In some very exciting news, the city of Lakewood is reviewing a plan to put two retail buildings on the parking lot at 325 S. Saulsbury St.
One of the buildings will sit along Alameda and the other on S. Saulsbury, filling in the currently empty southwest corner of the intersection. An open courtyard will allow pedestrian access to the intersection, but the buildings themselves will open onto a plaza area and an interior parking lot. Together, the buildings will add 15,000 sq. ft. of retail space to Belmar and downtown Lakewood.
When Belmar was first developed, I recall hearing that the parking lots along Saulsbury were being reserved for future development, but after the retail crash of the recession, I wasn't sure we were ever going to see it.
Well, we're going to see it. And I'm particularly excited that it will be in the form of a pedestrian friendly arcade that could house a dozen or so stores and restaurants, and not low density pad sites with just one or two retailers (as happened with our depressingly suburban Belmar Chick Fil A).
The parking lots that will be taken by this development are already jammed. I can't imagine where all the parking will be for the new shops and the old retail/restaurants such as Elephant Bar and Ted's, not to mention 24 hour fitness....
ReplyDeleteI think there's lots of parking in Belmar, but it's just not old-school mall parking. There's a four story parking garage across the street from Elephant Bar that's mostly empty.
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