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NORFOLK, VIRGINIA “Going backdowntown,we also have two new developments that are game changers for the City. One is a new$164million public/private partnership with Gold Key International for a 300-room,luxury HiltonHotel that will be atop the Cityof Norfolk’s newconference center calledThe Exchange,which is a 55,000 square-foot,technologically-best in the countryconference facility.With a luxuryHiltonHotel and a state-of-the-art conference facility,wewill be able to attract newdollars into downtownNorfolk that we had not been able to attract before,both because of the age of our existing hotels downtown, and the space limitations of their ballrooms and conferencemeeting facilities. “Both the Hilton project, called The Main Hotel, and our Exchange conference facility, sit on top of a City of Norfolk-owned parking garage.The investment in the Hilton Hotel, the private por- tion,was about $64 million, and the component of public money was almost $100 million.And that money had been set aside for many years in a public amenities fund, specifically devoted to the development of a new hotel and conference facil- ity.We had been putting money into a lockbox, so to speak, specific to that need and we were very fortunate to get Gold Key to come in with their new luxury hotel,which opened on March 31st. “On our riverfront,across the street from theHilton, is the Baltimore-based Cordish Companies.They’re prettywell-known internationally for the develop- ment of entertainment type districts,and theyhave taken an old,1983-era development that sits on the Elizabeth River in our downtown and completely rehabilitated it with a $40million investment to be known asTheWaterside District.” TheWaterside District is already100 percent leased; its tenants include national restaurants like GuyFieri’s Smokehouse and PBR,local favorites, such as Cogan’s Pizza and the RappahannockOyster Company,as well as the Starr Hill Breweryand the BlueMoonTaphouse.It’s scheduled to open the beginning of May. “The way that we believe that it will pay off for our city,”Rigney continues,“is that our riverfront has many amenities and features: we have Harbor Park,which is the home of the minor league farm club for the Baltimore Orioles; we have the NavyMuseum; and the Nauticus, a maritime-themed science center and museum,which is adjacent to the Half Moon Cruise and Celebration Center,where cruise vessels tie up. And all of this is along a walkable riverfront with espla- nades and amenities to enjoy. So, re-opening The Waterside was a goal of the City, and through surveys that we did with the public, was something they wanted to see.And looking at our options,we realized that if we could re-open a similar type concept,we would achieve great success. “All of these venues will open within the next 18 to 24 months. That’s one heck of a great amount of investment in our city, and it really does burnish our credentials as the ‘Capital City of the Hamp- ton Roads Region,’” says Rigney in summation.“We are doing great things in Norfolk in order to be able to bring in new tourism dol- lars, bring in new conference center business, provide amenities for our Norfolk residents, and generate a lot of new tax revenue.And all of those things are now coming to fruition.” PREFERRED VENDOR n VisitNorfolk www.visitnorfolk.com The Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau, doing business as VisitNorfolk, is a non-profit destination marketing organization dedicated to helping both business and leisure travelers make the most of their visit to Norfolk, Virginia. VisitNorfolk’s objective is to generate economic growth for Norfolk by produc- ing high volumes of visitors, tax reve- nues, and travel-related jobs.