Cary hopes to fine tune new development options near Metra with summer panel

Using the Cary Metra station as a focal point, village officials hope to hammer out specific plans for developing the downtown later this summer.

Almost all scenarios involve constructing a new plaza on the site of the old rail depot demolished last year, according to village plans and Community Development Director Brian Simmons.

Developers will meet with village officials to provide feedback as part of a day-long panel the village is coordinating with the Regional Transportation Authority. The goal is to turn some of the broader concepts the village’s latest downtown strategic plan into actual potential projects, Simmons said.

“We can walk around downtown with the panel, so they can see what the community is doing well and not doing,” Simmons said.

The strategic plan outlines the centrality of the village’s Metra station and how it can build off commuter trends to revitalize the area in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to the station, as well as residential and mixed-use density within the core district, is key to the village’s future, Simmons said.

The strategic plan currently focuses on a half-mile radius around the Metra station. The village’s research indicates the initial quarter mile is how far suburban residents are wiling to walk to get a station, Simmons said.

Before the pandemic, the commuter lots around the train station were full, but that has dropped by more than 80%, Simmons said.

“Obviously, we are hoping ridership picks back up,” Simmons said. “And maybe people park downtown to go into the city or work, and then on their way home they pick up dry-cleaning or go to a restaurant.”

The strategic plan offers several possibilities for redevelopment, so the village is hoping further consultation with the Regional Transportation Authority will help narrow down options as opportunities for reinvestment and growth, Simmons said.

Although the goal is still broad, Simmons said, the idea is to see how the village can encourage residents to both live and visit downtown in the future. One option that Simmons said he thinks is most promising is building a new plaza where the old railroad depot used to be, where the railroad intersects with the Northwest Highway and Main Street.

The depot was torn down last year. The city is in the process for getting grant funding for the plaza, and work on that could start later this year, Simmons said.

At the moment, the downtown area has little or no vacant space, and while developers have expressed interest in nearby sites, nothing concrete is in development at present, Simmons said.

“I think our downtown is very quaint,” Simmons said. “We have some good restaurants. We’re just looking to build on that strength.”

The Regional Transportation Authority describes its role as offering “technical assistance and funding” to local municipalities such as Cary, with the goal of fostering “sustainable, equitable, walkable and transit-friendly communities around transit assets.”

The downtown plan was originally adopted by the Cary Village Board in June 2021. No date for the panel has been set yet, Simmons said.