AGENDA DATE: 5/6/2020
TITLE:
Title
Market Studies from Retail Strategies and Downtown Strategies
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Presentation of the County-wide Retail Market Study and the Downtown Crozet Market Study
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Johnson, Schmack
PRESENTER (S): Beth Miller, Jennifer Gregory
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: On June 19, 2019, the Board authorized the County to enter into a Public-Private Partnership with Crozet New Town Associates, LLC to redevelop the Barnes Lumber site in Downtown Crozet. As part of the agreement, the County agreed to complete a market study, as provided in the 2010 Crozet Master Plan Implementation Plan.
In October 2019, the Economic Development Office contracted with consultants from Retail Strategies to conduct two specialized studies; one study focused on the retail sector within the Development Areas and the other study provided a capacity analysis and development recommendations for Downtown Crozet.
In November 2019, Retail Strategies undertook a two-day "boots on the ground" analysis of the Development Areas to catalog existing assets, identify retail opportunities, and engage with local commercial real estate professionals. The information gathered from this visit will be used by Retail Strategies and developers to better attract retailers to fill vacant commercial spaces and future commercial developments for a period of two years. During this same contractual timeframe, Albemarle County will rely on Retail Strategies to provide expert guidance on retail subsistence post COVID-19 pandemic.
In January 2020, the President of Downtown Strategies (a branch of Retail Strategies) joined with County staff and citizens for two meetings associated with the Crozet Master Plan Update that focused on Downtown Crozet; one meeting was a strategic visioning workshop and the other was a focus group. The feedback from th...
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