I stopped by Hank’s Downtown Dive at 111 E. Chatham Street to see their progress and grab a few photos. They aren’t open yet but close so make certain to check their social channels over the next week or two for any updates. Hank’s will no doubt be a wonderful addition to our growing Downtown food scene, joining places like La Farm, Kababish Cafe, MC, Academy Street Bistro and many more but what I’d most like to highlight about Hank’s is the work that is happening not simply to add new life to a tired retail space but more importantly how that transformation is creating new outdoor spaces and amenities. Follow the images below to help document this transformation process as well as future steps.
Long before Hank’s this space was a Dry Cleaners, which actually had a drive thru pickup from off of Chatham Street. If you look closely, just beyond the woman in the picture, you can see the end of the walkway and the small area for where the cars would come through. Fast forward a little and the drive thru was removed and the area outside became a building with it’s back to the street and overgrown landscaping.The property sold in September of 2019 and the joint ownership team of Mackenan and Chatham Street Commercial began exploring ways to add new life to this tired shopping center, which they renamed The Center. Particular emphasis was given to the creation of outdoor spaces in front of Hanks and Taipei 101 as well as much needed sidewalk improvements that compliment the sidewalks across the street along Pharmacy, The Cary, etc. The first aspect of implementing the plan was to the outdoor patio space for Hank’s. There were a lot of topographic challenges and required a lot of work to dig out this area for the patio and connect is properly to the future sidewalk improvements along Chatham Street. This angle better reflects the topographic challenges and in addition to steps to connect from the sidewalk, there is also a more clearly defined space coming in from the street for an accessible alternative to the steps. The chain link fence is temporary as Hank’s was ahead of the sidewalk work but it will eventually be replaced with a more decorative fence, like you can see in the background just past the umbrellas. Quite a transformation from an overgrown landscaped area. The accordion style doors can open up to create an extension of the restaurant to have a more indoor/outdoor feel.
Bringing this photo back up in order to talk about the sidewalk improvements to come next. First thing to note that the extent of these improvement will go down to Roger’s Alley. Sidewalk improvements will continue all the way to Walker but will be completed as part of the Rogers West/East Development. Cary is implementing a new suspended pavers system with this sidewalk project that will help create a much better underground environment for our street trees to grow and thrive and will also have benefits to improve storm water. The sidewalks will be much wider to improve the pedestrian experience, much like the southern side of Chatham Street. Tags: bar, cary nc, Development, Downtown, Downtown Cary, food, hanks downtown dive, placemaking, real estate, restaurant
