Portsmouth development

[tombarnes]

The article mentions the possibility of a fountain, or flags or something. I'd vote for a fountain, though something tells me that the less expensive option of flags will be substituted.

[scm]

Comfort Restaurant is now open for dinner, six nights/week. Will open for lunch in about three weeks. Phone: (757) 393-3322. Low budget review to follow in the near future

[Surferheel]

Comfort Restaurant is now open for dinner, six nights/week. Will open for lunch in about three weeks. Phone: (757) 393-3322. Low budget review to follow in the near future

My wife and I went to Comfort tonight for dinner, Just our luck, tonight was the only night of the week that they were closed

[scm]

Good recap of midtown in today's VP

Midtown Sees Growing Resurgence

Edited August 27, 2007 by scm

[mikeas]

There is work going on at Airline Center at the corner of Greenwood Drive and Airline Blvd. Over the past year they were removing a couple abandoned buildings but now there are pallets of cinderblock on site. From what I've read on the web it looks like they are building a new shopping center with a Food Lion.

Here is my source with renderings...

http://www.katsias.com/property/retail/air...oppingctr/1.pdf

Edited August 30, 2007 by mike_25andj

[erdogs]

My mother lives right down the street from there. They have cleared out a lot of old buildings and land along Airline blvd to build on. It's a welcome site to the people who live in that area as its been pretty run down for the last 20 years. Anyone remember the old drive-in movie screen that used to be over there? It would be nice to bring something like that back instead of you typical 20-30 screen theatre. I doubt it would be economically feasable today though.

[mikeas]

My mother lives right down the street from there. They have cleared out a lot of old buildings and land along Airline blvd to build on. It's a welcome site to the people who live in that area as its been pretty run down for the last 20 years. Anyone remember the old drive-in movie screen that used to be over there? It would be nice to bring something like that back instead of you typical 20-30 screen theatre. I doubt it would be economically feasable today though.

Yeah it's to easy to just pull in 50k a month in rent...

[spiker3]

There's construction starting in River Pointe off West Norfolk Rd, i live right next door. Anyone know anything about this? There were signs for River Pointe SHoppes, those have been taken down, grading has begun and construction fencing has been erected. Anyone?

[scm]

There's construction starting in River Pointe off West Norfolk Rd, i live right next door. Anyone know anything about this? There were signs for River Pointe SHoppes, those have been taken down, grading has begun and construction fencing has been erected. Anyone?

Couldn't get a food store to anchor the center, so they re-tooled it for residential. All garden homes, in the $350K to $400K range.

[mikeas]

Not really a big development but I read in the pilot that Portsmouth is getting its first standalone starbucks at 361 Effingham St. I think the only other one is in the Farm Fresh at Victory.

[gosscj]

Stand-alone Starbucks will be Portsmouth's first

The City Council on Tuesday approved plans to build a Starbucks on a vacant lot at 361 Effingham St. The property, at the corner of North Street, is on the edge of Olde Towne and on the way to the Naval Medical Center. It will feature indoor and outdoor seating, plus a drive-up window.

Starbucks will use about a half-acre of the property; the rest of the land will be used for a small, four-unit condominium, developers said in a written proposal.

Ha, you just beat me to this!

[scm]

Stand-alone Starbucks will be Portsmouth's first

Ha, you just beat me to this!

That was on the council agenda two weeks ago, along with a new restaurant at 619 High. Quite a collection of restaurants in that block now, although I have never seen Chez Papalote open. Amore is a disaster -- that unique collision of mediocre food and horrible service. Comfort is a great addition -- different genre, but a worth peer of Cafe Europa, Brutti's, Fusion 440, even Roger Brown's, which just might be the best bar food in HR.

I had heard that Starbucks had made several attempts to open in downtown Ptown before, but Mayor Holley always was running his mouth about the proposed locations that they backed out every time.

Edited September 12, 2007 by scm

[gosscj]

Been too long since you've read a truly nasty, condescending insult to Portsmouth's integrity and value to Hampton Roads?

Kerry Dougherty will happily sate your appetite.

Edited September 14, 2007 by gosscj

[tombarnes]

The idea of a "stand alone" Starbucks is not exactly the best urbanism in the world. However, I totally agree that the tone of her column was needlessly snarky.

[vdogg]

Honestly, except for the end part, that article is not all that bad. It is more than a slap in the face to starbucks than anything else. I can't really say I disagree with her on that point. I think where she was going with this the most, except for the insult at the end, is that starbucks isn't all that and that a local coffee shop can do it just as good if not better.

I caught up with Mary Pizza on Wednesday at the Olde Towne Bakery and Cafe on High Street, where she was sitting by the picture window, reading The Pilot - my kind of woman - and nursing a big mug of milky coffee.

"Starbucks is coming!" I told her. "Excited?"

Not really.

"This is going to sound ridiculous, but I tried Starbucks coffee once, last summer," she said.

How was it?

"Ehhh," she shrugged. "It was coffee."

No better than what she had in front of her. And that had set her back "about a dollar."

Down the street, at the Daily Grind, a Winchester, Va., chain, photography student Lindsay Collette looked up from her Apple computer and gave the Starbucks news a thumbs down.

"So manufactured," she said.

Honestly, this is one of her least objectionable articles.

[gosscj]

It's the beginning of the article that I take offense to. Dougherty is slyly reinforcing the ingrained stereotype of Portsmouth as backward, low-class and generally not worth the time it takes Va Beachers to get there. Oh my god, they don't even have a Starbucks?! I agree that their coffee is mediocre and their hype as a status symbol is laughable. That is exactly why I'm offended by her suggestion that Portsmouth's City Council and citizens must be jumping for joy at the announcement of a stand-alone Starbucks -- as if its the highest compliment the city deserves, and a generous compliment still. As a longtime Portsmouth resident, I'm sensitive to these things.

Edited September 17, 2007 by gosscj

[scm]

A lofty goal in Portsmouth, but the view leaves contractor cold

Article from today's VP on the High Street renaissance west of Effingham. Brave pioneers there face problems when they meet the remnants of Portsmouth's not too distant past.

There are some attractive retail spaces on the south side of High, just west of Effingham. This is a corner poised to be the center of High Street retail (that sounds so traditional in the British context -- or Hauptstrasse for a German parallel), especially after the renovation of the furniture store on the SE corner (just west of Comfort).

[scm]

[url=http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=133338&ran=85487&tref=rss]Portsmouth council isn

[tombarnes]

I don't think the design is especially hideous, but I don't think the design is remarkable either. It would be a marked improvement over the ugly 1960's buildings which mar Portsmouth's waterfront, but I do not see this design as anything which should be fought for. What, if anything, is outstanding about this design. If anything, it looks like a timid expansion of the Renaissance Hotel.

[andyfried]

It's very similar to the mills godwin corthouse in downtown suffolk.I don't think it's very ugly,but it sure is mediocre.I'm glad mayor holley feels that way about it.I really think this is the same architect that designed suffolk's courthouse.

[metalman]

Childrens' Museum in Portsmouth expands again. Photos and renderings inside.

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?...9&ran=44725

[rusthebuss]

Thats great! I can't wait to see it!

[scm]

There's construction starting in River Pointe off West Norfolk Rd, i live right next door. Anyone know anything about this? There were signs for River Pointe SHoppes, those have been taken down, grading has begun and construction fencing has been erected. Anyone?

Site prep continues -- signs are up. Here is a link to renderings. SFRs (pretty small lots, however), starting at $300K.

[cpeakesqr]

Plans revealed for Sembler project, but can anyone find them? Edited October 17, 2007 by cpeakesqr

[cpeakesqr]

There's a hidden nugget of news in this article.

If things really go well, the venture wants to buy an adjacent 2.5-acre waterfront parcel from the city - the so-called North Pier - and build a mixed-use high-rise development featuring restaurants, shops, offices and apartments.

"We're not in this for a real-estate deal," Mattingly said. "We're in this for making a major impact in the yachting community. We want to make this a destination spot for every yachter to come to."