Norfolk
Hold on to your wallets.
Supposedly, Bruce Thompson, Virginia’s Beach answer to
Donald Trump, and Mayor Paul Fraim are huddling over a possible deal to put a
hotel and conference center in downtown Norfolk at the very spot of the now
infamous Plot – which was nothing more than window dressing on an eyesore in
downtown Norfolk.
Attempts by city officials and city council members to have a
hotel and conference center built on this site, bounded by Main Street to the
south and Plume Street to the north, collapsed. Twice.
In the process, the city condemned three properties using
the process of eminent domain to clear the way for this grand vision, costing
$150 million, which included a convention center hotel, flying the Westin flag,
a 50,000 square foot conference center and a 600-space parking garage.
Billionaire Robert L. Johnson, who started negotiating with
the city in 2003, pulled out in 2008, citing a downturn in the economy. Allegedly.
In stepped hotel developer and owner LTD Management,
Robinson Development (the very same firm that has proposed to transform the
wasteland of west 21St Street) and Fulco Development.
Obviously, this group failed to produce, since the property is still empty.
The city promised to finance the $49 million conference
center and the $20 million parking deck, no doubt by issuing debt. If LTD
attracted an upscale restaurant, the city promised LTD a $750,000 performance grant (subsidy).
Expect Thompson, who’s known for persuading localities to
cough up more public money for his projects, to negotiate a better deal – for him.
Virginia Beach
More spin on the arena.
Reports from the
Virginia Beach Development indicate that, based on an initial survey, “sufficient
surface and structured parking already exists close to the arena site to
accommodate the expected needs anticipated by this arena project.”
How close? The
reports don’t say. A mile? Two miles?
The Ear heard
otherwise.
The Ear heard that a parking
garage, costing from $125 million to $200 million to construct, is part of the
overall arena deal.
Find that in
documents, if you will, or the public pronouncements by city staff and the city’s
politicos.
Norfolk's headlong effort to raze and re-build will be it's demise. The only thing this sinking city has going for it is its history. The city should make a concerted effort to identify buildings with significant architecture and to protect them and to emphasize them in future planning. A generic hotel and conference center could be anywhere and is a waste of prime downtown possibilities.
ReplyDeleteCity leadership has zero imagination. So they shouldn't be the ones making these decisions. This is why eminent domain legislation passed so easily. Citizens watched their pocketbooks shrink, while their favorite establishments were razed and replaced with canned, corporate office park wanna-be buildings with no sense of style or place or context.
The city needs to stop squandering the possible for what it hopes might be plausible. How are the people supposed to be proud of Norfolk when its leadership obviously doesn't believe there is a strong foundation worth building on? Maybe we need a change in leadership.