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Hilton Norfolk at The Main


vdogg

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...And the last minute problems for the Hilton continue to pop up...

Beecroft & Bull building part of Selden Arcade?

God, what is going on with this thing? The pilot is eating this up too. You can almost feel the glee rising off the page at the thought of yet another controversy to be able to report about this project. They might as well just scrap the damn thing, I'm getting tired of reading about it.

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It's funny how most of the people who have voted in the poll so far consider the beecroft and bull building part of the selden arcade when most of them probably don't even have a clue what those 2 buildings are, lol. i'm having trouble seeing how anyone thinks they're one in the same anyway. By that logic, every building on that street is part of selden arcade, and every building between Granby and Plume was part of the Ikon building. :lol:

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People that respond on the pilots articles are morons. I've come realize that by reading some of the comments. They are really ignorant and do no research before they respond. Just like the ped bridge in Vabeach. They critcize it now but as soon as someone gets hit a year or two from now they would be cursing the city for not having a safer pathway from point a to b. People just like to complain and the pilot feeds off of it. Its part of why this region is so far behind other metros that are even smaller than us.

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I don't understand the love for the Beecroft & Bull store... the Decker Building is way cooler IMHO. I walk or ride past that building and think... man, hate to see it go.

I took a bunch more pictures today of downtown Norfolk which I haven't uploaded yet. Got harassed by the BOA security guys, again. Man they suck. They try to say that no one is allowed to take any pictures of the BOA building. Taking pictures of downtown is a good excuse to segway around. The guy claimed that the parking garage above Gormet Gang belongs to BOA. It is run by Central Parking Services or whatever their name is, but that guy didn't know who owned the garage.

Anywho... I wonder what the best building downtown is.... save the arcades, even though they are yawn. The US Insurance or whatever they are... that is hot. There are some other neat places.

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actually at this point in the game I think they should stall any future demolition, cut ties with Johnson, and start working with other developers and architects. If there are other developers interested, then they should explore those options and those developers might have a better way to deal with the lot and the buildings still standing in it. If anything it is worth giving that a chance if it means saving a small piece of the city's history.

Oh and take back the money that would be given to Johnson. Seriously the city would be better off to go outside and hand that to some random homeless person in the city.

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I took a bunch more pictures today of downtown Norfolk which I haven't uploaded yet. Got harassed by the BOA security guys, again. Man they suck. They try to say that no one is allowed to take any pictures of the BOA building. Taking pictures of downtown is a good excuse to segway around. The guy claimed that the parking garage above Gormet Gang belongs to BOA. It is run by Central Parking Services or whatever their name is, but that guy didn't know who owned the garage.

Bank of America does own that parking garage. They have hired Central Parking to run it for them. After all, what does a bank know about billing monthly parkers, or repairing ticket spitters? And why would they want to?

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Johnson likely to leave Hilton project

Billionaire Robert L. Johnson will almost certainly step aside as the primary developer of a controversial downtown hotel, said two city officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, because negotiations are under way.

Former NFL star William Fuller, who was to help develop the project as a minority partner, instead is seeking permission to work with other local developers to build the 16-story, $47 million hotel, sources said.

Although Johnson was supposed to build a Hilton, the hotel brand could change.
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Agree whole heartedly, just concerned that a proposed Hilton could get watered down to a Springfield or Towne Hill Suites, which Norfolk does not need. With Residence Suites soon to begin construction, Norfolk needs to ensure that the brand of hotel delivered by the developer is upper middle to high end, not a run of the mill chain.

Glad to see that RLJ is not walking away with $7.5 million. If he was able to walk with the money and seek compensation for their work thus far, there would be an outrage.

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Agree whole heartedly, just concerned that a proposed Hilton could get watered down to a Springfield or Towne Hill Suites, which Norfolk does not need. With Residence Suites soon to begin construction, Norfolk needs to ensure that the brand of hotel delivered by the developer is upper middle to high end, not a run of the mill chain.

Glad to see that RLJ is not walking away with $7.5 million. If he was able to walk with the money and seek compensation for their work thus far, there would be an outrage.

Best decision they've made in years! Good riddance! I'm not concerned about it being watered down spiker. Even Burfoot said he didn't think that the hotel Johnson proposed was "upscale enough". At the very least, we'll hold the line. This is a very positive step.

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Agree whole heartedly, just concerned that a proposed Hilton could get watered down to a Springfield or Towne Hill Suites, which Norfolk does not need. With Residence Suites soon to begin construction, Norfolk needs to ensure that the brand of hotel delivered by the developer is upper middle to high end, not a run of the mill chain.

Exactly what I'm thinking................I'm praying that it doesn't turn out that way..

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God, what is going on with this thing? The pilot is eating this up too. You can almost feel the glee rising off the page at the thought of yet another controversy to be able to report about this project. They might as well just scrap the damn thing, I'm getting tired of reading about it.

The Pilot's view of things is made quite clear by the emphasis it places on this story. Is this really the most significant story of the day? Or could it be the 9/11 anniversary or John McCain's stop in HR? Or something else? Read the comments in pilotonline and you'll see just what attitude you get from days and weeks and months and years of clear negative bias. Yes, I'm glad RLJ is backing out, but to put ALL the blame on Norfolk and NONE on RLJ's greediness shows me just how pathetic some people are. Vote, people, vote. Aw, what's that you say, you didn't get to vote because you were at the store buying Budweiser? Too damn bad! If you want to throw people out, stop making threats. You've all been complaining for years, and all we see is whining and no action.

Now, I feel better.

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The Pilot article is a bit short-sighted, but on the face of it, I'd venture that Johnson's departure would be something to be celebrated rather than mourned. IF the hotel can be built with a better design, this too could be an improvement for Norfolk. I had hoped that they would simply get on with the project, but this offers a chance for an evaluation of the project as a whole. It would be nice to think that a Westin might emerge from this broth of tribulation, but one can't really say at this point. I would hate to see another limited-service hotel built instead.

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The Pilot article is a bit short-sighted, but on the face of it, I'd venture that Johnson's departure would be something to be celebrated rather than mourned. IF the hotel can be built with a better design, this too could be an improvement for Norfolk. I had hoped that they would simply get on with the project, but this offers a chance for an evaluation of the project as a whole. It would be nice to think that a Westin might emerge from this broth of tribulation, but one can't really say at this point. I would hate to see another limited-service hotel built instead.

I agree with your comments completely. But it's clear from the comments online, due to the bias of the reporting, that most people responding to the article don't feel this way. It's also clear the the Pilot is feeding this fire. Wouldn't it be nice if the paper for once said what you say above and not cleverly and subtly push its agenda? I thought this was supposed to be a NEWS paper, not a tabloid comprised of opinions.

The irony in all this (and the saving grace) is that Norfolk doesn't listen to many of its residents. It can't. If it did, downtown would still be one giant parking lot, with boarded up shoe stores on Granby, and bunch of ugly damn planters. But I gues the online whiners would be happy as long as taxes were low. Whoopee, let's spend our money at the new Hardees that just opened 10 miles away!

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A Hyatt Regency (conference brand) or Grant Hyatt (business traveler brand) would be nice. I think HR will be getting a Hyatt Place in the near future. We have plenty of Courtyards, why not a Hyatt Place?

In any event, it's good to see that William Fuller is still on board. He has done good for HR. It's too bad he had to deal with Bob "Cheapskate" Johnson. I hope Mike Sidebottom doesn't weasel his way in.

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