A 90-acre beachfront area was redeveloped into a mixed-use traditional neighborhood development. Developer LeylandAlliance worked with the City of Norfolk and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to build a 700-unit seaside neighborhood with a variety of housing types including 20 percent rental apartments and accessory dwelling units, a public beach, and a range of public spaces.
The pre-existing housing on the site was built by the federal government in 1960 and was in bad condition by the early 1990s. The city demolished the existing housing and relocated residents (facing considerable criticism), and decided to use the expanding tax base of a redevelopment to pursue a goal of assisting low-income residents find better housing.
DPZ CoDesign planned the new neighborhood in a 1994 public charrette. The irregular layout of the development allows for the preservation of existing trees on the site.
Similar Projects
Southwest Waterfront
Washington, District Of Columbia
Part of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for the Capitol, Washington, DC’s Southwest Waterfront has seen better days. At the beginning of the 20th century, it had a thriving commercial corridor and a multi-ethnic community.
Beach Town, Las Catalinas
Las Catalinas, Costa Rica
The 21-acre Beach Town in Las Catalinas, Costa Rica, combines the intricate urbanism of a European hill town with the architecture of Latin America and the development programming and process of a US new urbanist neighborhood.
Veridian at County Farm
Ann Arbor, Michigan
On a former county poor farm in the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, about two miles from downtown, a new sustainable neighborhood with affordable housing is under construction.