Many millions of dollars are being spent by a variety of developers these days to convert Decatur parking lots into retail and dwellings. They get a lot of attention from press, bloggers and residents because they’re so big.
But like many things in life, you ignore the smaller things at your own risk.
Lately it’s felt somewhat like an all-or-nothing approach around here. You either build a 6-story mixed use building or you set up your parking stand and let the street-parking unlucky pay you $10-$20 for the privilege to rest their wheels there.
But there is a middle ground. Downtown Atlanta even has at least one example. (See above) And often times, some of a city’s most interesting, experimental restaurants and businesses set up shop in these places. So why don’t more commercial property owners give it a shot?
As Decatur becomes more affluent, these types of establishments have become more rare. Not surprising since money and experimentation have a pretty strong inverse relationship going on. It’s certainly not because residents’ appetites for this sort of shop have subsided. We just unplug our Nissan Leafs, strap the double-wide stroller to the roof, and head to Buford Highway instead.
Sure Decatur may finally have its first weekly food truck event, but there are plenty more privately owned empty lots that could play host to these types of shops.
So again, why aren’t any commercial property owners giving it a shot?
Maybe there are constraints I’m not thinking of. But maybe they just need us to show them that there’s a market for this sort of retail option. So here are a few pictorial examples from of some lower-risk-but-more-interesting pre-fab options from around the world to get your juices flowing.
What sorta structures/establishments would you like to see pop up around Decatur and where would you put them?
Open-Air BBQ Stand | Portland, Oregon
Row of Food Carts | Portland, Oregon
Coffee and Burrito Hut | Austin, Texas
Shipping Container Coffee Shop | Christchurch, New Zealand
Shipping Container Bar in a Box! | England
Aren’t brick-and-mortar restaurant owners usually opposed to food trucks [they were in a tv show I watched once…]. But seriously, trucks are competition that can set up shop with much smaller overhead. If that’s true, and given Decatur has so many restaurants, and given restaurants are often highlighted as Decatur’s calling card, could be there’s pushback when these ideas come up.
But isn’t this post more about private property, low-cost built infrastructure or, at the very least, property rental with semi-permanent placement? If that’s the case, these kinds of operators would have fixed property overhead just like longer-term brick and mortar.
Plus, I think for most (maybe all?) of these examples, they’re already legal under downtown zoning. So there’d be no special permissions required.
Brilliant! Would love to see more of this development in our area. I am interesting in knowing the zoning code requirements. Thank you for the article.
I have to say there are some serious retail holes in Decatur. Right now, where you would buy some socks? or a pair of underwear? There are no options small or large for many everyday items.
I guess Walmart will be an option, but I will still drive to Atlanta to shop. With all these retailers coming to Decatur very few of them seem to be the things we are begging for or could actually use.
We don’t need more restaurants. We need places to buy everyday stuff. Right now I buy most things on-line b/c we just do not have many options. When I need something that I need to try on or sooner than it can be shipped I drive to Northlake, or one of the shopping areas in Buckhead. I wish we had more options on this side of town.
The margin on all that stuff is too small to support the rents that commercial landlords get in downtown Decatur.
Yep. And it doesn’t seem like the few places in Decatur that sell boutique versions of those items are doing gangbuster business anyway. Nor is there anywhere in downtown Decatur that could accommodate a mass market clothing retailer. That’s just not our thing. But a revamped Suburban Plaza should help with this.
Don’t you think something along the lines of an Urban Outfitters or similar could have made one of the 315 / Place on Ponce spaces work?
Maybe. Not sure the demographics are right for that particular chain. There have been clothing stores on that end, though, and none have succeeded. Didn’t we hear from the Place on Ponce developer that all of the retail interest was from restaurants?
He said that it was mostly restaurants and there was some apparel store interest, but they like to set up shop in a critical mass.
“We don’t need more restaurants. We need places to buy everyday stuff.”
The problem with that notion is that socks and underwear are not EVERY DAY stuff. I buy those items maybe twice a year, at most. I’m probably not typical, but I doubt I’m too far from it. Given this infrequent need, It’s not much of an issue to have to travel a bit to buy these items, or, better yet, order them online.
Food, however, is every day stuff. Perhaps we need more retail food that isn’t restaurants; that I could agree with. But I have to say I’ve never wished for a place to buy underwear downtown.
“The problem with that notion is that socks and underwear are not EVERY DAY stuff.”
Underwear are so 90’s. No reality starlet getting into or out of a limo would be caught dead with a pair on.
No underwear but plenty of Spanx.
Ditto fmfats. It’s called Amazon.com or any other low cost online retailer. Makes no sense to sell commodity goods in brick and mortar retail in prime real estate spaces.
Don’t forget that North DeKalb Mall still has a Macy’s and is closer to Decatur than Northlake. Also, Sq/ft has some cool socks and, though not inexpensive, they are good quality too.
I’d like to see food carts–sort of like the King of Pops cart but with regular food, not just desserts. NYC has lots of hot dog carts, and I remember from my days on the campus of UT-Austin these little food carts set up selling fried rice, Asian noodles, and fried “Asian empanadas” that were nice to grab and go.
You answered your own question with the statement about people paying 10-20 bucks to park in those lots. Your overhead is re striping the lot every 7 years and paying a guy to sit in the booth. Vs granting a lease to a business that will most likely fail and probably say that it’s because of a lack of parking.
But what about small, walk-up business? An uncovered surface space in Decatur might have an average pull of $8/day, maybe 300 days a year, which equates to around $15/sq ft prior to expenses. Wouldn’t retail space in downtown pull up to twice that? Low cost, pop-up type businesses would seem to offer a financial incentive worthy of the very modest risk, no? Especially if the goal was to incubate start-ups into more lucrative businesses.
But where is the market for that? Who’s walking around Decatur during the weekday looking to spend money? It’s not like we’re a transport hub or home to big employers. Decatur just isn’t a “street-level” town.
Wouldn’t the market be the same as it is for traditional brick and mortar? Both Starbucks and Java Monkey are essentially walk-up businesses and there somehow appears to be a market for those establishments. Why would a pub or coffee shop or wine bar or sandwich place or specialty boutique housed in low-cost, pop-up infrastructure be subject to any different market forces than those same types of currently thriving businesses in existing or new buildings?
I’m for anything that increases choice, and hope that reflects on price a little. I sympathize with costs brick and mortar places pay, but if it’s good most of them could tough it. The over priced places, not so much. I miss the city where I used to live and could grab a $3 delicious empanada, or halfway decent slice of pizza for $3. Yes yes, I know cheap food comes at a huge social cost thank you very much
$3 for an empanada? Ay, caramba! The best ones in town are a buck fifty apiece at BuHi Farmer’s Market! If you’re willing pay three bucks for one locally, I believe that Calle Latina can still set you up for a bit less than that (I think they came two per $5 order last time I was there for lunch), and they’re damn good to boot.
I thought we had an agreement re empanadas
If Decatur was more than a food destination it might be able to sustain the kind of small retail referenced here. The foodies who come here to eat and drink spill out into the street after dinner when the stores have closed. Decatur is not a tourist destination, is it? The population density downtown hasn’t gotten to the point where local pedestrian traffic would warrant it either. Heliotrope was just the kind of place you would expect to thrive in a walkable community, but they had to sell hundreds of risque greeting cards to equal what hey would have netted on one of the pieces of furniture they had there forever. Let’s face it, for all our pride in being walkable or bicycle friendly, the vast majority of the City’s residents get into their car when they want to shop, and then gripe about the lack or cost of parking downtown. As more apartments are built downtown, the small retail opportunities will increase.
Exactly. The demand side.
These look cool. I think we get ourselves in trouble when we think of the pie as totally fixed…. if we have ONE burger place, or juice place or ice cream place…. how can there be another???
Apparently, because several of the restaurants near East Lake MARTA are closed on Mondays, there is “Food Truck Mondays” in the parking lot at College & Cambridge Ave. The trucks vary by the week and there’s always savory and sweet options. Tables & chairs, too. Our family has gone the last three Mondays .
At suppertime?
Yes, every Monday from 6 – 9 p.m.
here’s one:
https://i.imgur.com/QthHpFi.jpg
LOL!