The proposal made by Tartan Realty to build a 300 unit residential/commercial building where 710 Bookstore means several major changes to the downtown area and raises a couple of concerns.
One likely change would be the closing or drastic reconfiguration of 710 Bookstore. As noted in the linked article above, the owner already plans to close the business, while store manager Randy Johnson says he is pursuing options to keep the business open. Since the proposed apartment complex has plans for commercial spaces at the north and south ends, one scenario calls for a drastically shrunken 710 Bookstore to move into one of those spaces.
A second major change involves the expansion of the building footprint. According to the plans I have seen, the building would roughly double in size, removing approximately three rows of parking spaces from the south end of Illinois and University Avenues, reducing the limited amount of parking there even further.
This parking reduction points out a major problem with the development as it stands: parking. From what I understand, the developer plans for .1 to .2 vehicles per unit in the building, meaning the company expects to need parking for 30 to 60 vehicles. The only parking planned for the building is about 80 spaces for retail use, meaning those 30 to 60 vehicles would have to park off site.
The projected tenants of the facility, however, are upper-class SIUC students, almost all of which will have their own vehicles, taking us from a projected rate of .1-.2 vehicles per unit to .5-.9 per unity, meaning parking spaces are needed for 150 to 300+ vehicles. Where will they go? There is a reason why much of the new residential building has gone up on south 51, east Hwy 13 and East Grand Avenue. Unlike downtown, there is plenty of open space there, enough to put in both the apartments and the parking to go along with them. Any new apartment complex in the downtown area will have to provide for the parking needs of its residents.
One likely change would be the closing or drastic reconfiguration of 710 Bookstore. As noted in the linked article above, the owner already plans to close the business, while store manager Randy Johnson says he is pursuing options to keep the business open. Since the proposed apartment complex has plans for commercial spaces at the north and south ends, one scenario calls for a drastically shrunken 710 Bookstore to move into one of those spaces.
A second major change involves the expansion of the building footprint. According to the plans I have seen, the building would roughly double in size, removing approximately three rows of parking spaces from the south end of Illinois and University Avenues, reducing the limited amount of parking there even further.
This parking reduction points out a major problem with the development as it stands: parking. From what I understand, the developer plans for .1 to .2 vehicles per unit in the building, meaning the company expects to need parking for 30 to 60 vehicles. The only parking planned for the building is about 80 spaces for retail use, meaning those 30 to 60 vehicles would have to park off site.
The projected tenants of the facility, however, are upper-class SIUC students, almost all of which will have their own vehicles, taking us from a projected rate of .1-.2 vehicles per unit to .5-.9 per unity, meaning parking spaces are needed for 150 to 300+ vehicles. Where will they go? There is a reason why much of the new residential building has gone up on south 51, east Hwy 13 and East Grand Avenue. Unlike downtown, there is plenty of open space there, enough to put in both the apartments and the parking to go along with them. Any new apartment complex in the downtown area will have to provide for the parking needs of its residents.
I think parking is something that we need to think about too, but from a different perspective. I don't want the strip to feel like a strip-mall any more than it already does. In Carbondale people complain about parking and traffic, but we have it easy compared to many college towns there is NO place to park. New multi-story residential buildings in Champaign Urbana can't possibly provide a parking space for every bed. Being so close to campus here, students wouldn't actually need to use their cars on a daily basis -- so what about an alternative where there was parking elsewhere? What about cultivating a walking and biking feel along the strip? What about enforcing short-term parking and having strenuous penalties (I don't know how strongly parking violations are enforced along the strip currently)? We need to bring Carbondale into the 21st century -- higher density means less parking and more walking -- it is more energy efficient and more pleasant to experience, and we are a perfect sized city to be vibrant and walkable/bikeable.
ReplyDeleteParking violations are enforced pretty seriously. I just got a ticket last week. Left the car for 15 minutes and came back to find a ticket. I have no problem with getting the ticket, I broke the law and deserved it. I wish the signs would get updated to reflect current enforcement hours.
ReplyDeleteIf this complex goes in, it would be the first high density development in downtown and, as you point out, Carbondale is not prepared to currently support such a development. The city is currently planning a bike path along the railroad tracks running from campus to the town square but that likely won't get completed much before 2015.