Activity Centers
Planning District III contains five neighborhood centers, one community center, and four employment centers. Most of these are located along Warwick Boulevard and are centered on existing commercial and/or industrial uses. The activity centers of District III are identified on the Activity Centers Map.
Neighborhood Centers
Lee Hall Village. Lee Hall Village is the only historic settlement in Newport News that has neither disappeared nor become completely surrounded by urban or suburban development. The village developed with the coming of the railroad in 1881 and is named for the nearby manor home built in 1848 by Richard Decatur Lee. The historic Lee Hall railroad station still stands as does the large turn-of-the century hotel, the Boxwood Inn, in the center of the village. For safety reasons, the CSX Railroad wants the train station to be relocated. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism will relocate the train station on a site in Lee Hall Village directly across from its present location. The Lee Hall railroad station will be restored and eventually opened as a museum and historic site.
The unique historic character of Lee Hall is apparent as one enters the village. The center must be developed very carefully in order to preserve and enhance this character. As it did originally, Lee Hall will contain a mix of shops and residences.
A plan for the Village has been prepared that will retain the character of a rural village by locating a branch library on a town square and providing settings for relocating turn of the century houses to be adaptively reused as shops and offices. A local historic district is recommended for the Village to protect its character.
In 2006, City Council approved of the creation of the Lee Hall Corridor Overlay District. The purpose of the Lee Hall Corridor Overlay District is to improve the unique and architectural value, and character of the Lee Hall area contiguous to major corridors leading to the Lee Hall Mansion and Endview Plantation. Apart from single family homes, new non-residential development in the corridor will be subject to review based on design guidelines in the Lee Hall Ordinance.
Warwick Landing. This will serve the Warwick Landing and Stoneybrook neighborhoods, as well as Fort Eustis and the second access. Centering on an existing strip commercial center, Warwick Landing includes an existing church and motel. Pedestrian connections augmented with civic, recreation and entertainment uses should be developed to serve as a true neighborhood gathering place.
Stoneybrook
Stoneybrook is an existing strip center which will be improved to serve Stoneybrook and area neighborhoods. It must be improved to function as a neighborhood gathering place and well-rounded activity center.
Beechmont. Beechmont contains the existing Beechmont strip center and a smaller strip center across Beechmont Drive to the east, as well as the American Legion Lodge and recent condominium development. It serves the Curtis Tignor, Stony Run, Beechwood, Cole's Forest, Balthrope, and Warwick River neighborhoods.
Colony. The Colony Center contains the existing Village Square strip center and adjacent commercial and office development. It serves the Campbell, Eastwood, Nicewood, Young's Mill, East Shore Park, West Shore Park, Colony, Hertzler Farm, Church Creek and Horsepoint Farm neighborhoods.
Community Centers
Denbigh-Warwick. The Denbigh/Warwick Community Center is a combination of commercial shopping centers, including Denbigh Village, Newport Crossing and the Warwick-Denbigh Shopping Center at the intersection of Warwick and Denbigh Boulevards. These strip shopping centers provide a variety of commercial retail services that are utilized by residents throughout Denbigh. The Denbigh/Warwick Community Center is the business center of the District III and should be maintained accordingly with emphasis on mixed use and higher density development
The Newport Crossing shopping center will be the site of an urban mixed use development emerging near the proposed rapid transit station planned along the CSX rail line corridor. This development will require careful planning to unify the individual shopping centers and commercial uses along Denbigh and Warwick Boulevards into a true community center. The preparation of a plan for the Denbigh Transit Oriented Development should be a priority. Denbigh’s Transit Oriented Development will transform the nearly one million square feet of leaseable commercial floor space at Newport Crossing into a mixed use center with relocated public facilities from the Denbigh Municipal Center. This site is well located between the population centers of Planning Districts III and IV and borders the Stony Run greenway, Interstate 64 and a future transit station on the CSX light rail transit corridor.
Employment Centers
Fort Eustis
The Fort Eustis military installation is the second largest employer in the City of Newport News. Over six thousand active duty personnel and civilian employees report to Fort Eustis, which is also home to the United States Army Transportation Center. The U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure program (BRAC) will boost the overall employment at Fort Eustis as a result of personnel, civilian contractors and military students relocated from the former Ft. Monroe base and other installations. There are currently two access roads to Ft. Eustis and a third access road will be built for heavy trucks and machinery.
Oakland
With more than 645 acres, Oakland is one of the largest employment centers in Newport News. It should continue to be developed with clean, non-polluting industries involved in manufacturing, distribution and research and development. It provides an excellent environment for corporate offices. Oakland should be developed to include a restaurant, hotel, meeting, conference, recreation and other facilities, services and amenities to serve its businesses and employees.
Sherwood
This employment center includes the redeveloped land of the Sherwood Shopping Center and adjacent vacant and sparsely developed land. Containing approximately 32 acres, it will provide a large number of jobs within the most densely populated area of Planning District III.
Denbigh Transit Oriented Development
The employment center of this future mixed use, transit oriented development will occupy 35 acres that now are being used by a mobile home park and concrete plant. This site is well located between the population centers of Planning Districts III and IV and borders the Stony Run greenway, Interstate 64 and a future transit station on the CSX light rail transit corridor. The preparation of a plan for the Denbigh Transit Oriented Development should be a priority. Denbigh’s Transit Oriented Development will transform the nearly 600,000 square feet of leaseable commercial floor space at Newport Crossing into a mixed use center with the potential for relocated public facilities from the Denbigh Municipal Center.