Bob Gibbs discusses the economic development potential in Pontiac during the CNU Legacy Project Charrette Friday, April 15.

The economic development potential for the city of Pontiac is tremendous. Just how great? How about a demand of up to 211,700 square feet of new retail and restaurant development producing up to $55.2 million in annual sales. That’s how great, said Pontiac native Bob Gibbs, urban planning and retail consultant director for Gibbs Planning Group of Birmingham.

“By 2021, this economic demand could generate up to $58 million in gross sales,” Gibbs said. “And that’s a conservative estimate.”

This message presented by Gibbs and others in downtown Pontiac Friday night came during the first of three days of an intensive design and planning program called, a Congress Legacy “Charrette” Project. It’s being done in the city by the Congress of the New Urbanism (CNU). It’s one of four such charrettes happening this week in conjunction with the international CNU 24 conference coming to Detroit in June. The other three charrettes were in Hazel Park, April 12-14; and April 15-17 in two Detroit neighborhoods – Grandmont-Rosedale and Vernor Crossing.

Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman and Planner Galina Tachieva speak at the CNU Legacy Project Charrette in Pontiac Friday, April 15.

The work done at the charrettes will be presented to planners, architects, urban designers and municipal leaders at the CNU 24 in Detroit June 8-11, 2016. For details on the conference go to CNU24.org.

But the keys to making this development happen in Pontiac won’t be easy. Gibbs explained capitalizing on this economic growth potential will require policy changes, improved marketing and a redesign of the traffic layout and parking configuration in the downtown area, Gibbs said.

Should these changes be made, Gibbs’ market analysis showed the city could support an additional 45,000 square feet of department store merchandise, 38,600 square feet of grocery store goods, nearly 36,000 square feet of special food and specialty food sales, 16,300 in gift store square footage, 14,200 square feet in pharmacy, 12,700 square feet in bars, breweries and pubs, 11,600 square feet in limited service eating places, 8,400 square feet in full-service restaurants and additional square footage in the areas of furniture and home furnishings, hardware stores, jewelry stores, lawn and garden supply stores, book and music stores, florists, beer, wine and liquor stores, and shoe stores.

Downtown Pontiac has tremendous economic development potential, officials said.

Gibbs added the downtown could support 10 to 12 additional restaurants.

Essential to the project is turning the current one-way Woodward loop, nicknamed locally as “Wide Track,” that surrounds the downtown into a two way street. Not doing that would limit the city’s market potential to one to two additional restaurants – tops, Gibbs said, adding the Wide Track is not needed and does not help Pontiac.

“I grew up in Pontiac and I remember when it was in its hay day,” Gibbs said. “It’s exciting for me to come back here and do this study and see the growth potential it has. All in all the city has potential to support upward of 215,000 square feet in new restaurants and new retail if physical restraints were removed and modern retail practices were implemented. You are the county seat for the eighth wealthiest county in the United States. We think there’s market potential if you implement changes.”

More than 60 Pontiac supporters attended the CNU Legacy Project throughout the day on Friday, April 15, 2016.

Many of the proposals suggested for Pontiac are consistent with the eight assets identified in a recent study that make for vibrant communities. Those assets include improving walkability and physical design, entrepreneurship, public transit and economic development. That study can be found here at SaveMiCity.org.

About 60 Pontiac area supporters attended the first day of work in Pontiac Friday in the project called, “Building Upon the Assets of Pontiac: Creating a Vision for a Vibrant and Transit-Ready Pontiac.” More people are expected to participate Saturday and Sunday. The final plan and public discussion will take place 4 p.m. Sunday at 17 S. Saginaw St. in downtown.

Project team leader Galina Tachieva, managing partner of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., explained the goals of the Pontiac Legacy Project are to:

• Create a vision for a remarkable, vibrant downtown to serve as a template for other downtown spaces;
• Restore a walkable urban fabric to one of America’s great industrial cities with high quality public spaces;
• Identify options for the Phoenix Center and adjacent Lot 9;
• Create a transit-ready southern edge of downtown with the potential to become a regional multi-modal transport hub and a catalyst for transit-oriented development.

Galina Tachieva discusses ways to improve Pontiac.

“The common tendency is that all of you want a beautiful, safe, attractive, downtown,” Tachieva said. “You have a lot of examples of good frontage but you also have a lot of what we call missing teeth. The goal is to fill in the missing teeth and make it a pleasant, pedestrian-friendly walking experience.”

The project, called “Revitalizing downtown Pontiac through transit-oriented development,” was lead by DPZ & Partners and had local support from Archive DS and Gibbs Planning Group.

Pontiac resident Linda Hasson attending the event was pleased with what she saw Friday night.

“You seem to really care and I appreciate that,” Hasson told Tachieva and Gibbs. “We need a push. I’m excited.”

For more information about placemaking go to placemaking.mml.org and for details on the CNU24 in Detroit in June go to cnu24.org. (View additional photos of downtown Pontiac and the charrette meetings go to this album on flickr.)

Matt Bach is director of media relations at the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at [email protected] and (734) 669-6317.

Downtown Pontiac.