Much has been said about the housing redevelopment projects that will be taking place in the Clay Street neighborhood in the coming year. There have been plans, studies, meetings, etc. that have taken place and soon the practical application of all that will begin. The theoretical will become real in the winter when the first construction crews start setting up their port-a-potties and revving up their bulldozers and jack hammers.

Now for Clay to become the neighborhood it deserves to be, it won’t be enough to give it a housing face-lift. The area must once again become sustainable and regain its vibrancy. To do that there needs to be economic redevelopment.

On this front Clay has just begun to take its first theoretical steps with the publication of a commercial market analysis. Prepared by Randall Gross from Randall Gross / Development Economics for the City of Annapolis, this study details possible investment opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to set up shop in the old Fourth Ward.

The parking garage is a big issue to tackle when dealing with the neighborhood. On one side it is a strength and on the other side it is a weakness. It can attract people seeking parking in a crowded city, but it can also hide Clay and kill its visibility.

In his research Mr. Gross determined that:

• Most of the investment opportunities in terms of retail are in convenience stores with a total potential of $ 318.1 million by 2013. Now this is for the general population that could shop on Clay, which would only capture a portion of that expenditure potential.
• This warrants a demand of 24,900 square feet of “retail-mix” that focuses around 9,000 on a CVS-like health store, some 3,000 on convenience food store, 2,100 on fast-food, and up to 3,000 on a heritage restaurant that honors the history of the neighborhood.

However, this discussion was only the beginning. There was a brief proposal for revitalizing the entryways to the neighborhood to increase visibility by capturing traffic at the gateways of the neighborhood.

For us on iliveonclaystreet.com there is one good challenge and call to action. One of the key points made during the presentation was that there was a need to change the public perception of Clay Street if any business initiative was to thrive and return vibrancy to the neighborhood. One of the ways we can help is by letting people know: Clay is Good!

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