State Street is our historic shopping, tourism, and mixed-use destination. However, it’s currently operating at a sub-optimal level due to its perceived lack of safety and the absence of on-street car traffic and convenient front-door parking. To reach its maximum potential, the street needs to be remodeled with those three basic, proven commercial real estate requirements that are currently missing.
Retail has undergone significant changes due to the rise of online shopping, changing demographics, and the habits of millennials and Gen Zers. Convenience and time savings are their two most important criteria; if they are not provided, they will shop elsewhere or on their phone. A few points to consider:
- Safety first: Although pedestrian counts have increased on State Street following the 2020 abandonment due to the defund the police movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, many people I’ve spoken with have not returned due to a perceived lack of safety. Since safety is a major concern for all shoppers, the city should publicly support police and implement policies and marketing to convince the public that the street is safe. While State Street appears busy, many pedestrians are UW–Madison students simply passing by but not shopping. The key is to attract more drive-to shoppers and bring back missing “big spenders.” The best way to achieve this, once safety is assured, is by bringing back car traffic and front-door parking.
- Consider the competition: New competition around Madison and Dane County continues to grow, which is siphoning shoppers away from downtown. The evolving King Street/Willy Street/East Washington Avenue district will bring more direct competition unless the tenant mix is master planned cooperatively between the two areas. To address this issue, the city, building owners, and commercial brokers should develop and encourage a long-term tenant mix strategy.
Hilldale has become Madison’s new downtown by utilizing proven development concepts that attract shoppers and provide them with what they want — most importantly, a car-friendly streetscape with limited front door parking. The current design of State Street is not suitable for all types of users. The bottom end of the street is dominated by the pedestrian-driven UW–Madison, while the top end is more accessible to drivers. To address this, the street should be redesigned with a pedestrian mall and student-oriented uses on the bottom, and a car-friendly top with on-street parking for people who must drive downtown. This combination will drive tourism.
- Complete the street: The complete-street concept, which allows all forms of access (bikes, cars, buses, and pedestrians), is ideal. To attract younger, convenience-oriented shoppers, parking must be on the street at merchants’ front doors. A one-way street could accommodate cars, parking, and wider sidewalks. The existing parking decks are too far from the main shopping blocks, acting like remote parking fields in antiquated regional malls. New secondary surface lots and deck parking are needed immediately adjacent to the storefronts because newer competition has these features. Public restrooms, sidewalk café pods, a façade improvement program, public art, and beautiful lighting and landscaping will complete the picture. Any plan that does not include the three basic design essentials will not improve things and may hurt business.
- Variety is the spice: A one-size-fits-all design approach won’t work given the length of the street and dominance of the UW–Madison on one end and community/public on the other. A total pedestrian mall won’t work because with existing competition, the population of State Street’s trade area is not large enough to support one. The decision becomes do you want wider pedestrian-only sidewalks with fewer customers, or narrower sidewalks with more customers?
In summary, the key to attracting more shoppers to State Street is to provide them with what they have always wanted: safety, street traffic, and convenient front-door parking.
Rob Zache is president of Central Place Real Estate in Madison.
