Va. Beach Town Center project 2

[vdogg]

I'm happy to see VB progress too but lets remember that those other cities in the state you mentioned bring a lot to the table too. I was in D.C. this past weekend and as always I was impressed with its urbanity. Even though we have taller buildings here, D.C. looks and feels like a much bigger city. It'll be nice to have a couple more highrises in the area but it will never feel like a truly major city until we work on that density a bit.

[navyweaxguy]

Well in my opinion VA Beach is just starting out. The city has been around a long time, but it is just now starting to act like its own city rather than a suburb of Norfolk. There is a lot of work to do before it will even be close to what Norfolk already has. Give it 30 years and it will be alot better.

[vdogg]

Focus on the Center

The plans for block 9 are highlighted in bold

Divaris Real Estate and Armada Hoffler will soon break ground on the next phase. A six-story office tower with ground-floor retail will open in late 2008; it is already 75 percent leased. A six-story building featuring office and retail space as well as a rooftop plaza and an open-air theater will open at the end of 2009. A 21-story, 250,000-square-foot office tower with ground-floor retail will be delivered in 2010.

[vdogg]

The planned components are slated for completion by 2012

[RJWGMU]

Focus on the Center

The plans for block 9 are highlighted in bold

That is a great article! So when will the official announcements come, do we know? How about the development agreement to city council? Construction started on Two Columbus Center I noticed, but when does the Beacon move and when does the block between the Westin and the Cosmo. get under way?

[vdogg]

That is a great article! So when will the official announcements come, do we know? How about the development agreement to city council? Construction started on Two Columbus Center I noticed, but when does the Beacon move and when does the block between the Westin and the Cosmo. get under way?

The Beacon is supposed to move into its new offices in April of 2008. It could be as late as the beginning of summer depending on how quickly they can get the space ready. The fact that they already have a contractor signed however leads me to believe that they're probably still at that April estimate.

[vdogg]

Also. Two Columbus Center is supposed to be ready for occupancy by the summer. That's only an 8-9 month total construction time for this building and it's a larger 6-story building than the one on block 9 will be. If they're saying that the building will be ready at the end of 2009 than I wouldn't be surprised if they wait till the beginning of 2009 to start it. That's not official however, I'm just guestimating based on what they've done in the past.

[urbanvb]

Great article. I noticed the article stated they were hoping to add a gourment grocery as well and this was actually reported sometime earlier. But The Landing is also seeking a grocery as well. It seems like a bit of grocery within a two block radius but perhaps if they are smallish stores (ala The Market at Harbor Heights) perhaps this could work.

[vdogg]

Food lion and Farm Fresh almost always locate directly across the street from one another and sometimes even in the same complex. I've never heard of there being much of a problem. I think a grocery at the Landing and one at TC will do just fine.

[vdogg]

A Tale of Two City Centers

As I walked to and from the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, located in Virginia Beach's new Town Center at the intersection of Independence and Virginia Beach boulevards, I nearly wept because of what has been allowed to happen in downtown Hampton.

[occasio]

That would put it right up into its rightful place in the South and SE with Charlotte and Atlanta

My biggest concern for some of these developements we are hoping to attract is where are the matching jobs. The average person who can afford these Condos around here want to purchase a SF Home. We don't have this young professional class that's needed for these projects. Charlotte has the banks and Atlanta has Media HQ's.

[erdogs]

That was one of the shortest articles I have ever seen. I thought it was going to be about Hampton's Town Center.

I always thought Hampton and Newport News would be better served if both downtowns were next to each other on the city borders. No way that happens now, but it could have been amazing.

[vdogg]

That was one of the shortest articles I have ever seen.

Yeah. I read the first paragraph and thought "hmm this looks interesting, let me post it". I then went back and read it and was like "that's it?". I wouldn't have posted it if I knew it was that short.

[vdogg]

Actually, you know what? It appears that all their online articles are truncated like that now. You have to have a subscription to see the full article, which really isn't worth $14.40 a month to me. Guess i'll stop posting their articles.

[urbanvb]

A cool little story and short video on the use of Rickshaws in TC.

[vdogg]

TC still trying to draw shoppers to join diners

Construction of the next blocks of Town Center, adding almost 250,000 square feet for retail, will deliver the store mix that Garrison and local consumers seek, promised Gerald Divaris, chief executive of Divaris Real Estate Inc., who handles leasing for and is a partner in the development. One "very exciting fashion store," a national retailer without a current location in Hampton Roads, has signed a deal for new space, though he cannot name it yet, he said.

The restaurants today serve as the big draw to Town Center and have reached so-called "critical mass," Divaris said. Retail critical mass there would require about 350,000 square feet of stores, Divaris said.

Retailers now occupy about 210,000 square feet, with Dick's Sporting Goods accounting for 84,000 square feet, he said. With the new construction, a specialty grocer - which Divaris declined to name - will take about 10,000 square feet of space.

^^^I bet it's whole foods

[RJWGMU]

[^^^I bet it's whole foods

That seems like a likely option. How big is Trader Joe's though, since there had been rumors of them? Also, would Fresh Market open a second location in VB? That seems to be about their size. How big is The Market at Harbor Heights?

[urbanvb]

I would rule out Whole Foods as most stores are from 50-60k square feet. As for TJ, I think it might be a safe bet. A quick Google shows their size averages from 6-12k square feet. TJ has a pent up demand on the southside and should do quite well here.

Edited January 1, 2008 by urbanvb

[urbanvb]

Any takes on an 'exciting' fashion store that might be coming?

[mistermetaj]

Isn't Lynnhaven mall (and the whole lynnhaven area) considered a huge problem to the BRAC? If the city is so intent on keeping the naval air base, why try and slowly convince all the stores at lynnhaven mall to move to town center. Eventually with enough moving, the mall will become undesireable and the rest of the stores will follow. They could even offer some incentives to the stores for initially moving to TC for a few years. Getting the stores from lynnhaven mall to town center is the only way TC iwill become a true retail destination. VA Beach Boulevard could be our version of 5th Ave. I just don't see another way to bring in the type of retail they want without getting rid of the mall.

OR, why not at least try to make the stores in Pembroke Mall move to TC with incentives, and then tear down pembroke mall?

I realize a lot of these stores have contracts with these malls, so it would be a slow moving process, but if it were done, then TC would become our true downtown.

[Weaver24]

Any takes on an 'exciting' fashion store that might be coming?

It could be a store called Urban Outfitters. I was in Charlotte last summer and been to one. I think Richmond has one at Short Pump Town Center. Urban Outfitters is a good store and in demand by some. It also applies to men and women so that would be good. I live in Norfolk and come to Town Center for the restaurants and Dicks. I may go into Men's Warehouse and Brooks Brothers 346 or whatever it is to look around while waiting for a table but not really to shop. I think adding retail would cause people to shop more but they need to bring in the right retail and bring some things that are new to Hampton Roads...or something that used to be but not here now. Most people I know go there just to eat at the restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Bravo, etc.). In my opinion, TC doesn't really mix in that well with Pembroke and the surrounding big box stores but it is a very nice development and looks great around the Funny Bone. It makes you think you not in Hampton Roads in that area. The performing arts center and new Westin looks great.

But I wonder is the shopping that bad in Hampton Roads that alot of people actually go to Richmond and DC/Nova just to shop. I haven't shopped in DC but been to Richmond visiting family and been to Short Pump and a few other malls and Short Pump is very nice. I think the shopping is ok here in Hampton Roads but things are located far apart. For example, Trader Joe's is all the way up in Newport News. Some things are at MacArthur Center...some at Lynnhaven, Chesapeake, etc. but the shopping in Hampton Roads has improved in the last 10 years since MacArthur opened. At one point, there were alot of things we didn't have.

Edited January 1, 2008 by Weaver24

[vdogg]

Pedestrian Bridge design chosen

Wow, the Nimby's are coming out of the woodwork on this one.

[RJWGMU]

Pedestrian Bridge design chosen

Wow, the Nimby's are coming out of the woodwork on this one.

Ummm that link links to the Norfolk Residence Inn Forum...

[vdogg]

Wow, don't know how that happened.

link

[wrldcoupe4]

Trader Joe's usually goes into older areas with cheaper rents. Maybe Dean and Deluca is the small grocery store? 10,000 SF is way to small for Whole Foods.