photos: abhi ahmadadeen(BMLTV)-Ken Kaufhold looked past his empty bar Thursday to the smattering of people sitting in Waterside’s food court.
This, he said, is typical for the downtown festival marketplace. There are fewer customers. Less business. Lower profits.
“It’s been painful,” said Kaufhold, who has owned Pastaria, a restaurant and bar inside Waterside, for nearly two years.
Waterside was once seen as the catalyst for downtown redevelopment, a riverfront magnet drawing tourists and locals to Norfolk.
But as redevelopment has swept through most of downtown – creating more upscale restaurants and entertainment spots – Waterside’s traffic has dwindled. City leaders say they need to examine the marketplace’s future, whether that be renovation, refocusing its purpose or tearing it down and doing something completely different.
read more
