PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Cranes are rising, walls are coming down, and a neighborhood long frozen in time is finally thawing.
The LINC District in Portsmouth is in the middle of a major transformation, with new housing opening, more under construction, and blighted properties being cleared to make way for what city leaders are calling a brand new neighborhood.
The most recent milestone came just weeks ago when the city cut the ribbon on Bains Pointe, a new 50-unit apartment complex on High Street.
The opening marks one of the first tangible signs that years of planning behind the scenes are beginning to take shape on the ground.
Just across from Bains Pointe, the King's Landing project is already under construction. The development will bring 49 new for-sale townhomes to the corridor, offering residents an ownership opportunity in a neighborhood that is rapidly changing.
Brian Donahue, the city's director of economic development, said the back-to-back projects are already reshaping the look and feel of the district.
"There are things happening now from an investment standpoint in the community this very day," Donahue said.
Alongside the new construction, demolition crews are clearing out properties that have sat deteriorated for years. The removals are intended to open up land for future economic development opportunities, including new commercial spaces the city's Economic Development Authority is already working to renovate.
Donahue said the goal is to make sure new businesses have somewhere to land.
"We want to make sure that in addition to housing, we have venues for new businesses to open, launch, grow, and really provide new services and goods to the community as well," he said.
Few people have a longer view of this corridor than Scott Barone, who has worked at Virginia Novelty on High Street for 45 years.
He remembers when the neighborhood was defined by the Mary Jane bakery across the street — and the smell of bread dough rising that would drift through the block at certain times of day.
Now, he says, the change happening around him feels different from anything he has seen before.
"I think it's gonna be a positive change," Barone said. "I believe.”
City leaders are clear that this is not an overnight project. Donahue described the LINC District's full transformation as a multi-year evolution, with plans that extend well beyond housing.
The vision includes walkable streets, restaurants, retail shops, art studios, galleries, health and wellness services, and spaces for small-scale manufacturers, all anchored by a redesigned High Street funded in part by a federal RAISE grant.
"We're creating a whole new community and neighborhood where one really hasn't existed for decades," Donahue said.
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