City wants company to run Waterside

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - The city is looking to hand over ownership of the Waterside Festival Marketplace to a private company and have them run the facility.

Council members discussed the property's future, as well as several other topics, at a Smithfield Station retreat.

The city took over the 28-year-old building in 1999, spending taxpayer money to run it.

In January, consultants outlined suggestions for the waterfront site. The 20 page report recommended the site include a large scale public market on the ground floor, like New York’s Union Square or Seattle’s Pike Street Market.

On the second floor, the report proposed a night life operation with balcony seating, a large banqueting facility and a health club. On both the first and second floors, the areas facing the waterfront would include diverse restaurants.

"The city has not done a good job of re-investing in Waterside," said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim.

The bottom line is the venue isn't sunk.

"What we are looking for is to bring in a professional who can not only run the Waterside and deal the infrastructure, but to bring the tenants with them," Norfolk City Councilman Andy Protogyrou said.

City leaders said the idea is very similar to the operation of a mall.

"I would like to see something [that] has some impulse buying retail and entertainment," Fraim continued. "A place where people can come and enjoy themselves."

Council also feels that updating the marina outside Waterside will help sail in business from the Intercoastal Waterway.

"If you watch those boats, a majority of them go right past the Waterside," Protogyrou said. "Very few of them decide to dock there."

The hope is that the Waterside will become a place that will complement nearby attractions like Granby Street and MacArthur Center.

"It will generate the tax dollars that we need and will give that general feeling of life within the city again," Protogyrou said.

The proposal process, which has already begun, could last for several months.