Leeds community weighs in on future downtown revitalization

LEEDS, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Downtown Leeds is looking to make some upgrades over the next few years, and the city wants community input on what to bring into some of the empty properties.

"We want folks to be as specific as possible, and things like retail, don't just tell us retail. What kind of boutique are you looking for?" said Place + Main Advisors Principal Joe Borgstrom. "Ultimately, we may not be able to fulfill everybody's wish, but the idea is it gives us more color. It gives us that qualitative data to quantitative data that we look at."

Leeds Main Street is working with Main Street Alabama and Place + Main Advisors to create a redevelopment plan for five of the empty properties around its historic downtown.

"It taps into that nostalgia, that mom and pop, a slower way of living," said Leeds Main Street Executive Director Kristy Biddle. "So we're not necessarily looking for the big box, the chain restaurants. It's much of the local people who want to serve the food that they want to provide for our community."

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Originally, the Leeds community was invited to a walking tour Tuesday night to see the properties firsthand and give immediate feedback on what they want to see inside, but because to rain, the community feedback was done through Facebook comments. Some of the ideas being floated most frequently in the comments include an upscale restaurant, pizza place, sports bar, flower shop, coffee house, ice cream parlor, butcher shop and activities for kids.

Leeds Main Street claims this has been a passion project in the works since 2022. Biddle said the property owners are open to any suggestions.

"We're very family friendly, family oriented, here, and so I think that anything, what I hear most is just anything that's going to draw families down and people to come downtown and make memories," Biddle said.

Place + Main Advisors asserts downtown Leeds is a great "before" and in three to five years will be drastically different but all for the positive.

"There's a relatively low barrier of entry to be able to get in here as a business owner or as a potential developer," Borgstrom said. "It doesn't have the same crush of attention as say Birmingham does. It's really one of those markets that's about to pop."