The old New Britain Bank &Trust Building located on West Main Street next to the City Hall Building is currently undergoing a complete renovation. This building will be converted into a downtown apartment building with the possibility of having commercial in its first level or two.
This well is great for the city in creating additional downtown foot traffic. Hopefully, in reminiscing, could the foot traffic regenerate itself like it was some fifty years ago? Or could that be just wishful thinking?
Let us all hope that the additional living accommodations will help to attract businesses that will locate at the pinnacle heights business tract and move New Britain forward as planned by our Mayor.
One of the problems with your theory of generating foot traffic downtown is the lack of parking, especially free parking.
ReplyDeleteNew Britain is going backwards in that area, having just increased the parking rates in the garages. One way you might consider generating foot traffic downtown would be to allow the stores to validate parking tickets for those making purchases downtown. Other metropolitan shopping areas have done so. West Hartford Center stores always had the ability to do so. The Aloha Center in Honolulu has an interesting approach to this problem. All you need to do is make a purchase of any kind in one of their shops and you get 2 hours free parking, so make a purchase in any store or have a drink in a bar and get 2 hours parking in the municipal lot. This encourages people to frequent the business in the shopping center, so why not encourage visitors to the downtown are to frequent downtown businesses?
I had the opportunity to meet with the builder of this project with his apprising me that there will be twenty-four apartments on the upper floors with the lower two levels being offered for commercial retail use.
ReplyDeleteThere is free parking downtown after 5:00 p.m. daily, and all day Saturday and Sunday. Since we pay for parking via meters, how would businesses validate parking fees? As for those who have moved into the new apartments and condos in the downtown area, do they get a reduced rate for parking?
ReplyDeleteThis improvement will help the city to be more viable.
ReplyDelete