Expert says downtown Provo on the right track

Expert says downtown Provo on the right track
Ace Stryker - DAILY HERALD

PROVO -- A national expert in retail growth says Provo has laid the groundwork for a downtown business boom, but the city must play its cards right if it wants Center Street to stand up to local malls.

Randol Mackley, a principal with the California-based Retail Real Estate Group, told the city's Municipal Council on Tuesday that downtown must create a unique, walkable atmosphere if it would compete with local malls, which have drawn much retail attention away from the area over the years. He said the tumultuous market often determines much of the outcome, but a little planning could go a long way toward fostering a thriving downtown.

"Downtown's customer has changed," said Mackley, a Provo native who has helped develop retail blueprints for several California cities. "Today's downtown customer is choosing Los Hermanos over McDonalds. Also, they're choosing the Covey Center over the cineplex movies."

Mackley said downtown Provo has good historical architecture and "anchor" sites -- including the Covey Center for the Arts and the Provo Tabernacle -- but many Center Street storefronts are vacant or occupied by the "wrong tenants." Those include bars and other businesses that don't inspire the kind of impulse shopping downtown areas depend on, he said. Others, like antique stores, bike shops and independent businesses, add the color vibrant downtowns need, he said.

"Retail, in large measure, is an impulse business," he said. "There are some uses that would merit revisiting. A lot of cities have dealt with this through a zoning ordinance."

Sherrie Hall Everett, the council's vice chair, told the Daily Herald she imagined many businesses that don't fit the city's downtown vision would simply be "priced out" as interest in the area picks up. She said Mackley's comments were validation for many decisions the city has already made, and encouragement for others.

"If we stay the course and stay the vision, then some of these things will eventually work themselves out," she said. "It was encouraging to know that we have done a lot of things really well so far."

Mackley said there are definite steps the city can take to improve its future prospects, including creating a leasing brochure and focusing on drawing more restaurants downtown. He said downtown Provo could feasibly sustain three times its current number of restaurants.

"Restaurants are the last to leave a troubled downtown. They're also the first to come back," he said. "Retail follows the restaurants."

Joel Wallin, executive director of the Downtown Business Alliance of Provo, said his organization has already been moving toward several changes proposed by Mackley, like targeting new restaurants. Others, like creating a map of available space, could be improved or approached differently as a result of the presentation, he said.

"We're more than happy to be involved in the discussion," he said.

Mackley said he would offer feedback to city officials as they consider different ways to continue. Everett said the council will consider the advice, and if it adopts any, would do so through the regular channels, including appropriations.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at astryker@heraldextra.com.