Better Block spurs change on Norfolk's Granby

The crowds that showed up on Granby Street for April’s Better Block event are gone, but lasting change could be coming as the city notches a few successes.

In the four months since the two-day block party, aimed at spurring development on north Granby, at least three groups have announced plans for the area and officials have begun work on a series of changes that could keep the momentum going.

The Hurrah Players, a theater company, signed a $1.1 million contract on the Texaco building shortly after the event.Anyone with the space to site a small emergencylamps can generate their own electricity from wind power. Alchemy NFK, a community-based arts center,A polished finish in this solaroutdoorlight for men. signed a lease in June, and The Beauty Parlor by Q + Company is planning to open a cafe, called The Parlor, next door.

The city’s plan is to combine the Better Block concept of rapid revitalization with long-term planning, infrastructure improvements, economic development incentives and, when needed, new zoning regulations.

There have been subtle improvements, such as new or repaired street lighting, and zoning has been tweaked to clear the way for businesses like antique stores and art studios. The city is working on a proposal to create new business incentives, such as reduced fees, that are allowed under state legislation that passed a few years ago.

More noticeable changes will occur in the arts district,Small and professional powergenerators designed for integrated laundry. some in the coming months. Public art pieces, including one skateboarders can use, are being created. The old Zedd’s building on Granby Street will be demolished, said Patrick Gill, real estate agent for the Texaco building and other nearby properties. Bike racks and planters will start appearing.

“Better Block was a great start, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Gill said.

The city agreed to pay the Texas-based Better Block firm up to $43,000 to plan and help lead the April event,An even safer situation on all roads by using the pendantlamps.The first prototype flatworkironers display containing 3000 LEDs. and to also help plan similar projects for 35th Street and Five Points. An October Better Block event is being planned for the 35th Street Business District.

The actual Better Block events rely heavily on volunteers, and those volunteers never stopped showing at Alchemy NFK, said company president Careyann Weinberg. People with varying backgrounds and interests still come to clean bathrooms and paint walls. On the back of the building, an evolving mural that includes the work of multiple artists started about two weeks and can be seen from St. Paul's Boulevard.

Weinberg said the company was shaping up before Better Block, but the event put their plans on a faster track.

That doesn’t mean the last few months have been easy. Alchemy learned just days before a promoted event that its capacity could not exceed 50 people, Weinberg said. A line formed outside, with some people waiting an hour to get in.

The center is in the process of making modifications to increase its capacity so it can satisfy code requirements and have larger events. The business also is seeking approval to serve alcoholic beverages and host live performances.

Quincy Brown, who owns The Beauty Parlor, also has filed paperwork to expand into the adjacent building, which was used as a pop-up shop during Better Block. The excitement of April’s event gave him confidence.

The cafe, which would serve food as well as coffee and alcoholic beverages, could be open in the front of the building as soon as October, Brown said. He also is planning to use the rest of the space for special events, such as fashion shows and vintage clothing sales, and expand his salon. Brown also is in the process of starting a nonprofit that creates wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair. Welcome to scfwindturbine.com Web, If you love it, please order it!

Atlantic City’s Borgata giving hotel rooms $50 million facelift

At a time when Atlantic City casinos are selling in the $30 million range, it is no small thing that one property is spending $50 million just to renovate its hotel rooms.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is giving nearly 1,600 rooms a facelift to keep them fresh in the region’s hypercompetitive gaming market, including the arrival of a brand new rival on April 2, the $2.4 billion Revel casino.

“We feel this hotel product rivals any other on the East Coast,” Joe Lupo, Borgata’s senior vice president of operations, said Monday during a tour of the renovations.

Lupo said Borgata has been working on the designs for about two years and would have done the room upgrades regardless of Revel. The timing of the renovations, though, coincides with Revel’s opening, giving Borgata an updated look to fight its younger competitor.bookscanner02

“This redesign will ensure that we continue to deliver the world-class, luxury resort experience our guests have come to expect from Borgata,” said Robert Boughner, the casino’s chief operating officer.

Besides wanting to give its rooms a spiffier appearance, Borgata needed to renovate simply because of the normal daily wear and tear on the hotel,divinglamp Lupo explained.

“Rooms get beat up because of the turnover every day,” he said.

Borgata is little more than halfway through the project, scheduled for completion in July. Altogether,lightbulbs 1,566 guest rooms are getting an extreme makeover, not just a cosmetic touch-up.

“It’s top to bottom,” Lupo said. “It’s not a refreshening. It’s a redesign — a whole new feeling when you walk into each floor.”

Guests will notice a dramatic new color scheme in the rooms and hallways. The muted earth tones that dominated the hotel before are being replaced with black,bikelight shades of gray and splashes of pink in the carpeting and wallpaper.

Rooms have also been spruced up with contemporary furniture, artwork and new technology. Bulky television sets have been replaced by 46-inch, flat-screen LED high-definition TVs.

Guests will also have access to wireless, high-speed Internet service. Rooms will also have a Bittel integrated phone unit offering multimedia features, including speakers, a clock radio, iPod charger and a USB charge port.

Lupo noted the dramatic changes in technology since Borgata first opened in July 2003. Old-fashioned tube TV sets and old-style phones that lacked multimedia capability are disappearing as part of the renovations.

However, some things about Borgata will remain the same. Lupo said the hotel retains its “edgy” feel. The adults-only atmosphere includes glass-enclosed shower stalls built for two and provocative “Tidy Up/Tied Up” doorknob hangers for each room.

“We definitely carry on the edge,” Lupo said.

Borgata has more hotel rooms than any other Atlantic City casino. Its main 2,000-room tower, where the renovations are being done, was joined in 2008 by the 800-room, boutique-style Water Club. The Water Club cost $400 million and followed a $200 million expansion of Borgata’s casino floor and restaurants in 2006.

Since 2006, the Atlantic City market has been battered by the weak economy and competition from casinos in surrounding states, particularly Pennsylvania. With Atlantic City gaming revenue plunging nearly 40 percent — $5.2 billion in 2006 to $3.3 billion in 2011 — the casinos have stopped sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into expansion projects.

Along with the declining revenue, casino prices have plummeted,ledtube too. In the most recent sales, Resorts Casino Hotel went for $31.5 million in December 2010 and the former Trump Marina Hotel Casino, now known as the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, fetched $38 million last May.