What’s next for the Virginia Beach Convention Center area and MOCA property? Input sought.
VIRGINIA BEACH — A lively, mixed-used environment where both residents and tourists co-exist will make the most sense for the central part of the Oceanfront, says a city consultant who is gathering public input this week.
Virginia Beach is spending nearly $300,000 to study land around the convention center and the economic impact of the area known as central beach.
Renaissance Planning held its first public session Monday, and the second one will start at noon Tuesday at the Convention & Visitors Bureau office on 22nd Street.
“A big concern of mine is affordable housing,” said Melissa Lukeson, who along with several other residents and business owners attended Monday’s session.
Participants were invited to list their priorities on sticky notes placed on placards.
Open space was one of Mark Stevens’ areas of interest.
“I want to keep what we started here in the ViBe and keep it inviting,” he said, referencing the city’s arts district.
Renaissance Planning will create a strategic report for the central beach area that will consolidate multiple land, housing and transportation studies commissioned by the city over the past decade.
Six studies over the past 19 years all concluded that the Virginia Beach Convention Center needs a headquarters hotel and a bigger, mixed-used project that can go along with it, according to the city.
“This is a culmination of all the efforts that have taken place,” said Joe Strayer of Renaissance Planning.
This latest study will analyze compatible uses for the district and will include input from surrounding residential stakeholders including the historic Seatack neighborhood and the ViBe Creative District.
It will also include a plan for key pieces of city-owned land in the central beach area including the convention center parking lots and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art property. The museum plans to relocate to Virginia Wesleyan University. It will also look at potential private redevelopment of the Colony Mobile Home Park on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Strayer said the area is ripe for a plan with a focus on residential needs while also accommodating tourists.
“The network is there, we just have to activate it with the right uses,” he said.
At the request of the city, the consultants will also analyze a recent proposal for a mixed-use project across from the convention center. In 2022, Capstone Development was the only respondent to the city’s request for ideas to include affordable housing and a convention center hotel. The Capstone proposal calls for the city to fund the project’s parking garages, which could have up to 3,500 spaces, more than four times the spots that exist in the convention center lots now.
Members of the Resort Advisory Commission, which makes recommendations to the City Council, had previously expressed concerns about the proposal and a desire for a broad study of the 19th Street corridor.
In addition to the central beach plan, the city has hired commercial real estate firm CBRE to provide an economic impact and infrastructure analysis of the area and the Capstone proposal. It will be completed by the end of the summer.
The final report on central beach will likely be presented to the City Council in October.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
If you go
What: Central Beach Small Area Plan public engagement session
Where: Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, 600 22nd St., 2nd floor
When: Tuesday, Noon to 4 p.m.
