Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoiler
That area? You mean downtown? Or the half-block radius of the project site as it looks in 2018? Why do you think the current state of the area determines how the area should be in the future?
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I mean that block or two radius. I just want projects to get built. Forcing uses that aren’t market driven doesn’t help projects get built.
The city did ground floor retail facing St Marys when they built the Travis garage (which has lots more traffic than Villita) and it sat mostly empty, for years until they finally put city offices into it.
Putting the Whataburger into the Riverbend garage (which has tons of traffic) required an enormous amount of infrastructure (venthoods can’t vent up through the garage slab, they needed a big refrigerated trash storage room to keep everything from smelling, etc.)
It just isn’t easy to do, costs a lot, probably prevents you from doing a cheaper Pre-cast garage, etc., so it’s only worth it if there is lots of retail traffic. If they want to put a fitness place and subsidize a coffee place as amenities for the apartments, that’s great. I’m all for it. I just think you have to be realistic on what the market will bear.