VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach’s commitment of taxpayer funding for the redevelopment of the old Pembroke Mall would be slightly lower under a revised plan from developers.
Under the new proposed terms, presented to the public on Tuesday during Virginia Beach City Council’s informal session, the city would pay no more than $22.35 million for the construction of two public parking garages with a total of 745 spaces at the site. The parking would be free like Town Center across the street.
The new proposal comes just over two years after council initially approved a $23.8 million cost-participation agreement for the garages. The new terms, like the ones previously approved, project that the city will recoup its investment through real estate tax revenue from the redeveloped property, with future revenue past that going toward the city’s general fund.
Also an extra 45-cent “special service district” SSD (similar to the one at Town Center) fee on the property will help pay for maintenance of the garage.
This all comes as redevelopment ramps up further at the former mall.
A $64.3 million, 153-unit senior living community, Aviva Senior Living, is getting ready to open in the fall after starting construction in December 2022. Then a $69 million, 272-unit multi-family, mixed-use development will go up in late 2025, per the latest update from the city. That’s expected to be complete in 2027.
Phase III for the project includes a 156-room, $30 million hotel expected to go up starting at the beginning of 2025.
City Planning Director Kathy Warren said the developer, Pembroke Square Associates, LLC, suggested the changes after the planned number of parking spaces was reduced from 791 to 745 spaces.
Councilman and mayoral candidate Chris Taylor asked on Tuesday whether the roughly 3,000 current parking at the mall site could be sufficient.
Warren said the idea is that having parking garages and vertical development frees up space for future development opportunities at the site.
Councilman Joash Schulman said having free parking at the site is important for getting people to come to the planned mixed-use retail and other attractions at the site, which will include an expanded Funny Bone comedy club in August 2025, especially if parking’s free across the street already at Town Center.
“Free parking is what made Town Center and that mixed-use development possible. Without free parking there wouldn’t have been any traffic for the retail, and equally so for the residential,” said Schulman, who pointed to the tax revenue generating opportunities for the site.
“We have a historic property, historic developer who has been at this corner in the middle part our city forever. And they’re looking to do exactly what our strategic planning documents are asking them to do and create a vibrant city center … this is an incredibly important strategic corridor in our city. We ought to be and we should be encouraging this kind of a thing because it is exactly in line with every everything that we’ve been working towards.”
Council members Worth Remick and Amelia Ross-Hammond also suggested encouraging developers to provide affordable housing, something that’s not currently included, in the area going forward.
“I’m not saying that necessarily we pass this, support this subject to that. But I would highly recommend that we ask the developer to carve out … this is a great site for future affordable housing,” Remick said.
Council could vote on the changes as early as July 2.