Fine by me. Last time I had a Which Wich wich, I had explosive d******* the following day. Something ain’t right wit those wiches.
4 Likes
i got it, dynamite! what do i win?
2 Likes
You win a lifetime of subs from Which Wich… unfortunately it also comes with a lifetime of… nevermind, you’ll find out
5 Likes
It’s a tough quandary. Planners want an “active first floor”, but there’s nowhere enough retail demand. (I once calculated the ratio of retail to residential space as 1:30, so unless there’s consistently 30 floors of apartments above you won’t sustain continuous ground floor retail.) There are many multifamily buyers who prefer a ground-floor unit, whether it’s gardeners or dog owners – but in Raleigh, they might buy townhouses rather than condos.
An ideal first-floor apartment is raised above grade for privacy. Another alternative is solid fencing along the sidewalk to visually enclose the front yard as a patio, though that’s not exactly an active frontage either.
But, as I’m sure you noticed, (1) any efficiency gains from removing the corridor are eaten up by stairs, (2) this is an elevator-less 4-story building.
2 Likes
There’s definitely a demand for ground floor, but I think there’s nuance. You mention two things that I think are true: 1) they may be townhome buyers, not condo buyers, and 2) Gardeners and/or dog owners probably prefer for that access be off the street on the back or sides of the properly more so than on a busy sidewalk.
As for retail demand, that comes with more and more residents in the immediate neighborhood. For the Village District in particular, it comes with a twist in that there’s already a lot of retail consolidated at its center.
3 Likes
29 Likes
All this district needs now is another boutique hotel (4-5 stories) and 5 more apartment complexes similar to the Birkshire and 401 Oberlin.
2 Likes
And while we’re dreaming, all of the gigantic parking lot moats turned into something nice, so when you eat outside you’re not staring at parked cars and inhaling exhaust.
12 Likes
I’ve always wanted that part of the parking in particular to go away, but the only way to make it happen is to either go above shops or below ground. Presuming that it would be way too expensive to go below grade, I’ve fantasized about having more shops facing Clark and the existing shops (double loaded) while providing a few levels of parking above. Then the space between the new building and the existing one could be a pedestrian plaza.
We would never be able to sell the idea of just getting rid of the parking. This is one of the very few centers where the parking is highly utilized, and there would be huge pushback to reducing what’s there.
8 Likes
Yeah getting rid of the parking would basically kill the place. As it is, they could use more parking.
4 Likes
Oh lord, I’m not saying less parking. I just want them to build a deck so it doesn’t feel like a strip mall.
6 Likes
Where you around for when it had all those decks? It’s been so long since they tore them down, but old ones really made the place dark.
I do like the idea of a deck with shops below, apartments above. particularly along Clark. A grass plaza in this above picture would be awesome. At some point this land will surely become so valuable that the investment will make sense.
6 Likes
I remember those decks! I also remember the first renovation after they tore them down and added those barrel vault translucent canopies with blue accents. That was a huge improvement for the time!
5 Likes
I think if you build a (well concealed) parking deck nearby, then slowly fill the “strip mall” parking lots around the main blocks with apartments above ground floor retail, it’d probably work. Just need to replace lost parking spots with enough residential units.
2 Likes
I don’t really mind the single aisle parking lots. The double-aisle one on the library + Fresh Market block is considerably higher-impact.
The hotel is notable as the first redevelopment impacting the original retail area, and original retail traffic plan – which has that extra ring of parking around each block. I’m a little surprised it doesn’t have more replacement parking or replacement retail in it, which could have freed up space for a future phase of redevelopment.
It’s strangely difficult to remove retail parking – most shop leases include a commitment for a certain number of parking spaces, and those leases all expire at different times. Even once the developer commits to redevelopment, it can take years to end those leases and get control of the property, and in the meantime the income and rents drop substantially since retailers know they can get a good deal.
4 Likes
I also just don’t think the parking lots (at least those in front of Barnes and Noble and the back side of HT) are large enough for a project that would not also impact the existing retail there. In order to even install a parking deck you’d have to shut down 25% of the center for years to construct…I doubt the owner will want that.
I don’t mind the parking lots here. What I do mind are the cross streets running through the property. There needs to be some serious traffic calming and pedestrian improvements.
6 Likes
The Oberlin hotel comes with its own decked parking, just well-screened so not apparent.
Also it replaced the K&W cafeteria. So much of the surface parking area impacted by this redevelopment was probably being occupied by cafeteria traffic.
2 Likes