Neighbors - Barkley

POSTED: Wednesday, Oct. 01, 2008

Barkley takes measured pace to district's growth

The condos, stores and offices in Barkley Village are a far cry from the patches of grass and the sticker bushes that defined the area 20 years ago.

Today's buildings, those finished and those under construction, signal the ongoing transformation of empty land into urban village.

Stowe Talbot, vice president of Barkley Co., said that while the area has developed substantially, plans for the future are still being cultivated, with retail, residential and office growth the focus.

"More retail in a bigger way will create that critical mass that gets the area noticed," he said. "Right now, Barkley Village is just a little too small to put on the map."

Pastazza restaurant has been in Barkley Village for nearly 12 years, and was the second business to go in after the Haggen grocery store, said owner Lynn Berman.

She remembers when there was nothing in the area except construction equipment and a smattering of stores.

"Customers would call up and say to us, 'Now where's Barkley Village at?'" she said. "We were feeling very lonely in the beginning."

But the restaurant survived, and growth has mushroomed, with other restaurants, banks, medical services, and assorted white-collar enterprises moving to the district.

Most of the developments are small, but if bigger retail projects come along, Barkley Co. would consider the opportunity, Talbot said.

While he doubts that big-box stores will come to the area - due to their size and their poor fit in urban villages - he says they wouldn't be excluded simply on principal. Instead, Talbot is focusing on what retailers can offer the area.

"We're trying to take a holistic view, and fill in the gaps for what an urban village needs," he said. "We want to find stores that are compatible."

Barkley Co. also wants to expand the district's residential base. People are already living in the Drake condominium building, and there are plans for another residential building across the street, but it's on hold during the housing slump.

Talbot has a long list of amenities he'd like to see in Barkley Village: playfields, more trails, movie theaters, parks.

Berman said many of her customers use trails to walk from their homes, and she expects the trail system to thrive even more as more people call the area home.

Talbot predicts continued growth for Barkley Village, but not at an extreme pace.

"(Barkley Village) will look like a place that's grown organically over time," he said. "It's never going to be as funky or eclectic as a downtown area or Fairhaven, but it also won't look like a cookie-cutter development that went in in two years.

"Building at a measured pace gives us more of a chance to correct mistakes," he said.

When Talbot envisions a finished Barkley Village, he sees a place where people will want to hang out, where there's always something interesting to do.

He sees stylish architecture, with close attention to detail in the planning and design stages.

"It'll be a place where people live together, on top of their store, but not at a sacrifice of a sense of place," he said. "Barkley Village will be a distinct, desired place where people will want to be."