Virginia Beach Arena was a proposed multi-purpose entertainment and sports arena adjacent to the
Virginia Beach Convention Center
The Virginia Beach Convention Center is a large convention center located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It opened in 2005, and is the largest building in the city of Virginia Beach by its total site area.
It has over 150,012 square feet of exhibi ...
on 19th Street in the oceanfront resort area, one block from Interstate-264 in
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
.
The facility was to be privately owned and financed with an approximate size of 500,000 square feet and an 18,000 seat capacity. By early 2018, the proposed arena was cancelled by the City of Virginia Beach.
The arena was projected to host events including major concerts, ice shows, trade shows, monster truck rallies, circuses and sporting events. It was to include NCAA/NBA/NHL-ready core features to enable future support of collegiate tournaments and a professional sports franchise.
The developer contended that many major events currently bypass
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
because existing indoor venues, with lower seating capacities, are too small and lack the necessary staging capabilities for large-scale
performances. The proposed Virginia Beach Arena would have been the largest in Virginia capable of staging these events.
Projected to employ hundreds of full and part-time staff, the Arena's estimated cost was $210 million. The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that allows the City to dedicate its portion of the Arena-generated state sales tax to satisfy project-related debt. In addition, the City of Virginia Beach, under a plan yet negotiated, will return "but for" taxes generated by admissions, food & beverage, and
merchandise sales, as well as 1% of the existing hotel tax.
The City of Virginia Beach was expected to contribute approximately $52 million to create the infrastructure needed to directly support the Arena. The City would finance this through its existing Tourism Investment Project (TIP) fund.
Construction was estimated to take two years after the necessary agreements and permits are in place.
See also
*
Hampton Roads Rhinos
The Hampton Roads Rhinos were a potential National Hockey League expansion team that was to begin play in the late-1990s in Norfolk, Virginia. The franchise would have been under the ownership of George Shinn and play in a proposed $142 million a ...
External links
Arena Proposal* http://www.esgco.com/virginia-beach-arena/
Unbuilt indoor arenas in the United States
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