Buzz for Division Street identifies
multiple ideas to revitalize this section of old Bankhead Highway
Residential
lofts, an active senior living complex, a plaza for mobile food trucks,
artistic light poles and retro signs are some of the top ideas to revitalize
Division Street between Cooper and Collins streets.
As part of the
Discover Division effort, city planners and consultants have spent months
poring over suggestions from residents and business owners to redevelop the
area and encourage future growth.
Consultants said
Thursday at the final public open house that they have identified 16 different
project types that could succeed there.
Paris Rutherford of
Catalyst Urban Development said a healthy pre-owned car business already
operates along Division Street (the former U.S. 80
nicknamed “Bankhead Highway”).
But he said the area
also is ripe for lofts and apartments, restaurants and mixed-use developments.
Rutherford suggested
that Division revitalization efforts begin by building off the current development
successes along Center Street.
“Focus on Center and
build out,” he advised. “It creates a core, a nucleus.”
Other ideas for the
area include possibly combining some car lots into one shared-use area and
including more parking for existing businesses.
The Division
Corridor Strategy Project is an effort to identify action steps to support
private investment in the corridor that will provide jobs, increase property
values and provide a link between UTA, downtown and the entertainment district.
Rutherford said the
proposal that will go to City Council later this fall is not a “streetscape
plan” but suggestions for the area’s market potential.
He said the City
should broker discussions between land owners and potential investors.
“The emphasis here
was to make a better urban environment,” he said.
Council member Lana
Wolff, who attended the last public meeting, praised the plan as “very
realistic and market-driven.”
“I love it. It’s
very do-able,” she said.
The effort began
earlier this year with an advisory committee that analyzed conditions and met
with stakeholders.
Three open houses
were designed as a way for the public to mingle with city planners and
consultants, keep up with project updates and share opinions.
Some resident and
business owner suggestions that planners collected from the meetings include:
“attract all ages”; “pedestrian-oriented”; “landscaping”; and “improve
aesthetics.”
The project seeks to
support Division’s historic past while keeping it commercially viable and
finding new investments for the area.
A market analysis
showed that the one-mile corridor between Cooper and Collins contains aging and
outdated buildings that are not visually continuous and lack
pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and landscaping.
Some business owners
suggested that the City offer incentives to current property owners to improve
landscaping and signage.
“We’ve been talking
about this for 15 years,” said Walid Joulani who owns and operates several car
lots in the area. “Big ideas are great but let’s get practical, too.”
The project is
scheduled to be presented to work sessions of the City Council on Sept. 18 and
the Planning and Zoning Committee on Sept. 19.
Planning and Zoning
and City Council public hearings are expected in October with a City Council
adoption scheduled for early November.
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