Portsmouth Sets Aug. 31 Deadline for Crawford Bay Proposals

Portsmouth’s Economic Development Authority is seeking formal conceptual and financial proposals from shortlisted development teams for the approximately 6-acre Crawford Bay waterfront site in downtown Portsmouth. Responses are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 31, 2026.

The city-owned property sits along the Elizabeth River at the former Holiday Inn site. Portsmouth acquired and demolished the hotel, and the waterfront parcel has remained largely vacant since that redevelopment effort ended.

City officials are seeking a mixed-use redevelopment that could include multifamily housing, a hotel, restaurants, shops, entertainment and public waterfront amenities. Those uses are goals for the solicitation, not an approved final project plan. The EDA has not publicly identified the shortlisted teams or disclosed proposal contents.

Selection is scheduled for November

The solicitation schedule calls for proposal evaluation and interviews from September through October, followed by developer selection in November. Portsmouth officials have said they want to select and onboard a developer by the end of 2026.

No developer has been selected and no final project approval has been announced as of Aug. 10, 2026. The Crawford Bay solicitation is listed in the city’s 2026–2030 strategic plan as a short-term economic-growth action, while the plan identifies construction as a longer-term objective. The plan also calls for cleaning up the site and using it as public space until construction begins.