THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411230242
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: The Grand Plan
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 168 lines
A PLAN TO TURN around MidCity Shopping Center is aimed at turning around business in the entire midsection of the city.
Planning consultant Ray Gindroz said the area has ``very serious dysfunctions.''
``The traffic pattern is one of the worst I've ever seen,'' he said.
Gindroz told City Council recently that Midtown should be ``the first priority.''
The shopping center faces south and east, not in the direction of the stable neighborhoods around the area, he said.
``Its orientation is wrong,'' he said of the center that has many vacant storefronts. ``You ought to fix it. I never know where I am here. I think I'm on one street and I'm not. I'm on another.''
The property configuration, he said, is ``the equivalent of shattered glass.''
``Fragmented real estate produces fragmented development,'' Gindroz said.
The first stage of the ``straightening out'' process would be realigning Frederick Boulevard along the present route of Hamilton Street straight to High Street.
``You need to make it a 100 percent crossroads,'' he said.
Airline Boulevard should have a 90-degree turn over to the new Frederick Boulevard, taking vehicles directly by the front of a newly configured shopping center.
The shopping center, he said, should contain about 100,000 square feet and be anchored by a 30,000 to 40,000 square foot grocery store.
The north end of the present Frederick Boulevard, which is four lanes with a median strip, would become a commercial strip and a straight shot from High Street to Airline Boulevard and the redesigned MidCity Shopping Center.
``The amount of sales dollars in the residential areas (Waterview, Glensheallah, etc.) would make ``this a place to market.''
``Midtown, including MidCity Shopping Center, would be a new small town environment,'' he said.
Gindroz predicted that big businesses that are looking at moving back into urban areas across the country should be good prospects for a reconfigured area.
The plans were altered to improve the area for business after Gindroz met with members of the Midtown Association.
The association includes property owners and business people in a large area stretching from Martin Luther King Freeway to Maryview Medical Center.
At a meeting with group members, Gindroz said, ``I'm impressed with your commitment to re-establish this area as a retail center.''
Noting the ``hemorrhage'' of retail dollars from Portsmouth over the past few years, Gindroz said success in Midtown could recapture some of the loss.
The current I.C. Norcom High School site would become part of a new development of for-sale housing that would build a community on the south. Gindroz also suggested rehabilitating the Jeffry Wilson public housing to make it less dense and more like a neighborhood.
All the housing should be locating on rectangular blocks, not triangles of courtyards, he said.
A public park also should be developed adjacent to the street on part of the Norcom site, he said.
In other cities, Gindroz said, new for-sale housing constructed around rehabilitated public housing has been ``very successful.''
People who pay $400 a month rent for public housing can afford to pay mortgages, he said. Some of them would be candidates for ownership of new homes in their neighborhoods.
Refurbishing MidCity Shopping Center and nearby buildings would be a major step toward reducing crime in the Midtown area, Gindroz said
``The worst places for social problems are those with underused and abandoned properties,'' he said. ``And where you have disorienting parts, you have crime. There's a lot of fertile ground here in Midtown.''
Moving some City Hall offices to MidCity would not be a bad ``short term'' project. At a recent Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce session, a proposal was made to move some city agency to the old J.C. Penney store for a three-year term.
The estimated cost of relocating Frederick Boulevard would be about $2.5 million. Some property held by MidCity corporate owners would be needed for the realignment, which opens the possibility of negotiating a deal for some of the land.
``There is a way of addressing the serious problems in Midtown,'' Gindroz said. But, he said, ``it is important that people work together for the common good.''
A private-public partnership with people working together to find solutions is the answer for Midtown, he said. MIDTOWN
ASSETS: Located in the middle of the city, this area is a major crossroads of the traditional city network of roads and streets.
The area has a number of assets. It has excellent regional access from the interstate system. It has two large developable sites: MidCity Shopping Center on about 30 acres owned by Sentinel Realty and the I.C. Norcom site of about 30 acres owned by the city.
It is adjacent to Maryview Medical Center and has experienced some medical office development. It once was a major retail hub and retail remains strong in parts of the area.
Finally, it is surrounded on three sides by stable residential communities.
LIABILITIES: The presence of low-income housing in Midtown frequently is blamed for its image as a high crime area.
The physical configuration of the shopping center, jammed between two major arterial roads, creates some extremely awkward urban conditions: for example, loading areas located across the street from residences and a confusing street pattern created by street closings.
The configuration is outdated and in its present, dilapidated, nearly vacant state, the shopping center is seen as a liability to the area.
RECOMMENDATIONS: A number of alternative futures should be explored, including the following:
Re-establishment of a traditional street pattern in order to create a mixed retail/office/residential area.
Privately owned low-income rental property as well as the public housing in the area should be redeveloped.
Develop new, for-sale housing on Norcom site and other spaces south of the shopping center.
The consultants also suggested working with private owners of MidCity to redevelop the shopping center, orienting it toward High Street and the existing stable neighborhoods. MEMO: EDITOR'S NOTE
This article represents the final installment of a four-part series
by staff writer Ida Kay Jordan on the proposed 10-year master plan for
the city presented by consultant Ray Gindroz.
Previous installments focused on Olde Towne/Downtown; Effingham
Corridor/Park View; and Scotts Creek Marina and Campus Civic Center.
Today's installment focuses on what Gindroz refers to as Midtown.
The Currents is planning to reprint the installments in a special
section prior to the public hearings tentatively scheduled for later
this month or in December.
Wayne Orton, city manager, and Steve Helbert, of the Economic
Development, last week reiterated their plans for such public hearings.
For more information on the proposal or access to the entire report,
please contact Economic Development at 393-8804.
- Joseph P. Banks
Portsmouth editor
ILLUSTRATION: File photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
There is no problem with parking at MidCity Shopping Center, which
needs refurbishing.
File photo
There are many stable neighborhoods in Midtown, and the city should
promote that ``small town'' atmosphere, planner Ray Gindroz urges.
File photo
In 1959, MidCity attracted plenty of shoppers. Today, there is more
concrete and crime than customers.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The Currents in interested in your thoughts, comments and/or
suggestions on the 10-year master plan.
You can call us at INFOLINE - 640-5555, then push IDEA (4332);
write us at 307 County Street, Suite 100, Portsmouth, Va. 23704; or
fax us at 446-2607.
You must include your name, address and telephone number for the
sake of verification.
We will begin publication of your comments in the Sunday, Dec. 4
edition.
by CNB