"Sometimes the right decision is to put the bodies into Geneva, not a business, and I think that building is a perfect example," Stanton says.
The former U.S. Bank building at the corner of North Third Street and Hamilton Street ought to be marketed as office space, downtown Geneva developer and landlord Joe Stanton says. "The bank building on the corner of Hamilton and Third, I know there’s been a lot of interest. I’ve been in there quite a few times," he said. "But it’s going to take something very creative. It’s going to be a tough time to get (a tenant)—because of the shape of that building. "The building needs to be subdivided. You might get away with a couple commercial entities facing Third Street, but the truth of the matter is we need for that to be an office building again." A big part of the longrange downtown plan is to encourage more residential development so that…
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A "farmers market for the sweet tooth," the new shop combines tastes and talents from eight different area bakers and adds to Geneva's growing reputation as a Mecca for people with a sweet tooth.
A collection of confectionary craftsmen will showcase their wares in a new venture in downtown Geneva beginning the week of Dec. 10. Sweet Natalie’s will be the umbrella operation for eight separate bakeries all selling their tasty treats from the same location. The new store continues to build on Geneva's growing reputation as a destination for people who have a taste for something sweet, joining the recently-expanded All Chocolate Kitchen, Graham's Chocolates, 318 Coffeehouse, The Latest Crave, The Little Traveler, Preservation Bread & Wine, Great Harvest Bread Co., Divine Desserts, Heidi's Cake & Pastry on the East Side and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the Commons, among others. Sweet Natalie's 1,240-square-foot space will …
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11:28 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sweet Natalie's cookies are DELICIOUS! I have been lucky enough to get some freebies and the pumpkin cookies were out of this world! more ›
Geneva's Downtown Master Plan is filled with wonderful ideas, most of which won't ever happen.
Geneva's Downtown Master Plan is a thing of beauty. Provocative and well-thought urban planning. Terrific concern for core values and citizen input, from history to economic viability to civic pride and functionality. All presented on 75 glossy pages, with gorgeous photography, smart page design, maps and graphics. But right now, that's all it is—a pretty picture. To accomplish even a tiny fraction of the development outlined in the plan's seven opportunity sites, you need heavy doses of two things: political will and funding. Neither seems present here. From the comments and responses during the Wednesday, June 27, public forum on the plan's first draft, it's clear the city has no intent of using eminent domain or tax-increment financing…
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9:05 pm on Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Rick, the important part is that it is a plan! Maybe specific parts of it will not come to fruition but it states a philosophy and sets definite goals. It gives us direction. I lived in a town similar to Geneva in many ways for 23 years. They did not plan but took each development proposal as it came along. By the time we left the town had pretty much ruined itself. There was no coherence in … more ›
In this version of Hamilton Street, the city envisions a mixed use building with four layers: underground parking, ground-floor retail and two tiers of upper-floor residential.
Development Concept Overview The development concept for this opportunity site focuses primarily on providing new structured parking new multi-family residential development along the south side of Hamilton Street, between Second and Fourth streets, with limited commercial facing Second, Third and Fourh streets. The “transitional” nature of development and uses along Hamilton Street creates an area that can accommodate a variety of uses. This concept utilizes this location to accommodate new higher density residential uses adjacent to the Downtown’s primary shopping core. What's There Now A former bank building that is for lease, parking lot and some older commercial buildings are along the south side of Hamilton Street between Second and…
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9:31 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Hmmmm. This location looks like it would be perfect for a bank with a drive through! Nah.....that would be stupid. Let's just build a new one two blocks away by destroying a historically significant building and displacing a thriving business. more ›
Colin C.
7:54 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
That bank building adds absolutely nothing to our downtown, visually or historically. It is at the end of the Third St. shopping corridor. Would it make sense to demolish it and turn the whole lot into a nice, landscaped parking area? Granted, the City loses yet another tax source but would the added parking at that central location offset the loss? more ›