So far, Unity Plaza not bringing people together

[jaxnyc79]

I checked out Unity Plaza.  The area is simply not very pedestrian-friendly/accommodative/inviting.  To achieve a "village feel," which ultimately drives foot traffic and patronage, you really need the right balance between sidewalks and roadway.  Right now, the sidewalk-to-roadway ratio in Brooklyn is simply too small to drive the kind of foot traffic that could make storefronts in Unity Plaza successful.  If there were a narrow side street off Riverside with storefronts lining it, even that might be much more appealing. 

And yes, I've always felt Unity Plaza is overrated.  I drove by recently and it really looks like a landscaped retention pond.  Is there an alternative to these ponds in inner city Jax?  220 Riverside would have been more attractive, IMO, building right up to the corner with perhaps a 7-1-1 on the ground floor, and apartments above it.  I'm no civil engineer, but if new developments are going to require these ponds, this city will always be plagued with a sprawling look and feel.

Unity Plaza, District-Life Well Lived, can we please stop with these gimmicky contrivances?

Happy Holidays.

[ProjectMaximus]

The market has been good for a while now. I suspect it will be after another recession before Brooklyn gets anywhere close enough to support the type of density needed to keep Unity Plaza filled with people. Even then, they're more likely to migrate to a real park or the riverwalk instead of a retention pond next to two six lane roads.

Do you think a road diet would positively contribute to density? And are there any other improvements that could be made to Unity that would bring people to it?

Yes, road diet would help tremendously. Alex Coley (the principal developed quoted in the article) was advocating for one. If they actually stuck with the regular programming it could also help, although I think ultimately still would be suffering from lack of residents. Best case scenario in the not-too-extremely-long-term would be to see the Vista development completed, the often-teased adjacent hotel occur, and then whatever other development can occur near the Park St corridor. Riverside Ave won't see anything change soon and I expect the Y parking lot and the TU parcel to really be long term.

[jaxjags]

^Not sure I get your post. Are you referring to the concrete building and costs being higher? That doesn't make it "complex", it makes it expensive. Either you can make the economics work or you can't.

With historic or environmental issues, there's tons of red tape that can delay things. The only thing delaying things at this point is their estimated ROI. To me, either it's there or it's not. If we're delaying because of this, then that means they're concerned about the economics - to my point about it being not a good sign.

That's my point. The economics are not as good as previous projects. Cost are higher and return lower. Same goes for Berkman Plaza II and it's 10 year stall.