News & Notes from Downtown Norfolk

The week that was
Last week was quite a week! Martin Luther King Day, with a renewed emphasis on service – hope this trend lasts. A snow day with no snow. The inauguration of our nation’s first African-American president. The dedication of the new T.C.C. Administration Building, now bearing the name of a former Norfolk City Councilman and one of our City’s truly great leaders, Rev. Joseph Green. And while not necessarily in the same league, one of downtown’s most successful Restaurant Weeks ever. It was definitely a week for the history books.

Survey says…Satisfaction!
The Downtown Improvement District gets an “A-.” The results of the recent survey, conducted by an objective third party, showed that downtowners here in Norfolk are more pleased than downtowners who were given similar surveys in other cities. The survey results, while affirming, also indicated some new priorities for how our rate payers would like to see their money spent. Under the very able leadership of Peter Decker, Jr., the Improvement District renewal committee will consider the survey results as they prepare a recommendation to be taken to City Council within the next couple of months. A great cross section of downtowners were represented in the nearly 200 who responded. By the way, Toni Sires of Cavalier Land was the winner of our survey contest. She received a $50 gift certificate to be used at one of our great downtown restaurants.

Word on the street-level scene
You may have seen the article in the paper about our new contract with Downtown Works consultants. This highly-respected group will help us better understand which street-level retail opportunities will most enhance downtown, and what our property owners might do to ready their properties for these prospects. According to the consultants, our guiding principle as we solicit new prospects for downtown should be that “every deal should leverage the next deal.” Click here if you missed the article. Midge McCauley and Scott Schuler will be back in February to meet with numerous stakeholders. They will also conduct a qualitative analysis of our existing conditions which will help them to develop a merchandising plan and strategy. Completion of the first phase of their work is expected by mid-summer.

Sign of the times and The Tide
You also may have noticed the article about DNC’s new role in providing the access signage to help support our business and residential community through the next couple of years of construction of The Tide. We’re working out the final details of this plan with HRT and we encourage you to let us know if you see areas needing our attention. The more community involvement we have throughout this construction period, the better we will be able to serve our constituents and our customers.

Put your business on the map
Speaking of construction, don’t forget that there are some things you can do to make it easier for your customers, patrons or clients to find you with a minimum of inconvenience. DNC has created an interactive map that we work very hard to keep current. We’ve made it easy for you to link to this map from your web site. Click here for instructions on how to do that. What’s neat is that not only does the map give up-to-date information on construction interruptions, it also indicates the best places to park and is chock-full of information about downtown’s great shopping and dining options. If you haven’t visited it lately, I encourage you to go to DowntownNorfolk.org/Map.

Kudos to Sgt. Kenny
Congratulations to Sgt. Valerie Kenny who was promoted this week to Lieutenant. This week she also celebrates her 540th day of perfect attendance – quite an accomplishment considering the extreme conditions in which she works. Lt. Kenny is a past “Employee of the Year” and in every respect is a model of leadership. We are all very proud of her and very appreciative of her dedication to downtown.

Cathy Coleman
President & C.E.O.