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Park Design
The Park design features include:
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Two new commercial buildings along N. Avondale Rd between Lake St. and Oak St., with a mix of restaurant and retail space.
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Buildings connected by a shared patio that overlooks a ~2-acre park.
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Town Green
The Town Green is proposed as a publicly owned park next to private development on a 4-acre parcel. The Town Green is the centerpiece of the downtown master plan and a catalyst for development. Its central location near existing restaurants and shops makes it an ideal gathering space for residents and visitors. It is a natural gathering space that “activates” the area and attracts a built-in clientele for potential shop and restaurant owners making businesses more commercially viable.
Next Steps
Construction of the Town Green began in June of 2021. Completion is expected within nine months.
Community Helps Design Town Green
In 2017, the Board of Mayor and Commissioners (BOMC) sponsored a public process to select the best conceptual design and use of the 4-acre property. The city received 10 thoughtful proposals. The community discussed the high-level concept that best reflected their ideas of what the park and the adjacent development should look like. Based on that discussion, the BOMC selected what is affectionately referred to as "Concept 9".
Additional design work was needed to move the park forward. Based on criteria set forth by the City, Site Solutions was chosen as the landscape architect to develop the park concept design building on the framework proposed in "Concept 9". The BOMC voted to select the recommended designer and agreed to a community engagement process that kicked off in February 2020. A Town Green Plan was presented and adopted by the BOMC in March 2020.
Feasibility Assessment by Bleakly Group
In order to bring this vision to the life, in 2018, the DDA and the City hired the Bleakly Group to assess the existing Tax Allocation District and the development potential and financial feasibility of the 4-Acres site consistent with Concept 9 and the Downtown Master Plan (DMP).
City Seeks Development Partner
Based on recommendations from the Bleakly Group, the City and the DDA drafted and advertised an RFQ seeking a qualified private developer to build the park and the adjoining commercial buildings. A collaboration between Fabric Developers, Stevens & Wilkinson (including the designer of Plan 9) and Vantage Realty Partners responded to the RFQ. See more about their response under the Development Proposals tab.