Momentum building as retailers eye potential
Dining options are viewed as crucial in building foot traffic to support other
stores
Sandra Zaragoza
Staff writer
Dallas is known as a shopping mecca and a vibrant downtown needs to share in
the city's retail scene, downtown supporters believe.
The downtown core already has the makings of a destination shopping center,
but it needs to be fleshed out, said Nancy Hormann, executive director of the
Downtown Dallas Partnership--Main Street. "We have Neiman Marcus, which
is a great anchor, and we are looking to have a mix of restaurants, entertainment
and retail," she said.
The Downtown Dallas Partnership, along with other downtown organizations, has developed a masterplan for the revitalization of the Main Street District, which runs from Harwood Street to Field Street and Elm to Commerce. Main Street, where Neiman Marcus is located, will be the centerpiece of the downtown area.
With about 20 businesses moving into downtown in the last year -- including restaurants, nightclubs, gift shops, a florist, a travel agency and a coffee shop -- momentum is beginning to build.
The influx of high-end and casual restaurants will attract more retail, downtown supporters believe.
"Retail relies on foot traffic and the restaurants create the foot traffic needed to attract retailers," Hormann said.
Many believe the air-conditioned downtown tunnel system, which houses a host of retail outlets and restaurants that attract daytime office workers, is a disincentive to the creation of street-level retail and dining. It needs to be dismantled if the goal of achieving a vibrant downtown is to be met, they say.
But Hormann disagrees. "What we need to do is give people a reason to come out of those tunnels," she said.
And those reasons are growing, among them the popular Stone Street Gardens, a pedestrian walkway featuring several restaurants with sidewalk seating.
But the pressing goal at present is to invigorate the downtown core's nightlife. To achieve this, the Main Street District has made remaining open at night one of the major qualifiers for restaurants and other businesses seeking to enter downtown, Hormann said.
The city also is addressing major issues such as parking, which has been one of the challenges to attracting night-time visitors. One solution has been to make more and cheaper parking available to customers during evening hours.
Eventually, downtown supporters would like to see more pedestrian-friendly features, such as sidewalk cafes, throughout the district. "We want to externalize activity," Hormann said.
The Main Street District is also looking to attract retail shops that are "distinctly Dallas."
"What we are looking for are retailers that are indigenous to Dallas,"
Hormann said. "Visitors don't want to find the same stores they find everywhere
else. We want to find shops that can be a great showcase for Dallas as well
as provide good services for residents."
Long-time Dallas restaurateur Monica Greene chose Main Street as the location for her new, fast-casual dining concept, Pegaso, knowing it was riskier than other location options.
"It is not the perfect location given the short-term, but for the long-term it is a more-than-perfect location," Greene said. "Downtown is ripe for development. There are a lot of people that are interested in its vision."
Greene also is encouraged by the burgeoning residential scene, which is recognized as another factor powering the retail scene. Her restaurant is located in front of the Davis Building, which, when completed, will have more than 140 residents.
Since 2000, the downtown population has increased 32%, to 2,900 people, and is expected to grow substantially in the next five years, expanding the potential customer base significantly.
Because of this, and to foster a further increase in downtown residents, another focus of the Main Street District is attracting businesses that cater to their needs. A pharmacy is close to becoming a reality, while a grocery store is in the early negotiation stages, Hormann said.
"The plan is moving forward," she said. "Give it two years. I think the momentum is just starting. When we get the first couple of retailers to commit, it will grow from there."
The city's creation of the City Center Tax Increment Finance District in 1996, which allows for tax dollars generated in an improvement district to be spent in that district, served to jumpstart activity in both the residential and retail sectors, according to Karl Stundins, area redevelopment manager for the city of Dallas.
"Hopefully, in a few years downtown will be an attraction for those visiting Dallas as well as an attraction for those working and living in downtown," he said.
Contact DBJ writer Sandra Zaragoza at szaragoza@bizjournals.com or (214) 706-7113.