000000_TownBburg_DowntownLiving_FB

STRATEGIES: 7 STRATEGIES FOR DOWNTOWN

CHAPTER 4

ESTABL I SH DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUN I T I ES ( con t i nued )

In order to cultivate desired development in Downtown, a first proactive step by the town should be to identify sites and areas of Downtown that are ripe for redevelopment and strategically located to best accommodate and support particular types of development. The development types needed in and desired for Downtown can be separated into four general categories:  Dense or multifamily residential Identify Appropriate Redevelopment Sites Mixed-Use , which includes non-student housing units plus ground floor retail Mixed-Use Student , which includes student housing units plus ground floor retail   Retail 

A first step in establishing development opportunities is to identify appropriate redevelopment sites, as well as the uses and densities they are poised to accommodate. This plan highlights underdeveloped and underutilized sites which may not best serve the goals and desires of the community, and recommends development types that could better serve the needs within Blacksburg’s evolving Downtown.

The accompanying map provides a recommendation of sites and areas for the town to target for redevelopment, as well as their most strategic development type. In addition to the four development types described at left, it also includes the proposed site of a new public parking garage. In general, sites that are well-positioned for redevelopment are those that could be considered underdeveloped – that is, they are either not developed to as great a density as they could accommodate, and/or they are developed with uses that may not best serve the current needs and desires of the community. Focusing on redevelopment of these key sites into new and higher-density uses will help address the imminent need for more housing units in town, as well as the desire for higher quality residential and retail offerings in Downtown specifically. It is recommended that the town create a map that illustrates these key sites and areas, which should directly relate to the districting framework presented in Strategy 7.

67 Downtown Blacksburg Strategic Plan