Vestavia Hills City Center

Transcription

1 Vestavia Hills City Center New York-based Katz Properties recently purchased the Vestavia Hills City Center and they want to hear from you! Please take a few moments to answer the questions below. Don t hold back they want to make the City Center the best it can be!! Responses for this Vestavia Hills Listens topic were accepted through February 2, A total of 594 persons visited the topic, with almost half (267) contributing their ideas. We d like to express a big thanks to all who participated! About the Respondents It is worth noting that patrons as well as non-patrons of the Vestavia Hills City Center responded. There were many persons who commented that they do not/no longer go there or choose otherwise when possible who still made time to respond in detail, which demonstrates interest in seeing the City Center flourish. Of the 107 registered responses, 79% live near the Vestavia Hills City Center. About half of the registered respondents chose not to share their age, but of those who did, 42% were in the age range of and most were women.

2 Analysis For this VH Listens topic, a brief summary was prepared for each of the questions based on a qualitative review of the raw data. Size or bold feature of the words in the word clouds shown below reflect the frequency of the word among the comments as analyzed by the OpenGov software application. (Order of the words has no significance). Then a summary of themes was prepared, based on the qualitative review. Next, a wish list was created based on the frequency of specifically mentioned restaurants and retailers. Jump to Stand Alone Themes Jump to the City Center Wish List Jump to the Survey Questions What do you like most about the City Center? What do you like least about the City Center? What are the best aspects of the City Center compared to other shopping centers in the area? What are the worst aspects of the City Center compared to other shopping centers in the area? Why do you come to the City Center? How can your experience at the City Center be improved? What would make the City Center your consistent go-to destination for shopping, dining, leisure, and entertainment? If the City Center could include anything you wanted, what would that be? What do you like most about the City Center? 261 responses Location and convenience are what respondents like most about the City Center, with the existing selection of restaurants and the movie theater being the main attractions. Patrons enjoy the combination of indoor and outdoor spaces and cite convenient and covered parking as qualities they like about the City Center as it currently is. Respondents describe the City Center as already having a village and community feel, and they see the site as a central location with potential to become even more of a hub for the community. What do you like least about the City Center? 261 responses While some responded in the first question that they like having covered parking, there seems to be unanimous sentiment that the dark, dangerous, and difficult parking deck is a leading complaint among patrons. The scary character of the parking deck combined with lacking retail, vacant store fronts, and neglected structures and equipment (escalator, elevator, lights) are a deterrent for persons who might otherwise enjoy strolling the City Center. Potential patrons state that due to signage issues and poor visibility, it is difficult to tell who the current tenants are.

3 What are the best aspects of the City Center compared to other shopping centers in the area? 243 responses Again, location, convenience, and the restaurants are what make the Vestavia Hills City Center a choice location for Vestavia Hills patrons. They also like the open layout, size of the center, and access to the movie theater. What are the worst aspects of the City Center compared to other shopping centers in the area? 249 responses One theme that resounded with respondents is that the Vestavia Hills City Center lacks the mix of retail potential patrons crave. They dislike the vacant store fronts, high turnover, and inability to find the types of retail and entertainment that meet their interests. Respondents also describe the layout as odd. Why do you come to the City Center? 261 responses To eat (or pick up take-out) or go to the movies are the two main reasons patrons cited for going to the Vestavia Hills City Center. Other reasons are to get groceries at Publix, go to the gym or drug store, or to shop at Steinmart or the pet store. How can your experience at the City Center be improved? 242 responses Not surprisingly, respondents asked for more retail. Some were specific in their wishes, while others simply wanted the vacant spaces filled. While some expressed concern that the new retail not be too pricey, others objected to the current existence of the Dollar Tree (in the City Center) across from the Dollar General (other side of US31). Boutique shopping, sporting goods, home goods, book stores, and more restaurants (including upscale dining and an ice cream shop) were suggested. Desire for chain vs. local establishments seemed fairly evenly divided. More light and updates were desired. See Stand Alone Themes below for other suggestions made and City Center Wish List for retailers and restaurants that were specifically mentioned.

4 What would make the City Center your consistent go-to destination for shopping, dining, leisure, and entertainment? 246 responses Besides having more shopping and dining options and improved parking, respondents said the following would create a draw for them to visit the Vestavia Hills City Center: Entertainment and night life Kid friendly activities/establishments Tavern/neighborhood pub serving high gravity/craft beers, aside from sushi restaurant/mugshots environment Wine bar Village/street market feel Outdoor seating for restaurants Improved access (drive-up) to the shops If the City Center could include anything you wanted, what would that be? 238 responses Respondents were more conceptual than specific about what types of retail, restaurants, and entertainment they want to see at the Vestavia Hills City Center. For specifically mentioned establishments, see City Center Wish List below. Here were generally mentioned establishment types and amenities: Retail Small department store Book store Clothing Gifts Sporting goods Shoes incl. hard-to-find sizes Pants Home goods Crafting Office supplies Kitchen items Toy store

5 Restaurants Family-friendly sit down Bakery Ice Cream (not yogurt) Coffee (local) Ethnic foods Meat-and-three Healthy restaurants Other Day spa Music venue Hotel (small) Condos Inflatable zone/party place for kids Stand Alone Themes Some recurring themes that were expressed across the survey questions include: Desire to have kid-friendly/family-friendly activities and spaces Desire for live music, gathering spaces, and night life Coffee scene is crowded ( too busy at Starbucks and Panera) Desire for green space and community/civic events, playground Desire for farmers market Desire for ambiance/romance strung lights, gas lights, fire pits, romantic setting Negative feeling that service through the tenants (except Samuri) has gone down, and that workers are not well paid Perception that bad/greedy management of the development is the cause for turnover Fond memories of former tenants- Calypso Joe s, Dale s, Mia Moda, Milestone Books, Parisian s Desire retail to reduce need to run to Target Mixed feeling about presence of fitness center; negative/neutral at best view of presence of multiple medical offices Unique suggestions which may have occurred multiple times but did not emerge as themes included: High-end apartments/condos Dog-friendly Shuttle service Art- street artists/art galleries Food truck area/events Splash pad

6 City Center Wish List Below is a list of restaurants and retailers that were specifically mentioned by the respondents. If an establishment was mentioned more than once, the number of times is indicated in parentheses. Restaurants Retailers Entertainment Taco Mama (9) The Pants Store (20) Let's Play Ashley Mac's (4) Alabama Outdoors (6) Lifetime Fitness Otey's (4) Ikea (5) Breakout Ridge (4) Kinnucan's (4) Bumpernets Babalu (3) Smith's (4) bartaco (3) Wrapsody (4) Dave & Buster's (3) Crate & Barrell (3) Saw's (3) Mountain High Outfitters (3) Taziki's (3) Soca and Soca Girl (3) Baskins and Robbins (2) Alabama Outfitters (2) Chez Fon Fon (2) Fabrik (2) Chicken Salad Chick (2) Hobby Lobby (2) Cookie Fix (2) Michael's (2) Monograms Plus (2) Dreamcakes (2) Full Moon Barbecue (2) REI (2) GiGi's (2) Sephora (2) Heavenly Donuts (2) Shoefly (2) Snoozy's/Snoozy' s Kids (2) Jim n Nick's (2) Melt (2) Target (2) Momma Goldberg's (2) Ulta (2) Octane(2) AC Moore (2) O'Henry's (2) Slice (2) Yogurt Mountain (2) Begal Bagel Benihana Biggeo's Alabama Goods At Home Barnes & Noble Best Buy Books-a-Million Dick's Sporting Goods

7 Big Spoon Creamery Billy's Birmingham Breakworks Buca di Beppo Buffalo Wild Wings Cajun Seafood Market Capital Grille Carraba's Carrigans Cocina Superior Collins Bar Crestline Bagel Shop Dales Francesca Gap Hibbitt's JoAnn's Kohl's Lili Pad Little Soles LL Bean Loft Lowe's Home Depot Ace Marshall's Old Navy Paper Source Ramonaes Davenport's Dunkin Donuts Edgar's Edgewood Creamery El Barrio Farm Burger Firebirds Five Food Bar Fresco Gastropub Gian Marco's Hero Donuts Hickory Tavern Hillstone Group Hopcat Houston's Joel's Krispy Kreme Maggiano's Magic Muffin Mellow Mushroom Mooyah Rocky Ridge Hardware Seibels South Boutique Sports Authority Swoozy The Container Store The Lamb's Ears Trak Shack Von Maur Belk

8 Nabeels New York Pizza On Tap PeiWei Potbelly Real & Rosemary Root to Tail Roots and Revelry Seeds Shake Shack Sky Castle Trader Joe's Urban Cookhouse Urban Standard Wokcano Yardhouse Photo from