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| One of the seven proposals is for an extreme sports center called VB X Park. (Artist's rendition) |
VIRGINIA BEACH
Imagine a boutique hotel with rooms overlooking an indoor ski slope and a theme park at the old Dome site. Or maybe a massive wave pool, one churning out breakers with 9-foot curls for professionals and 2-foot bumps for the kids.
Or a live music house, run by the same folks who run the amphitheater a few miles away.
The ideas aren’t just dreams. They’re on the table.
Seven companies, including one from United Arab Emirates, have submitted “letters of interest” to turn the former Dome site into an entertainment district, according to the city’s economic development office.
The letters aren’t binding, and the city isn’t bound to pick any of the plans for the site, some two square city blocks that once housed the golf-ball-shaped convention hall.
Steve Herbert, Virginia Beach’s chief development officer, said he wouldn’t release details of the proposals, submitted Thursday, until the City Council is briefed on the packages Tuesday.
But interviews with developers and a peek at their resumes show the potential of the 8.5-acre tract straddling 19th Street between Arctic and Pacific avenues.
“Virginia Beach certainly has attracted the big boys,” Councilman Jim Wood said. “We should be very excited and very proud of that fact. Where the rubber meets the road is what do they want from the city.”
The companies are:
uF06EWave House Extreme Times LLC on International Parkway. Its proposal is an extreme sports center called VB X Park. It would include a 75,000-square-foot wave pool, a 10-screen movie theater, conference space, restaurants and retail shopping.
There would also be an indoor wind tunnel for “sky diving.” Craig Dean, managing member of Wave House, said the tunnel could be used by the region’s military personnel for training. Dean, a former Navy SEAL, compared the idea to the indoor sports complex off Interstate 64 in Williamsburg.
“This is Great Wolf Lodge on steroids,” he said.
uF06EWave Loch Inc., a Southern California firm that builds wave pools. The company submitted a separate letter of interest, but Dean said Friday that the company is willing to partner with his group. Tom Lochtefeld, Wave Loch’s owner, did not return calls for comment.
uF06EArmada Hoffler, the Beach-based developer behind the city’s Town Center. The company would partner with The Cordish Co., a Baltimore firm that developed part of that city’s Inner Harbor, and Bruce Smith Enterprise, the namesake company of former NFL star and area resident Bruce Smith.
The group didn’t submit a specific concept, said Lou Haddad, president of Armada Hoffler. Instead, it expressed an interest in working with the city to create what their firms have a reputation for: mixed-used developments featuring restaurants, high-end shopping and entertainment options such as the Inner Harbor’s ESPN Zone.
“We’re matter-of-factly saying, 'You guys know what we do, we think it fits with what you want to see happen here, and we think we’re the best people to bring it about,’” Haddad said.
uF06ELive Nation, which bills itself as the world’s largest live music company. The firm, based in Los Angeles, has a long-term lease to operate the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater. A company representative could not be reached for comment.
uF06ESelect Contracts, an international developer with offices in Canada, England and Dubai. Chris Sutton, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview that he envisions an indoor ski slope and theme park at the site, along with a boutique hotel of roughly 150 rooms.
Half of the rooms would look over the ski slope, and the others would face the Atlantic Ocean, he said.
Sutton said there would also be restaurants and nightclubs.
“Something kind of different and unique,” he added. “It’s got to be a wow factor or we haven’t done our job.”
Sutton made contact with city officials a few years ago at a conference in Las Vegas, Wood recalled Friday.
“I remember him talking about doing a ski slope in Dubai,” Wood said. “Thought that was pretty interesting.”
uF06ELandcore Commercial Real Estate of Raleigh, N.C., which boasts of a $125 million portfolio of projects from the mid-Atlantic region and south. That includes golf courses and entertainment venues, according to the company’s Web site.
David Beauregard, head of Landcore’s entertainment division and an Old Dominion University graduate, declined to discuss the plan Friday, saying he wanted to wait for the city to pick a developer.
uF06ELeisure and Recreation Concepts Inc., a Dallas firm that specializes in theme parks, water parks and tourism development.
Michael Jenkins, company president, said he wouldn’t put a theme park at the site but would focus on a mixed-use development of restaurants, shopping, a movie theater and, perhaps, a “moving theater,” showcasing the past, present and future of Virginia.
“I don’t want to say too much,” Jenkins said. “We think we have a very exciting plan that we will be proposing in the near future.”
Now that the city has a list of broad concepts, the Virginia Beach Development Authority can study them and decide whether to pick one to work with for a more detailed proposal. That plan could then go to the City Council. Herbert estimated it would be at least six months before any decisions have to be made.
“The good news is, we got a terrific set of ideas from companies that appear to have experience and the wherewithal to do it,” Herbert said. “The bad news is, this is probably going to be a lot more work than we anticipated. But that’s really good news, too.”
Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119,
richard.quinn@pilotonline.com
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26 million dollar budget shortfall
I'd point out there is the 26 to 50 million dollar budget shortfall the City has projected in the coming year or two. Nice idea but this will not be free. With the city cutting all department budgets 6% there doesn't seem to be any revenue left for this or light rail. Maybe when the economy turns around we can look at something like this.
Sounds like a Stupid Idea
Leave the developers of Armada Hoffler to develop the property.. The other developers seem like flakes...I mean look at the success of town center.. We have a nice urban place to work, play and dine out.. Let Armada Hoffler decide what to build there.. I am sure they have big ideas...
X Park VB
Finally.....something to do in Virginia Beach!!! I vote for the extreme park!!!!
ummm ok
This is all nice but where are you going to park after you take away the 19th street lots (which hold hundreds of cars)? There is already a gross parking shortage which leads to small private lots charging rediculous prices to park, driving away both local and tourist business. So now you want to take away the most central lot there is. So i guess to get to this new amusement area you have to park at 9th or 25th street and walk 6-8 blocks to get anywhere...great idea guys take more away from us the locals and give it to you development buddies. I wonder how much of our tax money is going to go into this fiasco.
Good and Bad
Activity-based theme parks - Good. More hotels, bars and restaurants - bad. Brand name entertainment - Good. More shopping and density - Bad. Use the Dome Site for an activity that is marketable, not more places to eat and shop. Add to the portfolio. Don't duplicate.
Anybody else tired of the same old clechas?
I am sick and tired, had it up to here with developement in Va Beach. Now the developers are drooling over the old Dome site, with their usual cliche's- "Different, unique, very exciting,mixed use, condos, hi end restaurants and shops". These people are like a broken record, they just wont go away. These developers have ruined Va Beach and wont quit until there is not another tree standing. I'm outta here as soon as possible.Damn shame, I grew up here. Money talks.
Dome Site
All the interest are good, but we should attempt to focus on the needs of the convention center in reference to a hotel large enough(200rooms or more) to accomodate the venues that will installed at the dome site.
My vote
My vote is for the indoor ski slope. The one in Dubai looked pretty cool. Imagine being at the beach, hot and sweaty, then deciding to cool off on a few slope runs....very cool!
All Great Ideas
Why not develop all of them in different locations around Virginia Beach. ESPN Zone would need other upscale supporting bar/restaurants, perhaps also a Hard Rock which should go somewhere at Town Center so patrons can invade from all sides of the city. We love to ski so a local indoor slope would also be a hit with the Wintergreen & Snowshoe crowd, Ski World folks would love that! How about a new caribbean style beach club that rises into the realm of "Seacrets", "Ballard's Inn", & "Duck-In". Doesn't the citizenry of VB deserve a "dining dancing romancing" beach club to "meet greet eat & retreat" rather than renting/mortgaging a concrete box in the sky!!
Let's get real
Let's get real here folks. VB is more of an outlet mall town than a Disney mecca. Build an outlet mall and they will come in droves. What's in it for the citizens? An expensive ride! Bring back The Dome. Bring back the Beatles and Elvis.
The super success of nothing
Is town center really a success? It looks great from the highway and thats about it. I would say that the only tangible addition down there is the Sandler Center. There is no genuine atmosphere down there. A tight collection of chain restaurants and local aristocrats is all there really is. Like most VB projects, they are poorly funded, poorly planned, and poorly executed. Thank goodness the developers have more pull around here than the local government does. If it were not for them, nothing would get done around here.
As for the Extreme park!!! How extreme could it be...This city still has limitations on when and where you can surf. What would be really extreme is someone having the sense to level that eyesore Pembroke mall. Really, who goes there? Oh yeah, riff-raff and people with few assets.
How long has the Dome been gone?
I hope that something "fun" will be brought back to the area. Mayor Mmmirra and her coronies sure gutted the area years ago of the fun that was there. Now it`s just a boring beach with no character, unlike when I lived there. In fact it`s really looking run down last time I went through there! Back in the 80`s the whloe area was abuzz with people, shops, clubs, fishing and cruising. Heck, for years the Va Bch Marlin tournament was gone, now there is just a shadow of one! That tournament was one of the big stops in the circuit. Not now! Just like everything else there!
Ensure the Plan Covers All Local Bases
The CoVB is certainly swinging the stick through the bushes to see what fruits fall from the shrubbery. What ever transpires at the former Dome site (never should have been scraped to begin with), it should accomplish, at a minimum, the following: Be a year-round venue. Be interesting and accomodating to the locals first and visitors second. Be designed from the ground to the top as an environmental example of how these sort of things can and should be developed. The CoVB is seeking some sort of marker for this city. The City must fully embrace our setting near the sea. We must strive to make this location an example of how communities can change from asphalt and steel to one of environmentally progressive development and positive end uses.
Wow!!!
Waterparks, wave pools,and a ski slope from Dubai? Gee, the only thing missing is a mini-golf course. I thought council considered the oceanfront a world class destination.
Wow!
I'm sure the tourists will enjoy any one of these big ideas. I wonder what it's gonna cost me and the other taxpayers?
Please, connect light rail from Norfolk
gosh, what a wonderful coup, ocean, music, retail, and damn!, no feasible way to get there from lowly Norfolk or P-
Town, we're so excluded, even shunned from the sun worshippers, we need light rail to the ocean front or we're not a part of the fun, excitement, allure of the ocean front , we don't drive. We don't - light rail is the answer,
Here we go again!
Until the infrastructure at the beach is upgraded, all these big plans don't make sense. Traffic is dreadful now during the summer...this can only make it worse. Is the city trying to chase all the locals away? I live on 34th St...just trying to get to the grocery is challenging. I drive by the plot of land they're talking about everyday...it doesn't seem big enough for the proposals they've received. Not to mention the parking...maybe the city will comfiscate another locals property for a parking garage...they seem to be good at that.
A rolling Theatre?
Money from foreign soil makes Virginia business Go Ga-Ga!~Dont get your knees too dirty in advance-Accepting to Consider Plans and Offers, has obviously been more lucrative than actually ever committing..They paid that much to get this cheesy plug?? Like we didnt know that United Arab Emirates control's Virginia's political banking anyway..? We're paying them back people, with interest..
We the taxpayers
demand to know before construction starts on any of these "fabulous" projects..."Just how much will it cost us?" In most places developers pay, but not here!! And also don't forget that big budget shortfall you've been talking about...sure seems like "we" have nothing to contribute other than a pound of nails or so.