BIG-SCALE DEVELOPMENTS PLANNED
Condominium Projects Will Remake Ocean View Skyline
BY HARRY MINIUM THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
NORFOLK –– The skyline of Ocean View is about to undergo a transformation. For years, development in Ocean View has been smallscale. Houses and small clusters of condominiums and duplexes have replaced the deteriorating buildings the city and developers have torn down. There is only one high-rise along the city’s 7½ miles of Chesapeake Bay beachfront. But larger and taller condominium projects are coming, and with them, more traffic and more demands on old roads and utilities. More than half a dozen developments are in the works that promise to remake three key entry points into Ocean View – at the base of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, at the 4th View exit off Interstate 64 and at the eastern entrance to Ocean View just off Shore Drive along Little Creek Inlet. Most are midrise condominiums, as tall as 10 stories, and more than 1,500 units in all. A developer recently approached Councilman W. Randy Wright about building a 25-story condominium in East Ocean View. “High-density development is coming to Ocean View,” Wright said. “It’s inevitable. “There’s a demand for housing near the beach, and they’re not making any more beach property.” Does the impending development mean that views of the water and access to the water will be reserved for condo dwellers or preserved for all residents? What will it mean for traffic and parking problems that already plague the area? City officials need look only a few miles down Shore Drive to Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach to see what the future of Ocean View could be. Norfolk officials say they want the affluence and diverse shopping available at the Beach. What they don’t want are the wall-to-wall condominiums and town houses that have consumed much of the Bayfront property and led to parking shortages and clogged roads. “What happened on Shore Drive is not going to happen here,” vowed City Councilman Donald L. Williams, a Willoughby resident. “Most of that land in Virginia Beach was zoned for condos, so developers just built them. Virginia Beach could not control the development there.” Norfolk can. Most of Ocean View has been zoned for singlefamily homes, and much of the property on Little Creek Inlet is zoned industrial. That means developers must receive the city’s permission to build condominiums. That has given the city’s planning department wide sway on how those developments will be fashioned. The city is telling most developers to work with Raymond L. Gindroz, an urban designer from Pittsburgh under contract to the city for nearly two decades, before bringing projects to the Planning Commission and City Council. Gindroz is telling developers to preserve water views and access to the water for all residents. He advocates creating an urban look in Ocean View that avoids surface parking, cookie-cutter buildings and the concrete exteriors prevalent in so many beach communities. “We’re looking for the resort look that you may have seen here in the early 1900s, the big old resorts that aren’t here anymore,” Williams said. Gindroz’s influence can especially be seen in The Spectrum at Willoughby Point, a $200 million, 327-condominium and town house development that will be built on 15 acres beginning early next year at the base of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. When Virginia Beach developer A.R. “Rick” Gregor Jr. came to the city with his plans, he proposed what Williams called “concrete and glass condos,” the kind that sprouted along Shore Drive in Virginia Beach. Gregor said Gindroz suggested major changes: moving the two tallest towers so they would be the first buildings seen by drivers coming across the bridge-tunnel; changing the exterior from concrete to cedar shake; replacing parking lots with parking on the first floor of the buildings, creating more open space; and varying the balconies, roof types and heights of buildings. “When you come across the bridge-tunnel, you will see water on the other side,” Gregor said. “It was important that the water views not just be for the people living in the condos. “It was more involvement than we’re used to, but at the end of the day, it made for a better project.” Gindroz’s next project could be The Shoals, a 168-unit condominium and hotel development at the old Harrison’s Fishing Pier site at 4th View Street. The Boone family – Ronnie Boone Sr. and Judy Boone and their son, Ronnie Boone Jr. – have replaced Harrison’s Pier, which was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel, with the Ocean View Fishing Pier. A restaurant has opened on the pier. The Boones plan a $50 million development around the pier that will include condominiums, a small convention center, another restaurant and a hotel. The Boones plan four buildings that will contain a mixture of condominiums and hotel rooms. The tallest could be eight stories, and they are designed to resemble the old Nansemond Hotel, the historic Ocean View hotel that once stood about 300 yards away. Gindroz’s most ambitious work may be with half a dozen property owners in East Ocean View who plan developments around Little Creek Inlet. Presently, the area has a mix of new upscale housing, including East Beach and Harbor Walk, and old industrial buildings, aging storefronts and deteriorated housing. Two developers plan major projects there. Steve Copeland, part owner of Taylor’s Landing Marina, has purchased a nearby strip shopping center that contains an exotic dancing club and a bookstore and also nearby, a car wash. He plans to replace them with a boat showroom, restaurant and coffee shop, and at least 36 condominiums. He plans to break ground on the $20 million development, which could rise as high as 10 stories, next summer. Developer Buddy Gadams is planning a 110-unit, $55 million condo development on the other side of the inlet along Pretty Lake Avenue that Gindroz is playing a key role in designing. Gindroz shifted Gadams’ buildings slightly to retain water views. “It’s not just a bunch of buildings blocking Little Creek,” Gadams said. The city has asked developers there to donate land to create a public walkway on the waterfront. “Somebody jogging in that area would be able to do so right on Little Creek past all of the developments there,” Gadams said. “It’s a great idea.” Gindroz said that “from the beginning, the thought has been to treat the entrances into Ocean View as gateways, as little town centers. We’re trying to create a sense of community.” Vic Yurkovich, president of the Cottage Line Civic League, said his group will monitor the city’s stewardship of condo growth. “We need high density,” he said. “We need that diversity so more people can live here. “What our civic league would like to see is a high-rise for senior citizens. That seems to be something missing.” Robby Hazelette, president of the Willoughby Civic League, said the city and developers have so far done a good job of seeking residents’ input. Gindroz is doing a corridor study of Willoughby and met with the civic league last week. “We have to figure out a way to deal with all of the high-density development that’s coming,” Hazelette said. “Willoughby is already bottlenecked because of the interstate. There has to be a commitment to improve all of the infrastructure.” City officials said that work began years ago, when all of the utility lines underneath East Ocean View Avenue were replaced. A new intersection is planned at Shore Drive and Pleasant Avenue. Officials also plan a second lane of traffic at 4th View that will lead into Willoughby. “But there’s still so much more that needs to be done,” Wright said. “We’ve got drainage problems in some areas. We have curbing and sidewalks that need to be replaced. As the density increases, we’ve got to look at spending more money.” Regardless, the planning process now under way will reverberate for decades, officials say. “The time is right for midrise and high-rise development in Ocean View,” Williams said. “But we need to do it carefully, because we only get to do it once.” CLARK NEXSEN The Shoals is a $50 million, 168-unit condominium and hotel development being planned at the old Harrison’s Fishing Pier site at 4th View Street. ARTIST RENDERING The Spectrum at Willoughby Point is a $200 million, 327-condominium and town house development that will be built on 15 acres beginning early next year at the base of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.