Virginia Beach unveils Central Beach small-area plan with 900-space gateway, elevated pedestrian connector

City of Virginia Beach planners and the design team from Dills Architects presented a preferred Central Beach Small Area Plan at the council meeting, proposing a new “gateway” parking building of roughly 900 spaces, an elevated pedestrian connector and a cultural district linking the Convention and Civic Center area with Nineteenth Street and Atlantic Park.

The City’s Department of Economic Development framed the plan as a response to rising development interest around the Convention and Civic Center and said the planning effort combined past studies, public engagement and refined concept testing. “The intent here is that this is actionable, but also aspirational,” said Clay Dills of Dills Architects as he described the preferred hybrid approach to land use and circulation.

The plan covers the study area from roughly the former MOCA site north toward Norfolk Avenue, east to Atlantic Park and back to Birdneck Road. It highlights a mixed-use core at Nineteenth and Parks avenues, a distributed parking strategy to replace surface lots with structured garages, a series of linked stormwater parks and north–south trail connections and a stronger civic presence around the Civic Center and a proposed Central Green.

Key figures in the presentation: the team described a district-level parking goal of about 10,000 spaces across Central Beach, reporting a net figure of 10,380 spaces in their layouts and saying city-owned parcels could support just over 7,000 of those spaces if pursued. The gateway building at the Parks Avenue entry would include about 900 structured spaces and ground-floor commercial and event space; from its elevated deck people would walk directly into the district and onto Nineteenth Street, the design shows.

Other components shown include: a relocated or repurposed visitor/cultural facility in the civic core, a “sports campus” with room for action-sports venues and potential natatorium or ice sheet, stormwater parks woven through the district and housing mixed with parking structures to create active, walkable blocks. The team described phasing that depends on budgets and market conditions; the slide set called the preferred plan a 10–15 year pattern rather than a single build-out schedule.

Several council members focused on near-term parking needs. Councilman Worth Remick and Vice Mayor Wilson both urged the city to prioritize a deck on the southeast corner of the Civic Center footprint — a location the consultants identified as having high immediate benefit to the district. Councilmembers also asked whether an ice sheet could fit in the existing convention space; the team said a fit had been tested and an ice sheet could be accommodated, though with limits on spectator capacity.

The presenters mapped procedural next steps: staff and the consultant team planned to present the documents to the Planning Design Review Committee (PDRC) and RAC, and to deliver a final submittal to Economic Development in mid-May. The presentation cited an upcoming set of milestone briefings to city review committees and a final report date of May 16.

What it means: The plan is intended to guide how the city uses property it already owns and how private development might be coordinated around a reinforced civic spine. It does not adopt specific regulatory text or commit public funding; those decisions, council members were told, will follow separate actions. The consultants and staff emphasized the plan is a policy and design framework rather than a construction contract or an immediate capital appropriation.

Next steps: staff will take council feedback, present to design review committees and return with further phasing, cost estimates and implementation options. Council members asked for earlier evaluation of parking options and traffic impacts as the team moves from concept to project planning.