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Monroe unveils four concepts for newly acquired downtown lot; council asks for tighter concepts before public outreach
Summary
City staff and a consultant presented four concept options for the downtown parcel at Main and Blakely — from a festival lot to a mixed-use development and a small parking garage — and council generally favored a festival/activation approach while asking staff to refine concepts and return for further guidance before wide public engagement.
City staff and consultant Rowy Works presented four conceptual options on March 11 for a city-owned half-acre site at the northwest corner of Main and Blakely, and council members asked staff to refine the concepts and narrow the public-engagement materials before taking the ideas to the community.
The city purchased the adjacent bank and former chiropractor buildings in December 2023. Patrick Dougherty, the project presenter, said the site could become a festival lot, a 2-story parking garage with tenant space and plaza, or a multi-story mixed-use development with ground-floor retail and upper-floor housing. "The notion that had been brewing since, I think, the seventies was that, we might make such a purchase for a festival lot," Dougherty said.
Option details: the festival-lot concept has two variations: one reuses the existing bank building and removes the chiropractor building to create a roughly 35-space reconfigured lot that can be vacated for events; the other option regrades the site to create up to 43 spaces, EV charging stalls and a small plaza. The parking-garage option would yield approximately 70 stalls (more with a basement), tenant space and plaza but is costlier and was estimated in concept to cost in the multi-million-dollar range. The mixed-use option would rely on private development to deliver commercial space, residential units and a public plaza with minimal public construction costs.
Council reaction: several council members rejected the parking garage and the large mixed-use apartment option as primary outcomes for the site. Council Member Heather Fisher called for more creative festival-lot programming, referencing food-truck venues and pop-up retail; Council Member Tammy Beaumont emphasized the rare central location and the need to think long-term about downtown character and meeting spaces. Council Member Kevin Walker urged caution about rushing to public outreach with the current, high-level drawings and recommended a phased approach to interim activation while concepts are further refined.
City Administrator Deborah Knight said the purpose of the meeting was to determine whether to take these concept "bookends" out for public comment. She said staff did not want to present too-limited options to the public and preferred to include a range of concepts to gauge public preference, then refine concepts for a final plan. Dougherty said the city has budgeted $75,000 in the 2025-26 budget for near-term planning and initial site improvements; the current proposal allocates roughly $30,000 for concept development and public engagement and leaves funding for small initial improvements.
Direction and next steps: Council generally supported emphasizing a festival/activation approach while keeping other options in the analysis; several members asked staff to remove the parking garage and full-scale apartment tower from materials going to the public. The council asked staff to return with more focused concepts and richer illustrations, and to consider short-term interim uses (including pursuing a tenant for the bank building) while the long-term vision is developed. Staff said they will prepare a more refined package and return for a council study-session level discussion before formal public outreach.
No formal vote was taken.
