Downtown Suffolk Revitalization Plan through Arts - College of ...

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A second type of building use is commercial, split between retail and office
spaces. The majority of the retail spaces are located along Washington and Main, with
several others interspersed along Saratoga and Market. Specific types of commercial
buildings in the study area include small shops, banks, restaurants, furniture stores,
newspaper offices, legal offices, auto related businesses, and Laundromats. Specific
shops in the study area will be discussed later in the market analysis.
Many of the commercial buildings along Washington and Main could be better
classified as mixed use facilities, as all but thirteen are two or three story structures that
contain housing or office units on the upper floors. The three tallest commercial
buildings are located on North Main at 100 N Main (6 floors), 105 N Main (7 floors), and
181 N Main (8 floors).
The last type of building use is residential. Like the previous categories,
residential buildings can be further divided into single and multi-family use buildings.
Residential buildings are predominantly found along the east and west sides of the study
area.
The land and building uses in the study area are compatible. The commercial
buildings are located along the busier streets with the residential buildings to the sides.
Public buildings within the other uses can serve both, an example being the fire station
located within the northern neighborhood. The location of the Cultural Center within
the same neighborhood is also a compactable use, for it is within walking distance for the
residents in the area as well as nearby residential establishments. As the major churches
are located towards the north of the study area, they are accessible to the residents located
to the east and west, and serves to attract shoppers to the commercial stores after services.
Occupancy
This section will only focus on occupancy of the commercial and public units in
the study area. Unit occupancy is determined by a window survey of first floor use.
There are 250 units situated among the 350 parcels within the study area. Out buildings
such as garages are not counted as units. Of the 129 commercial and 21 public units
within the study area, 39 units are vacant.