Fifth Street Pedscape / Ivey's Building Retail Improvements

[orulz]

I'm a bit curious how the city plans on dealing with this block. The right-of-way through there is really narrow. Measuring on Polaris, it looks like it's at most 40' wide, maybe just 35'. On the north side of the street Avenue and Hearst actually do incorporate wider sidewalks outside of the ROW, but Latorre's obviously does not. So clearly the sidewalks cannot be 14' wide on both sides from end to end.

I guess what they will probably do is make the sidewalks 14' wide along the Ivey's (south) side and just let them be narrow in front of Latorre's. Guess that's not such a big deal. If it were a really big deal for some reason, I guess they could do an "old school" street widening: deconstruct the facades, take out the front 8-10' of the buildings, and reconstruct them. This sort of project is seldom undertaken these days though and would be expensive, but was actually fairly common through the 1st half of the 20th century. (For example, in Asheville)

[New Name]

I guess what they will probably do is make the sidewalks 14' wide along the Ivey's (south) side and just let them be narrow in front of Latorre's. Guess that's not such a big deal. If it were a really big deal for some reason, I guess they could do an "old school" street widening: deconstruct the facades, take out the front 8-10' of the buildings, and reconstruct them. This sort of project is seldom undertaken these days though and would be expensive, but was actually fairly common through the 1st half of the 20th century. (For example, in Asheville)

I wonder if they could do some sort of ground-floor cut-in: whereby you have the sidewalks under the actual building facade including a few steps up to the front doors of the retail (remembering that the interior corridor is how these places are accessed right now, but that corridor won't be necessary once they have sidewalk access; this will gain each retail spot 10-20'). I assume the stairs will be necessary because once you get past Just Fresh, the "ground floor" retail is 2-6 feet above the sidewalk level.

[dubone]

My guess is that they will not touch the section in front of Fiji and what used to be Latorres. The street parking is around 9' wide and the current sidewalk on the Ivey's side is 5' wide. I think they'll just purely take out the street parking and do a straight up widening on the Ivey's side only. You can see on the side of Ivey's that there is a bricked up spot in the middle where an original department store entrance was. I suspect that, structurally, that would be the easiest to reopen (even if they also add other openings). That is directly across from the Latorres. So I don't think they'd make the effort to guide the lanes closer to Iveys' in the middle, and shrink that new sidewalk right in front of a main entrance into the project.

So just from reference 14' sidewalks means to me that they will only add sidewalk width to that side of the street.

I suspect things like valets will simply shift to that side of the street.

[sleightofhand]

This is great news. I walk down this block all the time and cringe at the Iveys side of the street. Maybe once its completed I'll actually enter the building.

[Spartan]

Yeah, the parking goes away, as will all those utilities and the meters that make walking on the Ivey's side of 5th impossible. Its a one side, sidewalk widening, but if the retail is flipped to the outside on Ivey's then it will be a much better street.

[dubone]

Thanks for the clarification. I guess in the end it won't be as big a deal to still have the same sidewalk width in front of Fiji and Dandelion because you can chose the Ivey's side of the street most of the time. And like I said before, they can do the valet stand on that side as well. Right now, the valet stand on that tiny sidewalk is crazy.

[uptownliving]

I really hope the retail in Ivey's is succusful after they flip it to face 5th St. If so then this could really be a catalyst project that could be something other buildings downtown can copy.

[New Name]

I really hope the retail in Ivey's is succusful after they flip it to face 5th St. If so then this could really be a catalyst project that could be something other buildings downtown can copy.

This is off topic, but does anyone else remember that rendering that showed them opening up the groundlevel front of the Omni and adjoining buildings around the plaza with the "disk" at Trade and Tryon (near the entrance with the bicycle chandelier hangs)? I'd LOVE to see that happen.

[Norm2]

I don't EVER remember seeing a rendering like that. Can someone repost that rendering if it is anywhere online?

[abttown]

The Omni renovation was briefly talked about in the Founders Hall/Renovation thread: There was a rendering posted by atlrvr.

[Norm2]

Maybe the plans have been on hold for a while due to the economy.

[atlrvr]

It was a conceptual rendering.....they will upfit that space once they find a tenant, not on a speculative basis.

[KickinChicken23]

Uptownliving posted the following on the Misc.Uptown Projects/News - 23 July 2009 - 10:32 PM

"Looks like the renovation of the Ivey's Condo building first floor is going to move forward. On the City Council agenda for next week is a grant to expand the 5th St sidewalk to 14 ft in width. The owner of the building is also going to remodel the first floor to "turn around" the retail so that it faces the street instead of the interior atrium."

>>> I was talking with Ivey’s Just Fresh Manager earlier this week. Major renovations in the retail section of the Ivey’s building are to begin in mid November. I don’t know if this means the 5^th street project is on, but he did tell me that the Just Fresh space is to be reconfigured and they aren’t scheduled to re-open until at least mid-January.

There was a HOA meeting to explain the situation, but my understanding is that there are some major road blocks with the building itself, before anything can be done to move forward on this project. They are having major problems with the roof, and its doing damage to parts of the top floor units. The board was attempting to find the money to make necessary repairs and was going to let the HOA members aware of status.

There is also a dispute about the parking garage below the Ivey's. Currently the right side when you pull in, which has been the commercial side for as long as I can remember, is owned by a separate party who isn't willing to pay for the use of the garage. So currently, that entire side is blocked off by a heavy duty chain and fence, not allowing anyone to use it until that dispute is settled. Plenty frustrating for the residents of the building who have been able to use that side of the garage for guests and extra parking on weekends and evenings. The resident side of the garage is already awful with such limited space to drive and park, so this doesn't help.

Hopefully they can get all this straightened out because the moving of the retail to the street front would do a world of good for this building.

[ScottCLT]

The former Just Fresh space is going to become a Qdoba. The sign is already up, and they have mostly completed construction to set back the window about 20 feet into the building to make room for covered patio dining.

Also, There are signs up across from Fiji in the street-level window that say "Just Fresh - Coming Soon". I really hope that this store will be reconfigured to open up to the street instead of the interior of the Ivey's building like it is now. This could really turn into a vibrant block if this side of the street can be occupied by some retail instead of just a wall. Right now, we have Basil Thai, Dandelion Market, Latorre's (moved to the top floor of the former Hom/Menage spot and reopened as a nightclub only), Nix Burgers and Brew, Fiji, Kashmir - and hopefully soon Just Fresh all in this little one-block strip. This could also give hope to the seemingly doomed former Daddy's location.

[Spartan]

I've heard that the plan to open up the building to 5th St and widen the sidewalk is still happening. They let the leases expire for Just fresh, the Chinese restaurant, etc so they have the ability to do the work. Not sure about the time line though.

The Qdoba improvements to allow for outdoor seating are fantastic. I'm not really wild about their food, but the aesthetic improvement of having more people dining on Tryon St is immeasurable.

[nonillogical]

i like qdoba quite a bit (i slightly prefer it over Moe's and Chipotle) so i'm really excited. we need more inexpensive/quick places like this uptown. its also looking like a really great treatment of that corner with the outdoor patio. now lets just hope they stay open on weekends.

[Urbanity]

The Qdoba corner treatment is pretty nice with two ceiling fans and a couple of hanging lights which gives it more of a sense of permanent fixture.

I really agree about that strip becoming a mini-destination on it's own and think that extending the Fifth Street sidewalks on the Ivey's side and adding building/restaurant access there would really complete the good vibe that is going on.

[Urbanity]

Looks like something is finally going into the old Daddy's American Bar & Grill space on Fifth ST.. I noticed the signage first in the windows, and just checked them out on the web. They look pretty cool and I think might be a great fit for that strip!

I present Molly MacPherson's

[Guest]

Holy Crap This was my place in Savannah! Biggest Scotch Selection in the South East, they had like 50 on tap, literal taps of scotch. Good Pub food too! And they will no doubt be another place to catch a game of Soccer/Rugby in the city!

[Urbanity]

There's another new restaurant opening on the second floor of the Fifth Street side of the building too. I forget the name (it's not the Chinese place that's coming) but they have a sign in the window across the street from Nix/Fiji.

[Spartan]

Are you talking about Just Fresh?

[New Name]

What about the upfit of the building? Street fronting?

[Urbanity]

Are you talking about Just Fresh?

No. I apologize I forgot the name but it was one word. It was not Just Fresh. I thought it was perhaps an Indian name.

I'll make my way over there tomorrow after work and look for the flyer again.

Edit: OK - Went by this morning on the walk with my dog. It is an Indian restaurant named Tandoori Cafe

[Spartan]

What about the upfit of the building? Street fronting?

It's a waiting game. From what I can understand, their plans were approved... they just have to start construction. With all of these new tenants moving in that's looking less likely. I hope I'm wrong though.

[Urbanity]

Don't believe it has been noted elsewhere (if so, my apologies) but Molly MacPherson's has closed (in October). Their site says they just didn't have enough business.

This is one just bad corner with Church street going to Trade a practical ghost strip and the limitations of the small sidewalk on the South side of fifth between Church and Tryon making it an unlikely corner for people to stroll.

I know there were plans in the works to enlarge the sidewalk on 5th. Until that is done, I don't think anything can last there.