Learning how to live downtown

Many European shopkeepers and restaurant owners who operate their businesses on the ground floor of downtown buildings live in the upper floors of those buildings. They figured out ages ago that a walk down a flight of stairs beats a commute from the edge of town.

Downtown living is also increasing in several Arkansas cities, which are actively promoting living on the upper floors. As the benefits become more obvious, living downtown will continue to catch on.

As fuel costs climb and roads become more crowded, living a less stressful life, which many times is also less expensive since you can walk across the street to a restaurant or go to a downtown gym, is becoming more desirable.

Developers, knowing that every person living downtown is almost a captive customer for the surrounding businesses, are actively encouraging downtown living. It’s a simple premise for communities that want a thriving downtown that’s known as a place where people congregate.

The relief of not commuting would be enough reason for a lot of folks to live downtown. Another benefit: The typical flat roofs of buildings. Solar panels are easy to install, making benefits from renewable energy cheaper and more plentiful than ground-level installations.

In older downtowns, especially those with smaller populations, original construction is primarily two-story buildings, which housed retail or restaurants on the first floor and a variety of professional offices on the upper floors. When malls and strip centers on the edges of towns began to attract customers and retail and restaurant downtown vacancies soared, the second-floor tenants were the first to go.

As every developer will tell you, they will be the last to return. However, as ground floor retail and restaurants begin to return, upper-floor vacancies will drop.

In Arkansas, a number of cities are actively working on renovating their downtowns. However, a focus on renovation always seems to falter with higher floor spaces. Although the upper floors seem unimportant, they can be the catalyst for a vibrant recovery of a downtown, if an effort to attract residents to these upper floors is part of the plan.

When first-floor restaurants and retail occupancies are flourishing, living space on upper floors will attract residents.

A steady increase in upper-floor occupancy is occurring in downtown El Dorado. In 1921, when oil-boom money began to flood across south Arkansas, the mostly wood-frame one-story buildings around the red brick courthouse were quickly replaced with substantial multi-floored buildings. The old courthouse was leveled and a larger courthouse was constructed.

The new courthouse stayed open 24 hours a day for a short period, and every available space on all floors of the downtown buildings was rented. A few decades later, as strip centers opened on the outskirts and a mall was constructed, retail businesses and professionals from ground and upper floors of most buildings in the downtown were vacated. The buildings around the courthouse square were less than 25% occupied, and there were no upper-floor residents.

It was 1987 before any upstairs renovations or new construction took place. Late that year, with the construction of a new two-story building with retail on the first floor, two apartments were put on the second floor, and they rented immediately.

They were the first two suites of Union Square Guest Quarters, and were so in demand that another five upstairs suites were added at the end of the block as part of another building renovation, which also created retail space for two new stores.

Later in the same block, two new buildings added another 12 suites, most of them upstairs. An additional 10 upstairs suites are planned for two other nearby buildings. Although the people who stay at Union Square Guest Quarters aren’t permanent residents, they prefer staying downtown because of the nearby amenities or work-related businesses.

The desire to live in downtown El Dorado became evident when a condominium was proposed; before the plans were finalized, a number of prospective buyers signed up. The condominium was never built because of the lack of a proper site, but it was obvious that the demand was there. It’s easy to see why. With a large corporate workforce in several multi-story buildings adjacent to the city’s center, the restaurants, bars, and retail stores had ready customers. Employees could walk to work and take advantage of eight restaurants, a top-notch workout center, and several bars, all without bothering to get in a car.

Over the last five years, other renovations of upstairs office space have attracted occupants. The first floor of the core downtown is well over 90% occupied, and Standard Lithium is the latest company to lease second-floor space in a newly renovated building.

With all the advantages that come from living downtown, residents will continue to increase.