Virginia Beach and Professional Hospitality Resources, a division of Gold Key/Professional Hospitality Resources Holding Company, are developing the 31st Street endeavor. City officials acquired the property in 1988 for $3.5 million and have bargained with its partner to include an 850-space public parking garage in the deal. The project has been in the works for years and the city has committed $20 million to augment PHR's $30 million investment.

City officials claim the ordinance change will allow for accommodation of more hotel visitors, and a greater opportunity to capitalize on the resort's dramatic ocean views. Controversy over the zoning alteration stems from some public opinion that the city made the change specifically to accommodate the 31st Street hotel developers. But speaking to local citizens after the decision, City Manager James K Spore said, "with or without the 31st Street Project, this ordinance makes sense."

From the beginning of the project many area residents voiced their view that the space should be reserved strictly for a park, not for a hotel and retail development. The amendment, however, actually allows hotel builders to build higher as opposed to wider, therefore allowing more room for the public Neptune Gateway Park. Regardless of any public misgivings, most city officials are behind 31st Street development plans, and the projected $49 million in net revenues it will provide the area over the next quarter century.