Construction on “The Imperial” Projected to Take 6 More Weeks
Decatur Metro | August 6, 2013
Giving background on a walk-on alcohol permit application at last night’s Decatur City Commission meeting, Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne mentioned that construction of The Imperial bar at 726 West College Avenue would likely conclude in 6 weeks.
Not really post-worthy news in most cases, but The Imperial was announced almost a year ago, so signs of life and a general idea of an opening date is probably of interest to many neighbors and Decatur-area bar-goers.
Photo courtesy of The Imperial’s Facebook page
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Being just a few houses from Imperial, I can not wait for this. On top of that, that they just poured an awesome cement patio.
The patio looks great… The street level sidewalk, less so (that is, cars can drive right off college into the stroller-pushing parents and kiddos on the sidewalk without first hitting a curb, for those who haven’t seen it). Still looking forward to enjoying a beer on the patio.
Wow. I wonder if it might be equally hazardous for dog-walking single people, and maybe even pedestrians of any age.
Thank you smalltowngal.
Duly noted, STG and Spreak. I think where YJ is coming from is walking his/her child to or from school on this route (a “Safe Route to School” no less) and taking note of a few things: 1) proximity of cars to kids during rush hour, 2) the speed at which cars are traveling, and 3) distracted drivers texting, talking on cell phone, putting on makeup, fiddling with stereo/ac/navigation system. It’s a pretty scary scene if you’ve ever walked that stretch of College around 8:00 in the morning.
Kids in particular don’t understand this risk, and thus are less aware or able to think about the danger of nearby traffic, and less likely to watch each car and driver as much as adults do, and be ready to jump out of the way IF we happen to see a car driving erratically. And I think we all usually assume that cars aren’t going to be driving on the sidewalk, and cars are used to having a curb to hit before inadvertently rolling onto a sidewalk.
I don’t think the comment was meant to exclude anyone or say that only little people or parents with strollers matter. There is just a dangerous situation on College Avenue along that stretch and we are all hoping to have it addressed.
I’ve started to tell my kids to use the back of the building instead of turning the corner of College onto Mead.
With the wall, you are forced to be closer to the traffic than before. Oh well, things change, we adapt.
I think the patio is a good addition and I can’t wait to sample a pint!!
At Mon’s Commission Mtg, Patti Garrett said she’d recently met at the site with David Junger, John Madajewski, GDOT’s zone supervisor + 8 other DOT folks to assess this dangerous situation. It’s a more complicated fix than just adding new curbing because of how it affects stormwater/flooding. They’re all supposed to be working to come up with the best solution.
Deanne, thanks for letting us know. I am so glad they are working on a solution!
One note, Concerned. It’s true that the city is working together with the DOT to assess the situation and propose a solution but the real difficulty is not dealing with the storm water (which is just a design consideration that engineers deal with all the time). It’s cost. Due to the complexities Deanne mentions, the work to fix College Avenue will be extensive and, sadly, there’s really no money to pay for it. The City absolutely can’t pay for it and whatever money lies with the DOT is currently allocated to many, many projects ahead of this one.
That’s not to say it can’t happen. Just that it’s important to understand where the hurdle is. A comprehensive, Complete Street overhaul for College was one of the approved projects to be funded by the transportation tax. Since that failed to pass, the City’s got its work cut out for it to find someone willing to whip out their checkbook.
Which is all to say that, while nice and maybe a little encouraging, getting DOT designers out to the site and then getting back their recommended plans is not the problem. Design and engineering are the easy part. This one’s gonna take politickin’.
People (individuals & families) bought homes on those neighoring streets knowing that they would have to use College Ave if they walked their kids to school or walk to anywhere in that area. We live in a metro area. The conditions on College Ave are not new – they have been that way for some time. I would’ve put more consideration into where I purchased a home and attempted to find a quieter route if that was a primary concern of mine.
A couple of notes on the property value issue on the homeowner who had disputed that development due to concerns. The bar is not open yet. No one knows the true impact, and there is a possibility that it could go either way in the appreciation / depreciation once that has happened. Additionally, my understanding was that a lot of the concerns expressed by those neighbors were related to concerns of a walking path (Safe Routes to School, I beleive) that was being proposed to run immediately along side their homes. There are some valid safety concerns related to a walking path close enough that would allow people to look directly inside your windows, that could cause property depreciation. There is a chance that people walking to & from the bar may travel on that path as well as any random individual, not just kids going to school.
You’ll recall that there was an adjacent neighbor very displeased about this project for a variety of reasons (the validity of which are totally subjective depending on where you sit and need not be rehashed here).
However, included in their concerns was the belief that a neighboring pub would kill property values and the ability to sell the house. Buts it turns out, maybe not so much, as the house was recently listed and went under contract in less than three weeks. If the deal goes through, at least according to available online data, it will reflect a 30% appreciation in value since the house was last sold three years ago.
Which is all to say, sure, I know change can be hard to accept, and everyone deserves to live in the kind of place that pleases them, but the conventional wisdom of the ‘burbs simply doesn’t apply here. We’re a different kind of place. One that, at least in terms of real estate activity, people seem drawn to it. Not in spite of things like the pub or market next door but — in part — because of them.
Betting the baby monitor will work.
That’s a $10K bump in value right there.
May I say here and this is based on hard experience, balderdash.
I wonder which part of Scott’s analysis you consider nonsense, AMB? Based on experience and observation, I tend to agree with him. Care to share?
Scott, do you mean the adjacent neighbor who the local developers gleefully screwed by retracting what they’d begrudgingly agreed to do to minimize the impact of the parking lot, saying they’d now only do what was required by law since the final plan was different, having been totally reworked between the ZBOA denial and it going before the City for a rushed approval (and without your Board weighing in again)? That neighbor?
I think I was pointing out that the suggestion that mixed-use proximity reduces property values, at least in this instance, did not pan out. And that was after acknowledging that there were other concerns and objections raised that, depending on one’s perspective and what they want from where they live, could certainly seem valid.
Any suggestion of either demons or angels was unintended. My goal was to make it about property dynamics and not people and, with this response, I’ll keep it that way.
Anyone know how the beer selection and menu are shaping up?
I can tell you authoritatively that both shaping and testing are definitely occurring.
The kitchen hood is being installed and stained glass and possibly new front windows are going in today.
No, but based on the project length so far, I’m going to go ahead and order my first beer right now.
I’ll need to see some ID.
Hah! Well played, sir.
You won’t need my ID. Everyone will be old enough by the time it opens.
↑ ah, the snark is strong in this one.
Construction will likely conclude in six weeks? Then we should probably expect a late November opening at best.
Reminds me of the Decatur Diner….hope this turns out better…
Isn’t a small grocery mart supposed to open up next door? It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything about that.
An outpost of the Candler Park Market, as I remember.