The conceptual master plan for the Wick District called for retail pockets to be deployed along Walnut Street in small pockets. However, with Walnut St. invisible to passersby on Rayen Ave. Or Wick St., any tenants brave enough to occupy would not survive and replacement tenants would be scarce, limited by the small store sizes with no flexibility.
Our Master Plan called for a consolidated retail presence along Walnut beneath multi-family housing. The contiguous space enabled demising walls to accommodate a 9000 sf convenience store as well as smaller shops that would target students and seniors as the anticipated residents of the balance of the development. To develop critical mass to enable the retail to survive, mid-rise residential was mixed with townhomes to afford choice.
A central ‘hearth space’ for the development was a park with an urban plaza and fountain between two curved elements that creates a soft streetscape adjacent to a massive existing parking garage that would have otherwise overwhelmed the development.