I would say Cartel Properties is probably the LL most likely to work with their tenants in a way that’s not going to just kill them.

Some of the reason is like I said, you have older owners who see Decatur as a cash cow and have no intent on dropping rates to meet the reality of the marketplace. You do have some newer condo retail space which has been spun off from the residential component, but their basis in those spaces are so high that they cannot justify rates lower than the low $20s/sf.

Atlanta area retail rates lag FAR behind other major metro markets and there has certainly been a concerted recently to raise the rates, but to be honest, the variables are simply not in place for most of the area. The exceptions being Buckhead, Perimeter & Midtown, which the Downtown market picking up steam, but not quite there yet.

Decatur has a rather small commercial presence, so daytime foot traffic is not as high as you would like. And to be honest, adding DeVry does not help most local businesses. The fast/casual food places will absolutely clean up. But the shops and boutiques are not in the price range of the average student on a budget. There are a couple exceptions, but not many.

Given the area, traffic, population, product type etc. the rental rates in Downtown Decatur should be in the area of $15-20 per square foot. With $20/sf being for the newer spaces with attached parking.

Also, there are some folks who want to further reduce traffic on Church St. by narrowing the road or creating other traffic calming devices. That would be the death blow of retail in Decatur. Those measures were already taken on Clairmont and Ponce. While it makes for better “walkability” it kills the one thing that businesses need to be successful, TRAFFIC COUNTS. Whether that’s pedestrian or auto.

If Church is turned into Clairmont, then the COD will have to make some hard downtown development choices. There simply is not enough density to justify the lease rates, so the COD will have to allow more density. The most valuable remaining intersections in the city are Commerce and Church/Clairmont. They need development that includes residential components if Decatur businesses are going to survive.

Lastly, there needs to be an end to the “anti-franchise/chain” mentality of the city. There needs to be a healthy mix of local and national in order to get people to frequent an area. This 100% homegrown push is not working in Decatur because we simply don’t have residents to help all the local businesses survive. And people who are visitors are not going to always want to “take a chance” on a place that they don’t know. However, if you give them enough places that they know, they will keep coming back and eventually take a chance on a place that is new to them.

Just one man’s opinion. And yeah, it’s been building for quite some time. LOL!!!