PORTSMOUTH — As the city pushes ahead on long-term waterfront and downtown redevelopment, it’s also soliciting feedback for a future innovation district that will revitalize High Street and anchor new businesses.

Among Portsmouth’s several long-term redevelopment projects is the creation of a mixed-use innovation district connecting downtown and midtown. Portsmouth City Council dubbed it the LINC district, as a nod to Lincolnsville, the city’s first Black middle class community established in 1890.

The city is in the initial stages of gathering public input that will be used in the project’s overall design. Portsmouth is working with VHB firm on the plans. In a “charrette” style City Council meeting Wednesday, VHB set up several stations in council chambers for interactive discussions on different parts of the project, gauging priorities and design concepts with council members, city staff and residents.

Portsmouth aims to have the majority of the design complete by the end of the year, which will require more public input opportunities. Construction is slated to begin by early 2028 with completion in 2030. The roughly $24 million project will be primarily funded with a federal grant of about $19 million, with the city covering the rest.

The innovation district will focus on serving as a hub for more selective types of development and business, such as start-ups, health and wellness, technology-driven services, a makerspace, mixed-use development, public art and improved streetscaping for pedestrians and bicyclists — all while anchoring major employment centers. It will encompass an area bounded by London Boulevard to the north, County Street to the south, Martin Luther King Expressway to the west and Downtown to the east near Effingham Street. Lincolnsville is to the north of the LINC.

Portsmouth City Council members and city staff during a meeting at Portsmouth City Hall on Feb. 4, 2026, discuss design concepts and preferences for the development of a planned innovation district that will revitalize High Street. (Natalie Anderson / The Virginian-Pilot)

Plans for the project call for widening and adding sidewalks, raising medians, implementing shared vehicle and bike lanes, upgrading ADA accommodations and increasing on-street parking. At Wednesday’s meeting, discussions centered on various options for traffic and utilities improvements, streetscaping preferences, vegetative buffers, parking configurations, shared-use paths, landscaping and other “placemaking” amenities such as benches and murals.

Ideally, development plans would make room for outdoor dining opportunities.

An approved master plan proposes a 10-foot shared use path along the north side of High Street and a 6-foot sidewalk along the south side of High Street, along with nine Hampton Roads Transit bus stops, but alternative configurations are being considered.

Portsmouth is looking to several other cities, including Winston-Salem in North Carolina, which boasts an innovation district with 3,600 workers across more than 2 million square feet of offices, laboratory, and educational space, according to city staff. It also includes several academic institutions, over 1,000 apartments and lofts, more than 90 companies and 20 miles of connected greenways.

City Council members are also incorporating ideas from a visit last year to tour Greenville, South Carolina, which was recently named the “best U.S. city to visit” by Business Insider. Among the highlights and takeaways: the importance of uniform landscaping and streetscaping, facade improvements, business incentives for affordable housing development, venue space and public art, such as murals.

More information is available at www.thelincdistrict.com/ and on the city’s website at www.portsmouthva.gov/2175/Innovation-District.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/08/portsmouth-innovation-district-linc-design-plan/