Suffolk wants to become known as a creative hotspot, and the City Council on Wednesday voted to establish a downtown arts and cultural district.
“We’re open,” Councilmember John Rector said, “and we want Suffolk to become not a pass-through place, but a destination.”
The idea has been on Suffolk’s wishlist since 2018, when it was first included in the downtown master plan. Lisa Bleakley, downtown development manager, is eyeing a spring 2026 launch for a set of incentives to attract art-centered businesses to the area.
New or expanded businesses can be reimbursed for business license costs and permit fees for two years, with up to $1,500 in the first year and up to $750 in the second year for both. Those businesses will also be eligible to receive storefront facade and small business improvement grants through Suffolk’s Economic Development Authority.
Incentives will be available to performance venues, galleries, creative service firms and other artistic ventures that move downtown and existing ones in the area that invest an additional $15,000 in their business or add one or more new full-time positions to their staff.
“From a community standpoint, we anticipate greater civic pride and engagement, improved perceptions of safety, stronger sense of place and inclusivity,” Bleakley told council members.
But there’s also a financial angle for creating arts districts. Communities around the U.S. and Virginia have used them as tools to successfully revitalize downtowns and aid economic development. That means more tax revenue and more jobs.
Bleakley said Richmond’s Broad Street Art District, created in 2012, has “realized $10 million in adaptive reuse and small business growth.” Norfolk’s NEON District, created in 2013, helped rehabilitate more than 30 buildings.
“Suffolk can build on this proven model while reflecting our own local identity,” Bleakley said, adding that the downtown district could serve as a pilot for additional arts hubs in other Suffolk neighborhoods.
Arts districts have grown in popularity over the past several decades, according to James Koch, economics professor emeritus and former president of Old Dominion University.
He said the reason for that is no mystery. Data from the Americans for the Arts indicates that in South Hampton Roads, including Suffolk, arts and cultural organizations in 2022 supported nearly 5,000 jobs and spent more than $140 million. Their audiences spent an additional $129 million.
“The arts have the ability to bring lots of people into the downtown area,” Koch said. “They spend money there and patronize restaurants and they do all the kinds of things that make a city lively.”
Bleakley said that has a ripple effect on nearby retail businesses and property values.
He said the idea in general has a positive track record. But not every dollar spent in arts districts is new revenue to the city.
“In the case of Norfolk, because they have the opera, they have theaters, it’s pretty clear they do attract people from outside Norfolk,” Koch said.
Finding businesses and organizations that draw outside visitors is key. Otherwise, Koch said, the effect could be “simply recirculating the same dollars for a different purpose than they were being spent for recently.”
