Downtown Brevard 'in the midst of a rebirth'

BREVARD – Dusk in downtown Brevard once belonged to the nighttime joggers, the seven o'clock moviegoers and the few restaurants that stayed open after the clock's shorthand touched five.

Every downtown street had its share of vacancies. Across from the historic Transylvania County courthouse, a historic hotel had not seen a guest since it closed in 1950.

But as real estate broker Ann Sharpsteen sat at the bar inside Jaime's Creole Brasserie, 44 E. Main St., this week, waiters and waitresses moved swiftly between customers in preparation for the dinner rush.

The phone rang every few minutes. Pleasantries and particulars were exchanged with a Southern touch even if the person who answered the phone didn't have a Southern accent. The smell of bay leaf and other Cajun spices drifted into the communal dining room of the 6,000-square-foot restaurant that opened in October.

Here, reservations are required not as a formality but as a necessity.

"You cannot get a table for dinner without a reservation — and that's during the week," Sharpsteen said, as she sipped Coca-Cola out of a mason jar glass. "This is just sort of symbolic of what's happening in Brevard. New life is being breathed into this downtown."

Growing demand

Next to Jaime's Creole Brasserie, a contractor's sign at 36 E. Main St. promises "we build character" at the future site of two or three retail shops expected to open this spring.

A short stroll away on the corner of Broad and Jordan streets, construction crews continue their work at a dirt-filled lot.

The site eventually will become the location of an underground parking deck with an attached private elevator for tenants of the historic and newly restored Aethelwold Hotel, a public plaza area and a multi-story building.

"Downtown Brevard is definitely in the midst of a rebirth," said Clark Lovelace, executive director of the Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce.

When the Heart of Brevard was founded in 1990 to focus on economic development downtown, members of the nonprofit discovered the occupancy rate in Brevard was between 50 and 60 percent.

Today, its executive director reports the rate has grown to 95 percent.

"Since I got here a year ago, I've kept a list of those who have shown interest in locating downtown. The list is around 50 or so this year — just on my list — and several have opened now," said Heath Seymour, executive director of the Heart of Brevard. "In the next few months, we are looking at the sixth expansion in six months or so — another new retailer, a new restaurant and an office, possibly others as well."

In the past decade, Seymour said the downtown district has seen its share of what he calls a "slow and steady continuation of growth." He points to the Hollingsworth building, a new building next to the Chamber of Commerce, and French Broad Place, an infill project nestled between Brevard College and downtown Brevard, as examples.

However, Seymour said he cannot tell at this time whether the downtown area has reached its tipping point.

Brevard is not alone in struggling with the question, according to Liz Parham, director of the North Carolina Main Street Center. The organization provides downtown development assistance to cities and towns across the state.

"There's not an exact formula for how to know when small towns have hit their tipping point," Parham said. "We're not looking for a certain number of restaurants, or a certain number of residential units, or a certain number of businesses. It's about when the mix shifts and turns, and it becomes a center of activity for most of the day and into the evening."

According to Lovelace, the spike in downtown business directly correlates with an increase in tourism.

"We have seen more visitors this year than we have in years past," he said, citing town festivals, mountain biking and the film location of "The Hunger Games" as popular draws for visitors.

Inside Harris Hardware store, 123 West Main St., Brevard's mayor stands in the second-generation shop that has been open 44 years.

"Downtown property is a commodity. People want it, it's in demand and investors find that it's a good deal with a great payback," Jimmy Harris said.

Harris also said downtown Brevard was one of two distinct areas identified as strong, stable economic centers in Transylvania County. The other was Lake Toxaway.

However, the demand for business space in downtown does not necessarily align with current needs.

Most businesses that approach Seymour and the Heart of Brevard about a downtown space would rather rent than buy and aren't looking for anything large.

"We have folks that are looking for particular-sized spaces in particular areas. We have a space that's 3,000-square-feet, but more folks are looking for something smaller, like 1,200-square-feet," Seymour said, noting most businesses are requesting locations on Main Street or Broad Street.

"I can think of two locations that would be able to be rented right now on those two streets, and they're just a little larger. So, for whatever reason, one of these properties just hasn't clicked with what folks are looking for."

Building up Brevard

While these businesses have been looking or waiting for the right space, city Planning Director Joshua Freeman said his department has been working alongside developers to build it.

Standing on Main Street with Daniel Cobb, assistant director of long range planning for the city, Freeman said the planning department is interested in looking up and down for its downtown development rather than out.

"We just came from a meeting where we were talking about trying to find ways to take some of our side alleys and create opportunities for side entrances to buildings so that those buildings could be broken up into smaller storefronts," Freeman said. "We've even got a couple of property owners who are trying to find ways to renovate their basements and create smaller spaces."

In the new creole restaurant, for example, there are plans for a private upstairs gallery in the loft space and a downstairs music venue with a speakeasy vibe.

"Historically, our second and third floors have been very underutilized. Part of that comes from it being difficult to create access to those second floors when you're trying to meet disability code and fire code," said Freeman, who was born and raised in Brevard.

"If you don't have the option of sprawl, which is good or bad depending on your perspective, you have to be more efficient with your land; you have to be more creative about how buildings get renovated and redeveloped."

With a downtown occupancy rate almost at 100 percent, Freeman said that creating new retail and residential developments within pre-existing structures could help the downtown area grow in a smart and sustainable way.

"In a downtown like ours — where, in some cases, the buildings are older and you're really having to focus on doing infill development as opposed to a strip mall on a vacant piece of property — it requires a totally different skill set," Freeman said.

"The developers we need in this town are the developers that understand the complexities of these kinds of properties. It requires developers with a long-range vision — and perhaps the financial capability — to make longer-term investments."

Domokur: The big name downtown

Three years ago, architect and developer Michael Domokur discovered the Aethelwold Hotel and Tim Hall, the man who worked to save the building for more than 20 years.

"Someone had suggested I buy it, but once I met Tim, I told him I wouldn't buy it from him and would instead become a business partner to jointly move it forward," Domokur said.

In the restored hotel lobby, a handwritten guest register remains behind a glass case. A yellow sticker in the register points to the signature of one of the hotel's most famous guests, former U.S. President William Howard Taft.

Hall restored the lobby to its original state and moved retail space into the street level years ago, but together Hall and Domokur's firm are working to transform the Aethelwold building into a mixed-use space, with residential condos and commercial space.

Though the condos have not been marketed to the public yet, he said some of the spaces have already been reserved.

"I wanted to see some life come back into the center of town," said Domokur, whose firm has offices in Akron, Cleveland, Chicago and now Brevard. "We're really trying to work with the fabric that is downtown Brevard."

He has been involved with bringing Jaime's Creole Brasserie to town, along with the property adjacent to the Aethelwold building and the property next to the creole restaurant.

Domokur said the shops moving into the space next door to Jaime's at 36 E. Main St. will develop in the alley space rather than a traditional front-facing street level space.

"It feels like we're riding a very good momentum," he said. "The town only needs a little spark, and then I think everything is going to just kind of take off. I think we're getting there."

According to Cobb, a city planner with a focus on long-range development, this is a moment for Brevard to seize.

"Brevard has a lot of potential and we're ready to go," Cobb said. "We're looking for some more developers with the capacity, and the capital, and the willingness to take the risk and effort to come down here and build something."

Still a small town

Though Broad Street Wines is not a part of any of the Domokur development projects, Connie Edmands said her shop is benefiting.

"For the last six months, my volume has increased enough that I can afford to have someone to help me in the shop," she said. "People have really discovered this is a great place to be. It just feels like there's more energy."

Edmands said she thinks the new businesses, an increase in visitors and a renewed vitality in downtown Brevard are helping drive growth in both her shop and others.

"Some people will tell you it's Mike — an outsider coming to Brevard who has experience in developing in cities and downtown areas. Other people will tell you it's just Brevard's time," said Sharpsteen, a real estate broker and Brevard-centric blogger.

"Things unfold the way they're supposed to unfold, and I think that also includes areas that become revitalized. You have to wait for the right time for all the elements to come together, and that's the case here."

But some elements of downtown Brevard have stayed the same.

People still stop and talk to each other on Main Street about topics other than the weather. Rocky's Soda Shop still plays music from the '50s. The last showing at the one-room movie theater is still 7 p.m. every day of the week.

"Our downtown has a historic courthouse, an AM radio station, a barbershop and a movie theater," the mayor said. "Norman Rockwell couldn't have painted it any better than that."

Signs of growth

•Based on records from the larger properties in the county, occupancy has increased by 5 percent or more in each of the last three years and is slated to have one of its best years ever in 2014.

•The Visitor Center has seen an increase of 6 percent or more in visitors, phone calls and brochure mailing requests in each of the last two years.

•While there are no official statistics, unofficial head counts and a survey of retailers show that the three premier festivals (White Squirrel Festival, July Fourth Festival and Halloweenfest) each were among the best attended in their histories.

Source: The Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce