On smart economic investments (twitter post of 7/17/09)
Last week Virginia Beach City Manager Jim Spore hosted a group of city/county managers (see post below).
A highlight of Virginia Beach was the visit to their new “Town Center.” Virginia Beach evolved as a sprawling suburb with no business core. It has a stunning ocean front with good hotels and amenities, especially the “board” walk, which is actually dual paths: a broad concrete walk for people to stroll leisurely, and a parallel, stripped, two-way asphalt path for bikers and runners. It has a band shell and grounds for music and an awesome bronze statute of Neptune. The beaches are wide and clean and safe and well lit (too much so for me).
But, there was no downtown.
The town center, well inland from the beach, is a model of new urbanism, combining a mix of uses -- residential, office, hotel, retail. A striking, 38-story Westin hotel anchors the town center. Of particular note is the city’s major investment -- $35-million -- in the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. While there is substantial private money in the center (+$12 million), the city carries the weight, not only for capital, but also the underwriting of an annual performance series. An even greater investment will be coming soon as Virginia Beach extends a new light rail system from Norfolk into the Town Center.
As with Arlington’s development in Shirlington, there was an understanding in Virginia Beach that the arts can provide the public “space” in mixed-use development -- unifying people across the different commercial activities. The Sandler center and public plaza are far grander in scale than Shirlington’s Signature Theatre / Public Library / public plaza complex, but the concepts are the same: create a unifying civic space.
This is obviously the same motivation behind Arlington’s recent approval of a cultural center for Rosslyn at a capital investment of only $6 million.
Rosslyn is larger scale than VB’s Town Center, with 8 million square feet of commercial development compared to a planned 4.8 million of total development for the town center. Rosslyn has 2100 hotel rooms compared with 412 for the town center.
Rosslyn was Arlington’s first urban redevelopment site; although it has been a major economic engine for Arlington, it has underperformed. The public space in Rosslyn is disjointed (the pocket parks) and disconnected (Gateway Park and Marine Memorial). It has the enviable asset of a Metro station with two lines -- but once you get to Rosslyn, there is yet no “there” there. The new cultural center is intended to begin to fill this gap, providing a venue for an eclectic range of performing and visual arts that will give people a reason to be in Rosslyn at night and on the weekends.
A more enlivened Rosslyn is also intended to play a role in advancing the next phase of redevelopment…making Rosslyn a location of choice when the economy begins to recover and credit is once again available. Of special importance is Central Place, which will bring a residential and office tower, public observation deck, public plaza, and retail – all immediately across from the subway station (570,659 sq.ft. office, 350 residential condo units, 44,554 sq.ft. retail. 27,396 sq.ft. public plaza/open space). Also important is 1812 N. Moore, another commercial tower. It will be built to LEED platinum standards and upgrade the entrance to the subway (580,000 sq.ft. office, 12,000 sq.ft. retail).
Projects such as these are the reason we cannot forsake all public investment during tight times, whether in the arts, transportation, public safety, infrastructure or other areas. Investments are about more than doing good things. They must be done smartly and in ways that create greater economic sustainability for the community. Virginia Beach is an example of a city positioning itself well for the future.
For a wonkish web site on the Virginia Beach Town Center, see:
For info on Virginia Beach cultural programs and the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, see:
http://www.vbgov.com/vgn.aspx?vgnextchannel=39537e192ca49010VgnVCM100000870b640aRCRD
For info on Arlington’s Cultural Center, see:
http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/planning/InDesign/page70700.aspx
For more on Rosslyn, see:
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