The study recommends courting about 15 retailers that a consultant hired for $50,000 by the Downtown group has identified as desirable and possibly interested in Downtown, and also says the city should work to attract "affordable luxury" type services, such as a salon that would cater to males, upscale boutiques and similar facilities.
The consultant's study also recommends concentrating on attracting student shoppers from the Art Institute, Duquesne and Point Park universities on one end of Smithfield, dressing up sidewalks, restricting bus-only lanes during certain hours to help retailers.
"Downtown has a lot of retail, but the problem is it is scattered all over the place," said Michael Edwards, president of the business advocacy organization, during an interview today with the Tribune-Review.
The partnership hopes to hire a retail coordinator who would work with local and national commercial real estate brokers to attract retailers and create a critical mass, something the administration of former Mayor Tom Murphy had hoped to accomplish with its failed Fifth-Forbes project.
Edwards said Downtown development is falling in place with office occupancy rebounding, residential population increasing and sports and special event opportunities expanding. Those elements should benefit the city's arts and cultural attractions and ultimately boost opportunities for expanded retail opportunities.
The consultant believes that incentives may be necessary to help attract retailers, but says non-government funded sources -- such as foundations -- may have be used because of the failure of past publicly-funded initiatives.
A critical part of the effort to keeping momentum going forward is to make sure Saks, whose lease is expiring, soon remains a key Downtown retail player, along with Macy's, Edwards said.
Also important is finding a new tenant for the vacant former Mellon Bank building that last housed a Lord & Taylor department store site across Smithfield from Saks, although a non-retail use may be most likely because of that structure's lack of large windows.
The study, paid for with foundation funds, was conducted by Michael Berne of MJB Consulting of New York City.
Edwards said he hopes the partnership's board would refine details of a plan to implement the recommendations in September, approval a final version in November and start to implement its recommendations on Jan. 1.
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