Virginia Beach Development

[mistermetaj]

Great job Va Beach! Keep pushing growth at the oceanfront. I love it! Beach nears deal to get indoor skydiving off the ground: http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/beach-nears-deal-get-indoor-skydiving-ground Looks like a GREAT PROJECT

[varider]

Light rail is going to be a necessity with all this added development. VB is going through semi-rapid urbanization. 

[vdogg]

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/new-guidelines-may-shape-town-center-development

 

They should've done this years ago. Instead they sat on their hands and watched as valuable land was developed into more suburban crap. I think now may be a little too late.

[mistermetaj]

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/new-guidelines-may-shape-town-center-development

 

They should've done this years ago. Instead they sat on their hands and watched as valuable land was developed into more suburban crap. I think now may be a little too late.

 

I think the timing is fine.  A parking lot can always be built on one day.  Town Center and the Pembroke area haven't come close to hitting critical mass.  I think having pseudo-urban designs, such as the "urban" Wal-Mart goes a long way to bring the Town Center area to the critical mass point.  It's a good step, similar to the rezoning of the Oceanfront.

[metalman]

So, shouldn't they convince Walmart to amend their design to actually make it two floors or stack the garage on top to actually create the urban "feel" they are faking...and take up less land to boot.

[vdogg]

Short WVEC video on the proposed zoning changes for the Pembroke area. See the interview at the end of the video to understand why it is so hard to get anything bold or exciting to happen in this town.

 

http://www.wvec.com/my-city/vabeach/Va-Beach-looks-at-creating-urban-feel-219911861.html

[ke76nt]

Maybe those people who stopped shopping there found better selections elsewhere!

 

Thirty years ago, where else was there for people to go in that area? Also, thirty years ago, Virginia Beach was nothing but suburbs and farm land.

She needs to move to pungo if she wants that lifestyle.

[BFG]

While I refuse to call Town Center "downtown", she's way offbase in her idea that people don't go to downtown restaurants to eat. Assuming she's not the typical resident VB resident who never ventures outside her city, I suggest she check out downtown Norfolk.

 

I like Village Inn, but let's not pretend it's some mom-and-pop greasy spoon that's been in the same spot since the 1950s. Honestly, the crowds that go there (or the IHOP beside Princess Anne HS) are much different than the ones at any Town Center restaurant. The place was there long before TC was built, and I'm sure it'll do just fine with the future phases.

 

I'm so tired of people complaining about the city moving into the 21st century. You've got 450,000 people living there and the largest population in the state. Time to act like it.

[mistermetaj]

Short WVEC video on the proposed zoning changes for the Pembroke area. See the interview at the end of the video to understand why it is so hard to get anything bold or exciting to happen in this town.

 

http://www.wvec.com/my-city/vabeach/Va-Beach-looks-at-creating-urban-feel-219911861.html

 

I mean, that woman just screams ignorance:

 

1.  If parking were her only gripe, there would be FREE PARKING in all the city garages they would build.  Every development in TC has replaces or increased the parking that was there originially.

 

2.  "People don't want to go downtown, they want that hometown fee."  Where the hell do people get that hometown feel in the Pembroke area?  She's not the only cafe in a rural area.  She's in a suburban strip mall surrounded by suburban strip malls.  He comment made no sense.

 

3.  Increased urban development would INCREASE here land value and probably make her very rich.  

 

4.  The zoning will only apply to property if the property owners choose to make changes.  If her business is doing well and doesn't want to change, then nothing will.

 

Why does the "news" have to end their reporting on a sour note with one citizen's opinion who sounds like she's never left the area in her life, rather than just report the news.  Too many times, these opinions convince the naysayers they are in the majority and the city isn't representing the interest of the populous.

[vdogg]

Why does the "news" have to end their reporting on a sour note with one citizen's opinion who sounds like she's never left the area in her life, rather than just report the news.  Too many times, these opinions convince the naysayers they are in the majority and the city isn't representing the interest of the populous.

 

Yup, just like light rail. When the referendum passed with over 60% of the vote, the ground rumbled from the sound of naysayer heads exploding. They simply couldn't believe they were so wrong about what "we" in Virginia Beach wanted. The news media does these incomplete, one-sided, reports and gives an inaccurate view of how the community actually feels. 

[BFG]

I mean, that woman just screams ignorance:

 

1.  If parking were her only gripe, there would be FREE PARKING in all the city garages they would build.  Every development in TC has replaces or increased the parking that was there originially.

 

2.  "People don't want to go downtown, they want that hometown fee."  Where the hell do people get that hometown feel in the Pembroke area?  She's not the only cafe in a rural area.  She's in a suburban strip mall surrounded by suburban strip malls.  He comment made no sense.

This is my biggest issue. Virginia Beach is actually working to get away from being a stereotypical strip mall suburb, and folks are actually upset about it...almost like mediocrity has become the status quo. I shake my head when people complain about how they're losing their quaint little town (Virginia Beach probably hasn't been "quaint" since about 1975). My jaw dropped when I saw the renderings for the proposed project, because it looked like an actual downtown, and my only complaint is that they didn't start this sooner (I know it's been decades in the making).

 

This actally brings about the possibility of more businesses coming to that area, maybe even a Fortune 500 company or two, and a true urban environment. I'll take that over the miles of strip malls and suburban sprawl any day of the week!

 

I know I've mentioned my time in news, so I gotta play Devil's Advocate for just a second, esp. since I know how that lady represents a lot of views of VB residents. However, I'll side with the folks here that they could've easily found a resident or businessperson who loves this concept just as much, and doesn't look like a naive cheerleader. Not that he or she could be any worse than that Village Inn employee!

[BFG]

 

Bring it on, Mayor Sessoms!

[vdogg]

http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2013/08/walkable-urbanism-takes-root-in-virginia-beach.html

But times change, and a group of architects, property owners and businessmen have spent the past two decades extricating the so-called Pembroke area of Virginia Beach from the clutches of auto-centric design. To date, they have carved out a walkable, mixed-use district of nine or 10 blocks, designated Town Center. The goal always has been to expand from this nucleus into neighboring blocks, with a vision of creating an urban “downtown” for Virginia Beach, which, outside the resort area, is as shapeless and formless as an amoeba....

[VBIllini13]

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/08/va-beach-aims-do-away-laskin-feeder-lanes

 

It looks like the City is going to do what they did for the Boulevard to roughly 2 miles of Laskin Road.  This will be so much better for traffic and accidents.

[zeppelin14]

Hopefully Norfolk will follow with their section of VB Blvd between the Norfolk/VB border and Military Hwy.

[vdogg]

CLOSED SESSION

Discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business’ or industry’s interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community, pursuant to Va. Code § 2.2-3711(A)(5). (Town Center)

 

This was posted in the VBDA's January 21st agenda. Looks like something may be brewing at town center. I'm hoping this has something to do with phase IV plans and perhaps getting that block 2 office tower off the ground.

[urbanvb]

That would be great if we could get another building going up.

[ronsmytheiii]

This was posted in the VBDA's January 21st agenda. Looks like something may be brewing at town center. I'm hoping this has something to do with phase IV plans and perhaps getting that block 2 office tower off the ground.

 Or the hotel/apartments at block 9.....

[metalman]

...which is also part of phase IV. .

I actually just want the Crate and Barrel.

[mistermetaj]

This was posted in the VBDA's January 21st agenda. Looks like something may be brewing at town center. I'm hoping this has something to do with phase IV plans and perhaps getting that block 2 office tower off the ground.

 

I wouldn't get too excited.  There are store vacancies in Town Center which are most likely getting filled with retail or a restaurants.  It would be a pleasant surprise if you are right though. 

[vdogg]

Something that small in scale is almost never part of a closed session. Actually, I really can't think of a time when there was a store vacancy handled by a closed session. Store vacancies are handled by divaris real estate, and are publicly advertised.Since the property is already developed, I'm not entirely sure VBDA would get involved in such a matter. Closed sessions are typically reserved for major business deals with a lot of moving parts. Think new office tenants from outside the region, major hotel/retail chains making an initial presence, etc.

I could however imagine a new tenant for the Guadalajara location being handled by a closed session though. Especially if they're new to the area. We'll just have to wait and see.

[757Duke]

With all of the development going on in Town Center, there's talks of the block between the Westin and the Cosmopolitan starting construction in the next 9 months.

[urbanvb]

I'm ready for another tower. Bring it on already.

[757Duke]

Apparently this block may not be a tower, but rather a few stories with retail on the ground floor and an "entertainment component" on the floors above.

[CrazyPy]

I'd rather they build the tower on the Beacon building lot first. It would add more parking in the long run, and my parking would be less affected