Gateway Tower

[urbanfan]

A few things:

1) The 8 floor garage plus 12 floors of office makes it 20 floors... What are the other two?

2) The name of the tower is REALLY lame and has a funky sound to it... Gateway Bank Tower... Yikes... Sounds too forced... Should be just Gateway Tower if anything...

3) Hopefully the 4 or 5 floors they said of office in the front won't be as tacky as the AH Tower.

Probably retail.

[vdogg]

A few things:

1) The 8 floor garage plus 12 floors of office makes it 20 floors... What are the other two?

2) The name of the tower is REALLY lame and has a funky sound to it... Gateway Bank Tower... Yikes... Sounds too forced... Should be just Gateway Tower if anything...

3) Hopefully the 4 or 5 floors they said of office in the front won't be as tacky as the AH Tower.

Lets just be happy that it's a corporate tenant looking to expand in our region. This country is in the middle of a recession and it looks like our region is not only weathering the storm, but thriving in spite of it. I don't care if they call the thing Mickey Mouse Tower, just so long as they build it and it helps to further diversify our economy.

[vdogg]

This must be big news. It is all over the web. Check out this article

Gateway Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:GBTS) is driving its stake further into the ground in the Virginia Beach market by establishing the holding company's permanent headquarters at The Town Center of Virginia Beach, announced D. Ben Berry, chairman, president and CEO for Gateway Financial, the holding company for Gateway Bank. Currently, Gateway Financial Holdings, Inc. is temporarily housed in Gateway Bank's financial center on Laskin Road at Hilltop in Virginia Beach. Gateway Financial Holdings investigated a number of Mid-Atlantic locations in North Carolina and Virginia for its headquarters, and ultimately selected the City of Virginia Beach.

"Leasing 50,000 square feet on two floors of the building, as well as 4,000 square feet for a financial center on the ground floor."

I think this accounts for those 2 floors RJW. The pilot forgot to mention that in the article.

[hoobo]

A few things:

1) The 8 floor garage plus 12 floors of office makes it 20 floors... What are the other two?

2) The name of the tower is REALLY lame and has a funky sound to it... Gateway Bank Tower... Yikes... Sounds too forced... Should be just Gateway Tower if anything...

3) Hopefully the 4 or 5 floors they said of office in the front won't be as tacky as the AH Tower.

From what vdogg posted:

Gateway Financial Holdings Headquarters to Move to The Town Center of Virginia Beach:

The 22-story Gateway Bank Tower, as proposed, will feature first floor retail space; an 8-level, 250,000 square foot structured parking garage that will be free to the public; 12 floors of Class A office space; and, an attached 4-story Class A office building. Total retail and office space will comprise over 350,000 square feet. Plans call for groundbreaking to occur during the fourth quarter of 2008 and for the building to be ready for occupancy during the fourth quarter of 2010.

It looks like the first floor is entirely retail, then ramp up to 8 level garage, then 12 story office tower, followed by a mechanical floor. That's 22.

Also, the renderings make it appear that the 4 story office space would be attached and face either the Blvd (brick portion) or Market (glass portion). I think it's the glass portion and it actually will be 2 floors of retail (Crate & Barrel likely) and 2 floors of office.

[urbanvb]

It would be so cool if they actually landed C&B as they have been courting them for some time. If so, other major retailers may follow which is what TC really needs.

[RJWGMU]

Hmmm Gateway Bank must be beating the market with its loans and investments. If they are moving from Hilltop (tiny space) and get two floors and a ton more space, I see some promise in them. At the same time, seeing that banks are failing, it makes me nervous that a bank is the main tenant... That is just my business major perspective...

[vdogg]

I'm not too worried about it. I mean, lets face it, the chances of us landing a major fortune 500 are slim to none. We stand a better chance of nurturing our own companies in the hopes that they'll grow and take a more prominent roll in our economy.

Also, this real estate thing is temporary and we'll probably be on the rebound by next year. The only banks that are really finding themselves in trouble are the ones who made those idiotic subprime loans.

[vdogg]

The original pilot story has been updated. Link

[metalman]

I don't think I've seen the rendering on page 2 before. The first rendering was in the pilot article, though.

http://vbgov.com/file_source/dept/mcg/Imag...20rendering.pdf

and...when you scroll between the two pages, the wallpaper behind the rendering is a map of the town center. It looks pretty current, I noticed the Gateway Bank Tower, Now know henceforth as GWBT since the long version just takes too long to type. I also notice the retail on the Indy front of the Sandler Center is shown with square footage list. But, you can only see it before the rendering has loading which is almost instantly on my computer.

Can someone possibly capture that wallpaper image, perchance?

[RJWGMU]

Nice!

Also, here is the image file:

[pipdo]

Nice!

Also, here is the image file:

Here's another one that might be a bit easier to read:

I've also extracted the other pictures for anyone who wants them without the pdf:

[vdogg]

I don't think I've seen the rendering on page 2 before. The first rendering was in the pilot article, though.

http://vbgov.com/file_source/dept/mcg/Imag...20rendering.pdf

and...when you scroll between the two pages, the wallpaper behind the rendering is a map of the town center. It looks pretty current, I noticed the Gateway Bank Tower, Now know henceforth as GWBT since the long version just takes too long to type. I also notice the retail on the Indy front of the Sandler Center is shown with square footage list. But, you can only see it before the rendering has loading which is almost instantly on my computer.

Can someone possibly capture that wallpaper image, perchance?

Nice find. Looks like there is an "urban market" going on block 11.

[RJWGMU]

Nice find. Looks like there is an "urban market" going on block 11.

Yeah I was just noticing that. Maybe, "The Market?"Looks like a cinema is still planned for block 9. Interesting, there is retail behind the Sandler Center fronting Indy. Blvd... I wonder if all of the remaining plots will be under construction at the same time during this next phase? Any idea when the next phase begins?

[vdogg]

Any idea when the next phase begins?

I'm pretty sure it will be after this current phase is completed, which would put it sometime around 2010.

[HarryVB]

From what I see in the renderings for the master plan. It looks like there is no tower going on block 11. Just another 3 story wrapped around shopping center called Urban Market.. Looks boring to me... They should build the tower I seen a few months ago that was planned there.. 23 stories with retail below.. That looks appealing.. But I am lookin forward to seeing the Cinema Complex built.. I think that would be awesome.. I Could ask my friends if they wanna go to downtown Va Beach and go see a movie...Maybe even have the spot lights ontop the the complex to draw in customers...They need a spotlight on the westin hotel as well... If you build something modern and nice. You wanna draw attention to it.. Spot lights help.. IT shows something special is going on in Downtown...

[urbanlife]

Now that is called good architectural composition of the building to the site and surroundings.

[vdogg]

From what I see in the renderings for the master plan. It looks like there is no tower going on block 11. Just another 3 story wrapped around shopping center called Urban Market.. Looks boring to me... They should build the tower I seen a few months ago that was planned there.. 23 stories with retail below.. That looks appealing.. But I am lookin forward to seeing the Cinema Complex built.. I think that would be awesome.. I Could ask my friends if they wanna go to downtown Va Beach and go see a movie...Maybe even have the spot lights ontop the the complex to draw in customers...They need a spotlight on the westin hotel as well... If you build something modern and nice. You wanna draw attention to it.. Spot lights help.. IT shows something special is going on in Downtown...

It shows the same thing for the other blocks, none of the blocks in that schematic indicate there is a tower above them, they just show the street level uses. As a matter of fact, it doesn't even give the uses for GWBT, it just shows a square. Block 11 is specifically designated for an office tower in the MOU they signed with the city. If they were to make such a significant change we would likely hear about it first as they would have to go back to the city. Block 11 development is at least 2 years away anyway, so I wouldn't get too concerned.

[RJWGMU]

It shows the same thing for the other blocks, none of the blocks in that schematic indicate there is a tower above them, they just show the street level uses. As a matter of fact, it doesn't even give the uses for GWBT, it just shows a square. Block 11 is specifically designated for an office tower in the MOU they signed with the city. If they were to make such a significant change we would likely hear about it first as they would have to go back to the city. Block 11 development is at least 2 years away anyway, so I wouldn't get too concerned.

That, and I do remember seeing a rendering for that block a few months back... All glass it seemed... The office market is also booming right now, so they may start building it sooner than we expect.

[metalman]

I think it's extremely ironic and totally fitting that Bank St. was named such a couple years ago and Gateway Tower will be fronting that street. I think they might have planned a bank branch on bank street but, I doubt they could have known a Bank would be the namesake for the tower.

BTW- Thanks RJWGMU and pipdo, thanks for capturing that masterplan image and making it so readable. I knew someone here would be able to do it.

[vdogg]

A tale of two Towers

By the time the two office towers are completed in 2010, it will be eight years since an office tower has been delivered in Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

This statement is factually inaccurate as the Trader Tower was completed only 2 years ago. Otherwise, this is a good article.

[vdogg]

Judging by this it looks like they changed the name of the tower, so i'm changing the name of the thread. I think just saying Gateway Tower sounds better anyway.

Also, Phase IV pre-leasing has begun on another 21 stories of Class A office space. Located on Block Two will be a 356,657-square-foot, high-rise tower with 21 floors of offices in two attached, yet distinctive, buildings above a 634-car parking garage. Gateway Bank, a regional community bank, has committed to occupy 50,000 square feet of space for its corporate headquarters and has secured the naming rights for the tower. Additionally, there will be 30,758 square feet of retail that will wrap the ground floor. Town Center City Club will move into expanded premises in the tower to offer more extensive services. Other tenants that are considering the space include attorneys, insurance companies, and a second public company that is considering the building, either as its corporate or for its regional headquarters. The Gateway Tower will start construction in late fall 2008 and is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by late 2010

[urbanvb]

... and a second public company that is considering the building, either as its corporate or for its regional headquarters.

This is great news too. Although the first tower had a lot of relocatees from within the city, TC has been a huge success in terms of filling its office space.

[vdogg]

Well, the good news is that negotiations with landmark have been finalized. The bad news is construction won't start till the beginning of 2009. I'm so anxious for this building to start.

Two Columbus Center: skinning building. An additional two floors are in lease negotiations, but not yet announced.

Closed with Armada Hoffler on Block 12 retail under the parking garage at Dick

[RJWGMU]

I'm so anxious for this building to start.

I am too....

[vdogg]

Well it did say "by beginning" of 2009, so it could still be this year. They haven't started working on the Beacon space yet though which makes me think it'll be later.