HyettPalma
703-683-5126
info@hyettpalma.com

Featured Project:
Downtown Monticello, New York

HyettPalma recently completed the Downtown Monticello Market Analysis and Economic Enhancement Strategy for the Village of Monticello, with financial and technical assistance from Sullivan County, New York’s Division of Planning & Community Development and the Sullivan County Main Street Redevelopment Center.

Downtown Monticello has many positive factors working in its favor. These factors include the following:

• Monticello is a County seat and the location of County government offices which create a built-in market for Downtown employees and government office users;
• Downtown has a good collection of older architecture which creates a unique environment;
• Downtown has available to it a vast array of financial incentives that have been created by both the Village and the County;
• Downtown is receiving the attention of Village Hall and of the County government — and, this attention is yielding positive and visible results;
• Downtown is experiencing new interest and enthusiasm in the form of new business owners, new investors, and long-time owners who have reinvested in their properties and businesses;
• There are new programs and projects in the wings for Downtown — including the Broadway streetscape project and the artist loft program;
• Downtown has a strong year-round market — as documented in the marketed analysis conducted for the project;
• There is a newly completed Town/Village comprehensive plan in place and a newly completed Economic Development Strategy in place for the Village — both of which can be said to have set the stage for completing an economic enhancement strategy for Downtown Monticello; and
• Downtown is located in an area long recognized for its natural beauty — and one that has long attracted resorters, visitors, and second home owners.

Therefore, Downtown Monticello is the recipient of good plans, good ideas, an abundance of incentives, and a good market.

While the future does indeed look bright, Downtown Monticello is not without challenges. These include a lessening of local pride in Downtown, numerous past Downtown plans, dissatisfaction with progress made to date, and a “savior mentality” — one that has looked to outside forces to rescue Downtown.

The goal of the economic enhancement strategy is to address these challenges and leverage the positive factors by:

• Creating a Downtown that locals love — and, therefore, that area-wide visitors, employees, and residents will choose to patronize;
• Spending the next several years improving Downtown in a manner that allows it to attract those brought to the area by pending major new draws — such as the Woodstock site project, the re-opening of the Concord, the opening of a casino, etc.; and
• Creating an economic niche for Downtown — a purpose for being — that is unique and distinctive in the region.

In this way Downtown Monticello can be moved forward to a brighter economic future.