Norfolk EDA finalizes purchase of former DoubleTree Hotel at Military Circle

DoubleTree at Military Circle Mall (Photo courtesy: Brett Hall)

Posted: May 7, 2020 / 02:39 PM EDT

Updated: May 7, 2020 / 03:30 PM EDT

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Norfolk Economic Development Authority (EDA) announced on Thursday that it purchased the vacant DoubleTree Hotel on the Military Circle shopping mall property on North Military Highway.

This comes one week after purchasing The Gallery at Military Circle Mall on May 1. Acquiring the hotel allows the EDA full site control which is needed to reposition the entire Military Circle Mall property.

The DoubleTree has been abandoned since about 2009 and was purchased on May 6 by the EDA for $2.4 million. The property was listed for $3 million and assessed at $2.1 million, according to city officials.

#BREAKING A week after @NorfolkVA's EDA purchases Military Circle Mall, Yesterday the EDA voted to purchase the abandoned @DoubleTree that sits right in the middle of it all for $2.4 mill…@WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/4h9hzOwjUb
— Brett Hall (@BrettHNews) May 7, 2020

The EDA has already purchased and redeveloped the former J.C. Penny’s in 2014 and turned the 200,000 square foot building into office buildings that are completely leased.

The plans for the location were released in a 2017 state-funded report that shows the area with urban streetscapes, parks, and plazas with walkways and bike-friendly streets. The property as a whole shows the potential for more than 6,000 housing units and 16 million square feet of non-residential developments.