Focus on Downtown Development

From the latest issue of the Decatur Focus newsletter.

May 2009
Straight Answers about Development

In recent months, we have been asked several recurring questions related to development in downtown Decatur. 
The following information allows us to share the answers 
to these common questions.

Q: Isn’t all of this development in downtown Decatur causing Decatur’s population to grow too fast?
A: Not at all and here’s why. Decatur’s population in the 1960 census was 22,000 people. By 1990, the city’s population had dropped to 17,000. Some of the decrease was a result of population shifts to the suburbs in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the reduction in family size and the increase in the number of single occupant households also had a major impact.
The 2000 census put Decatur’s population at 18,200 or about where it was in 1980. If you add up the number of units in the Town Square Condominiums, the Renaissance, the 335 Condominium, the Artisan and the Clairemont and throw in the Ice House Loft Apartments, you get a total of 645 units added since the 2000 census. Even if each of these units had two residents, and they don’t, these developments contributed fewer than 1,300 new residents in the city of Decatur.
Since demographic trends continue to show households getting smaller and the number of single-occupant households increasing, particularly in downtown condominium developments, the impact of downtown dwellings on population growth is minimal.

Q: Hasn’t all of the recent development in downtown Decatur created more storm water run-off downstream?
A: These new developments and their storm water detention systems actually reduce the rate of run-off from the downtown district and reduce the impact on downstream systems, particularly during heavy rains. Here are the reasons:
All of the downtown development projects were constructed on existing asphalt parking lots. Those existing parking lots generated a large volume of storm water run-off. Because of Decatur’s storm water detention requirements, all new developments are required to construct underground water detention systems to collect and store storm water and slowly release it into the storm water system. Developers do not get credit for the fact that the site was already covered in asphalt. Instead, they are required to treat the property as if it had been undeveloped and retained much larger levels of rainwater run-off. Filter systems remove trash and contaminants like oil from the detained storm water before it is released slowly into the storm water system.

Q: But haven’t the designated flood plain areas in the city expanded in recent years?
A: Yes. However, this change is a result of improved survey methods, computer modeling and GIS mapping capabilities that can more accurately identify flood plain areas.

Q: Hasn’t all of this downtown development generated more traffic into the city?
A: Actually, traffic counts along major corridors into the city have decreased over the past decade. This reduction is primarily a result of a change in the office environment here. Decatur was once home to eight major banks at a time when everyone had to actually go to a bank to transact business. Teller lines were packed and mini-traffic jams occurred around banks on pay day. Now, many people do their banking online and direct deposit is standard for payroll transactions. The number of banks has decreased to six.
DeKalb County moved several large traffic generating centers like the automobile tag and title office and the tax office out of downtown Decatur earlier in this decade, which also removed high volumes of automobile traffic from the downtown district. Downtown residential developments generate fewer car trips and have increased the number of people walking instead of driving in downtown.

Q: Aren’t all of these multi-family developments generating a lot of children that will over-burden the school system?
A: Of the more than 600 new units built in downtown, fewer than six house children. More than 60 percent of the residents in these units are empty nesters and the remaining 40 percent are primarily young professionals. Households with school-aged children are generally drawn to single family housing and Decatur hasn’t added a significant number of single family units since the development of the Sycamore Ridge subdivision in the early 1990s.
In 1970, national figures showed that 44 percent of all households had children and only 17 percent of them were single-person households. In 2006, roughly 35 percent of American households had children while 26 percent were single-person households. In Decatur, only 25 percent of our households have school-aged children. Baby Boomers will continue to drive the housing market for the foreseeable future and they are opting for smaller housing units in an urban setting. We believe this will continue to support the condominium market, which provides significant tax revenue for school operations without adding to the student population.

April 2009
Do Your Part to Support Decatur’s Local Economy

The National Main Street Center reports that traditional town centers are weathering the current economic downturn better than suburban strip shopping centers and shopping malls. However, they also report that locally owned businesses do better in communities that have made a commitment to a “shop local” effort.

Many of our retailers and restaurant owners have reported that Decatur residents made a point of shopping local during the recent holiday season and continue to let them know that they are spending their money in Decatur. Your commitment to our local business owners is appreciated and is helping them hang on through this difficult time.

We will be focusing our efforts and our marketing and advertising budget on business retention in the coming year. We are working with our local business owners to document current rental rates and contact landlords to negotiate rent concessions to help our local business owners survive. You can help by spending your money locally and by spreading the word throughout the metro area about our great collection of retail businesses and restaurants.

The National Main Street Center reports that residents support almost 10 times more retail space than a downtown employee or visitor. Our new downtown residents have certainly added a critical customer base for our retail and restaurant businesses but all of our residents are important to their survival. Now that the weather is getting nicer, take the time to get out and walk and visit with our local businesses.

Share Your Stories
Great stories abound about great “Decatur” moments and about examples of the types of behaviors, thoughts and people who make our community the unique place that we love to call home. There’s a wonderful list on Facebook called “You Might Be From Decatur If” that continues to grow as Decatur residents and former residents young and old add their memories about quirky behaviors, funny habits and experiences with friends.

News of our great little city has traveled around the country and even around the world and many of you have reported meeting folks on your travels who had heard about Decatur, Georgia. We would love to start collecting these stories and invite you to share yours with us. If you have a great Decatur story, send an email to Lyn Menne.

November 2008
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holiday season will soon be upon us. Look for the lighted holiday wreaths to be installed later this month.
Terrific Thursdays offer a great opportunity to enjoy Decatur’s unique retail and restaurant offerings with special sales and refreshments every Thursday evening. Check the city website for special offerings each week.

Transformations. The Grange is now open in the former Angel location. Visit the western end of the downtown district and check out this new addition. As of this writing, Parker’s on Ponce is very close to opening. The transformation of the space from the former Mick’s restaurant is amazing. This upscale steak restaurant is a welcome addition to Decatur’s restaurant offerings.

Work on Zucca on E. Court Square continues with a new traditional storefront taking shape that should be a nice blend with neighboring Brick Store Pub and Squash Blossom. The owners of Brick Store are making progress on the old Rue de Leon space for their newest business venture, called Leon’s Full Service. This former gas station has been in need of some tender loving care and the creative touch of the Brick Store Pub owners should result in a much-needed face lift for this older building on a very visible corner in downtown Decatur.

Attracting New Businesses. We continue to experience turnovers in retail and restaurant businesses as a result of the economic slowdown. However, tenant interest in Decatur continues to be strong and we are working several interesting prospects. We welcome your ideas for retail and restaurant businesses you want to see in downtown Decatur. You are our best marketing team.

We are working on some new marketing materials to assist in attracting more creative office tenants as well as strong retail and restaurant prospects to fill vacant space. These materials should be unveiled soon.

Development Update

Trinity Triangle Project. The Decatur Planning Commission has approved the Trinity Triangle project. The Decatur City Commission planned to consider the proposal at its Oct. 20 meeting. The project was originally approved in 2006, but a new concept was introduced to keep the Dairy Queen at its current location with some major renovations to play up its mid-20th-century roots. Because of this change, the project required reconsideration.

As proposed, the development will include upscale apartments with street-level retail along E. Trinity Place. Residential units along the back of the site, facing E. Howard Avenue, will be designed to provide direct access from the sidewalk to give a townhouse appearance.

The new design also includes a few live/work units that would provide some office space for a small business like a CPA, graphic artist or architect. The new proposal will allow the Dairy Queen to stay open throughout construction with minimal disruption.

If approved by the City Commission, the developer anticipates approximately nine months to prepare construction documents and get building permits and another 10-12 months for construction. Based on that schedule, we anticipate the project will begin construction in late 2009 and be completed around the end of 2010.

Streetscapes, Safety and Storm Water. As we reported before, the developer will pay to install streetscape improvements in compliance with the city’s streetscape master plan. These improvements will link with streetscape improvements the city is installing using federal grant funds between N. Candler Street west to city hall, allowing us to extend the downtown streetscape program and make important pedestrian connections.

The development schedule also fits into plans to upgrade the intersection at E. Trinity/Howard/College and S. Candler to provide safer pedestrian and cycling options and a safer interface between these alternative transportation options and automobile traffic through this intersection.

Finally, the developer of this project is required to make significant improvements to storm water facilities on this site by installing an underground detention system and larger pipes to handle storm water moving through this area. These improvements will connect to storm water system upgrades completed by the City Schools of Decatur as part of the stadium and gymnasium construction, planned improvements at the Decatur Housing Authority property and upgrades to be funded through the city’s storm water utility along E. Maple Street.

Together, these improvements will have a major impact on storm water flooding in this area by increasing water detention capabilities and upgrading the size of the pipes that handle storm water run off.

315 W. Ponce de Leon Project. The planned facilitated meeting to allow for greater community conversation around the proposed development at 315 W. Ponce de Leon was held on Oct. 15. The developer and architect offered a brief summary presentation of the project as it is currently designed. Neighborhood representatives presented a history of conversations to date and summarized their concerns. The city manager outlined the legal process that the project would take to move forward for consideration by the planning commission and city commission.

More than 50 residents attended and participated in small group discussions to identify concerns and aspirations, and develop suggestions for the developer to address. The facilitator plans to incorporate the information gathered at the meeting into a report and will work with the city manager to determine next steps for this process. The city will keep participants informed through email, the website and local area media outlets.

Parking Improvements

Valet Parking. The Downtown Development Authority is working with Saba and other downtown retailers to test the use of valet parking on the square. Valet service will be offered at the top of N. McDonough behind the bandstand on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through the end of the year. If the concept is successful, we will work with the local retailers and the valet company to continue the service in this location.

Cell Phone Option. Another parking improvement being tested is the option to pay for parking meters by cell phone. This service is being tested at meters on E. Court Square and in the 500 block of N. McDonough. Customers can set up an account quickly by cell phone or over the Internet and add money to a parking meter in these test areas simply by calling the service number, entering the meter number and the amount of time. Users will receive a text message confirmation and a text message reminder before the meter expires. Extra time can be added to the meter over a cell phone without having to return to the parking meter.

This new service makes it easier to use the meters and eliminates the need to carry around a large number of quarters. If the test of this technology is successful, we will install this option on all parking meters in the downtown district. More information about this service can be found at www.goparknow.com, or call 1-866-951-7275 or visit www.decaturga.com.

October 2008
Parking in Downtown Decatur

Visiting in downtown Decatur and don’t know where to park? When on-street metered parking spaces are full, the parking deck at the Artisan offers a great centralized parking option. The deck, which is accessed from Commerce Drive, accepts both credit and debit cards as payment in addition to cash. Most of downtown Decatur’s retail and restaurant offerings are within a two-block walk to the east or west from this location.

New Meter Options
The city continues to test a new series of computerized meters on East Court Square and N. McDonough. The new technology allows for better parking management and will soon offer additional payment options for customers.
In late October, we will begin a pilot program to allow customers to add time to a meter using their cell phone. The initial account set up can be done quickly by cell phone or computer. After adding time to a meter, customers receive a text message receipt and a text message reminder 15 minutes before their meter expires. This option allows a customer to add time to a meter without having to return to the parking space.  If the program is successful in the test site, we will move forward and install this new technology throughout the city. Additional information about this program will be available at meter sites and on the web later in October.

Valet Parking
Valet parking is coming to downtown Decatur in October. Shane at Saba has
organized a valet service to operate out of N. McDonough Street (behind the bandstand) week nights and on the weekends. The cost for valet parking is $5. Shane hopes to work with other restaurants around the square to refund a portion of the valet fee from your meal purchase.

Downtown Development Updates
315 W. Ponce de Leon Development  The City of Decatur will hire a third-party facilitator to organize two meetings in October to allow for more discussion between the developer and the community around the proposed development at this site.  Trinity Triangle  The Planning Commission tabled the revised project plan at their September meeting and asked for additional information related to Dairy Queen parking, the design of the planned improvements to the Dairy Queen building, and how the project will interface with planned intersection improvements adjacent to the project. The project will be on the Oct. 9 Planning Commission agenda.

Decatur continues to hold its own during the current economic downturn. Retailers are reporting sales consistent with last year and many are showing modest gains over last year’s sales. Landlords continue to report a strong interest in retail and restaurant space and we’ve had several new businesses join the Decatur business community. All of our local business owners need your help so make a point of shopping and eating locally.

Energy-Saving Options
One way to shop and eat locally at the same time is to try out the Decatur Organic Market on Wednesdays in the Bank of America parking lot. The brainchild of Decatur residents Greg and Nicole Coleson, the market has really taken off this year in its new location and with new hours. Greg reports that they are now open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., making it easier for Decatur residents to visit them after work.

Decatur resident Ciannat Howett, who serves as the director of sustainability at Emory University, stated during a recent program that the food we consume travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches our table. The Decatur Organic Market offers one opportunity to shorten that distance and reduce the energy costs associated with that travel.

The Oakhurst Community Garden offers another option for those interested in growing their own food. Several of Decatur’s restaurants, like newcomer Cakes and Ale, develop their menus around locally grown food. Sawicki’s Market offers healthy meat and fish options along with fresh, local produce – much of it grown by Lynn Sawicki.
Check out these options over the next month and see if you can reduce the distance your food travels. It’s just one more way to practice environmental sustainability.

Economic Development Updates
The proposed mixed-use development at 315 W. Ponce de Leon Ave. is scheduled for review by the Decatur Planning Commission in August. The residential component of the project requires a plan review by the Planning Commission. The project is seeking a variance from parking requirements with a proposal to allow a portion of the parking spaces in the planned parking deck to be “shared” parking.

Instead of building a large parking deck to meet current parking requirements a smaller deck would be constructed with some of the spaces shared between office tenants during the day and apartment dwellers in the evenings and on the weekends.

The Trinity Triangle Project continues to move forward. The new development team is assessing the market and developing several options to improve on the site plan. The downturn in the economy has slowed this project but there’s no indication that it won’t move forward. We have seen these downturns in the past but the Decatur market continues to be strong and should pick back up as the Atlanta metro market improves.

The requirement for the Dairy Queen to be included in the development and the construction of parking for the Old Depot were part of the Downtown Development Authority’s sales agreement for their property. Therefore, both of these conditions will remain a part of any future project.

Rose Squared, the frame shop formerly located in Rue de Leon, has opened on the ground floor of the Masonic Temple Building along Clairemont Avenue. Decatur will get its very own scooter shop with Twist ’n’ Scoot scheduled to open in the Intaglia space next to Whit’s End in early September.

Decatur celebrated its 20th annual Decatur Arts Festival Memorial Day weekend. As usual, dozens of volunteers arrived at the square before sunrise to begin the task of setting up for one of the largest and best known events on Decatur’s festival calendar.

Working alongside these volunteers, city employees and artists, it became clear that there was as much community building taking place before the festival began as there was during the festival. Volunteers ranged in age from senior citizens to high school students working to gain the community service points needed to graduate.

The special events were originally created as a way of bringing Decatur’s residents together to nurture a strong sense of place. The results of the Citizens’ Satisfaction Survey that were just received indicate this effort has been successful because 90 percent of Decatur’s residents ranked “Sense of Community” as excellent/good.

The festivals and special events regularly receive high marks as activities that Decatur residents enjoy. The fact that so many residents are willing to give of their time to produce these events is a testament to the strong connection they feel with this community.

While many of the volunteers who showed up before dawn to get the Arts Festival set up were long-time residents from Decatur’s traditional neighborhoods, a large number of them were newer residents from the downtown condominiums. As downtown emerges as a new type of neighborhood, we see these residents taking an active role in a variety of Decatur activities and events and their condominium developments taking on personalities similar to more traditional neighborhood associations.

While these residents may relate to their neighbors as living on the same floor instead of the same street, their interest in building personal connections with other residents and strengthening their bond with the community is just as real for them as it is for residents in the single family neighborhoods. 

Welcoming New Businesses
Wordsmiths Books’ new location at 545 N. McDonough St. (in the old SunTrust Bank building on the square) has helped introduce retail activity on the south side of the square. Now that Little Shop of Stories has opened in their bright, new location next to Starbucks, their former space at 515 N. McDonough is being transformed into a small, urban market with a variety of little shops along with Jakes Ice Cream that remains.

With Big Peach Running Co. now open at 114 E. Trinity Place and a candy store and gift shop opening in the old Federal building at 141 E. Trinity Place, Eddie’s Attic will now have more company. These new shops help create a stronger connection between the square and Twain’s, El Tesoro and the Old Depot area.

Once the streetscape improvements are completed along the E. Trinity corridor and the Trinity Triangle project gets under way, this corridor will provide a more appealing pedestrian experience and a safe, attractive connection between downtown Decatur, Agnes Scott and the Winnona Park neighborhood.

Other new additions to the downtown area include the recently opened Tastings in the 335 W. Ponce de Leon building and Rockit Boutique at 145B Sycamore St. in the space formerly occupied by Vibes Music and More.

We continue to work on a few more anticipated changes in the downtown retail and restaurant market over the next few months. We have interest from a scooter store and a locally owned outdoor outfitter. If you have specific retail ideas you would like to see downtown or have an interest in opening a business, feel free to send your ideas to Lyn Menne.