State Street: Open for Business

Tre Michel may have gotten through the challenge of keeping her business afloat in the face of construction delays and extended street closures, but every time she sees the recently completed State Street parking garage, she still has to fight the urge to tear up.

Michel is worn down after maintaining an upbeat attitude over the five-month span the garage project was delayed. Still, now that the garage is open and State Street is free of any obstructions, she’s focused on accentuating the positive and welcoming visitors back to the area.

 “Access is key when you’re a destination business,” Michel said. “Our regular clients being able to find us has been more beneficial than the volume of people using the garage.”

With the garage in the rearview mirror, Michel is hopeful that customers will return to State Street — and thinks a pair of events later this month could serve as a “welcome back” to the area. Less than a month after the garage’s completion, Michel is prepping for the expansion of her business, State of the Arts Gallery. The second space, located at 1549 State St., is just a few doors down from her current location, and will serve as the home for the S/ART/Q “Here and Now” exhibition opening reception Aug. 15.

Despite the headaches caused by construction, Michel said there was no reluctance to expand within the same block.

“We love this area,” Michel said. “Even before we had the garage we’ve never had any doubts — not for 10 years.”

Just a day after the S/ART/Q reception, State Street Eating House will host its “Meet the Brewers” event, a benefit for the Humane Society of Sarasota County. With outdoor dining tables on the newly widened sidewalks, State Street owner Chris Voelker said she’s excited to take advantage of the improvements offered by the garage and associated street enhancements.

“During construction, I had a lot of people come up and say, ‘Oh, we thought you were closed,’” Voelker said. “I’m thrilled for our staff, really, that business is buzzing again.”

Both Michel and Voelker say their businesses are in a good position despite the effects of construction. Michel credits the residential building boom downtown with helping her gallery, and State Street Eating House was recently featured in Wine Spectator magazine for its wine collection.

But there may be another round of construction to come for the area. Hembree and Associates hopes to close its deal for the garage’s “pad lite” site, which serves as a liner building at 1500 State St., in September. Construction on the six-story building, set to include a mix of commercial and residential space, could begin around the beginning of 2016.

Although the city is yet to make a decision regarding the sale of an adjacent parcel next to Pineapple Park that could be incorporated into the project, Hembree said his firm is committed to going forward with the pad lite project — with or without it. Still, his preference is to proceed with the additional land.

“We would like to do a nice project,” Hembree said. “We think it would be good for the area, and we think it would be good for the park.”

In April, the developer behind Pineapple Square announced it was selling the rights to the planned $200 million second phase of the project, which could include up to 157 condominiums and 80,920 square feet of commercial space at another corner of State Street and Lemon Avenue. Although the June 8 deadline for proposals on the land has come and gone without any updates, a firm taking up the project remains a possibility.

With a roundabout at Orange Avenue and Ringling Boulevard also on the schedule for 2016, Michel said it’s crucial that the organizers behind new projects carefully coordinate with nearby businesses.

“In the future, more thought needs to be given to how construction impacts businesses,” Michel said. “This area is due for quite a bit of additional development.”