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Granby Tower


brikkman

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  • 1 month later...

WOW, what can we say about this latest development. I can say this about the now certainly done Granby Towers project. It was to be along with The Westin Hotel a signature project for Norfolk. Not just because of the skyline effect making our fair city look they way it should have 30 years ago along with the newest additions to our skyline along with The Westin Hotel(if that happens) but, because of the added people and business it would have generated. When you visit other cities/towns etc., what impresses you once among the buildings you see from a distance? The foot traffic? The businesses you see with open signs? The number of places to live in the city center? Well, I guess that varies for us all, I measure alot of different things as what makes a city. That said, we won't sadly have the Granby Towers as a part of Norfolk and the Feds now own it and plan to put a park there until they decide what design or whatever they will go with for the new Fed building they want in Norfolk Im guessing due to budgeting in this egregious economy!

The park they plan is another symbol of the many disappointments for our city we LOVE and the chances we lost and never pursued. I wont argue about the FEd's choice nor the city not stepping up and assisting to save the project. Nobodies at fault, just bad timing. All I can do is imagine if the project was 3 years earlier and already here and wonder, were would Norfolk be in those who visits eyes when they see all the people who would have lived and worked there adding to a city for 50 years still recovering from urban renewal that is still in repair mode! Lets all just hope the city and developers learned from this failure and if The Westin doesn't happen we learn also from that. Hope the park they build is at least pretty so Granby Street looks even better! L.G.N.Mshades.gifshades.gif

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WOW, what can we say about this latest development. I can say this about the now certainly done Granby Towers project. It was to be along with The Westin Hotel a signature project for Norfolk. Not just because of the skyline effect making our fair city look they way it should have 30 years ago along with the newest additions to our skyline along with The Westin Hotel(if that happens) but, because of the added people and business it would have generated. When you visit other cities/towns etc., what impresses you once among the buildings you see from a distance? The foot traffic? The businesses you see with open signs? The number of places to live in the city center? Well, I guess that varies for us all, I measure alot of different things as what makes a city. That said, we won't sadly have the Granby Towers as a part of Norfolk and the Feds now own it and plan to put a park there until they decide what design or whatever they will go with for the new Fed building they want in Norfolk Im guessing due to budgeting in this egregious economy!

The park they plan is another symbol of the many disappointments for our city we LOVE and the chances we lost and never pursued. I wont argue about the FEd's choice nor the city not stepping up and assisting to save the project. Nobodies at fault, just bad timing. All I can do is imagine if the project was 3 years earlier and already here and wonder, were would Norfolk be in those who visits eyes when they see all the people who would have lived and worked there adding to a city for 50 years still recovering from urban renewal that is still in repair mode! Lets all just hope the city and developers learned from this failure and if The Westin doesn't happen we learn also from that. Hope the park they build is at least pretty so Granby Street looks even better! L.G.N.Mshades.gifshades.gif

I think what annoys me most about all of this is that during that housing boom most cities managed to build a new urban district or two very easily. Obviously Hampton Roads saw this more in the shape of the VBTC and that urban shopping center in Hampton...but you would of thought that Norfolk would of been able to jump on that bandwagon and should of had 8-15 new buildings go up over the course of the 10 years (of course one could argue that happened in the form of infill, but most of those cities were seeing infill happen the same time new districts were going up.) But it always seems like Norfolk is oblivious to what is going on within every other city and acting like they are still struggling with 1950s small city issues. Which the reason why I can see VB passing Norfolk by as an urban center is that I can see Pembroke acting like the shiny new urban center for the region while Norfolk continues to act like they are a small city in a sleepy small metro. Not saying that to start a which city is better...it is just one of those annoying facts that use to always frustrate me when I lived in VB, which is just one of the many reasons why I had to move because Norfolk was never going to give me that big urban city that I so desired that it should of easily already been do to its location and clout it should of had.

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i'd like to see Norfolk get rid of that dead end on York Street that's next to the vacant lot, maybe take a left turn and intercept with Brambleton, or a right turn to Bute. It could be a entrance to the parking garage that will eventually go there. And maybe give a little life to that dead block of York.

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Norfolk can't redevelop Granby, everyone will scream about them tearing down old buildings.

Downtown Norfolk just can't compete with Virginia Beach Town Center.

Norfolk has some wealthy neighborhoods, but the nearby subsidized housing projects will always have an effect that VBTC doesn't have to deal with.

This park is .. interesting I guess.

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Well if the SPQ goes well Norfolk won't have that problem DT. I just worry with the current leaders that the SPQ will fall apart and not look anything like the concept pics.

The St. Paul's Quadrant development will most likely come to fruition because a good chunk of the project will be funded by HOPE VI government funds.

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more wasteful govt spending

Agreed. Norfolk should follow Charlotte's example of housing. They do voluntary time limits on public housing, moving these people who agree to the limits into much nicer housing. These people then agree to further their education and work with a counselor to get financial help and job training. If the housing authority finds that a tenant is not working toward her goal, then she is sent back to the not-so-nice housing. They're thinking about making this 5 year transition period mandatory for all tenants.

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Norfolk can't redevelop Granby, everyone will scream about them tearing down old buildings.

Downtown Norfolk just can't compete with Virginia Beach Town Center.

Norfolk has some wealthy neighborhoods, but the nearby subsidized housing projects will always have an effect that VBTC doesn't have to deal with.

Why do you say the bolded? I agree with you as far as the housing projects, but what is so special about VBTC?..... It still feels suburban, bland, and too wide open to me. It really doesnt have any character (much like the entire city of VB). VBTC has potential, but it will probably take 30 years or longer to even come close to being like downtown Norfolk.

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Our metro has issues with old values in a new America. Racist politicians in office as well as just recently getting an older gent out of office whom had his time and respect is due him(former mayor Holley,Portsmouth) but his time had long past him. Our entire metro needs an enema. We need new young politicians with new ideas and concepts to grow the area. The old guard meaning, those who pay the politicians campaign funds etc., have the pull on those in office and that helps the growth continue to be slow. I was riding around Portsmouth, coming from Chesapeake Square Mall and noticed the same views and sights there were when I was in High School! I just shook my head.

Heck, we all are in the same boat, not the same way of expressing it, but the same feelings for the most part. Varider is an example of how I felt as a younger man in my teens. I was frustrated hearing about Charlotte then and see what it has become(financially,culturally and entertainment wise with sports)! We NEED better mayors for all 7 cities and the surrounding towns and more regional partnering. The biggest issue may be the independent city issue and yes, there are other US cities that are independent like our cities in Hampton Roads but, they work together better with the surrounding counties/towns for a better good. To many issues and losing Granby Towers is an example of not just the financial issues VA as a state faces but, we VA as a state faces in sports,celebrity and several other facets of LIFE. We just keep getting bad timing or bad things happening to us and we must break this chain of bad events some how. Im older than most on this page, so Im looking for those in your early/late 20's or late teens to change things. Run for city offices or develop projects that change our metro. I wont be around to see it at this pace but, hopefully you ladies and gents whom are younger will. LGNMshades.gifshades.gif

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  • 4 years later...

So, I usually don't like to resurrect long dead threads but there has been a new development that seems like it would affect the viability of the Federal courts project. 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/01/30/in-major-shift-obama-administration-will-plan-for-rising-seas-in-all-federal-projects/

 

 

President Obama issued an executive order Friday directing federal agencies to adopt stricter building and siting standards to reflect scientific projections that future flooding will be more frequent and intense due to climate change.

The order represents a major shift for the federal government: while theFederal Emergency Management Administration published a memo three years ago saying it would take global warming into account when preparing for more severe storms, most agencies continue to rely on historic data rather than future projections for building projects.

The new standard gives agencies three options for establishing the flood elevation and hazard area they use in siting, design and construction of federal projects. They can use data and methods “informed by best-available, actionable climate science”; build two feet above the 100-year flood elevation for standard projects and three feet above for critical buildings such as hospitals and evacuation centers; or build to the 500-year flood elevation.

As far as I'm aware this pretty much takes the entirety of Downtown Norfolk out of consideration, at least for the next 2 years (no telling what the next President will decide). Am I reading this correctly? Anyone have any thoughts on this? If this is true then and the very least the feds should cede all condemned land back to the city so the city can put out an RFP.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Time for the city to buy back this land from the government since nothing is going to happen in the next decade or more!

 

Would love to see this project come back in the form of a 42 story tower at 700 plus feet!

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I don't see the feds ever letting go of this property.  Even if they never build the courthouse annex.  They have a huge security problem with the courthouse being so close to Granby Street.  It is the exact same situation they had at the Alfred Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  A Ryder truck full of explosives parked on Granby Street could cause a lot of damage.  With this parcel, they might have some options, including closing Granby Street and Bute Street.  It wouldn't solve everything, but it would help.

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I don't see the feds ever letting go of this property.  Even if they never build the courthouse annex.  They have a huge security problem with the courthouse being so close to Granby Street.  It is the exact same situation they had at the Alfred Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  A Ryder truck full of explosives parked on Granby Street could cause a lot of damage.  With this parcel, they might have some options, including closing Granby Street and Bute Street.  It wouldn't solve everything, but it would help.

 

That's a shame.  Is there no precedent for the city to fight for the land?  I can't imagine the feds could close Granby Street.

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That's such a prime plot of land that I really want to see it dedicated to an office tower for a Fortune 500 company (sorry, I'm apartmented out at this point). A unique design would be nice, but I'm afraid it wouldn't even look right in DT Norfolk because everything is so....."safe".

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That's such a prime plot of land that I really want to see it dedicated to an office tower for a Fortune 500 company (sorry, I'm apartmented out at this point). A unique design would be nice, but I'm afraid it wouldn't even look right in DT Norfolk because everything is so....."safe".

The Church Street post office space will be available in the near future. Would this property satisfy the government's requirements and do they already own this land? This property offers another huge chunk of land downtown for either the city or government to redevelop into something special. If the government already own this land, why not use it to build a courts complex that meets all their requirements here. If not, the city should use this land to develop a towncenter type of development to include a signature tower and new retail and housing. Either way, this property will likely be vacant in the next few years and something unique should be developed there.

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