Enlarging Delray's menu

Restaurants have revived downtown Delray Beach. But can Atlantic Avenue live on restaurants alone? Delray Beach is right to ask.

The community redevelopment agency has hired consultant Blount Hunter to advise the city on how to attract more retail businesses. Mr. Hunter's study will assess the commercial balance along all of Atlantic Avenue and present recommendations. That study will go to the city commission, which will hold public discussion. Downtown business groups and Chamber of Commerce recruiters also are involved. The process may take a year.

In an interview, Mr. Hunter said his impression is that downtown Delray, about 15 years after the city's resurgence began, has become restaurant-heavy. "Of course, everything is relative," he said. "In this case, I think things are just a little bit out of whack." In looking at the area's vital signs, he notes that the sales-per-square-foot numbers for restaurants are "not what I would like." One potential problem is that customers will want to do more than dine out or go to a club.

CRA Director Diane Colonna says the agency wants to focus more on certain sections than on all of downtown. "We're looking at whether there should be more of a mix on a few blocks," she said. A good example is the stretch between Swinton Avenue and Second Avenue. "There isn't much else except restaurants." And while there are offices along Atlantic, Ms. Colonna points out that they don't draw people the way retailers do. She heard complaints when the old Huber's drugstore closed and was replaced by a bank, and people also tell her that they would like a gourmet grocer and a shoe store.

But can a built-up downtown with higher rents attract businesses in the era of big-box suburban retailers who like open land and lower rents? Mr. Hunter acknowledges that Delray Beach is "swimming upstream." He suggests, though, that the city could create a loan fund to assist business owners. He and Ms. Colonna say the city could make changes in parking regulations. Ms. Colonna says the city could restrict new offices in some places or offer the old library site, city-owned, to a business.

Correctly, no one is talking about a moratorium on restaurants. "They have been a good first step," Mr. Hunter says, "but retailers need far more reason to locate in an area." The success of those restaurants has given Delray Beach advantages. Trying to expand the downtown's appeal is the next logical step.