MARKET OVERVIEW
Focus: Hampton Roads

Virginia Business
September 2005

With three dominant industries — military/defense, the port and tourism — all continuing to grow, this region of 16 counties and cities is experiencing retail growth. New restaurants and entertainment venues are coming to Port Warwick in Newport News, the Power Plant in Hampton and the Virginia Beach Town Center. And downtown Norfolk’s continuing revitalization is attracting strong interest from retailers with the downtown area’s first grocery store expected soon.

Currently, the market includes about 45.9 million square feet of gross leasable space in 368 properties. That number will go up with the completion of 12 new shopping centers planned for the region this year. Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are seeing the most new activity with three new shopping centers under way in each locale.

Altogether, the Southside of Hampton Roads (Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach) is expected to see more than $10 billion in retail growth during 2005 while growth on the peninsula (Gloucester, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg and York County) will surpass $4 billion.