Walmart at Town Center

[757Duke]

Within the site plan you can see some renderings, though they're not 3-D nor colored. The only official color rendering at this time is that of the article from the Pilot.

[mistermetaj]

It is a shame this site will be wasted on a suburban like Walmart.  It will make it very hard for the downtown to grow west past Kellam.

 

The plans could have been worse.  I would call this a sub-urban rather than a suburban Wal-Mart.  They devil is in the details, and the facade treatments will dictate the feel of the store much more than it's orientation which isn't too bad.  The building does a good job of presenting itself as urban in the most highly visible part. (Va Beach Blvd)

 

The store as rendered is flush with the street on both Horace Ave and Virginia Beach Blvd.  Half of Columbus Ave will be a parking deck and the other a small surface lot.  Kellam Rd is fronted by a third surface lot, a third parking garage, and a third already existing shopping center.  There is plenty of room for Town Center to expand, and in an ideal world, if Town Center reaches such a critical mass that they are running out of room westward, those surface lots and the low end shopping center are primed for re-development.  This is a net positive for the area and hopefully generates some foot traffic for Town Center as well.   

[likeminded]

Has anyone seen or heard anything about the goal opening date for the Town Center Wal-Mart?

[757Duke]

They're moving quickly on the structure. The exterior brick samples don't look bad either.

[Harry Strait]

I can not believe they are putting up a Walmart near town center. I was hoping it was going to be a huge mixed use development to compliment with town center. We don't need anymore walmarts. lol

[urbanvb]

I rode by today and was astounded how much progress has been made but..that long stretch of its tall walls right there on the Boulevard is horrible! I was hoping for something a little more pedestrian friendly. I guess I'll wait to pass judgment until its completed. *sigh*

[757Duke]

They're starting to put some of the brick on the exterior which doesn't look bad. I'm interested to see how the faux windows, doors and green planter walls on the Blvd side will make it look.

[Goats_Gruff]

Until I saw the massive facade on the Blvd. side, I had forgotten how windowless Wal-Mart really is. Guess it helps people get lost inside that giant warehouse and lose all track of time and space.

[likeminded]

I think it's shaping up to look pretty good.  At least, as good as a "Wal-Mart" can look.  I look forward to the convenience of shopping there, though.  It's literally in walking distance to me (a long walk, but still...)

[vdogg]

I may be coming around on this. I spent the weekend in Atlanta and the suburban/urban mismatch layout of the metro is very similar to Hampton Roads. After taking a trip to Buckhead I think I may have seen the future of VB. You have skyscrapers next to strip malls yet somehow the whole thing just works. I took some pictures and will post when I get home.

[BFG]

I noticed the same thing when I visited in 2011 and '12. Like HR, you need to have a vehicle, although MARTA's train system is much more beneficial. I could see the Tide growing to that in the next decade.

I think VB will become a textbook example of how to build a city, similar to ATL in the 70s and Charlotte in the 90s.

[Nathan_in_DC]

Anyone have any shots of this? Interested to see how it's coming along.

 

I really do hope that Town Center gets some more organic, high density development going.  If I ever need to move back to the area, I'd like to have an option of living in a more urban, built environment that doesn't necessitate having to take a car to get a carton of milk and loaf of bread.

[likeminded]

I may be coming around on this. I spent the weekend in Atlanta and the suburban/urban mismatch layout of the metro is very similar to Hampton Roads. After taking a trip to Buckhead I think I may have seen the future of VB. You have skyscrapers next to strip malls yet somehow the whole thing just works. I took some pictures and will post when I get home.

Where are those pics?  

[urbanvb]

Walmart is hiring 300 folks in anticipation of a fall opening. I was by there yesterday and thought it was different in that the parking deck is not intergrated but rather a separate structure to the side.

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/07/walmart-hiring-new-beach-store

I'll try to get some photos next time.

[757Duke]

I was down over by Town Center tonight, so I snapped a few shots while passing through. This Wal-Mart reminds me a lot of the feel of Whole Foods near the Clarendon metro station up in Arlington.

[Helium3]

Honestly, that looks pretty good. It definitely exceeds my expectations. I could definitely see the city doing projects similar to this along Virginia Beach Boulevard in the future. 

[urbanvb]

I heard on Friday that this store will open this weekend.

[757Duke]

I rode past and I saw a sign saying it would open October 8th, though it looks like it could open sooner.

[zeppelin14]

I'm sure it times a while to fully stock a Wal-Mart.