Planning commission recommends rezoning Regal Cinemas site for 327-unit apartment community; 7-1 vote

The Newport News Planning Commission on July 16 voted 7-1 to recommend city council approve a change of zoning (CZ2025-0003) to rezone the Regal Cinemas property at 101 and 115 Regal Way from C-1 retail commercial to R-8 high-density multifamily with proffers, clearing the way for a proposed 327-unit apartment community.

Planning staff said the proposal is consistent with the city’s 1 City, 1 Future 2040 comprehensive plan and that the conceptual site plan meets dimensional and open-space requirements. Planner Saul Gleiser told commissioners the applicant has proffered a master plan that preserves a 40-foot landscape buffer along the rear property line, limits the number and height of buildings and includes four small internal parks and varied building materials and facades.

The proposed development would occupy the movie-theater parcel and its front parking area, Gleiser said, and deliver a mix of unit sizes in seven buildings: five four-story buildings, one…