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Businesses hope for a boost as 7th Avenue streetscape project wraps up

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Businesses hope for a boost as 7th Avenue streetscape project wraps up

HENDERSONVILLE—”Seventh Avenue is open,” Hendersonville city manager John Connet declared to the Hendersonville Times-News via phone Nov. 27. 

The street, a main drag in Hendersonville’s historic district, opened to traffic after being closed for construction much of this year due to the 7th Avenue Streetscape Project. Infrastructure improvements were designed to make the historic district more pedestrian friendly, upgrade water and sewer systems, improve lighting and encourage more activity.  

“We have finished painting, and at this point, the project is very, very near being complete. Part of Locust [Street] is still closed, a very small section that’s more for safety, and there’s a parking lot that has to be resurfaced,” Connet said. “There are some small items that still have to be done, and that’ll all be finished up by the end of the year.” 

Liz Morin, owner of antiques and vintage shop The Yellow Cottage at 518 7th Avenue E., said that the upgrades were necessary, but construction and road closures decimated her business.

“When they first closed the road down, we went to a 40% business loss,” she said. In the last three months, revenues are down 90%, she said.

“This [construction] has gone on since February, and the loss of business… it’s worse than what I even thought,” said Morin’s grandmother, Linda Hendricks, who founded the shop eight years ago and still does appraisals. She said the shop was fortunate to have an understanding landlord who has kept rent affordable. She declined to say how much it costs.

Another business, Daddy D’s Suber Soul Food, closed its brick-and-mortar restaurant at 411 7th Avenue E. this month after being open for about 20 years. Owner David Suber told the Times-News Nov. 16 that since streetscape construction began in February, the restaurant had been doing only about 15% of its usual sales. The property owner did not renew his lease, he said. He said the restaurant would continue to operate food trucks.

“The city realizes that this project has had an impact on the businesses on Seventh Avenue,” Connet said. “We are not going to run from that fact. We hate that that has happened, but the project is— in the long run, we feel like it’s going to be a benefit for not only the businesses on Seventh Avenue, but the entire city.”

“I’m excited,” said Matthew Hickman, whose business, Underground Baking Co., rents space at 348 7th Ave E. and has been open for about 15 years. He said he’s been involved in the planning over the past seven years.

“It hurt. We knew it would hurt,” he said of the construction. His business adapted by selling its products wholesale and at markets the past few months and after a Thanksgiving break will re-open Dec. 4. He predicts he’ll have a strong December, and that business will rebound even more in the spring.

Connet said the Seventh Avenue Municipal Service District — a business improvement district along Seventh Avenue from N. Grove Street to the Okalawaha Greenway and from E. Pace Street to the southeast to Eighth Avenue — has existed since about 1996 and property owners there have long advocated for streetscape improvements similar to the ones on Main Street. He said there were “some over-optimistic projections that parts of the street would be open initially in May and then again in July,” but in fact, the construction is on schedule, and the contract date for completion is Dec. 14.

Hendersonville’s downtown manager, Jamie Carpenter, told the Times-News that the city has tried to support affected businesses by contracting with them for catering, hosting business lunches and classes, and helping launch the Love Hendo business recovery grants. 

“First round, we were not able to provide any to businesses that were in the streetscape area because we had to focus those on businesses that were physically active from the storm,” she said. But they will be eligible for funds in a second round of grants, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. 

A Christmas market and Pup Crawl will be held in the historic district Saturday, December 7, and a farmer’s market will resume May 3, at which time the city plans to hold a grand opening event for 7th Avenue.

Morin said she’s committed to keeping her doors open and hopes the worst is behind her.

“I — me and all my dealers— are ready to go,” she said.

Deirdra Funcheon covers Henderson, Polk and Transylvania Counties for the Hendersonville Times-News. Got a tip? Email her at DFuncheon@gannett.com.

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