An extant asset
Decades before the MacArthur Center brought its 1.1 million square feet of retail space to downtown Norfolk, there was another shopping mall that was built in the hopes of reviving the blue collar, military city’s fortunes. Hoping to leverage their waterfront on one of the world’s largest natural harbors, a new commercial complex was born.
1- Nauticus National Maritime Museum and the USS Wisconsin on Norfolk's waterfront. 2 to 10- Town Point Park and the Elizabeth River just to the north of the Waterside.
It wasn’t long after moving to the Hampton Roads region in 1985 that we paid a visit to the Waterside festival marketplace on the Elizabeth River. It was during the Christmas season and Norfolk’s mid and high rises were dressed in long strands of Christmas lights. I was in awe over the spectacle of the towering façades decked out in strings of festive white bulbs.
Old timey post cards of the waterside and downtown Norfolk.
Even as a kid I’ve always loved the vibe of cities, especially their urban cores, and our new city had a fantastic feel about it. I was too young to be worried about potential crime or parking or any of the hassles of being a grown up. I was too busy basking in the crowds gathered for the holiday season under the blue metal roof.
The front of the Waterside District facing Waterside Drive.
Unfortunately, the rest of my family wasn’t as drawn to the central Norfolk area the way that I was, so we only visited again a handful of times. But on each of those rare visits I took in all of the sensory delights that I could. The colorful shops occupying the two levels of Waterside. The smell of sweet candy and freshly baked treats. The sound of a band playing just outside on the docks. It was magical.
Our time in Norfolk only lasted five years, and it wouldn’t be until 2000 when I once again visited the region. On my way to the gleaming new MacArthur Center, I first stopped at the Waterside and was horrified. The entire place was completely cleaned out and empty. The interior seemed to mirror one of the many derelict warehouses that were demolished for the marketplace’s construction. The new shopping mall mere blocks away had killed the Waterside.
Inside the new Waterside District. Gone are the hallmarks of a shopping mall, but I’m not exactly bummed with what stands there now.
On my most recent visit in the autumn of 2025, I braved howling winds under a sunny sky to see the old place again. I had read that it had been revived a few years earlier, but I kept my expectations in check. But I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Today’s Waterside District serves more as a hub of several entertainment establishments than a retail center, but the patrons were returning and the vibe was back.
The Waterside District lease plan ca. 2020. View the full PDF version here.
While I missed the mall-like atmosphere of the former Waterside with its surrounding mezzanines, skylights and escalators to shuttle shoppers around, I was impressed with what I found. Sure, 1980s kid me would have been bored with its impressive selection of eateries, bars and entertainment, but adult me was quite okay with it.
1 to 3- Just outside of the Waterside District’s rear entrance. 4 to 6- The main building from the riverside promenade.
The Waterside was conceived by The Rouse Company in the late seventies. Partnering with the city in hopes of resurrecting their moribund downtown, it was designed to emulate the recently opened Harborplace up the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore. It and a newly laid out neighboring green space, Town Point Park, saw instant success.
Its debut actually marked the city’s second attempt to revive its central district with a mall concept to compete with the suburbs. In the seventies, a portion of the nearby Granby Street commercial strip was closed off to automobile traffic to make it more pedestrian friendly. Labeled Granby Mall, like other similar attempts across the country, it was an abject failure and the corridor fell into blight until the street was reopened in the eighties.
By the mid-nineties, however, the Waterside saw a reversal of its own fortunes. While the development of the MacArthur Center had begun, people seemed to forget about the blue roofed beauty. Soon enough, both levels were nearly vacant as most of the tenants opted either to move to the three story monolith on Monticello or just close completely.
The Waterside from the Elizabeth River riverwalk.
Waterside saw a small renaissance in the latter years of the aughts, but by the mid-2010s, hard times had hit the complex yet again. The aging festival marketplace was completely reimagined as an entertainment complex redubbed as The Waterside District. The enclosed portion was better integrated with exterior elements on the neighboring docks and ferry stop.
The Waterside District pamphlet ca. 2025. View the full PDF version here.
New residences known as Gravity on 400 have risen across Waterside Drive from the old marketplace while murals, seating and additional green spaces have been constructed along the riverside promenade. And the juxtaposition of the well-manicured and relaxing atmosphere with nearby heavy construction on US Navy aircraft carriers just across the water adds to the unique aura of the district.
The stage and other outdoor elements of the Waterside District.
While the mall partly responsible for its first decline has seen its own decay of fortune, Waterside District has once again grown into a popular destination at the center of Hampton Roads. While its present incarnation is less mall and more entertainment complex, what’s under the now grey metal roof should serve its city well until the next downturn.
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