Media Clip: Raleigh businesses hope for better time on revamped street (News & Observer)
May 9, 2011
Source: News & Observer (visit website)
Published: Monday, May 9, 2011
By Matt Garfield, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Mitch Hazouri looks out on a block bustling with activity.
From the balcony of Mitch's Tavern, the upstairs restaurant he has run on Hillsborough Street since 1966, he sees a bus stop to let off passengers. Young people chat at tables on the sidewalk. Students flock to buildings at N.C. State University.
Scenes of college-town life have returned. But for some businesses on Hillsborough Street, which fronts N.C. State's campus, it isn't quite the same.
After a messy, 16-month construction project - one aimed at transforming Hillsborough into a more walkable and drivable thoroughfare - merchants are still waiting for old customers to return.
And they're still hopeful for the new ones the $10 million streetscape project was designed to attract.
The construction at times made it difficult for pedestrians and drivers, often forcing detours and limiting parking, sending many customers elsewhere until the orange barrels went away last year.
"Practically no business in the city, if they lose their customer base for a year, is going to get it all back," Hazouri said. "If they find what they were getting here somewhere else, why should they come back?"
Tales of frustration can be heard in coffee shops and record stores along Hillsborough. Some merchants say the new traffic flow - with islands, bus lanes and wider sidewalks - makes it harder for customers to park and walk to stores.
Others stress the need for patience.
"The look is definitely there," said Alan Lovett, owner of Melvin's Hamburgers. "It just takes time to bring it back, and get that whole new feeling that the street can be really nice."
Crews widened sidewalks, replaced water and sewer lines, buried utility wires and built two roundabouts as part of the effort to create a snazzy gateway between downtown and the university.
Many businesses saw sales drop 20 percent to 30 percent during construction, said Lovett, president of the Hillsborough Street merchants association. Stores and restaurants have since recaptured about 10 percent of what they lost, Lovett said.
Walking down the street one afternoon last week, Jeff Murison talked about his quest to rebrand Hillsborough as an entertainment hot spot for more visitors - but without losing its college-strip identity.
The district faces competition from Raleigh's evolving downtown, as well as the bustling Glenwood South entertainment district.
Murison was hired last year to run a city-supported nonprofit agency that manages and promotes the Hillsborough Street area. Its $350,000 budget comes from extra taxes paid by property owners in the district and contributions from the city and the school.
"For a long time, I don't think developers really looked at Hillsborough Street as an ideal market," Murison said. "There's some very powerful economic engines here."
Murison is working to lure visitors. An outdoor summer movie series debuts May 19 with "Bull Durham," which includes a scene filmed in Mitch's Tavern. (A framed picture hanging in the tavern shows Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon having drinks at the bar.)
Other changes seek to improve the business climate. Lovett is working with N.C. State officials on a program to let students and staff use special cards, similar to debit cards, to make purchases off-campus.
The city imposed limits on panhandling in commercial zones with a revised law that took effect in March.
"Panhandling was a major issue," Murison said.
Shop where they live
The biggest boost could come from development that will put an influx of new residents within easy walking distance.
FMW Real Estate hopes to break ground this summer on a five-story building with 240 apartments and space for restaurants, shops and offices at Hillsborough and Morgan streets.
The university-owned block across from the school's landmark Bell Tower is out to bid for developers to submit ideas for restaurant, retail and office uses and possibly a hotel.
Neighbors in the Hillsborough Street area are keeping a close watch as more proposals emerge, hoping to make sure new buildings fit with their surroundings.
"We are all reaching out to these developers to establish and maintain positive relationships," said Will Allen, head of the Hillsborough citizens advisory council. "We want to know their parking plan, how much retail they have, their target market.
"There are a hundred issues, and we want to be involved."
Tension with NCSU
In the 1980s, relations turned frosty between NCSU and some homeowners near campus after the school announced plans for a parking deck at Hillsborough and Dan Allen Drive.
Assistant City Manager Dan Howe remembers how the tension persisted for years.
Howe was an NCSU graduate student at the time.
The two sides do a better job of communicating, Howe says, but coming projects could bring new conflicts. Rather than squabbling over each one, Howe wants neighbors to help identify suitable spots for development and standards for the look and feel of structures.
"Sooner or later, we've got to have the tough conversations," he said.
Going farther
The city may extend upgrades farther west on Hillsborough Street. A proposed transportation bond includes $1 million for design work on a six-block stretch from Gardner Street to Rosemary Street.
Murison rides an electric scooter up and down the street, checking in on merchants and devising ideas for special events.
It's like running an all-in-one homeowners association, chamber of commerce and tourism bureau, Murison tells people. The goal is to make Hillsborough a signature destination for Raleigh.
"It's one of those things that never is completed," he said. "It's certainly closer today than it was five years ago."
