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Downtown Norfolk Progress


varider

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Does it have elevators?

I've never been in a hotel that does not have elevators, but I'm sure they exist. Perfect location for a hotel and nice structure for one. They just have to do carter to different type of hotel goer like people who do mini vacations, people who are into full service spas, things like that.

I think you can drop a full service spa in any of Norfolk's hotel's and it will do well.

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Wow, you guys are right. That building needs to be preserved. I honestly never really looked at it because of all the homeless standing on Boush whenever i passed..

I just hope that they power wash the red paint off the brick. One of my pet-peeves: painted brick....

It's not real brick. It was just dyed that color to simulate brick. I actually like the idea and not the plain gray concrete rails that many other cities have.

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http://www.loopnet.com/property/15121060/1...-Brooke-Avenue/

Union Mission up for sale. Could it sprout a tower? I'm curious to see. It obviously needs to be torn down. It was built 100 years ago. I could see a renovation into apartments, but who would want to live in an old homeless shelter?

Tear the Union Mission down? Wow. I am assuming you don't live downtown when you say you would rather have a tower than an historic structure there. I am sure there would be an uproar. I had actually hoped that the Norfolk Library would move there.

What would be interesting and possible (read: tax breaks) is if they could do both. There is a big lot behind the Mission that could support a modern glass building of multiple stories while saving the old portion of the mission as an entrance. And not some faux colonial crap building, but something very sleek, glassy and modern to contrast. Too bad the condo craze went bust before they renovated that. Apartments? Hotel?

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That mall is an urban killer. I really wish it was built as 6 separate buildings with street level retail surrounding...

I'd like to get a higher resolution version of that picture.

Yeah, maybe six 5-7 story office/ apartment buildings with retail on every single one, and one big Epicenter (Charlotte) type thing for the retail that couldn't fit on street level and the movie theater. Advertise downtown as a premier shopping destination and ther we have an awesome, urban, vibrant downtown.

Even with MacArthur downtown still looks dense though

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Yeah, maybe six 5-7 story office/ apartment buildings with retail on every single one, and one big Epicenter (Charlotte) type thing for the retail that couldn't fit on street level and the movie theater. Advertise downtown as a premier shopping destination and ther we have an awesome, urban, vibrant downtown.

Even with MacArthur downtown still looks dense though

A reminder though, that MacArthur really initiated the rebirth of Downtown Norfolk especially Granby street, and still acts as a major catalyst. It is definitely urban with outdoor retail/eating areas as well as the parking garages. No reason to replace it with an urban grid with the St. Paul's Quadrant development coming there should be plenty of urban space and development, plus the mall acts as a nice shelter for Downtown retail when the weather is not nice. Malls will still be needed, and MacArthur sets a good precedent on how they can be incorporated into the urban fabric.

Edited by ronsmytheiii
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I'm happy we at least have been making progress, though slower than Charlotte/Raleigh and Atlanta. I appreciate an effort to improve our financial center!!! Both of the last few points made were both correct and made good sense to me. By the way, great day today outside, I Love the fall and spring weather more than any other time of year here in Norfolk's metro!! L.G.N.M

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the last thing Norfolk needs to do is tear down the Union Mission building. It would be better for the city to renovate it and reuse the building for something else...probably a condo or apartment conversion would be ideal for the building. I think it would be in the city's best interest to have the last resort be tearing down a building and to make sure there are many more options that could be done before the last resort.

This is a very interesting and historic building. Tearing it down to build another mid-rise building is not only counter-productive but also extremely dangerous politically at this point. Much has been said in the press about Norfolk's actions elsewhere. This would be an even bigger story--front page without a doubt.

I agree with vdogg's comment above. Save the new buildings for SPQ.

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A reminder though, that MacArthur really initiated the rebirth of Downtown Norfolk especially Granby street, and still acts as a major catalyst. It is definitely urban with outdoor retail/eating areas as well as the parking garages. No reason to replace it with an urban grid with the St. Paul's Quadrant development coming there should be plenty of urban space and development, plus the mall acts as a nice shelter for Downtown retail when the weather is not nice. Malls will still be needed, and MacArthur sets a good precedent on how they can be incorporated into the urban fabric.

Thanks.

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A reminder though, that MacArthur really initiated the rebirth of Downtown Norfolk especially Granby street, and still acts as a major catalyst. It is definitely urban with outdoor retail/eating areas as well as the parking garages. No reason to replace it with an urban grid with the St. Paul's Quadrant development coming there should be plenty of urban space and development, plus the mall acts as a nice shelter for Downtown retail when the weather is not nice. Malls will still be needed, and MacArthur sets a good precedent on how they can be incorporated into the urban fabric.

I don't agree. MacArthur and Harbor Park are the two reasons downtown is as good as it is today. They were the catalyst to the revival of downtownNorfolk. But now that we have had our little building boom and LRT is running through the city, MacArthur Center is no longer the best option. The struture is too suburban and the street level is dead. If it's raining, bring an umbrella.

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I don't agree. MacArthur and Harbor Park are the two reasons downtown is as good as it is today. They were the catalyst to the revival of downtownNorfolk. But now that we have had our little building boom and LRT is running through the city, MacArthur Center is no longer the best option. The struture is too suburban and the street level is dead. If it's raining, bring an umbrella.

Oh I agree with you, but what you are saying is like suggesting the need to build a new pro stadium for a team once they finished building a new one that year. I hate to say it, while I think in the long term thinking, the design of the MacArthur was a poor choice for urban layout (it would of been much better if they had preserved some of the original street gird and turned them into glass covered pedestrian walkways with storefronts lining the streets)...but that is a whole what if? thing, which we could do that all day...what if Norfolk didnt tear down all of its historical buildings for wider roads and parking lots?

The thing now is that you must look at what the city presently has at hand to work with, which the MacArthur is the gorilla in the middle that isnt moving any time soon. Eventually it will become outdated and in need of renovation or the area will be in need of redevelopment, but that is a long way away.

Currently the city needs to look at how the area north of Brambleton and the SPQ can work for the city and become stronger districts within the downtown. They also need to focus on a masterplan that connects Waterside to the rest of the city, as well as having a stronger connection to Granby and the new SPQ.

LRT will eventually have an impact, but that takes time before things like that begin to move forward. In Portland, the streetcar line that runs through the urban district on the north end of the city, the Pearl District, took over 15 years to develop and is still growing.

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What do you guys think about FRED? "Free Ride Every Day.." It's basically a "green" golf cart that will take you anywhere you'd like to go throughout downtown for free.. I think it's pretty cool. Although are people really too lazy to walk?

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/no...treets_20091007

Well the construction does suck. They should get one of those 4x4 looking golf carts to take you anywhere. But this seems like the dumbest thing to hit downtown Norfolk since the NET. I live in the 48 block zone, so I am tempted to see how many times I can call them to take me to the mall or the grocery store or maybe just the end of the zone so I can walk the rest of the way to Ghent before they quit taking my calls.

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Well the construction does suck. They should get one of those 4x4 looking golf carts to take you anywhere. But this seems like the dumbest thing to hit downtown Norfolk since the NET. I live in the 48 block zone, so I am tempted to see how many times I can call them to take me to the mall or the grocery store or maybe just the end of the zone so I can walk the rest of the way to Ghent before they quit taking my calls.

How is the NET dumb?? It does wonders getting people from Sattelite parking (Harrison Opera Lot, Cedar Grove lot, Harbor Park lot) into the central business district. The NET will soon be expanded up towards the zoo and back down to EVMS.

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I'm with you varider, that sounds kinda silly. Walking in Norfolk is easy enough, it's not exactly a sprawling metro. But, the construction down there may be affecting some to and fro, so I'm glad they implemented something like that. How many people are actually using that though? It's just silly. Walk. I was at the NorVA on Tuesday night, and wow, Monticello looks real great right now, lol.

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I'm with you varider, that sounds kinda silly. Walking in Norfolk is easy enough, it's not exactly a sprawling metro. But, the construction down there may be affecting some to and fro, so I'm glad they implemented something like that. How many people are actually using that though? It's just silly. Walk. I was at the NorVA on Tuesday night, and wow, Monticello looks real great right now, lol.

Went and saw Grizzly Bear? Great band!

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Yep, second time this summer! Great night. Ate at Kelly's beforehand, haven't been there in 5 years. I've barely been downtown (on foot) this entire summer, was definitely unaware they closed that square by TCC to make a student center. if i lived in ghent, i'd be downtown a lot more i think. eating/bars/etc. alas, moving back in with the parents was a cheap alternative. moving to Alexandria in January though! woohoo for NAVFAC rotations!

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Well the construction does suck. They should get one of those 4x4 looking golf carts to take you anywhere. But this seems like the dumbest thing to hit downtown Norfolk since the NET. I live in the 48 block zone, so I am tempted to see how many times I can call them to take me to the mall or the grocery store or maybe just the end of the zone so I can walk the rest of the way to Ghent before they quit taking my calls.

Hah! I was thinking the same thing.

I told my friends, "If I got one and put a loud stereo on it, LCDs on the back of the front seat and RGB LED neon undercart lighting, do you think it would be funny?"

Their reply was, "Yea but if you park it at home it will all get stolen."

Went and saw Grizzly Bear? Great band!

I think I downloaded some of their stuff and couldn't get into it. Deleted it.

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How is the NET dumb?? It does wonders getting people from Sattelite parking (Harrison Opera Lot, Cedar Grove lot, Harbor Park lot) into the central business district. The NET will soon be expanded up towards the zoo and back down to EVMS.

You are kidding right? I actually used to have to ride the NET when I worked in DT Norfolk for awhile. Well, I worked north of Brambleton and would have to go into DT for meetings and lunch and stuff so everyone was like "let's take the NET". DUMBEST BUS ROUTE EVER. I mean, yeah at rush hour, it is great at getting people to parking lots about as quickly as they could make it by crab walking. But usually, the buses would be all bunched up together (NET bus, three cars, second NET bus all going about 1 mph) and never on a time schedule. It got to the point where I would just walk from work to where I wanted/had to go unless the weather was totally unbearable. The route should have been revamped on weekends to make a loop through Ghent (especially weekends when the cruise ships pulled in). And the funny thing is that the old weird electric buses quit working so it's not even really the NET.

I am all for expanding it to new areas and tying it into LR. Hope HRT has their stuff together for the big launch.

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The route runs along downtown's two busiest streets. You can't say the bus route is dumb and your reasoning be that it encounters city traffic. I think the NET should run up Granby until it gets to 21st, go down 21st, turn down Colley, then down to the EVMS LR Station.

That route would make alot of sense....actually a small streetcar line (or as you guys might know it as, a very small LRT) that could do that same loop, which would be more of a long term planning kind of thing.

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