Chapter 15.0 addresses the desirability of enhancing and maintaining a viable commercial district within the University Neighborhoods. The High Street Corridor and the other smaller local neighborhood commercial streets should provide the majority of the goods and services necessary for a thriving community. The intent of this chapter is to recognize successful existing businesses, and to create strategies that encourage new investment to reverse recent declines in commercial activity.
| 15.0 COMMERCIAL REVITALIZATION | Back to the Plan’s Table of Contents |
A. Objectives
Vital, active, and diverse commercial uses are essential to attracting new residents to the University District. Current research has shown that residents will consider returning to urban neighborhoods if they are properly served by retail operations that offer day-to-day goods and services in a convenient, cost-competitive setting. Furthermore, communities are finding that neighborhood shopping streets that combine small, locally owned businesses with nationally recognized stores into active main streets serve as an amenity for new residents.
This section's purpose is to clarify the role of the High Street, Lane Avenue, 5th Avenue, and intermittent neighborhood commercial sites. The following policies and recommendations are put forth primarily to craft High Street into a diverse but cohesive commercial center that is both an amenity for the University District and a viable and healthy community attraction for Columbus at large. Successful realization of these recommendations will bring economic stability to the community, increase job opportunities, enhance the area's sense of pride, and increase the essential services and retail offerings of the community. All of these factors will clearly increase the attractiveness of the University District as a neighborhood of choice for students and permanent residents alike.
B. Policies and Recommendations
Policy 15.1: Support physical and programmatic improvements that will lead to the revitalization of the High Street commercial district. Successful revitalization will be measured by increased economic activity and local sales dollar capture, improved diversity of retail and entertainment offerings, as well as retention and expansion of locally owned and operated businesses.
Recommendation 15.1.1: Support existing businesses and assist development of new locally owned businesses, while attracting new national caliber retailers to create a vital mix of unique retail offerings, cost competitive retailers, and retailers serving the diverse needs of the community.
Recommendation 15.1.2: Work with the Ohio State legislature to develop legislation to allow the city of Columbus to control distribution of liquor licenses within city boundaries. Establish a system within the city to control and limit distribution of new or renewed licenses, reducing the concentration of liquor licenses in the area and limit distribution of new or renewed licenses.
Recommendation 15.1.3: Create a Special Improvement District for the High Street Corridor (East 9th Avenue to Lane Avenue) to provide daily maintenance, improved safety, District-wide marketing and business support.
Recommendation 15.1.4: Identify and market new and existing retail tenants around three distinct thematic centers (11th and High, 15th and High, Lane and High) to serve as anchors for High Street revitalization while focusing available retail demand.
Recommendation 15.1.5: Develop subsidized parking strategies at locations within easy walking distance of the three activity centers to ensure the success of concentrated retail venues. Explore Parking District as funding mechanism (see Chapter 14.0).
Recommendation 15.1.6: Develop Design Guidelines for Retail and Commercial Uses within the University District and High Street in particular. Administration of the Guidelines should be by the existing University Area Review Board.
Recommendation 15.1.7: Establish legislation and/or programs to solve blighting problems such as panhandling, graffiti and handbill pollution.
Recommendation 15.1.8: Encourage development and placement of readily accessible public toilets in the corridor.
Recommendation 15.1.9: Explore NCR designation for High Street between 7th Avenue and Lane Avenue.
Policy 15.2: Improve the physical appearance and character of the High Street Corridor to attract new retail activity, solve critical functional issues, and create an active and exciting neighborhood focus for the University District.
Recommendation 15.2.1: Encourage conservation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Where new building construction is required, ensure that design is compatible with the existing scale, texture, and character of the corridor.
Recommendation 15.2.2: New development for High Street should ensure a minimum sidewalk width of 15 feet.
Recommendation 15.2.3: Redevelop Pearl Street as the primary service corridor for High Street businesses, with a minimum width of 24 feet and a maximum width of 36 feet.
Recommendation 15.2.4: Upgrade the physical appearance of the High Street Corridor from 5th Avenue to Norwich Avenue with coordinated signage, lighting, street furnishings, and pavement systems.
Recommendation 15.2.5: Create new public plazas and open space at existing and proposed street closures, along High Street that allow for passive and active retail and community uses.
Policy 15.3: Guide the redevelopment of land uses adjoining West Lane Avenue to ensure it appropriately serves its role as the primary gateway corridor from the west into the University District.
Recommendation 15.3.1: Ensure that the proposed widening for Lane Avenue provides a minimum edge treatment of 8-foot wide tree lawn area and 8-foot wide sidewalks.
Recommendation 15.3.2: Develop incentives and development assistance to attract new residential and commercial development on Lane Avenue between Neil Avenue and Tuttle Park Place. In return for assistance, seek strict design standards that builds an enhanced street wall between Tuttle Park Place and 400 feet east of Neil Avenue.
Recommendation 15.3.3: Strengthen the gateway role of Lane Avenue with significant architectural treatment of structures that frame the intersection of Lane Avenue and Tuttle Park Place .Examine closing the Tuttle Park Place north of Lane as part of the corridor improvements.
Recommendation 15.3.4: The Ohio State University should assist in the corridors’ redevelopment by offering creative parking solutions for new businesses, and building new facilities that create a street wall on the south side of Lane from Tuttle Park Place to Neil Avenue.
Policy 15.4: Support new commercial development along 5th Avenue from Grant Street to Hamlet Street that creates job opportunities and provides new goods and services for local residents.
Recommendation 15.4.1: Seek a location for a new business incubator facility. Explore the warehouse at the corner of 5th Avenue and Fourth Street.
Recommendation 15.4.2: Create new commercial development in the 5th Avenue corridor (east of Hamlet Street) by combining lots with defensible street closures at Sixth Street, Hamlet Street and Fifth Street.
Policy 15.5. Strengthen existing neighborhood retail and service centers throughout the University Neighborhoods.
Recommendation 15.5.1: Create financial incentives to redevelop the existing retail center on Fourth Street at 18th Avenue.
Recommendation 15.5.2: Facilitate the acquisition and exchange of public/private lands to create a new neighborhood center located between Fourth and Summit Streets on the north side of 11th Avenue. Ensure that the proposed city of Columbus Division of Electricity substation is not detrimental to the redevelopment of this key parcel, and consider alternative sites such as the vacant parcel at 11th and the Contrail Tracks.
Recommendation 15.5.3: Support existing programs and funding to assist business owners renovate and improve corner commercial, retail, and restaurants throughout the District.
C. Setting and Current Issues
Commercial uses and retail operations within the University District fall into four major categories:
Currently, High Street, which is viewed as the primary retail opportunity and focus of the community, is in a stage of slow decline. An increasing number of storefronts are vacant, and the synergistic mix of retail uses that would provide vitality and complimentary market draw of shoppers is absent. The primary factors leading to the current decline include:
Market Analysis: Methodology and Findings
In spring of 1995 a market analysis was conducted of the study area's existing businesses and potential for new development. This analysis was comprised of two parts - interviews with existing merchants and a demand analysis to quantify market potential for new businesses and land uses.
Merchant Interviews:
The interviews were conducted by Boulevard Strategies, a Columbus-based retail consulting firm. Individual interviews were conducted with the primary business owner or managers for 51 merchants in the study area. Topics covered in each interview included customer mix, employment and recruiting practices, competition and competitive advantages, square footage used in the operation, rent, sales performance, strengths and weaknesses of the University District as a business environment, and suggestions for improvement. The sample of merchants was not randomly generated and was intentionally weighted toward the District's most influential businesses in terms of longevity, size, and community involvement. However, the cross section of interviews did reflect a representative sample of businesses and trades operating within the University District. The complete findings from these interviews are contained in Results of Merchant Interviews in the University District. A summary of the major findings include:Demand Analysis:
The demand analysis was developed by Robert Charles Lesser and Company, based on expenditure potential estimates for neighborhood and dorm residents. These estimates were developed by Boulevard Strategies using a proprietary model and demographics of the neighborhood, data from the Lantern, and national surveys regarding spending patterns of students living on campus. Faculty and staff expenditure estimates were derived from specific Ohio State University and national survey data. The results of this analysis indicate a demand for additional retail, and particularly retail providing goods for students, other residents of the District, faculty, staff, daily visitors, and employees that work within the area and are currently underserved. The potential was expanded to include attracting additional patrons from outside the area. A summary of this analysis by use includes:Retail:
Loss of retail sales dollars is extremely high in the University District. The following table summarizes the minimal amount of money currently spent in the University District by groups of potential customers:$.27 of every $1.00 by neighborhood residents
$.33 of every $1.00 by dormitory residents
$.04 of every $1.00 by faculty and staff
This is contrasted against healthy neighborhood commercial areas that typically capture $.50 to $.60 of every $1.00 spent by residents and $.10 to $.15 for employees working in a given area. If the factors leading to the current decline of retail along High Street can be effectively addressed, even relatively modest increases in capture rates will generate new demand for substantial increases in retail space.
This will require not only physical and safety improvements, but also the development and inclusion of new retail formats into the District’s retail centers. Although there is an oversupply of some types of larger format retailers in the Columbus area at large, there is still a deficit in closer-in urban areas such as the University Neighborhoods. Currently, an increasing portion of individual retail dollars go to stores that dominate their retail categories, which in turn provides cost-competitive goods. Access to more price-competitive goods effectively increases one’s disposable income, in turn leaving more money for entertainment, home furnishing, or apparel purchase. To exclude these retailers from the University Neighborhoods will limit the area’s potential for economic growth and improved affordability.
While a significant portion of new retail can be accommodated through upgrades to existing buildings (e.g., existing bars rehabilitated or replaced with different forms of entertainment), there exists enough demand to warrant a net increase in new retail users and square footage. Market demand analysis indicates the potential for:
Continued discussions with local and national retail developers have indicated that these estimates may in fact be conservative.
Potential new store categories include avant-garde apparel and home furnishings catering to both the youth and urban resident market; casual restaurants that provide value price points and sit-down qualities; new bookstore/cafe formats; larger record stores; progressive and day-to-day apparel stores; office supplies; art, film, or second run theaters; and a broader and higher quality range of entertainment-oriented uses than currently offered. Consequently, accommodating new users as well as the types of stores recommended by existing merchants will require redevelopment of some existing commercial structures on High Street, given their current size and configuration. To create the larger spaces required by these users, complicated site assemblage and creative assemblage/financing techniques will also be necessary.
While significant potential for new retail space is warranted in the High Street corridor, neighborhood commercial centers demand is much more limited. Basic uses such as restaurants, cleaners, small groceries, etc. will need to be carefully developed as the market matures, and will require financial assistance in the initial phases of development to assure their success and long-term viability.
Office:
The Ohio State University currently leases 115,000 square feet of space off campus, 42% of which has leases expiring by 1998. Highest rents currently paid are about $14 to $15 per square foot (full service), with no escalations or pass-throughs but on typically short lease terms (e.g., three years). This obvious potential tenant is supplemented by additional demand from tenants who may want to be proximate to the large student labor force, the university’s significant research facilities, or to provide consulting opportunities for faculty. Examples of these types of users include telemarketing firms, law and design practices, or high tech software and medical development firms.Based on these opportunities, the demand analysis projects a potential for approximately 70,000 square feet of new office space in the University Neighborhoods over the next five years to serve university uses now located off campus, as well as activities located in dormitory buildings that might be converted back to student housing. Additional demand of approximately 30,000 square feet for firms established by faculty or firms that want a location near the university is also a consideration.
One other very strong program element is a 10,000-15,000 square foot Ohio State Visitor’s Center which could be incorporated into any new community gateway commercial development.
Physical Analysis: Methodology and Findings
A physical review of existing commercial facilities was conducted in the spring of 1995, and updated as testing of various revitalization alternatives developed. Reviews of existing buildings were completed by NBBJ, EDAW, Robert Charles Lesser and Company, and Campus Partners to assess the adaptive reuse potential of most existing structures along High Street. Assessments of Building Condition, Existing Land Use, and Building Character were documented in the inventory and analysis phase by NBBJ through a review of past studies and through windshield and walking surveys using generally accepted industry standards for building classification. The results of these analyses are documented in the ULI Briefing Book.
Buildings:
High Street, between 5th and Northwood Avenues, is the area's predominant retail provider with over 625,000 square feet of retail businesses. While this is a significant amount of total space, the fact that it is aggregated from over 200+ separate spaces results in very inefficient floor plates and limited opportunities for users seeking larger buildings with contiguous square footage in the 3,000 - 5,000 sfHigh Street:
While the scale and texture of the buildings along High Street are reminiscent of a typical "main street" feel, there are few buildings that contribute significantly on their own to the overall character of the corridor. The one notable exception is the Newport Music Hall, which is both a major entertainment venue for the District as well as an architectural centerpiece. However, the graceful drama that recalls the bygone era of great theaters has been obscured by insensitive and inappropriate renovation.Other sites, while not significant as architectural features, are an important part of the corridor for the business and neighborhood history they represent. Long's Bookstore and Larry's Bar are two such neighborhood institutions whose continued presence needs to be addressed as a part of any revitalization/redevelopment effort. Several large residential structures north of 15th Avenue have considerable architectural character, and should be considered for adaptive reuse as restaurants, bed and breakfasts, or simply residential apartments. While their architectural character has been obscured by commercial storefronts added over time, removal of these storefronts will provide both opportunities to widen the sidewalk (creating new open space elements along High Street), and concentrate the retail program into a critical mass consistent with Recommendation 15.1.4.
Finally, three residential complexes that provide rowhouse style apartments facing exterior courtyards are a unique building typology that should be explored for renovation and adaptive reuse. In sum total, this represents approximately 50% of the structures within the High Street Corridor that are worth further evaluation for adaptive reuse. The remaining 50% of the structures in the corridor are questionable for reuse potential when the cost of renovation or their ability to provide appropriately sized retail floor plates is considered.
Streetscape:
The physical character of High Street is a limiting factor to the area's success. The narrow width sidewalks (from 12 to 8 feet) create negative impacts on both the vitality and appearance of High Street. When the narrow widths are coupled with street furnishings such as street trees, tree grates, trash cans, kiosks and light fixtures, effective pedestrian circulation is reduced even further to six feet, only wide enough for two people walking side by side. The high traffic levels within the corridor create a pedestrian environment that is overcrowded, unsafe, and overextended in terms of its ability to absorb wear and tear or trash generated by large traffic volumes.The other negative impact of narrow sidewalks is the proportional relationship between the vertical building face and the horizontal ground plane. As a rule a 1:1 ratio should exist between the first story height and the pedestrian ground plane to create a proper setting for strolling comfort, allow for window shopping, provide proper visibility for retail signage, and establish an appropriate foreground for the building elevation.
The narrow sidewalks widths are further exacerbated by the lack of 'transparency' that many of the storefronts currently afford. Building and storefront transparency is the ability of a passing shopper to view into the store, or a display window. The larger the storefront glass and hence transparency, the more lively the street feel. This increased transparency also has the added psychological effect of making the sidewalk feel wider, because pedestrians can look through glass and into the store as opposed to feeling forced to walk against a solid wall. Currently, many buildings along High Street have chosen to board up or stucco over storefronts due to safety concerns or low budget renovations. This has resulted in considerable new flat surfaces for graffiti and handbill litter, adding to the blighted and uninviting appearance of High Street.
High Street is also hampered by the closure of several east-west streets in the late 1980s. Closed to minimize conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists and automobiles turning into or exiting on these streets, the resulting "cul de sacs" lack maintenance, provide only limited parking, and effectively have cut off ease of circulation in and out of the neighborhood, further hampering retail vitality.
Finally, High Street, and its role and relationship to the neighborhood is limited by its "one dimensional" character. This is most visible as one turns the corner off of High Street into one of the neighborhood's east-west streets to find either the rear of the building, a vacant parking lot, or a residential structure.
Lane Avenue:
Lane Avenue (west of High Street) is characterized by a mixture of residential uses, retail, and hotel facilities, catering predominantly to Ohio State students and visitors. The land uses divide most distinctly around Neil Avenue, with the character of the corridor east of Neil predominantly non-descript residential complexes built close to the street edge. Land use west of Neil is commercial, varies widely in building scale and depth of setback, on both the private sector side and Ohio State University side. As the proposed western gateway to the University District, Lane Avenue in its current condition contributes little to the community and requires aggressive revisions to both the roadway cross section and edge condition.5th Avenue:
5th Avenue is characterized by vacant or semi-renovated residential, neighborhood commercial, and industrial buildings in a variety of commercial and light industrial uses. Within the corridor there are approximately nine commercial structures providing 45,000 square feet. The general condition of most buildings is fair to poor, and any new construction has been done in a manner of lowest cost and highest security. Consequently, the structures are both a blight on the 5th Avenue corridor and negative appearance on the neighborhood.Neighborhood Commercial:
Neighborhood commercial is scattered intermittently throughout the study area, with the two prime locations being a 40,000 square foot center at 18th Avenue and Fourth Street, and approximately 65,000 square feet of mixed uses located around the intersections of 11th/Chittenden Avenues and Summit/Fourth Streets. Approximately 15 structures are scattered throughout the study area, providing an estimated 18,000 square feet of commercial uses, primarily convenience commercial and neighborhood entertainment such as taverns or restaurants. While these buildings vary widely in condition and character, their predominant appearance is one of strong potential, but currently poorly maintained.Programs and Concepts
High Street Centers of Activity:
The Revitalization Plan proposes three activity centers along High Street as the main street’s anchors to spur new activity and development within the entire corridor. These include an Entertainment/Retail center of 11th and High Street; an "Arts Gateway" to Ohio State at 15th and High Street; and a neighborhood commercial and expanded international village at Lane and High Street. These centers would be located approximately 1/4 mile apart to maximize people’s willingness to park at one node and then walk to others. Each node should be differentiated in image, scale, and theme to meet varying market potential - while creating a synergy of uses and character that will provide the corridor with a unique identity, and attract a number of markets. Not surprisingly, likely store categories include tenants that cater to student’s needs: progressive apparel and home furnishings, casual restaurants, bookstore cafes, CD stores, second run movie theaters; and a wide range of entertainment oriented uses of a higher caliber and diversity than the existing bars at 11th and High.
A second concept integral to these activity centers is linking the centers with smaller scale commercial/residential development. The linkages would be a combination of scattered site renovation or infill construction. Commercial development in these areas should "turn the corner" at cross streets, extending into the East Campus to provide opportunities for neighborhood services and retail users that cannot afford the more costly lease rates of a High Street address. Retail/service space would be located on the ground floors with high density housing or office on upper levels. This would bridge the High Street "commercial facade" to the lower intensity scale of the residential neighborhoods.
A third critical concept for High Street is the provision for structured parking and improvements to Pearl Street as the District’s primary service corridor. Current estimates are that the corridor suffers from a deficit of approximately 2,000 parking spaces based on existing land uses. To alleviate the shortage, new garages are proposed at the three activity center locations to support new uses and help solve some of the current parking shortages. Pearl Street’s primary function must be as a service alley, and improvements will involve upgrading the alley through land acquisition, utility relocation, and parking restrictions (see Chapters 12.0 and 14.0 for circulation and parking recommendations).
The fourth concept involves revisions to the current development standards as they relate to building setbacks, and retail appendages on older residential units that are now zoned for commercial use. The city of Columbus Ordinance No. 313-03 that requires a 65-foot setback from the centerline of High Street should be repealed, and replaced with an ordinance that requires a minimum 12-foot setback from the curb instead. The intent of the change is to allow for greater sidewalk widths in areas that are now too constrained. It is still the intent of the Revitalization Plan to maintain the current "street wall" on the east side of High Street to define the sidewalk edge where feasible, but encourage removal of cluttered storefronts appended onto residential structures. This will provide increased opportunities for new plazas and sidewalk cafes and allow the historic structures to be adaptively reused.
Additional improvements to High Street will involve the provision of increased crosswalk connections and new traffic signalization (see Chapters 12.0, 13.0).
The Revitalization Plan also recommends other shopping areas that might be developed or revitalized outside of the High Street/Lane Avenue areas. However, the demand analysis conducted for this study does not indicate a great deal of support for small retail areas scattered through the neighborhood. Market opportunities should be monitored regularly to determine whether there are opportunities for new neighborhood retail, and financial incentives should be drafted to support the most viable operations.
Locally Owned Business Retention and Encouragement:
Existing merchants are an indispensable component of High Street’s future. Considerable effort should be made to assist them in realizing a long-term place in the community’s revitalization at the same time helping them to develop a more prosperous future. As the merchants interviewed for the Revitalization Plan recognized, a more market-responsive mix of stores, including some larger national and regional stores, will help all merchants, just as all the stores in a shopping center benefit from having desirable department stores and other anchors.The Revitalization Plan recommends various new development and renovation projects along High Street. The relocation of certain businesses will be inevitable during stages of new construction or rehabilitation, but the city of Columbus’ Commercial Revitalization Department, Campus Partners, and the UCBA should develop a relocation and business assistance program that will be a major component of any redevelopment proposal put before the City Council. Additionally, a portion of new and rehabilitated structures should include a percentage set-aside for locally owned and managed businesses.
A model program that should be reviewed is the Rouse Company’s approach to Festival Marketplace development. Rouse recognizes the importance of blending national credit tenants to secure financing with locally owned businesses to ensure uniqueness in each of their developments. For this reason they typically provide business and financial assistance with locational support and dedicated amounts of square footage for local entrepreneurs that wish to establish businesses within the new development.
Business Improvement District
High Street Special Improvement District:
The critical administrative action in support of a revitalized High Street will be the formation of a High Street Special Improvement District. In recent times, more and more urban businesses are privatizing traditionally publicly provided services. Believing that these services are essential to a commercial precincts’ economic vitality, retail operator and landowners are paying for these services as a cost of business. The payments are often seen as common area maintenance charges paid by shopping center tenants. Based on an analysis of 13 assessment financed districts by the Urban Land Institute, they all have several elements in common:Establishing the High Street Special Improvement District:
Recent Ohio enabling legislation has created the mechanism for establishing Special Improvement Districts (SID) within targeted areas. The economic vitality of urban commercial zones is often linked directly to issues such as crime, visual appearance, and parking management. The SID concept typically involves the privatization of services that traditionally would fall on the public sector, paid for by the business owners. The responsibilities of the operator designated to provide services to High Street would include security, trash pick-up, snow removal, street cleaning, street furniture and tree maintenance, handbill and graffiti removal, and parking management. Other non-traditional services include "soft policing" of aggressive panhandlers and the daily arrangement and pick-up of street furniture.Based upon Ohio law, establishment of a SID requires a petition signed by owners of either: (1) at least 60% of the front footage of property abutting any street or alley in the proposed SID, or (2) at least 75% of the property area in the proposed SID. The City Council will then need to approve the articles of incorporation for the SID and will levy a special assessment to pay for the costs of an initial plan. At that point, a Board of Trustees will be established for the SID, with each property owner having one vote. The Board of Trustees will proceed to adopt one or more plans for public improvements and/or public services, including the assessment method that will be used. After receiving comments from the City Council and Mayor, such plans need to be submitted in the form of petitions signed by owners of either: (1) at least 60% of the front footage of property that would be assessed, or (2) at least 75% of the property area that would be assessed. The plans then need to be approved by the City Council. Assessments can be levied: (1) by a percentage of the tax assessment, (2) in proportion to the benefits that each property will receive, or (3) on proportion to the front footage abutting an improvement. A SID can be dissolved or services plan repealed with a vote by the property owners.
One of the unique opportunities for developing an effective High Street SID is the role that Ohio State can play, given the significant amount of property that it owns within the High Street Corridor. By voluntarily agreeing to participate in the High Street SID, the organization can get an immediate and effective boost to its operating income and momentum of effectiveness.
While the services typically provided by Special Improvement Districts vary, most SIDs throughout the country have the primary objective of promoting clean and safe commercial settings. In the previously referenced analysis of 13 SIDs, over 50% of the operating funds go toward either improved cleaning or security of the respective Districts.
A summary of the potential services that the High Street SID should provide are:
Design Continuity
All new commercial construction and rehabilitation along High Street should comply with a set of established design guidelines developed to create an active and vibrant retail area, while also protecting the historic scale and texture of the corridor.
Design guidelines and design review processes help create or maintain the unique, unified identity of an area to which they are applied. Currently, design guidelines exist for several areas within the University District. Under the heading of residential, the University Area Appearance Review Board or the City’s Historic Resources Commission provides the most comprehensive and effective method for limiting inappropriate design. The Ohio State University has addressed its built environment through the adoption of design guidelines and a new campus master plan in 1996.
However, commercial and specifically retail uses are severely lacking design controls. As a result, past and even recent renovations continue to add to the area’s blighted appearance. In the merchant interviews conducted as a part of this study, over 80% indicated they plan some form of renovation or upgrade to their properties or stores in the near future. If properly directed, this level of private sector improvement could have an immediate positive impact on the appearance of High Street. Consequently, commercial design guidelines should be developed to be address three primary audiences:
The pedestrian feel of many successful retail streets is largely due to the fact that they have evolved over a period of many years. The combination of time and architectural perspectives results in a rich fabric of building colors, materials, and styles. High Street, with its traditional main street character, is similar in its evolution. Within the core area between 11th Avenue and Lane, the scale of the buildings (often two- to three-story), the building materials which are primarily brick and stone, the diversity of architectural styles and forms, and the amount of open space that exists between some buildings (especially the rowhouse clusters), in front of buildings (residential structures converted over the retail), or as an ‘apron’ to the campus on the west side of High Street all combine to create the unique feel that is High Street in the University Neighborhoods.
The design guidelines need to provide standards that blend new commercial development with rehabilitation of existing structures. This is especially true when one considers that many of the program requirements that national retailers use may be difficult to achieve if the guidelines simply try to replicate the existing building patterns that currently exist. As such, a balance will need to be struck between ensuring that new businesses can construct viable and operationally functional structures and respecting the integrity and historic patterns of High Street. The guidelines should have three objectives:
Requirements:
The guidelines should address, as a minimum, the following seven major categories:1. Site Development Standards
2. Building Height and Massing
3. Building materials
4. Storefronts and Entries
5. Awnings, lighting, and building features
6. Signage
7. Street amenities (furnishings, landscaping, paving, etc.)