Norfolk officials say the redevelopment of the former MacArthur Center site is about more than replacing a shuttered mall; it's an attempt to physically rebuild the street grid that downtown lost when the mall opened in 1999.
The city has credited MacArthur Center with driving downtown Norfolk's rapid growth, sparking light rail, hotels, condominiums, apartment communities and office towers. But like many indoor shopping malls, MacArthur Center's business declined as retail trends shifted nationally and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated store closures.
In 2020, the city adopted an updated Downtown Norfolk Plan that proposed three redevelopment options for the site, all of which called for demolishing the mall to build a new urban district with a street pattern reopening Bank and Court streets, connecting Scope and Chrysler Hall to St. Paul's Boulevard, Main Street, and the waterfront.
"Right now, we have a massive suburban mall in the middle of our downtown," said Ron Williams, Norfolk's deputy city manager. "That's a barrier for connectivity, particularly for our attractions."
Williams said the project's central goal is reconnecting the historic Freemason neighborhood to the emerging Kindred community and linking the site to Scope and Chrysler Hall through the restored street grid, including Bank, Freemason, and Atlantic streets.
"It knits the city back together," Williams said, adding that the renovated Chrysler Hall will help bridge the site to the southern part of downtown.
The city purchased most of the mall property in 2023, completed a market assessment in 2024, and selected Hg80 Real Estate as master developer in 2025.
Norfolk has designated $72 million in its Capital Improvement Plan for the project.
According to Williams, the majority of these funds are earmarked for demolition and site infrastructure, but the budget also covers upgrades to the city's broader downtown parking system. Williams did not specify what those changes would include.
The last tenants left last month and the mall closed for good on June 27. City officials have since laid out pieces of the redevelopment plan to multiple local outlets, but new details are emerging about the project.
Williams said the site will include additional housing, likely market-rate multifamily units, though the exact form is still being finalized. He ruled out single-family homes, saying any development on the Freemason side of the site would aim to complement the existing housing style in that neighborhood.
"We believe at this time, market rate multifamily is the best fit," Williams said. "Norfolk has a considerable amount of affordable housing, 40% of the region's affordable housing is in our city. But we definitely, right now, for this development, we'll have market rate."
A grocery store remains the city's top retail priority for the site, Williams said, but no brand has been confirmed.
"We have had good conversations with most of the national brands," Williams said. "We've actually discussed layouts and what would work for them, so that as we head into our design period, we know how to accommodate a grocer and what type of footprint they would want."
He said the timing is different than in 2011, when Farm Fresh, the last grocery store downtown, closed. Williams said the earlier location was limited by requiring shoppers to drive into structured parking, and that downtown and the Kindred area now have a significantly larger residential base than they did then.
"It is a larger neighborhood now, not just a business district," Williams said.
Beyond retail, the city’s plan calls for a mix of food and beverage, entertainment, office and educational space, along with community green space that city planners say is currently lacking downtown. Williams said a new central green space near the mall's former Monticello Avenue entrance is one of the project's top design priorities, though planning for it remains in its early stages.
"It is a key component to have community green space in the project," Williams said.
The city and Hg80 are negotiating final terms through July and August, with plans to bring a design and development agreement before Norfolk City Council in early fall, Williams said.
Williams said full-scale structural demolition, previously planned to start later this year, is now expected to begin sometime between late 2027 and early 2028, following roughly 18 months of design and permitting work after the master developer agreement is finalized. Interior demolition, including removing furniture, fixtures and equipment ahead of a planned fall auction, is already underway.
"We still have engineering that needs to be done for the demolition aspect," Williams said. "To know exactly what portions of garages we will retain, for example, and also what the approach to demolition is, to make sure that we're staying contained to the site."
Williams said the site's two existing parking garages were built to handle holiday shopping traffic for an interior-facing mall, and that capacity exceeds what the redeveloped site will need. The city plans to modify and remove portions of both garages while retaining other sections.
