The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Granby Street downtown was once the retail hub of the region, home to stores such as Smith & Welton, Hofheimer's and Shulman's before the birth of the suburban mall.
The Downtown Norfolk Council wants to recapture some of that shopping energy and has hired a consultant to create a plan for enhancing retail opportunities on the street.
Cathy Coleman, the council's president, said the group decided to undertake the study now despite the economic downturn.
"Now may be the right time, because when the economy rebounds, the hard work will be behind us and we can hit the ground running," Coleman said.
Bruce Bishop, a council board member who led the hiring committee, said improving the diversity of street-level offerings on Granby is a key goal.
"We think there's been major strides made in bringing vitality to Granby Street, however, there's still work to be done.
"Our goal is to have a vibrant street at all hours of the day, and we can't accomplish that solely with restaurants and nightclubs. We need a mix of retail, office, nightclubs and restaurants, and residents."
The council has hired Downtown Works, based in Pennsylvania, to develop and implement a plan. The one-year, $130,000 contract will be funded from membership dues and the Business Improvement District tax.
Bishop said Downtown Works will suggest not only an appropriate mix of retail but a realistic mix for Norfolk.
"Not all retail areas should be like Fifth Avenue in New York," he said.
Coleman said her organization is not interested in replicating Granby's former retail make up, which included several large department stores.
"We are blessed in downtown Norfolk with MacArthur Center, which is a tremendous shopping opportunity for downtown and the entire region," she said. "We think there is an opportunity to have very complementary uses in close proximity to MacArthur Center.
"Quality independent retail is unto itself a cultural asset," Coleman said. "We want to look for those opportunities."
Downtown business owner and developer Bobby Wright said the timing is perfect because light rail will start running within a couple of years, and the Wachovia Center, with its mixed uses, hotel and apartment complex, will open.
"The next deals the retailers will do here will be significant deals," Wright said. "I'm pretty excited about the prospects."
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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Hey, Twomiler
I'm great, how are you?
I agree about light rail. One of the silliest things I have heard said is that criminals will take it to new neighborhoods where they can break and enter. Oh, yeah? And carry all their stolen loot back home on the train? I don't think so.
mary,
how are you? I was responding to another post with misinfo on the idea as to the urban make up of this area. History has to be told, often, so as to be followed, if it's good & not repeated, if it's negative. People, not just here but around the USA, are using less than well thought out reasons to oppose mass transit. They're using simplistic scenarios based upon either their hangups, fears or unfamiliarity with possible change. Progress, in any field, is only made if we are willing to venture toward new directions. Sometimes, what is new is to go back to the old. Mass transit worked for yrs, in Norfolk. It can work now. If Va. Beach had been more agreeable in the 70's, we probably would already have light rail, to the oceanfront & beyond, paid for, at a much lower cost, by the Feds. We can't continue to put it off.
Massive Resistance (Twomiler)
I am glad you have enlightened me about the annexation issues 50 years ago, but most of us have arrived here since then (Navy brought us, etc.) so this is a history lesson, nothing more, for us. Unless you want to say how we can avoid repeating the mistakes of history in which case I am all ears!!!
Old Enough
to remember that Norfolk's population was much larger 50 yrs ago than it is today. Granby Street was happening. So was Church Street. That was before the creation of Va. Beach & Chesapeake & the "White Flight" that began following the failure of "Massive Resistance". The Beach & Chesapeake were carved out of Norfolk & Princess Anne counties, to stop annexation by Norfolk. At that time, it was the only legal method to stop the entire southeastern Tidewater area from being annexed by Norfolk & Portsmouth. Many of the transportation & other type problems existing in this area, wouldn't be as bad as they are, if not for the racist attitudes prevalent at that time. The process of annexation would have continued, with better planning for growth due to less "competition" between "cities". Now, brighter & more open minds are trying to rectify what ignorance & hate delayed for too long.
or is it going to be
Let me guess; this time they will give a tax credit or some incentive as long as the person who owns the business is from their country-club. That is right, they have got to be the wife or friend of the favored sect and then they can either purchase a franchise or open up a store that will look great for the facade and i mean facade of it.Its all about face and substance has nothing to do with it. By the way, have you checked how many stores in the MacArthur mall have closed up shop recently? I wished pilot, if entertaining another wish of Norfolk economic development, would take a diagnostic approach and cut in to the body of facts and excise the poison of sales for truths sake. We all could use a healthy dose of it, especially the crony driven government of Norfolk.
urbanbackwater
Virginia Beach, Norfolk? Makes no difference,pal. It's still one steaming massive heap of humanity that has to move around everyday.
Let me drop knowledge
Mr. Wright would like to see Granby Street take off because he owns like 3/4ths of it. He leased space to Relative Theory Records, which was cool. Except the rent was obviously way too high. They went under (RIP) and the space has sat empty ever since. The space above it was always empty. I live within walking distance of Granby, and work a block over. All the young people know that most of the clubs on the street fail, and the exceptions are probably in the hands of those that can afford to operate at a loss. What's more is times have changed, and brick and mortar is history. That being said I've long had ideas for a new store idea, a nightclub idea or three, and have actually slightly started to persue getting a "hacker space" together again and was looking at Granby Street (even though parking is miserable and costly). But really, in the end, why bother with that street? It's just overpriced. Everyone is looking to cash out on it anyways, for sale signs on every building except the school and fed.
The first great port city
Norfolk, the first great port city of America, grew on its own merit and accomplishment. During the Revolutionary War it suffered the most in comparison to many other American cities. (Nearly everything was burnt to the ground.) Norfolk, the state of Virginia, or for that matter the majority of Southern towns never relied upon Northerners migrating from overpopulated industrial centers to grow and prosper. Remember sons and daughters of America, the United States of America was envisioned and established by the brilliant Virginians, and to a secondary extent the Bostonians, and Pennsylvanians.
Urbanbackwater
A lot of us are from the north, but not necessarily the northeast. The Midwest, maybe, as the Navy brought us out to the coasts, which we have never left!!!
Norfolk, this is how South Hampton Roads works...
As surely as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening...
PEOPLE WORK IN NORFOLK,
PEOPLE LIVE AND PLAY IN VA BEACH
That was the whole idea around the Norfolk/Va Beach Expwy wasn't it? It paid for itself many times over, and today's its free. Its success wouldn't be so if Norfolk was both a work and living center.
Light rail: I want Fraim and his buddy Sessoms to build all the way to the Oceanfront. Letting them actually build their system to fruition, and then seeing the actual system fail will be the only way to prove LRT won't work in HR. And, it will effectively force Fraim and Sessoms (and their cronies) out of office in shame. It is a shame a $1B will have to be wasted on this science experiment to prove the obvious. Sigh...