THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140011
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By MASON C. ANDREWS
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Your front-page article ``City buys up downtown out of necessity and hope'' (news, July 2) may mislead the public. It seemingly implies a problem. Celebration of success is more appropriate, when all the facts are displayed.
Norfolk's government has implemented and continues to implement bold, dramatically successful urban-renewal projects which have cleared extensive blight and already replaced much of it with three privately financed hotels; 10 privately financed office buildings; the self-amortizing, taxpaying ($1.5 million per year) Waterside Festival Marketplace; the broadly enjoyed Town Point public park; a City Hall and courts complex; parking throughout downtown; a cultural complex; and extensive privately financed housing (Freemason Harbor).
A portion of downtown land also is creating a site for the Norfolk campus of Tidewater Community College, which will provide the opportunity for improving self-sufficiency for thousands of young people for whom this opportunity would not otherwise exist; the campus itself will provide employment and generate extensive economic activity in the middle of downtown.
The net effect of all that has been done downtown is an increase in taxes to the Norfolk treasury from $5.4 million in 1981 to $15.1 million in 1994 and an increase in jobs in the same area from 20,370 in 1980 to 30,700 in 1991 (Hammer-Siler Study). The Marriott Hotel and Waterside Festival Marketplace together employ 1,300 people.
The increase in tax income to the city government has been essential to financing improvements in the neighborhoods and public safety and education throughout Norfolk. The value of the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of citizens through the use of Town Point Park must also be placed on the table along with the opportunity that Chrysler Hall, Scope and the convention center provide for public functions and the successful development of the convention industry.
Sound planning and discipline in land use have retained a major (17-acres) development site. This provides the opportunity for the remarkably successful downtown development that has already occurred to be significantly enhanced by the development of MacArthur Center, a one-of-a-kind, regional retail and entertainment center. This will add to the attractiveness of Norfolk as a place to live, do business and visit. It will further enhance the city's economic strength. Meanwhile, other land is also available to extend the residential development of Freemason Harbor and accelerate the rate of growth and add to its high-rise density.
The thrust of your two-page article seemed to be that Norfolk's city government owns too much land downtown. The actively used public facilities described above (including the city-owned facilities for parking and parks) certainly seem to justify the city's investment. Citing the examples of other cities that have ``significant amounts of vacant or under-used property through either failed urban-renewal projects or abandonment by private business owners,'' attributed to an employee of the Urban Land Institute is irrelevant to Norfolk. Only 2 percent of downtown Norfolk is vacant land, and this is, quite fortunately, available for very beneficial commercial and housing development. Some surface parking will undoubtedly give way to structured parking as further commercial and residential demand occurs.
The Urban Land Institute report by nine nationally respected leaders in urban development who studied Norfolk in 1989 stated: ``The entrepreneurial zeal of developers in the financial/commercial district has already made the district the financial center of Hampton Roads. . . . The area along the Elizabeth River from the downtown tunnel to Tazewell Street has already demonstrated economic success. . . . With the City's sense of optimism and dynamism, pride in past accomplishments, and clear vision of the future, the panel believes that downtown Norfolk can transcend its position as the heart of Hampton Roads and become one of America's great waterfront cities.''
The renewal of this old seaport city has exceeded all reasonable expectations. The citizens of Norfolk need and deserve the fullest accurate and objective information on which to base their judgments about future steps. MEMO: City Councilman Andrews is a practicing physician and former mayor of
Norfolk. by CNB