VIrginia Beach Town Center Developments and News

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

Since I will be moving to Virginia Beach, even on a part time basis, I’ve taken an interest in the long term health and development of the area. I am especially interested in the Town Center area since the home I am buying is just a few blocks away from there. This is a great neighborhood and has loads of potential that can help bring VB on par with other cities of comperable size.

I am glad to see at least one new development that will bring jobs and foot traffic to the area:

https://www.google.com/amp/pilotonli...33e1e.amp.html

Hope this goes through with minimal delay.

I’m dreaming big but I’d love to see a small arena built and a minor league hockey and basketball teams relocate to the area. Id also love to see a minor league baseball stadium built but I know there’s already one in Norfolk.

I realize space is a premium and it would cost millions to buy out and re-zone some of the industrial streets around the TC but I am just throwing out ideas for the sake of discussion. TC has a lot of potential and can eventually be elevated to a true functional downtown with the right vision.

Curious what some of the locals who are more familiar with the area have to say.

I think that this area could support minor league teams.

So are you saying you want to see another minor league baseball team in one of the other cities? That would be interesting.

I always wanted to see a larger performing arts venue at Town Center. I don't like what they have there now. But I don't think this area has the audience for really large venues.

With the right parking garage situation it might be able to hold a larger place for music venues, etc. There is a lot of land left unused over by the WalMart so we'll see what happens. The owners seem to be taking their time over there as to not overbuild and do things quickly that can easily unfold. The City has a long term plan for that area anyway, I believe a 50 year plan, and that also includes everything going out towards the Oceanfront.

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by goofy328

I think that this area could support minor league teams.

So are you saying you want to see another minor league baseball team in one of the other cities? That would be interesting.

I always wanted to see a larger performing arts venue at Town Center. I don't like what they have there now. But I don't think this area has the audience for really large venues.

With the right parking garage situation it might be able to hold a larger place for music venues, etc. There is a lot of land left unused over by the WalMart so we'll see what happens. The owners seem to be taking their time over there as to not overbuild and do things quickly that can easily unfold. The City has a long term plan for that area anyway, I believe a 50 year plan, and that also includes everything going out towards the Oceanfront.

A performing arts venue is another idea I’ve thought would be a welcome add to the area.

I’m not sure about minor league baseball, despite that being my preferred sport. I’d hate to see them cut into an existing market with the team in Norfolk, a team I plan on supporting. I think a performing arts center though fills the role of a single large venue that gives people a reason to come to TC and the adjacent area. I’ve also thought a museum of some kind could be successful. I compared VB to Colorado Springs and they are expanding their downtown by building an Olympic Museum. There are additional developments with street level retail and dining in the works with three mid-rise towers of 17, 18, and 19 stories breaking ground soon. That city has a close conection to the Olympics, but the concept of the museum has universal appeal and is expected to be a huge draw.

If there is something VB beach could build that is valuable to the locals but has enough draw to get tourists away from the beach for a day it could be a huge success.

I agree there is a lot of unused land in the direction of Walmart and past it. Go far enough west and the area becomes industrial and is a bit unsightly and run down. If the TC eventually expanded that far it will have grown to the point that it has become a legitimate downtown. I imagine that would take decades to achieve.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by iknowftbll

A performing arts venue is another idea I’ve thought would be a welcome add to the area.

I’m not sure about minor league baseball, despite that being my preferred sport. I’d hate to see them cut into an existing market with the team in Norfolk, a team I plan on supporting. I think a performing arts center though fills the role of a single large venue that gives people a reason to come to TC and the adjacent area. I’ve also thought a museum of some kind could be successful. I compared VB to Colorado Springs and they are expanding their downtown by building an Olympic Museum. There are additional developments with street level retail and dining in the works with three mid-rise towers of 17, 18, and 19 stories breaking ground soon. That city has a close conection to the Olympics, but the concept of the museum has universal appeal and is expected to be a huge draw.

If there is something VB beach could build that is valuable to the locals but has enough draw to get tourists away from the beach for a day it could be a huge success.

I agree there is a lot of unused land in the direction of Walmart and past it. Go far enough west and the area becomes industrial and is a bit unsightly and run down. If the TC eventually expanded that far it will have grown to the point that it has become a legitimate downtown. I imagine that would take decades to achieve.

Museum might be a better option, now that you mention it. Virginia Beach could use a large museum similar to the Chrysler. They do have the Metropolitan but it is hidden in plain sight and cover a lot of land, is sort of disjointed. Average person probably does not even know that it exists, or if they do, where it exists.

The modern, "metropolitan" approach seems to work for Virginia Beach and I would like to see more along those lines. Virginia Beach is not an old city, so I would not expect to see your typical natural history museum, etc but I would like to see something that can better articulate the view of the city that they are attempting to be in that space. Town Center is interesting, but it is a lot of retail and residential and just feels like a high rise suburban neighborhood in my opinion. You don't get the breadth of what one normally finds in an urban area.

Again I believe that there are already plans to fill in those areas. But those plans also evolve. The Pembroke Strategic Growth Area 4 Implementation Plan covers a lot of ground and gives an interesting look into what they are attempting to plan long term.

The plan proposes buildings all the way out to Cleveland St. The master plan covers everything from Clearfield Ave out to Thalia.

It is ambitious. They want to institute a grid pattern and make that part of Virginia Beach similar to what one would find in parts of Norfolk and Newport News. I don't know where the money for that comes from.

It could be that we'll see several areas in the Pembroke area of Virginia Beach continue to run underutilized, and when the properties are sold, the city will come in with new streets and high rise construction at the same time.

[murksiderock]

Town Center/Pembroke/City Center/Downtown Virginia Beach, whatever you want to call it, is already a great place to live and work. And I'm all for continuing its growth and improvement...

I also live in Thalia, on the Bonney Rd side, and frequent Town Center easily and often. Town Center while small and atypical of a traditional downtown, is the most creative and exciting section of VB and perfectly suits "outsiders", "newcomers", whatever, because we are the people that are feeding the cultural exchange here. I love it and I'll miss it when I leave, and hope for its continued success...