Waterside District
Waterside District is a dining and entertainment area along the Elizabeth River in Downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It opened on June 1, 1983 as the Waterside Festival Marketplace, a festival marketplace designed to revitalize downtown.
The Waterside Annex was added in September 1990, but the complex faced decline in the 1990s. In the 2000s, upstairs stores were replaced by entertainment venues, and Jillian’s arcade closed in 2010. The Waterside was purchased by the city in 1999, and redevelopment plans began to reshape the site.
The city and The Cordish Companies broke ground on the new Waterside District in August 2015. The Annex was demolished on May 16, 2016, because it blocked views of the waterfront and created accessibility issues. The redevelopment kept the main footprint of the old Waterside (excluding the Annex) and opened the new Waterside District on May 11, 2017. The project is operated by Live! Hospitality & Entertainment and designed by Wallace, Roberts and Todd (WRT).
Today, Waterside District is a two-story dining and entertainment district at 333 Waterside Drive. It connects to the waterfront promenade, a parking garage, the Portsmouth Ferry terminal, Nauticus, Harbor Park, and the Freemason Harbor area. The site has hosted numerous venues and events, including the SkyStar Wheel in 2018. The district’s focus is on dining and nightlife, following its rebranding from Waterside Live! (2015–2017) to Waterside District.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:04 (CET).