BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - When D’Arcie Malsam planned her home decor store, Stella’s, last year, it was already hard to find space in the heart of downtown. So she looked to the fringe of the redevelopment taking place in the area.
At Second Street and Main Avenue, she’s still on the central route and has big windows, which are good for displays, she said. With a senior housing development opening soon, she believes business can only get better in the western part of downtown Bismarck.
She’s not the only one headed that way.
Los Lunas, a New Mexican restaurant moved in to the Anderson Building last year. A new smoothie shop called Nutrition Ambition recently opened. MetroPlains is building a 30-unit apartment building for baby boomers 55 and up. A pan-Asian noodle shop is expected to start serving this spring, and Riverroad Partners, a multi-business partnership which includes D&N Cinematics, is restoring an old building as an office, store and event space.
“I think that’s really the direction downtown is moving,” said David Diebel, co-founder of D&N Cinematics. “It’s kind of the last little bit of uncharted territory.”
The Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/2ng1jeO ) reports that Kate Herzog, of the Downtown Business Association of Bismarck, said the Broadway Centre complex, which opened in 2013 and contains condominiums, offices and a restaurant, was an early catalyst and anchor for development in that region.
She believes that region could ultimately serve as a “residential hub” for downtown. It’s got good green spaces, including Custer Park, Camp Hancock, and the summer activities at the Elks Aquatic Center, and there are old buildings with the potential to refurbish.
“The western part of downtown (Third Street West) and north/northwest portions of downtown have great potential for future growth,” Herzog wrote in an email. “Our organization has identified it as a focus area for the past few years and there has been increasing interest in continuing downtown revitalization in that area.”
Helpful, she indicated, would be making Broadway Avenue a two-way street.
“Two-way traffic is much more conducive to better retail traffic and sales,” she wrote.
Kyle Holwagner, a commercial realtor with Daniel Companies, is listing several buildings on the 200 block of Main Avenue. As more development takes place in an area, new businesses get comfortable with the investment.
“Anytime you fill a void in the market it creates new opportunity,” he said of the senior apartments.
Local residents are taking note and some are glad to venture that way.
Alisha Gerving, 25, and Kelsey Schirado, 24, walked a loop around downtown on Saturday. Originally from Glen Ullin, both live in the northern part of town, but they often come south to shop.
They said walking a few more blocks west - to First or Second Streets - is no big deal. They have been shopping at the clothing store Hey Ocean since there was little else toward Second Street, and are glad to see more boutiques, including Stella’s, Lula’s and Uptowne Loft, opening that way. They often learn about new stores on Facebook or through Downtowners events.
“There’s kind of a square we can go around,” Gerving said, indicating a walking loop bordered by Main and Broadway Avenues to the north and south and Fifth Street and Second Street to the east and west.
“I think it’s worth supporting the small people, and they have unique stuff,” Schirado said.
Nick Schwieters, 32, a community magazine publisher from Bismarck, said he would like to see more residential buildings in the western section, so that people can live there and walk to the central part of downtown.
“I think the most important thing is putting an apartment building down there that young people can move into,” Schwieters said, adding that expensive condos and retirement communities weren’t accessible to people his age.
“You want to live in an area that’s close to stores, that’s close to the library, that’s close to restaurants, that’s close to businesses. You want to be able to do stuff without having to get in your car,” he said.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com
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