City looks to improve downtown retail footprint

With initial emphasis along West Commerce Street, the city is putting together a strategy to boost retail investment downtown.

The city's Center City Development Office has focused its retail growth strategy to a corridor dubbed the West Commerce District, an area that is bordered by Houston Street to the north, Nueva Street to the south, the San Antonio River to the east and Interstate 35 to the west.

More than one third of retail space along the corridor is empty, and the aim is to draw various types of tenants, Lori Houston, director of the Center City Development Office, said during a presentation at a City Council meeting Wednesday.

“We need more diverse offerings in our downtown area,” Houston said.

There are about 68,000 people who work downtown, and nearly 5,000 of those work in the district, the study shows. More than half of employees in the district are office workers, meaning that there is more disposable income there, the study indicates, and the density of employees working there is three times higher than all of downtown.

It's estimated that there is nearly $48 million in unmet spending potential in the district, which sees almost $62 million in existing sales, Houston said during her presentation. To capture that, the study shows there is room within the district for 122,000 square feet of food and beverage establishments; 27,000 square feet of nonfood retail; and another 21,000 square feet for grocery or personal care shops.

Recommendations also include two corridors within the district: one, the convenience shopping corridor; and two, the destination retail and entertainment corridor. The strategy looks to enhance existing retail space with each corridor expanding on other offerings such as restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores and cultural anchors.

Although the strategy is focused on growing retail along one area, District 1 councilman Diego Bernal said the focus should be on improving retail in the entire city center. He said he's concerned with the massive amount of storefronts and buildings that sit vacant because property owners are waiting to develop or for a price spike to sell.

“We need to goose them along to produce something different,” he said at the meeting.

The next step is to reach out to business owners in the district and to retail experts to improve upon the initial recommendations, Houston said. A Better Block event has been planned for the district in December where pop-up retail sites will be set up to study their viability there, Houston said.

The office hired the consultant group HR&A Advisors to conduct the study, which is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, Houston said. The study cost the city $50,000, according to city documents.