Virginia Beach holds 2024 State of the City
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach held its annual State of the City address on Wednesday, with both Mayor Bobby Dyer and City Manager Patrick Duhaney speaking about many of the city’s initiatives and accomplishments in the past year, including funding for the Virginia Beach Trail.
The Virginia Beach Trail received $15 million in federal funding Wednesday morning to make safety improvements along the trail. The city plans on building safe crossings at every intersection, and a pedestrian bridge crossing Independence Boulevard, which will add much needed safety to that stretch of road for pedestrians and bikers. It’s a feature that enables the city to be more walkable — an enticement, Dyer hopes, for more businesses to relocate here and add to local revenue to pay for more projects like this one.
“And once again, with tight budgets and everything we’re going to have to bring in those new revenue streams,” Dyer said. “It’s a quality of life where people want to bring their companies here.”
Dyer is also proud of the newly renovated building for Virginia Beach Police Precinct 1. Formerly named Building 2, it is now Building 11 and has the latest technology and equipment. Renovations came about after the mass shooting that happened there May 31, 2019. The 5/31 Commission is planning a memorial to those 12 people who lost their lives that day when an employee opened fire inside the building. The memorial will be on the municipal campus and include a walking path and water features.
Virginia Beach is growing — both in industry and jobs.
Last year, DOMA Technologies, a cloud-based document management company formed in Virginia Beach, announced they’re expanding, adding 300 jobs. Amazon is building a delivery station set to open this year, and a robotics fulfillment center opening in 2025 that will bring 2,000 additional jobs.
Tourism remains strong, as the Resort City welcomed more than 13 million visitors in 2023. That brought about $2.4 billion to the city. That’s up significantly from the $300 million it saw in 2022. The eight festivals the city hosted last year were responsible for $94 million alone.
“Virginia Beach right now is on the on-deck circle for the most significant growth and development in our history,” Dyer said.
WAVY News 10 also spoke with Deepak Nachnani, a representative for the Sabony family who owns the Virginia Beach pier.
Nachnani said they hope to reopen the pier by April 1. The pier was damaged when a man drove off the end of it the morning of Jan. 27, 2024.
Watch the full Virginia Beach State of the City address in the video player below:
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