New deck to feature 4 retail spaces, number of parking spots reduced

May 26—The new downtown Decatur parking deck's four ground-floor retail spaces will reduce the number of parking spots to 230, and city officials must figure out how the retail spaces will be managed before the deck's completion next year.

The Planning Commission this week approved the commercial site plan for the estimated $6 million parking deck planned for East Moulton Street at First Avenue Southeast.

The site plan shows the four 1,200-square-foot retail spaces will be along East Moulton Street. The parking deck will have entrances/exits on East Moulton and First Avenue.

The city is building the parking deck in conjunction with an 80-room Fairfield Inn by Marriott that is under construction next door. The city's agreement with the hotel developers is that 90 parking spaces will be allocated to the hotel.

"I love that they put retail units in the parking deck, especially after we lost some businesses," Planning Commission Chairman Kent Lawrence said. "This will create spaces where maybe a business like Downtown Dawgs could open in one of them."

The deck is being built on the site of a city parking lot while the hotel is replacing a building that was demolished after it was severely damaged in severe storms on April 3, 2018. The building owned by H.M. Nowlin was the home of Downtown Dawgs, Penn's Hamburgers and another restaurant site that was vacant at the time of the storm. Nowlin is a partner in the hotel project.

Director of Development Dane Shaw said Wednesday the spaces will be flexible enough the lessee could "rent one, two or all of them depending on the amount of space they need."

If rented as four units, each retail space will have a separate door out to the street and another into the parking deck. Customers will have to cross the driving lane of the parking deck after leaving a shop to get to their vehicles.

City Planner Lee Terry said the addition of the retail spaces reduced the number of planned parking spots by about 30.

Commission approval on Tuesday came with the requirement that, if any of the spaces becomes a restaurant, a grease interceptor must be added. The city's Engineering Department and Decatur Utilities still must approve the site plan.

Terry said the architect included "open spaces for plantings" along the East Moulton Street sidewalk that can be used to make space for grease interceptors if needed.

Shaw said he expects construction bids on the parking deck will be opened and awarded this month with construction possibly starting in July.

Mayor Tab Bowling said the City Council still has to decide how the retail spaces will be managed.

Shaw said the city will maintain ownership of the parking deck and its retail spaces so the city can maintain control over who rents them.

"The city has to have a say about what goes into the spaces," Shaw said.

However, City Councilman Kyle Pike, whose District 2 includes the downtown area, said there is agreement that the city "doesn't need to be in commercial business" and manage the commercial spaces.

Pike said they will likely issue requests for proposals from local real estate companies that specialize in property management.

"Then we can let the companies deal with the tenants," Pike said, while the city maintains ownership of the spaces.

Construction of both the garage and hotel is scheduled to be complete by May 1, 2023.

The City Council is planning to charge a public parking fee at the parking deck, but the amount has not been determined. Also under review is whether the city will begin charging for street parking in parts of downtown after the deck opens.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.