PORTSMOUTH, Va. — City leaders are moving forward with a plan revitalize a large section of Portsmouth in a quest to spark economic growth in the city.
Tuesday, Portsmouth City Council voted 6-to-1 to approve the creation of the City of Portsmouth Innovation District along High Street. The new area sits between County Street and London Boulevard and within Martin Luther King Freeway and Effingham Street.
With the new designation, the city wants to reinvest in the Uptown area, while making it a more vibrant and modern place for people to live and visit.
"The vision is really to redesign and recreate a whole section of our city that's been dormant for probably 30 years," said Mayor Shannon Glover.
Glover said the area could help drive millions of dollars in tax revenue to the city.
"Bringing in new business opportunities, new resources, bringing in companies that provide innovation, creating an arts district in that footprint. Also bringing in perhaps healthcare resources and other business resources, so that we can lift up and build up our small business community," Glover said.
Glover said he would also like to see the city capitalize on maritime and offshore wind industries, and he said talks are already in the works for new condos and affordable housing.
Businesses, he said, are already showing interest in setting up shop.
"We have the interest. We have the area. Now it's up to us as a city to really begin to framework the plan with the community involved to give us the best opportunity at success," he said.
The Innovation District plan has been in the works for more than two years, including multiple opportunities for community members to weigh in on the idea and provide feedback.
The city also expects to use nearly $19 million in federal grants for part of the project.
