Universal City Walk Virginia Beach
Earthly Infrastructure ® has begun working toward gaining interest from the Universal Parks and Resorts Group and City of Virginia Beach to bring a Universal City Walk to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at an undetermined site. This project is in its preliminary phase as Earthly Infrastructures Directors begin the task of determining interest and project specifications.
Would Virginia Beach’s tourism industry support and substantiate the building of a Universal City Walk at the Virginia Beach oceanfront?
This is a question that has been on the top of Earthly Infrastructure® Founder, Eric S. Cavallo’s mind for many years now. The idea for a Universal City Walk Virginia Beach first began as a concept to be used in addition to one of the proposals being floated to the City of Norfolk during the discussions for the redevelopment of the Military Circle Mall.
“My thought was to incorporate a Universal City Walk Norfolk to be used as a plaza from the parking lot to the arena that was being proposed. I envisioned people arriving at the new sports and entertainment venue with their friends and family early before a show or sporting event and making their way from the parking lot and through the Universal City Walk Plaza to get to the arena. My entire thought process behind and the reasoning for this addition to what was already being proposed was how can I generate more tax dollars for the City of Norfolk. I said, well people are going to have to walk through the Universal City Walk Plaza to get to the arena site from parking and there would be so many opportunities for shopping, dining, and entertainment before the game or show. And people would be presented with those same opportunities as they exited the arena and made their way through the Universal City Walk Plaza and back to the parking lot.”
As of current the City of Norfolk has decided against a new sport and or entertainment venue at the Military Circle site and has gone in another direction.
“My next thought for a Universal City Walk was at the Rudee Inlet side of Atlantic Avenue at the Virginia Beach Ocean front. I understand that because of Virginia Beach being primarily a summer destination that the earning potential on a large project like this could be limited to the summer tourism season and that the recoup time on a full-scale Universal City Walk project might be much longer than lenders and investors would like. My answer to that dilemma was to reach out to Universal Parks and Resorts to determine what Universals exact specifications for a Universal City Walk are, and to determine if one could be built at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront that would make sense as far as the cost and recoup time for investors. Next was to explore a revenue impact analysis to determine just how many tax dollars could be generated for the City of Virginia Beach and then to inquire what type of incentive and subsidy package the city might offer on a project of this size. I realize that the City of Virginia Beach is trying to find projects that will add to our tourism industry and I believe that the Universal Parks and Resorts Group is looking to expand their offerings and would like to see their Universal City Walk being made more widely available at tourist destinations in more cities across the country”.
Earthly Infrastructure® would very much appreciate your feedback.
Is the Virginia Beach Ocean front ready for a Universal City Walk and is this something that would further solidify Virginia Beach as a Top summer destination?
Let us know what you think.
