Downtown…The right place, the right time.

Join our retail community
Downtown Portsmouth is one of the area’s hottest retail zones.  Part of Historic Olde Towne, the High Street Corridor has become a center for dining, shopping and entertainment.  It’s lined with unique restaurants and one of the finest concentrations of antique and home décor shops in the region.

Attractions = customers
Major “people generators” on the Downtown waterfront such as the award-winning Renaissance Hotel & Waterfront Conference Center and the NTELOS Pavilion at Harbor Center, a beautiful, 6,500-seat outdoor performing arts center, bring hundreds of thousands of convention delegates and customers to downtown annually.

Downtown Portsmouth also boasts five museums, including the Children’s Museum of Virginia, the largest museum of its kind in the state.  The city scored big in 2005 with the opening of The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame's new 35,000 square-foot interactive facility. Annual festivals include the River Rhythms, a three-day family event coinciding with Norfolk’s Harborfest and the Olde Towne Holiday Music Fest, a signature Christmas event.  During the spring and summer, weekly entertainment is held at the Portside Stage on the downtown waterfront.

Area residents and workers…a solid customer base
From new neighborhoods to infill housing, to high-end apartments and mixed-use living, downtown residential areas are also experiencing revitalization.  Olde Towne is one of America’s most historic and charming neighborhoods with an eclectic mix of residents. The revitalization in historic Park View is attracting the attention of homebuyers.  Portsmouth Redevelopment & Housing Authority is working with two developers:  one to rehab vacant houses and one to build infill housing on vacant lots resulting in a $10 million private investment and close to 40 new owner-occupied homes over 36 months. Nestled between the historic Park View and Olde Towne neighborhoods, The Myrtles at Olde Towne, a new 246-unit apartment community, was completed in 2005 and offers residents the modern conveniences of new construction within walking distance of the downtown shopping and dining district.

The majority of Downtown’s 14,000 daytime workers are employed at a variety of places including: the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, The Naval Medical Center, the civic center, banks and the U.S. Fifth District Coast Guard Command.

The future of Downtown
Several redevelopment efforts are underway based on plans presented by urban designer Ray Gindroz of Urban Design Associates.  Through an RFP process, the city is seeking developers to build several new high-rise towers on the downtown waterfront to include new residential, office and retail components.  Additionally, a market square of residential, commercial and low-rise office development is recommended for the High and Effingham corridor west of downtown.  In conjunction with these efforts, a downtown parking study was recently completed.