“The parking next door is going to be phenomenal,” he said, adding it’s one reason the couple decided to put a location at 135 Main St., in an area that is evolving from decrepit former storefronts and buildings into properties that have been spruced up and are ready for redevelopment.
Mike Dingeldein, director of the CORE Fund (Consortium for Ongoing Reinvestment Efforts), the leader in developing the area, said the 25-space lot at 127 Main St., which will have attractive landscaping, will be similar to two other recent parking-lot additions in the area.
Another landscaped lot and plaza area that recently was added along Main Street northeast of the intersection of Main and D streets has 34 spaces. The city also has a landscaped parking area immediately east of the True West coffee shop at 313 Main St.
The plan at this time is to not have parking meters on the lot, but instead to have two-hour parking from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with open parking at other times.
The lot construction is financed by CORE’s Strategic Property Fund, which has contributions from city government and the Hamilton Community Foundation, Dingeldein said.
“Ultimately we’ll deed it back to the city, like Armstead Park (the are next to True West on Main) was,” he said.
In a related matter, the city has indicated it now may be leaning away from widening the sidewalks along Main Street in the area, and instead may widen them on streets that run perpendicular to Main, to encourage restaurants and cafes to add outdoor dining spaces in what city government hopes will develop into an entertainment district.
The CORE Fund also has been painting the building at 139 Main St., and is working on the Hughes Pharmacy building in the 300 block.
“We’re starting to get more interest” in the buildings on Main Street, Dingeldein said.
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