NW Corner of 23rd & Classen (Rainbow Records)

[TheTravellers]

Everyone just parks at the lot to the west, owned by the church.

Even on Sunday mornings, that lot isn't near full as you can tell from the last photo, which was taken this past Sunday around 11 AM.

Yep, did that for years, decades ago, when I was a frequent customer at Rainbow. It baffles me when I see people trying to parallel park on 23rd, I just want to yell at them "Just go forward 100 feet and turn right and park in the lot!"

[BDP]

Yep, did that for years, decades ago, when I was a frequent customer at Rainbow. It baffles me when I see people trying to parallel park on 23rd, I just want to yell at them "Just go forward 100 feet and turn right and park in the lot!"

I think when it was Rainbow, it wasn't that difficult to park on 23rd and I probably still wouldn't hesitate to do it today.

But I think perception is really the biggest thing. I know we don't want to see more large underutilized surface parking lots from a development stand point, but almost all retailers (except maybe Trader Joe's) want to see as much parking as they can get. So, even with with the church lot to the west, some prospective tenants might still balk at the parking situation. I personally would not, but, unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who feel they must be able to park at the front door, which any retailer would have to know.

It's probably less of a problem if it is a specialty shop or maybe a restaurant. Good signage directing customers to the church lot (if they're cool with that), could go a long way, too. There's definitely a lot of opportunity with this location, so hopefully a nice renovation and the right tenant will bring life back to this corner (and maybe kick start something at the other corner.