Plans For Portsmouths New Innovation District Include Luring Health Care Jobs, Public Art And More

PORTSMOUTH – Plans for the city’s new High Street Innovation District aim to include a health and wellness center, creative space and an improved streetscape for pedestrians and cyclists.

City staff spent the last year working with consultants and meeting with stakeholders to develop recommendations for redevelopment of the area. These plans were presented to the city council last week and final recommendations are expected to be approved early next year.

The renovation district extends from Historic Old Town and continues along the High Street corridor bounded by Greene Street and Confederate Avenue near the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway. Ultimately, the City envisions a mixed-use district mixed with commercial and residential development, streetscapes, public art, and improved amenities for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as a downtown containing significant employment hubs.

The city occupies most of the area's territory, with many sites to be developed or revitalized.

“Now it’s basically just a NASCAR track,” Brian Swets, the city’s manager of comprehensive and strategic planning, said at a workshop last week. “Four paths to nothing. Not bad. This is an opportunity we can take advantage of.

The city will receive approximately $24 million in federal and state funds for the project. Interim City Manager Mimi Terry told City Council it will be another 18 months before those funds are received, giving the city time to decide what will be offered to citizens and what contractors will will pay.

Preliminary plans for the area will divide the corridor into three sections: Maker Square, Health and Wellness Plaza as the city center and MLK Gateway.

Maker Square is based on the concept of a makerspace, which Swets called the “blue-collar” equivalent of a coworking space where people from different backgrounds can access tools and resources. For artists, auto mechanics, fashion designers, chefs, or those who work in tech, this could be a place to rent space or take classes.

The District Health and Wellness Center is committed to leveraging the capabilities of the Hampton Roads Community Health Center. Swets said Portsmouth has two-thirds the number of general practitioners as the rest of the Hampton Roads area, emphasizing the need to attract more workers and health care workers because many of these jobs are plentiful and well paid.

As for the MLK Gateway area, Swets said the city wants to abandon it primarily because single-family neighborhoods already exist there.

The area will benefit from urban improvements, including street trees and shared paths for cyclists and pedestrians. Swets said the number of lanes will be reduced to accommodate slower traffic, adding that other community ideas for sustainability include multimodal transportation, bike sharing and impervious sidewalks.

These improvements are expected to improve overall public safety, as the region has seen a disproportionate number of fatal car crashes and other injuries, Swets said. The area will also include a regional fiber optic ring to provide broadband services and affordable housing developments under construction.

Swets also said the lack of tree cover in the entire area is evidence that the area has been historically demarcated, meaning the government considers it too risky to invest in. He says planting trees can help lower temperatures, reduce heating and cooling costs, clean the air and increase land values.

Swets said some zoning changes will be necessary as the area grows, such as eliminating parking requirements to reduce the overall availability of parking spaces and eliminating permitting requirements for single-use developments. mixed.

“I hope that by doing this we can improve the incomes of people living here in Portsmouth,” Swets said. “We know from our research that the highest paying jobs in Portsmouth go disproportionately to people who live in and commute to the city. By helping develop business ideas, we create well-paying jobs. If we invest in people, we hope they will want to stay. to Portsmouth out of loyalty."

Since multiple councils would be involved in this project, Swets suggested forming a committee made up of various Portsmouth leaders and residents who could move the project forward.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com

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