VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — On Tuesday, Virginia Beach City Council will vote on whether to foot a bill of $22 million for parking garages at Pembroke Square. The complex is being redeveloped to include apartments, senior housing and a hotel.
The cost participation proposal covers 745 free parking spaces costing the city around $30,000 per space. The estimated price is approximately $1.5 million less than Pembroke Realty developers originally projected.
Phase one at Pembroke Square, the senior housing, is already underway. Construction on the 153-unit “Aviva” is expected to be completed this fall.
During a June 18 work session, Kathy Warren with the City of Virginia Beach explained to the council, “[The developers] are looking to revitalize and redevelop the Pembroke Mall area. If you can build structured parking and start building up, that’s going to open up additional land possibilities for redevelopment down the road.”
During that work session, the majority of the council expressed support for the project and the prospect of city contributions.
Council member Joash Schulman said, “In order to make mixed-use work you’ve got to have people. This is an incredibly important strategic corridor in our city, and we should be encouraging this kind of thing.”
Mayor Bobby Dyer added, “This is the way of the future for us. This would also help facilitate further growth.
However, other members of the council had doubts about the impact on residents. Council member Barbara Henley asked, “What’s the public benefit here? I suppose it’s the future we’re looking at.”
Council member Chris Taylor added, “I’m trying to wrap my head around the public benefit of it outside of it being right next to Town Center. How do we justify not allowing that money back into the general fund?”
There are approximately 3,000 spaces at the Pembroke Square site right now. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2026.
Both developers and city representatives declined to comment further before Tuesday’s vote.