Even though downtown Salisbury has seen $60 million in investment since 1980 and an additional $15 million is in the works, city leaders should not become complacent about the downtown’s future.
So warns Downtown Salisbury Inc.
“The next at-risk neighborhood is right under your feet,” Steve Fisher, president of Downtown Salisbury told Salisbury City Council last week.
Fisher said the next three to five years are crucial for the central business district, which taken collectively is Rowan County’s largest employment center with some 4,673 jobs.
“Boy, is it a dangerous (time) to be cutting that budget,” Fisher said.
Downtown Salisbury Inc.’s budget for 2002-2003 already has taken a $15,000 hit from the cutbacks announced recently by Gov. Mike Easley. City Manager David Treme has yet to propose how the state budget crisis will affect Salisbury’s annual allocation to Downtown Salisbury or downtown incentive grants.
As with private companies and local government, Salisbury’s downtown is struggling with a recession.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. said retail sales in Rowan County overall were down 19 percent in December, the biggest buying month.
“There will be a delayed effect on downtown retail businesses, and we are just beginning to see the results of this slowdown,” Downtown Salisbury Inc. said in a report to council at its retreat last week.
The downtown area boasts a first-floor occupancy rate of 96 percent, and Downtown Salisbury Inc. reports office occupancy is reasonably high. But more than 30,000 square feet of office space is available or about to become available.
The downtown will need a centrally located parking deck of 300 to 500 spaces soon, if the city wants to be prepared for the next wave of development, Fisher said.
For day-to-day retail purposes — except for the 100 block of North Main Street and the Rowan County Courthouse area — the downtown has enough retail parking spaces.
But the spaces won’t be available to address continued second-floor development and new construction, downtown leaders warned.
Fisher attended the retreat with Randy Hemann, executive director of Downtown Salisbury Inc., and Ed Norvell, chairman of the agency’s recently completed downtown master plan.
A parking study identified three potential areas for a parking deck and favored the inner block behind The Plaza.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. says the central business district has seen one of the most successful periods of development in recent history. Building projects that should be completed this year include the F&M Bank headquarters (the former Mayfield Building), 225-227 N. Main St. (formerly Norman’s) and the rebirth of Easy Street and the relocation of Waterworks Visual Arts Center in the same area.
The Rowan County Chamber of Commerce’s Gateway building also is relatively new to downtown.
The city’s efforts with the former Flowers Bakery properties led to several projects, including 205 E. Council St.; East Council Place; an expanded Textile Products; 123 N. Main St.; 114 E. Council St.; and law offices from the bakery’s former loading dock.
Other recent redevelopment projects have included the old Cheerwine plant on Council Street and the city’s sale of the old Salisbury Tractor building. Downtown Salisbury Inc. has helped with the redevelopment of 210, 212 and 214 E. Innes St.
Last week, Glover Realty closed on the office space at 210 E. Innes St., and the company plans to relocate from Statesville Boulevard to the downtown, Hemann reported.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. has several goals, following the master plan.
For one, it wants to establish a sidewalk/intersection improvement program — an incremental approach that addresses at least a block of sidewalk and one downtown intersection a year.
The downtown leaders also would like to have a workshop on redesigning The Square.
“It’s not the focal point it should be,” Hemann said. One of the design features could, for example, bump out the curb lines to make it less of a walk for pedestrians to cross the street at The Square.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. also advocates creating a downtown farmers market. It proposes a permanent parking committee to look at the redesign of parking lot and street parking spaces to increase the number of spots.
Downtown Salisbury also proposes a new ordinance aimed at reducing on-street parking’s biggest problem — downtown employees who violate the two-hour time limit.
The agency says the downtown must do a better job marketing itself to people who live here, while also trying to attract some of the 3.2 million people who make up the Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem markets.
Despite the city’s tough restrictions on billboards, Downtown Salisbury has proposed using billboards to advertise downtown to motorists.
“You need to find us a way to get those people off the interstate,” Fisher said.
While the downtown has been successful in promoting upper floor residential development, it has done a poor job of making these new residents feel like they’re part of a neighborhood, Hemann said.
“Those residents have a special set of needs,” Hemann added, suggesting formation of a residential association.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. plans to work with Rowan 250 Fest to stage a festival in 2003 that will become an annual event. The downtown group is struggling to find a long-term solution to keeping its two trolleys on the road.
Hemann said the downtown group can go about six more months paying expensive liability insurance on the trolleys.
The downtown group is paying $16,000 a year in liability insurance for the rubber-wheeled trolleys, originally purchased to run between Salisbury and Spencer and be available for special events.
“We cannot continue to pay those rates and remain in the trolley business,” Fisher said.
Longer-range goals include development of a Lee Street warehouse district, buying and selling more downtown properties, establishing the new “East Square” as a cultural arts center and advocating for a downtown convention center.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka@salisburypost.com
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