Fort Norfolk Plaza Progress

[mikeas]

It looked like a pile driver was up on site yesterday afternoon.

[brikkman]

yeah

i've seen movement on the site for the last few days

[mikeas]

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/fort-norfo...er-funding-woes

The developer of the $70 million Fort Norfolk Plaza medical office project said Wednesday that he has reached a deal with two banks to provide financing for the project.

Dr. Keith Newby said construction will begin Friday on the 210,000-square-foot, nine-story medical office building near the city's medical center. The main tenant will be Sentara Healthcare...

Here is a rendering from the epilot. Is it new?

[mikeas]

I'm going to bump this because I'm thinking no one saw the rendering I added in my edit.

[mistermetaj]

I'm going to bump this because I'm thinking no one saw the rendering I added in my edit.

I especially love the waterfront freestanding garage. You'll get a great view while parking your car....

[PeninsulaKiddo]

I am going to continue to hope and pray that this rendering will somehow be built into something beautiful...

But I'm guessing it's going to look exactly like that rendering - an overgrown suburban Comfort Inn - downgrade. ...

[rusthebuss]

I really think finacing killed this project. It took too long to get going before it became a victim of the financial crisis

[spiker3]

Regardless of our feelings, to have a project move forward in this economic climate deserves some praise. Kudos to Newby & Co for being able to get it done after the market bottom fell out.

[vdogg]

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/fort-norfo...er-funding-woes

Here is a rendering from the epilot. Is it new?

New rendering, same crap. I refuse to accept something subpar simply because the current economic climate doesn't allow for anything better. If this is the case then wait. That land is too valuable for something like this, that will continue to be my contention until they put something together that's better.

[urbanlife]

wow, it looks like a subpar hospital building. Well I guess that will be the only people using the building, so I am not surprised. The plus side is that it is a plain boring building and wont be much of an eyesore.

And look at the bright side, one could take a good photo of Norfolk from the top of that garage.

[mistermetaj]

New rendering, same crap. I refuse to accept something subpar simply because the current economic climate doesn't allow for anything better. If this is the case then wait. That land is too valuable for something like this, that will continue to be my contention until they put something together that's better.

He is building this mainly for sentara...They have very large parking lots and are already building another garage. Why does this building require waterfront property? Especially that hideous parking garage?

[vdogg]

He is building this mainly for sentara...They have very large parking lots and are already building another garage. Why does this building require waterfront property? Especially that hideous parking garage?

I can actually understand them wanting the garage on the same side of the street, but the lack of effort they put forth in hiding the thing is stunning. The local architects have made a lot of progress in their ability to hide a garage (Trader, Wachovia, Gateway, etc.) so why the step backwards? This whole thing went from an innovative project with the ability to extend downtown, to an expansion of Sentara proper. I mean, lets call it what it is, a hospital. Yeah, the economy is bad, but I refuse to count my blessings on this one. Portsmouth did something really stunning the other day. Faced with difficulties in getting financing for the 25-story tower on their water front, instead of going with something significantly reduced and of lower quality, they voted to give the developers all the time they need to deliver the project at the same quality that was originally intended. Bravo Portsmouth. At least somebody gets it.

[Padman]

This is the most wretched piece of drivel I've seen in a very long time, like a bad movie that isn't funny enough to become a cult favorite. With this taste in architecture, what kind of jazz can we expect in that nightclub? I see feathered boas and poor renditions of Sinatra tunes coming. O.K. I got out on the wrong side of the bed today, but really.

[vdogg]

Not that I particularly care but it is tradition and this project is obviously under construction so here's your progress thread. I wish I were more enthusiastic.

[erdogs]

No not really;

[mistermetaj]

No not really;

I just really really can't get over the waterfront parking garage. I mean, the building itself is so generic that it neither inspires nor offends, it's just kind of there, and hey, it's made of brick... ...ok maybe that's looking too much on the bright side. But the garage on the waterfront is not right and a real shame the city wouldn't force them to do something to cover it up...

[skylinefan]

I think the city is just happy to have anything built there. It is possible that once Fort Norfolk is built up that the parking garage will be alot less noticeable.

[brikkman]

The jazz club there is still killing me.....

Dropped the hotel ideal and kept the jazz club in the bottom of the medical tower with nothing to tie it together.

[mikeas]

There are two pile drivers up and they were actually driving piles after dark last night.

[rusthebuss]

The jazz club there is still killing me.....

Dropped the hotel ideal and kept the jazz club in the bottom of the medical tower with nothing to tie it together.

There is a 16 story retirement home within walking distance of there

[brikkman]

There is a 16 story retirement home within walking distance of there

I am aware of that, but I will not count on those tenants to make that establishment successful.

[lil-bear]

I think that the city council allowed a huge egg to be layed on this project.

It would be easier to handle if the developer would build this thing with future add-ons in the future as the market allows.

The garage part could be built with a hotel/condo tower on top of it in mind.

Then when the time is right, build the tower!

That would make the project more promising.

Oh well......

[Norfolk4Life]

Hopefully these guys can build better than they can proofread.... Multi-million dollar project and we get acors (instead of acres) and the Sentara Heart Hopspital. Also, their "view looking east" pic is facing southwest and taken from alost over Hampton Blvd, and the "view looking west" pic is facing southeast

[urbanlife]

Actually "acors" is latin for "to lazy to find the spell check."

[Glassoul]

Actually "acors" is latin for "to lazy to find the spell check."

I thought it meant, "to spoil waterfront views with hideous POS".