Why a Norfolk nonprofit is moving to a flood zone — and hopes others will do the same

Norfolk — As sea level rise has threatened homes and businesses in cities around the country, the philosophy has shifted from fighting the water to either living with it or retreating.

In Norfolk, the government has taken steps to abandon some of the most flood-prone areas to rising tides.

But now, one environmental nonprofit is diving right back into those waterlogged areas with a brand new building that not only can withstand flooding, but welcomes it.

The Elizabeth River Project, which advocates for restoration of the river that touches four South Hampton Roads cities, announced Wednesday its new headquarters would be a model for what building in waterfront areas can look like — one it hopes will inspire others to reinvest in threatened waterfront areas.

“No one that we know of has intentionally said ‘we’re going to redevelop on an urban waterfront in a floodplain that we know from scientist predictions will be underwater in 30-50 years,’” said the Elizabeth River Project’s executive director, Marjorie Mayfield Jackson. “We’re going to choose to go there because we want to be on the front lines of how do you live and work there.”

An image of the planned new headquarters for the Elizabeth River Project. (WORK PROGRAM ARCHITECTS/The Virginian-Pilot)

The planned $4.5 million three-story building will be at 4610 Colley Ave., replacing the defunct American Legion building and the decrepit marina on Knitting Mill Creek with a monument to resilience and a waterfront learning park.

The building will be elevated 10 feet above the ground, with parking tucked underneath. It will, naturally, be as green as can be — solar panels and high-efficiency systems will keep net energy consumption around zero, green roofs and pervious pavement will help minimize rainwater runoff.

It will be surrounded by a small waterfront park designed to stand up to flooding, along with natural shoreline defenses like marsh grasses and oyster reefs.

Jackson said the city has been working to point people in the right direction, specifically with its revamped zoning ordinance, which requires anything built in floodplains to meet resiliency standards.

[ Previous coverage: New rules aim to make Norfolk flood resilient. But will they make it too expensive to build new homes? ]

“But it’s been hard for (the city) to talk to business about exactly how you do this. We want to be who you come to to figure that out,” Jackson said.

The building is so geared toward living with rising tides, even the concept renderings from designers Work Program Architects depict flooded streets.

“Everything on the site is designed to be flooded, and if in 50 years the whole site is under water, it doesn’t release anything harmful to the environment,” said Sam Bowling, from Work Program Architects. “The longer view — this is something that can be abandoned.”

Bowling says the new headquarters is meant to be the “prototypical coastal structure” for a city with tons of urban waterfronts threatened by rising tides, but isn’t meant to be so cutting-edge that it’s impossible for the average citizen or home builder to replicate.

For instance, the site will have two storage sheds demonstrating different solutions. One will be floodproof — basically water tight. The other will float on top when the river rises, like a floating dock would, instead of fighting against the water.

The idea is to show people what’s not only possible, but practical and doable for builders and those who already own homes or businesses in Norfolk’s floodplains.

Besides the large-scope philosophical impact they hope the building has, there’s a more immediate goal for the nonprofit and the city: to spark redevelopment on a strip of Colley Avenue. Much of the area east of Old Dominion University, known as Highland Park, is designated by the state as an “enterprise zone,” an economically distressed area in need of revitalization.

In the neighborhood, residential streets are interspersed with light industrial buildings and businesses. And that strip of Colley runs along Knitting Mill Creek to the east, regularly flooding when there is substantial rain and particularly high tides.

Old Dominion University President John Broderick also announced Wednesday that it would be moving its Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience into a university-owned building right across the street from the new headquarters on Colley, to compliment the new development and encourage cross pollination between the university and the nonprofit.

In a statement, Broderick said the aim is to build an “eco-corridor” there on Colley.

The new headquarters building is the centerpiece of a major new funding push for the Elizabeth River Project, which it unveiled Wednesday.

Called “Next Wave,” the campaign aims to raise $9 million for the nonprofit. The bulk of that — $4.5 million plus design and administration fees — will go toward the new building. The rest will be put toward doubling the size of the organization’s environmental education facility at Portsmouth’s Paradise Creek Nature Park and funding programs for the next five years, including supporting its Dominion Energy Learning Barge and moving it to different sites in different cities along the Elizabeth River.

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Jackson said the effort has already quietly gotten 70% of the way to that $9 million goal, and is now going public to bring in the remaining $2.7 million the group needs.

Also announced Wednesday was a matching donation planned by Frank Batten Jr. — the one-time head of the Virginian-Pilot’s old parent company Dominion Enterprises — and his wife Aimee. The Battens will match donations up to a total of $1 million, the ERP said Wednesday.

The aims of the campaign, and the building, are twofold: increase visibility and accessibility.

The brand new building, which will back up to a waterfront resilience park, will obviously be a big new signpost for the Elizabeth River Project in Norfolk. The building will be open to the public, host programs and work with academic researchers.

But expanding efforts around the region, especially getting the learning barge moving from city to city, is key to spreading the word, Jackson said.

“We’ve been working a long time to make the river healthy, but not always in the most visible way,” she said.

Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com