Waterside District, Norfolk, VA

Give us some hoof! The Herd was super stoked to partner with The Cordish Companies to revitalize a historic area of Norfolk’s waterfront. Once known as Waterside Festival Marketplace, this multipurpose venue was cool but seemed to lack that certain something – Herd Appeal! Luckily, The Cordish Companies saw the potential in the site and brought us along for the ride.

The Herd focused their power on the heart and soul of the project: the food hall. Also known as The Market, this anchor piece features mouthwatering specialty restaurants, including Luk Fu and Cogan’s Pizza. Although you know we love to graze, the Herd was most excited about the exterior windows and doors by Solar Innovations, which help create the atmosphere of an open-air market, and keep light and energy flowing through the space.

We tackled eleven restaurant concepts for The Market – see the full list below – and we couldn’t have done it without the entire Herd working together, including our superb Vendor Partners. We often had as many as 250 Herd members working on the site. It was a big job, but with our eyes on the prize we were able to complete it in just 150 days.

If this job sounds like a piece of cake, listen again. Due to extensive demolition requirements, the building was exposed to inclement winter conditions, and we had to trade our hard hats for thinking caps. Temporary partitions and temporary heating solutions helped us get this job done, and done right the first time.

Knowing restaurants like we do, the Herd was up for the challenge of bringing eleven concepts to life at the same time.We were able to coordinate specialty vendors for everything we needed, from hand lettering at Luk Fu to two custom-made pizza ovens at Cogan’s. We even created a round bar at Blue Moon Taphouse. But those are the details of Building Better that the Herd lives for.