Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Downtown Norfolk Comes in Colors
Words Bobby Wright
Photos Anne Kabaitan
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Color invokes mood, attitude, life, death, and yes, can promotes sales.
This is why am I so excited about Downtown Norfolk’s future: because of color.
The newest color on the block.
I don’t know if the inspiration has been rail (both light and passenger), new buildings, or new people moving Downtown, but Downtown is all the sudden a blaze in colors. Colors that make me feel alive, happy to be here, excited about the future, wanting to watch for the next place color appears.
It started in simple but striking places like the vivid uplighting of church steeples, MacAuthor Memorial, Dominion Enterprises unlighted columns 20 stories into the heaven, the clean wash of light on my own Granby Theater, and lights on the support columns of the Berkley Bridge that actually change color.
The fountains at Town Point Park.
Then to follow came town point park’s LED gardens that make it tree and path way inviting and exciting, and the Towne Bank LED fountain. Now it’s the Crown Plaza’s purple uplighting, Scope Plaza’s electric blue fountain, and the greatest of them all…the new Wells Fargo Center, which deserves a huge award for thinking way “outside the box” and doing something brave in a very conservative city, inviting people to watch, smile and gawk at the LED lighting shooting up it’s foyer entrances to an amazing crown of impressive and ever changing color.
City at night, city of lights.
I visit Miami often and always leave there hungry for the beautiful colors atop their buildings, and it’s really not just the color, it’s the attitude I long for. You see, colors make a bold statement of who we are, who we want to be, and that we are excited about the future, ready to blaze a new destiny, and prepared to come out of the recession with a new face, a great expression of love and joy for life, and inviting to people to come, and business to flourish.
Through my work in Downtown real estate development, and with the Granby Theater and the Gym Downtown, I promote Downtown’s live, work, and play theme. These days, it’s really very easy to sell Downtown. We don’t have to imagine a future Downtown and ask our clients to think about where we’ll be in X years. Now we just point to colors, including the pinkish rail lines that connect us to the world and give us identity.
More beautiful when you can see it.
Thank you to all who are making a colorful difference in our Downtown, and to those who will join the artist powerful expression of light and color in your work. Art Everywhere is truly happening in ways that I never dreamt in my city.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Bobby Wright is the principal broker and developer of The Wright Companies; and the owner and developer of The Granby Theater and The Gym Downtown. He was listed in April 2006 as “A-List: 50 Very Important People Shaping Life In Hampton Roads” by Hampton Roads Magazine, and in July 2006 as the “Gutsiest Downtown Developer” by Port Folio Weekly Magazine.
Other posts by Bobby Wright.
Other posts by Bobby Wright.
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It’s interesting! Years ago I wound up on a mailing list of a trade magazine after some support mail exchanges with one of the larger US vendors of club and architectural lighting hardware. The huge glossy magazines showcased what was going on in and on the industry. From concerts and grammy award shows to state capitol buildings. There was some impressive demonstrations of what raw money can do.
After visiting Austin’s 6th street and seeing Las Vegas a few times while attending the Defcon “hacker” conferences I got to see real life examples. The Hard Rock hotel stands out in my memories. Even the low end venues in Las Vegas were rocking vivid wash lights under DMX-512 control on the exterior.
It’s nice to see some of this finally starting to come to Norfolk. Years ago I was talking to the owner of Dr. Bob’s theatricity in Virginia Beach. I had rescued some Intellabeams from a club in Myrtle Beach, and was trying fix them. I brought up the architectural lighting thing and he said at that time that they had approached a number of people in Hampton Roads about it, but at the time none were interested. It’s great to see this change.
There is speculation to the meaning of the lighting changes on top of the Wachovia building. The most logical was that the color changes were related to a basketball game going on at the time. Pretty neat. Hopefully they will do the same with the local sports teams (Tides, Admirals.)
I work off of Colley Ave., and when I leave most nights, I can see the color of the night on the Wachovia Center (last night it was pink).
It reminds me of the US Bank Tower in L.A. I think it adds some much-needed style to our skyline…
I think color on the skyline screams look at me and is often used to cover up a lack of actual character. You reference Miami, but I for one don’t want to live in Miami. I want to live in a city that stands for a little more substance, and a lot less frivolity.
I am glad people are making more interesting choices with the buildings they plop down here in Norfolk, but that being said I think they are still poor choices, that say the wrong thing about our city. Continue to light up the sky and the park and harp upon the need to revamp Waterside and you will get exactly what you build for…. crappy conventions held downtown.
Build something for the people who live here, not for those who come to visit it, or come to trash it on weekends (like those that frequent Granby… and Mr. Wrights theater)
The quintessential problem with this region is it lacks substance. It is soulless in so very many respects, and people can tell. This is why we have a brain drain because cheap distractions are not enough to captivate a creative and active mind. They don’t care if you “point to colors, including the pinkish lines”. Who are we courting to move here…. children?
Enough with the LED’s, enough with the fuchsia, and the lime green…. enough with the ‘Bobby Wrights’ vision for downtown. I have visited it and I can tell you there is a reason that many people still don’t go down to Granby, and Mr. Wrights idea of a thriving urban center has a lot to do with it. The vapid nature of the piece perfectly represents the efforts it describes.
Altdaily- You should stand for something of more substance. These colors cry out that we are desperate for an identity and we are trying our damnedest to buy one. Your job should be to help Norfolk organically grow a real reputation not to help steal one from Miami.
But the brain drain is because the jobs around here are bad, and the housing overpriced. Gov’t related jobs are a get-by kind of gig, and I can’t see where it would drive true innovation or creativity. And the majority of jobs that pay good in this area are directly related to gov’t.
The architecture doesn’t really drive the brain drain. The cool companies form in California because there is money, and the old people aren’t as uptight. Gold rush, yo. Old people in 757 never shared the wealth with the young. It’s hard to name a company that shared it’s success with the young people, so the young people could never start their own things.
Pretty much all construction built from 2000 to 2009 was a gold rush of another sort. Cheap stuff thrown up to cash in on a speculative mania. Rip off the young, get them loaded with debt. The people selling their properties see the wealth they are getting on the backs of the young and brag nonstop, the young see the wealth the old people get when they buy their junk. The banks ditch the debt (either to pension funds or taxpayers, or both.) In the end the banks win, taxpayers loose, young people loose. Oh yea, and America is a failure.
Back to architectural lighting. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But I consider myself creative, and I love the stuff. I tried to build my own rig for doing it before I found suppliers in china that made undervehicle kits (www.757truck.com was the vehicle I had the RGB LED ground effects on.) Still got pictures to prove it ( http://users.757.org/~ethan/pics/geek/projects/blaze_hacking/ )
I think the lights in the park are absolutely weak, but can’t get over the sheer power of the lighting on the Wachovia building. Is it really LED or is it wash lights with CMY color mixing gradient wheels? I’m still not sure that kind of light output is possible with LED. The mechanical space on top of that building is nearly two stories tall. That’s a ton of lumens needed to make it that bright, that tall.
And everyone’s vision for downtown is going to be different. I have my own ideas, that haven’t been done, that others probably might not like. I care about different things than other people.
This reads like a bad sales pitch for downtown and Bobby Wright. Also sounnds very paternalistic in tone- like he is thanking us for making his domain more grand, and real estate more valuable.
If Granby Theater is an archetype for what they are aiming for in Norfolk then I can safely say I am looking for a way out.
@Ethan- I think you are crazy to say Architecture does not contribute to brain drain. That is an offense to architects everywhere. The way our cities look and feel is a colossaly important factor in determining who lives there. Even if its all about jobs, which is inane, no creative company is going to move to a place that is doing its best to attract the cast of Jersey Shore and not a cultivating a more elevated mindset.
My experience in downtown Norfolk on a recent weekend night, arriving at approximately 10:30 pm to observe social interaction. On foot, I walked from Main St. to Brambleton Ave and back, walking on both side of the street. My first impression of night life in Granby was in the 100 block, where there is a hugh empty lot, then a series of storefronts, most of which were dark. As I approached a restaurant/bar mid-block, I encountered a large group of young people smoking cigarettes and unwilling to give right of way. I also observed that the sidewalk and street were filled with cigarette butts. The sidewalks along the stretch are barely wide enough for two people to pass, much less accommodating a crowd of smokers. I walked out into the street when it was obvious that I was not going to get through the crowd. The remainder of the block was shuttered or empty store fronts. I then passed through several blocks of austere office buildings, where little pedestrian traffic was moving about and where again, there was sufficient space for two people to pass. Ahead, I again encountered a large group of people in front of a sports bar and also encountered the sickening smell of cigarettes. Further down the street, this was repeated several times and at each point I was forced into the street, dodging vehicles with shiny wheel covers and car radios blaring.
Near the end of my walk, I encountered an austere federal building with no invitation to sit and enjoy the architecture as one would in Washington, DC.
My return trip down the opposite side of Granby was less challenging, although I encounted time and again, young men in bermuda shorts running at top speed down the sidewalk to gather parked cars for guests of the restaurants and bars. While I did not feel threatened, I did feel as though I was being challenged to dodge the runners. More blank storefronts, more smokers and more dead office structures. I stopped in at one of the newer restaurants near the end and found it to be a tomb of darkness with funky little satellite chandeliers hanging way above my head. Not inviting, so I left and continue down the pedestrian path to the newly refurbished waterfront park. I was somewhat surprised to find a lot of pedestrians walking along the esplanade, but was also disappointed that the fountain park was not operating and the surrounding plaza somewhat shuttered. Not a spark in a dismal surround.
Not the kind of urban experience I expected to find in a large metropolitan city, but an abundance of mermaid figures and some public art barely visible. Upon entering Waterside, I observed a large empty space, with echos of voices from a Hooters restaurant. The few shops were shuttered.
Upon leaving, I drove down Monticello which was void of activity. The newly constructed high rise was spattered with purple and green lights on a rather uninviting facade, again surrounded by very little pedestrian walkways.
Will I return? Probably not.
@Andrea – I’m not hating on architecture. I have my favorite buildings downtown like others. The Seaboard building. The old city hall near the World Trade Center. USI darth vader building on Main. And of course, the epic, the awesome, AT&T building (Can I get a tour someone? Please?) Say you have a choice. One hand is a really low paying and boring job working with so-so people, insanely high housing costs, but around some nice buildings. On the other hand is working for a great company with good people building something new and exciting, with a high potential payoff, but located in cheap and boring office space. Would you really take #1 over #2? The companies that drive the technology that we’re using to debate this probably didn’t choose their location because of some pretty buildings. But they have the power to get smart people to move to them.
If you really want to hear it. The few small tech startups I’ve worked for in Hampton Roads, the people that moved here to work for the companies mostly considered it a mistake. At least the people worth anything. They hated the area. It hurts. It stings. It’s true tho.
As far as molding Granby Street. What is Granby? It’s some restaurants. I’d say what Bobby Wright has done has added to it. I can’t see any downsides. Yea, he got lucky buying some buildings right before the real estate mania, but I don’t fault him for it. I do fault the media for not warning people about the easily predictable crash, which really hasn’t even happened yet, but see my rants elsewhere on that subject. Look at the venues around Hampton Roads. GT is better than anything I know of around here. Relative Theory was more my style.
So Andrea, what would you do different on Granby? What’s your type of venues? How do you fix it?
@poon – The outside smokers are a result of the new ban on smoking inside food places. Yes, I guess you could say it demonstrates the number of low class people in the area. Unintended consequence is what you’d call it.
Most of the region elsewhere is strip malls. There isn’t an easy fix for widening Granby unless they made it one way, or eliminated car traffic on it (6th street in Austin?)
Most of the other local downtown areas that people will compare Norfolk to were built during the credit bubble, so they got to start from a clean slate.
I recognize the fact that there are some pretty dumb people who continue to smoke. Wish they would ask themselves why and perhaps they would figure out that it’s an unhealthy habit. The association of alcohol and nicotine is a poor excuse for not quitting.
While the sidewalks on Granby are exceptionally narrow, the city has allowed several establishments to cram additional seating within the narrow space. This discourages visitors from strolling along the sidewalks as those narrow spaces are typically inhabited by a doorman who stands on the space left on the sidewalk. Were I at a carnival, I’d probably not find this uncomfortable, but along the city’s main street, it becomes difficult to traverse.
The intimate character of Granby Street is somewhat like the narrow streets of cities in Europe. But, in most European cities, they do not tax the narrow passages with parking vendors, outdoor cafes and smokers. The wider thoroughfares are reserved for these type accommodations, which enhances the experience.
Perhaps elimination of parking on Granby would allow for broader sidewalks, plantscaping and a more pleasant environment for the patrons who visit there on a regular basis and certainly for the first time visitors. With the plethora of parking garages strewn throughout downtown, would it not be better to draw income from these facilities than have an automobile take up space where pedestrians could enjoy their right-of-way. Meters are not required to be fed after six. Parking garages charge 24 hours a day.
….and great photo Bobby of the new Wells Fargo tower, showing an abandoned storefront, missing sign panel and chain link fence. Artistic, but a real bad impression of what downtown is about. Perhaps truthful.
@Poon (heh) – Would Granby street look dead without the cars parked there? People of Hampton Roads don’t like to walk. They wait forever to get a parking spot up close to the Wal*Mart instead of just parking 10 spaces away. Then when they are done, they are too lazy to walk the cart to the return.
As far as empty storefronts, I’m not sure how the current businesses are doing. When I pass by Jack Quinns the older guy is always out there begging for business. I’m sure some venues do okay, but behind the scenes the economy has to be taking it’s toll on the businesses down there.
Back when venues were new and Relative Theory was rocking things felt different. It felt like a resurgence.
Everytime I walk by the basement under the building that I believe was the Jefferson Hotel (that has been refurbished) I can’t help but think it’d be cool to put a flat rate arcade full of vintage games and pinball machines. But it’d be at risk for flooding I’d imagine and I’m not sure people would come. Drunk people would probably be a problem.
Then of course my idea for a live music venue. No alcohol, just done well for the music.
What do you propose as far as businesses that could survive on Granby, but not be closed at night? For once the smokers and cars are removed?
Norfolk officials need to make a visit to some of the Asian countries where they have night markets, which is a mammoth display of street vendors selling anything and everything, all night long. The streets are packed, all night long. There is a carnival atmosphere, there is good food and there are lots of interactive activities. It’s festive, colorful and brings a wealth of tax revenue to the local municipalities.
Downtown Norfolk is essentially DOA all day long. We have a community college, a high school acting theater, a country western bar, a scholcky (sp) hotel, two federal buildings, a really dumb coffee house, office buildings, empty office buildings and more empty office buildings.
What would I put there? Stores that stay open until 12:00 midnight. Retailers that are not in the so-called “high end mall”, such as Gap, Crate and Barrel, Five Guys, and other merchants that appeal to all age groups. So what if they don’t open till 12:00 noon. A few good, inexpensive food vendors, a comfie Starbucks (so what if there are already two). Then dot the blocks with a few adult restaurants that are extremely well designed, progressive, trend setting, unlike what is there. There is not a well designed restaurant on Granby Street and don’t come back at me on that issue as I know what I am talking about.
Problem is, the Coopers and the Wrights of the world are charging way to much per square foot for space downtown. They are looking out for their own pockets and retailers know this market and are not willing to risk it at $35 psf.
The development of TCC downtown has done more harm than good. Empty buildings, not retail frontage, poor students who cannot afford to spend.
Then there is MacArthur, which is now allowing in sub-par retail with ugly storefronts and gawdy merchandise. That big lot on the corner will remain an ice skating rink for years to come, just like that hotel site next to Scope remained empty for nearly 40 years. Now we will have condos/rentals with empty retail along a really borish Monticello Ave, which should have been developed into the new retail center of downtown. But, the city cannot see beyond it’s nose. So there ya go. Want more?
……and why do they call it “downtown” Norfolk. Why not “uptown” Norfolk. Sounds more positive. Since there is no “uptown”, let’s just call it “uptown” from now on and see what happens.
….and are we over the mermaid thingie yet? Another has surfaced at the Terminal on the Square in Ghent Square, already adorned with ersatz greek statuary and poorly laid out gardens, which was not really necessary to enhance a beautiful structure, on the square. Do these people understand what urbanism is?
Where is all the exciting public art that the Cultural Affairs office is supposedly selecting. Where? Ok, the zoo. Like everyone goes to the zoo.
Why isn’t the marvelous elephant sculpture at the main entrance to the zoo on Granby Street at the zoo entrance rather than that dreadful sign that one has to park to read and is so uninspiring, looking more like a pet shop sign. Were it at the Granby entrance to the zoo, the people who paid for it (taxpayer’s money) might see it and find it curious enough that they would visit the zoo. And I’m not talking about the dye hard zoo supporters, but the general public who probably isn’t even aware that there is a zoo. “Look at the elephant Tommy. Wonder if there is a real one in the zoo?”
Poon – you mean selling pirated copies of American intellectual property on the streets all night long. That and swap meet Louie.
Crate and Barrel would need to go in the mall or in a suburb strip mall shopping center. Granby doesn’t have the parking for larger retail.
WRT TCC bringing pretty empty pockets downtown, very interesting. And perhaps true. But no cash means nothing in the credit card nation.
WRT Wright and Cooper (who’s Cooper?) and overpriced real estate, well that was the nations mantra as a fill in since 9/11. As our companies off shored jobs, real estate mania and home equity extraction covered up the part where our nation really got poorer. In the end, prices should adjust to reflect the market, which in HAmpton Roads means cutting the home prices mostly in half. The gov’t is interfering with this, by means of the realtor lobbied $8000 dough for dumps program and the like. Commercial RE is taking a beating. It’s possible to negotiate prices down, trust me. And when I look at other new businesses that have sprung up I’m pretty sure many will fail. We’re not out of the woods yet, and once people realize that the housing mania isn’t going to spring back up (there was no justification for it in the first place) then wallets are likely to tighten even more.
WRT to Downtown and Uptown. I guess. When I think Uptown and Downtown I think Manhattan where it’s a long island and it’s used to describe the direction. WRT to mermaids, it’s marketing. I personally think of Sage Francis/Mermaids are Seasluts but to each their own. It’s decoration man, decoration.
I don’t remember the elephant statue. I remember the huge ball in water. They are all the rate (there is one at the Richmond Science Museum as well.) Maybe if the elephant statue had RGB LED wash lights, it would stand out more?
Ethan: There are four or more coffee shops in the business district of Norfolk, counting Starbucks twice and probably still others, but the one of Granby across from TCC is a clown act. Are these folks trying to bring back hippiedom?
Mermaid = decoration. Do you also consider that piece of 1% for the arts sculpture in front of the Norfolk Federal Building (everyone’s favorite building to hate)decoration? Didn’t notice it? There ya go. Must be seen from the umpteenth floor of the NRHA building to know it’s there. But, it did serve a good purpose when it acted as bleachers for the homeless during the Christmas parade and other important downtown events where seating was needed.
Retail does not have to be inside a mall to succeed. Crate and Barrel in Richmond is not inside a mall. In fact, if you visit Chicago, you will not find Crate and Barrel in a mall in downtown/uptown Chicago. The former home of the publisher who vacated the Wright Co. building across from MacArthur entrance would make splendid location for Crate and Barrel. People need to walk. Locals need to realize that walking is good for them and they need to walk around downtown and find stores they didn’t know existed.Time will prove that the mall was a major mistake downtown. Visit Hampton Town Center and see what the 17 acres could have been or better with a mix of residential, low rise, retail and recreation. But, Norfolk jumped at the opportunity to fill some developers pockets. Can you just imagine what fund it would be to file through blocks and blocks of exciting retails stores, with storefronts, streets filled with shoppers and auto traffic in the original grid that existed in the 17 acres originally. Ever been to SoHo in NYC?
A night market does not have to be a bunch of thugs selling pirated DVDs. It can be more, games, food, hand made items and yes it can close at 3:00 a.m allowing time for the throngs of inebriated partiers to spend money on Granby.I do believe the locker rooms, Bootsy’s and several other establishment on Granby stayed open late during the 50s and 60s to capture that audience.
Realizing that Norfolk is a different market than say Raleigh or Charlotte, it must capitalize on a captured audience. That captured audience are those folks who only go downtown on the weekends to drink and smoke.
Oh yea, and which coffee shop are you dumping on? There are two now in downtown Norfolk, and the new one is open after 5pm unlike the other.
@Anonymous
“Anonymous” I guess for a reason.
It is easy to make prejudiced, hateful pot shots from behind a computer screen.
Further, if you think this area is so “soulless”, and you can do is trash the area and the people who invest their blood, sweat, and money to make it nice…
Then leave.
Perhaps you would feel more comfortable in a city where looking down your nose at everyone else, is the standard.
I’m sure that would be a good home for you. And yeah….I’m not anonymous.
You can look me up via email at sharkhearted@gmail.com and I will happy to sit down and buy you coffee and show you why you are wrong.
Chris Malendoski
Norfolk, VA
@ Andrea | July 8, 10 @ 9:43 am
“This reads like a bad sales pitch for downtown and Bobby Wright. Also sounnds very paternalistic in tone- like he is thanking us for making his domain more grand, and real estate more valuable.”
“If Granby Theater is an archetype for what they are aiming for in Norfolk then I can safely say I am looking for a way out.”
================================
Well I can “safely say”, with that type of attitude and prejudice against someone that you probably don’t even know…
…that I would be happy to show you the door.
[Paternalistic tone intended].
But I would also extend the invitation to you: Will be happy to buy you coffee, and for your time, show you why you are wrong.
Feel free to get my number from either Jesse or Hannah.
Chris Malendoski
Norfolk, VA
@ Andrea | July 8, 10 @ 9:43 am
BTW, Andrea, just because the entertainment at the Granby Theater is not your style, does not mean the space or the venue is not an excellent one, because it is.
I figured you were a pretty liberal-minded free-thinker, so I know you can understand that variety is a good thing.
Speaking of variety, the Granby Theater is about as versatile as she comes.
Sure, she’s a nightclub, which keeps the lights on and barely pays for her extremely expensive historical renovations.
[I remember when she was a forgotten, rat-infested, pigeon-poor splattered, moldy, hole-in-the-roof eyesore up until 2004].
But the Granby Theater, circa 1915 [built probably well before your grandparents were born] also is a venue for weddings, special events, seminars, concerts, and many charity fundraising events such as Hope House and others.
Concerts include Virginia Arts Festival events where world-renowned Jazz Singer Tierney Sutton performed…
As well as a internationally known sting quartet [the acoustics in there are so perfect you could hear every note of the delicate sound up on the top balcony!]
And the Virginia Symphony [you may have forgotten our own fine symphony orch has played at Carnegie Hall on invitation] has performed concerts at the Granby Theater.
So…are you ready to retract your thoughtless words yet? There is plenty more rebuttal where that came from, too.
And the invitation is open to you to anonymous and to others to sit down and discuss. You can find me often at Fair Grounds and feel free to email me at sharkhearted@gmail or get my number from either Jesse or Hannah.
I would be more than happy to speak with you in person and address your grievances in a civilized manner.
Chris Malendoski
Norfolk, VA
Correction:
“pigeon-poop splattered”