. Same with the stuff they are allowing up in Oceanview. I'm not saying everything has to be super urban and brick but push these developers to be more creative with their designs. Don't be afraid to say "No"...make them think outside of the standard suburban condo complex. 

[BeagleAccountant]

My original post was based on a rumor that I was able to verify as incorrect.  

Edited February 5, 2019 by BeagleAccountant

[BeagleAccountant]

The city will be posting an RFP for the Stuart School on 38th and Llewellyn soon. They have mentioned possibly arranging a charrette with residents of Colonial Place prior to doing so. Whether they do or don't hold a meeting for public input, I hope something happens. That building moves further into disrepair and becomes a bigger eyesore each day it sits vacant.

 

[HRVA]

This property recently closed after the city agreed to vacate some easements in January. It’s already approved and sounds like construction will start soon. 

[Virginia City]

Yup that looks like a Shore Dr. apt complex.

[zeppelin14]

Two things to add. A new Pilot article about the future of the MacArthur Mall where the mayor mentioned some possibilities to include a Target or Macy's as well as moving the food court to the 1st floor and getting rid of all of the brick that faces Monticello. The Starwood proposal is also mentioned:

https://pilotonline.com/business/consumer/article_135f1a0e-6056-11e9-b4f2-b7240962b419.html

 

And this seemed to slip by all of us. The former Freemason Inn is being redone. The adjacent building is already a new restaurant/bar called Four Eleven York and the bed and breakfast next door should reopen this spring:

https://pilotonline.com/distinction/food/article_b6ac320a-5e30-11e9-9401-0301e18092a1.html

[HRVA]

Out-of-state coworking firm adding third Virginia location

Novel Coworking purchased the City Center building next to the Tide station and will use the third and fourth floors as coworking space. Norfolk Southern vacating the building at the end of the year created this opportunity. 

[BeagleAccountant]

I apologize if I missed this somewhere else. But an application to the architectural review board was submitted for 611-615 35th Street to renovate the building into mixed use. This plan would take it from one story to three, with a ground floor retail/restaurant space.

The full plans are at the following link;

https://www.norfolk.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/4980?fileID=9806