Current redevelopment projects
Real estate, defense, and tourism are major sectors of the Virginia Beach economy, but the city has begun to run out of clear land available for new construction above the Green Line, an urban growth boundary dividing the urban northern and rural southern sections of the city.
As such, while Virginia Beach does not have a redevelopment authority, local public and private groups have maintained a vested interest in real-estate redevelopment, resulting in a number of joint public-private projects such as commercial parks. Some of these, such as new hotels and convention centers built on public land along the Oceanfront and the New Urbanist Town Center development in the Pembroke area, have come under question due to the use of public funds and eminent domain in the interest of private economic development. In addition, some unique structures like The Dome, a geodesic dome and convention center dedicated to the career of astronaut Alan Shepard, were destroyed by the city against the wishes of some citizens.
Infill and development of residential neighborhoods has placed a number of operating constraints on Naval Air Station Oceana, a major fighter jet base for the U.S. Navy. While the airbase currently enjoys wide support from Virginia Beach at large, the Pentagon Base Realignment and Closure commission has proposed closure of Oceana within the next decade.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
