the gallery at military circle (foreclosure, cinema, schools)

[LilyLady]

The last three posts are very interesting. An arena in that area is quite a concept, isn't it? I wonder if Virginia Beach and Norfolk could ever work together on such an endeavor. I live about two miles from Military Circle Mall on the Virginia Beach side of the highway near the Elizabeth River. I've only been here since '08 so I've never seen this Mall as anything other than what it is now with the exception of a few more stores have left (Sears, JC Penney, Anna's Linen). Pretty much dead inside too. I've always thought that was sad considering how attractive some of the surrounding areas are.

I wonder if the time will ever come when Norfolk might step up and consider something like an arena for that area. All of you sure make credible reasons for it. What an economic shot in the arm that would be.

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by LilyLady

The last three posts are very interesting. An arena in that area is quite a concept, isn't it? I wonder if Virginia Beach and Norfolk could ever work together on such an endeavor. I live about two miles from Military Circle Mall on the Virginia Beach side of the highway near the Elizabeth River. I've only been here since '08 so I've never seen this Mall as anything other than what it is now with the exception of a few more stores have left (Sears, JC Penney, Anna's Linen). Pretty much dead inside too. I've always thought that was sad considering how attractive some of the surrounding areas are.

I wonder if the time will ever come when Norfolk might step up and consider something like an arena for that area. All of you sure make credible reasons for it. What an economic shot in the arm that would be.

If they build one at the beach I can't imagine we'd need/want/be capable of supporting another one at military circle... and the beach one is basically a done deal as far as I can see, so I don't think it's gonna happen over there. IMO it is more likely that it will eventually get torn down and replaced by some residential development given the good location.

The way I see it, the brick and mortar retail market for goods is declining (Sears, Macy's, JC Penny, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble etc...) because people can just buy the same stuff on Amazon for cheaper. It seems like the service industry is shifting towards experiences (restaurants, bars, spas, gyms) where retailers provide a place that folks can have a good time and maybe purchase a service or a more unique good that can't be so easily duplicated online. It is just hard for me to see how a mall like military circle is gonna survive long term in its current configuration.

Of course I'm not a developer or a city planner, so what do I really know about land development??? I could be completely off the mark. haha

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by LilyLady

The last three posts are very interesting. An arena in that area is quite a concept, isn't it? I wonder if Virginia Beach and Norfolk could ever work together on such an endeavor. I live about two miles from Military Circle Mall on the Virginia Beach side of the highway near the Elizabeth River. I've only been here since '08 so I've never seen this Mall as anything other than what it is now with the exception of a few more stores have left (Sears, JC Penney, Anna's Linen). Pretty much dead inside too. I've always thought that was sad considering how attractive some of the surrounding areas are.

I wonder if the time will ever come when Norfolk might step up and consider something like an arena for that area. All of you sure make credible reasons for it. What an economic shot in the arm that would be.

Any cooperation between both cities would require some assurance that there would be a good return on investment for Virginia Beach. Remember that Virginia Beach taxpayers have never really forgiven the city for construction of the convention center and other projects that were nice amenities, but never turned Virginia Beach into the world class mecca it could be. Not even Town Center has delivered on that progress, and quite honestly, no single project will, as most top tier cities are the results of hundreds of seemingly unrelated projects that come together to create the illusion of an urban oasis (even though the reality is often anything but).

Most cities proponents want Virginia Beach to be have technically, been cities for at least 200 years or more, and you simply cannot accomplish it overnight. Norfolk is a city, but it is also a city of neighborhoods, some good, and some bad (sometimes the same neighborhoods is good or bad, depending on what block or side of the street you're on). Virginia Beach is the larger of the two cities, and naturally, would have more money to put behind the proposal.

I was down at Oceanview yesterday, on some of the back streets. Super hood, felt it could be somewhere in Miami. Yet you still have enormous homes next to empty lots, next to slums. Most of the strip clubs and transient hotels have been torn down, which is good, but the area is still sketchy.

Virginia Beach needs a lot of infill, and could stand to transform the Oceanfront into something greater than what it already is. If they handle it right, it could be something great. I love Norfolk, but I think it would just be on the level of a casino if you place it at Military Circle. Casinos have never done anything to transform a neighborhood anywhere other than Las Vegas (and even that is questionable). I don't want my tax money going to clear cut working areas; now if there were no tenants in Military Circle and it truly was a dead mall (like only 1 or 2% of it were occupied), then I could see that. But gentrification of the area is only going to be met with resistance, as gentrification of other neighborhoods in Norfolk are failed experiments. You know, those people that live around Janaf cannot afford $100 a ticket to see someone play and wouldn't pay the money even if they could.

I've seen it done before. As mentioned earlier, a lot of stadiums are in the hood and they do nothing to transform the neighborhoods they're in. The only thing that would happen, is that people like us would go to the game and then go home, back to our safe neighborhoods.

[Statz2k10]

My family used to go to military circle all the time in the 80's and early 90's. Janaf shopping center IMO has also gone down hill since then. A lot of big businesses have closed their doors over the years and this has dropped a lot of the business that once was. HQ, Sports Authority, Circuit City. At one time these were huge businesses that brought in a lot of consumers. If people come to Sports Authority they might just go to the mall for something else.

Another reason is a lot of the stores started marketing more to blacks than whites. To be honest a lot of white people have stopped wanting to go to that mall because it's become a mall catering more to blacks because of the stores. Well, that can become a problem for businesses because they are going to lose a lot of business when a certain type of customer stops going to the mall.

[gvlscrkeva]

It's sad state of affairs for this mall considering the location that it is in. I would think that this would be prime real estate.
I remember going to this mall as a kid when my family would travel to Virginia Beach for summer vacations and remember staying at the Doubletree Hotel and thought that it was the coolest thing to be able to have a hotel "connected" to the mall, talk about convenience!

The only gripe I had about this place was how old the property looked on the outside but the inside was just gorgeous with the nautical theme and the beautiful fountains everywhere. The last time I had visited the place, the hotel was closed and Sears had just shut down it's doors.

Now Penney's is gone due to under-performance but low and behold, good ol' Macy's is still rocking the joint. A little fun fact about Macy's here. (as a former employee of Macy's Inc) this store does very GOOD business! Also their "urban" selection is one of the better selling lines of clothing in the VA/NC/SC district.

I hope with the doubletree property that the new owner will inject some life into this place. I suggested to a few friends recently when we were talking about Military Circle, that it takes on the lifestyle format that Coliseum Mall/Peninsula Town Center took on a while back.

[NOVAEER]

Hopefully Cinemark at this mall will address their bedbug issue.

[LilyLady]

Originally Posted by NOVAEER

Hopefully Cinemark at this mall will address their bedbug issue.

Agreed. I know I wouldn't want to go see a movie there now, even if it was free.

[citydweller]

Before AMC at Lynnhaven was built, I used to go to the Cinemark. It was the best and newest place in town. It's a shame to hear how it has gone down (as well as the rest of the mall).

[LilyLady]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Before AMC at Lynnhaven was built, I used to go to the Cinemark. It was the best and newest place in town. It's a shame to hear how it has gone down (as well as the rest of the mall).

It truly has. We drive through that area a lot because we live just a couple of miles from it and the empty parking lots during daytime business hours speak volumes.

[VBeachChick]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Before AMC at Lynnhaven was built, I used to go to the Cinemark. It was the best and newest place in town. It's a shame to hear how it has gone down (as well as the rest of the mall).

Cinemark still gets good business (can't beat $4.25 matinees), but yeah, Military Circle is pretty much a zombie mall.