In a City Talk column almost exactly one year ago, I mentioned the efforts of developer Ben Carter to market a “premier portfolio” of downtown Savannah properties.
Carter’s ambitious efforts made big news throughout 2014, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that Broughton Street has been attracting major national retailers for years.
Some of my first columns almost 15 years ago were about the evolution of Broughton Street with the arrival of Gap and Banana Republic.
Retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Marc Jacobs arrived later, and, more recently, we’ve seen higher-end chains such as Kate Spade and Free People.
J.Crew and Ann Taylor LOFT opened in late 2014.
The recent dynamics have forced several locally owned stores to move or close, but there has been relatively heavy turnover on Broughton Street throughout this century.
That turnover has had many causes, including the toll of the recession, bad investments by some entrepreneurs, rising rents, the increasing importance of tourism and a variety of other factors.
And there will likely be a heavy concentration of locally owned businesses on Broughton Street for the foreseeable future.
Consider some of the locally owned establishments on important corners along Broughton Street, including Levy Jewelers, 24e, Nourish, The Paris Market, The Coffee Fox and Zia Boutique.
Leopold’s Ice Cream routinely has long lines into the street even in the worst weather. Restaurateurs Sean and Ele Tran operate two restaurants — Chive Sea Bar + Lounge and Flying Monk Noodle Bar — right across the street from each other in the first block of East Broughton.
The Salt Table — at 51 Barnard St., just steps off Broughton Street — was chosen by writers and editors at this newspaper as Retail Business of the Year for 2014. (I profiled The Salt Table when it opened in 2011.)
The Small Business Assistance Corp. recently honored Adam Turoni, owner of Chocolat by Adam Turoni at 323 West Broughton St., as Micro Entrepreneur of Year. (City Talk first wrote about Turoni in 2011, when his business launched in Starland.)
Are businesses like these going to be forced to close by some evil out-of-town developer who wants to turn Broughton into Anywhere, U.S.A.?
Clearly not.
But as Broughton Street continues to change, what can we expect it to look like a year from now?
More importantly, what do we want it to look like?
The city of Savannah has not embraced Carter’s suggestions for special taxing districts to fund Broughton Street improvements, but officials do seem serious about redesigning the public spaces.
You can view some of the possibilities at http://savannahga.gov/streetscape.
Since Broughton Street is the Historic District’s most vibrant retail area, I think business owners should be given broader leeway regarding uses along the sidewalk, that the lighting should be more vibrant and that the pedestrian experience should be enhanced as much as possible.
I also wish that planners would consider planting palm trees on some of the blocks to give Broughton a special local flair.
I don’t know if any design changes will be completed by the end of 2015, but we’ll almost certainly see some new stores move into freshly renovated spaces controlled by Ben Carter Enterprises.
In 2015, it’s probable that more tourists will wander onto Broughton Street than in any year in the city’s history.
The likely streetscape changes might remove a few parking spaces from Broughton Street in 2015, and many locals will continue to cite lack of parking as a reason for not shopping downtown.
Of course, on-street spaces can generally be found within a few blocks south of Broughton Street, but some of those spaces are too expensive and timed too tightly to encourage maximum use by locals.
We also need to regain use of the on-street spaces around the federal buildings on Telfair Square. The parking ban for the last 13 years has cost downtown retailers millions of dollars. It would be a huge boon for consumers and for businesses if we could get those spaces back.
In the long run, however, it looks like Broughton Street will rely more and more on shoppers who arrive on foot, by bike and via other types of non-automobile transportation.
I’ve talked to a lot of folks over the past year who cynically shake their heads when they talk about Broughton Street, but I’m genuinely excited to see what new investment comes to the corridor in 2015.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.