You may say they are dreamers, but are they the only ones?
A new Facebook page aims to find and organize community members interested in buying the Daughtrey building on Castro Valley Boulevard and turning it into a community market.
Daughtrey's opened as a department store in 1948 and closed more than 20 years ago.
The 30,000 square foot eyesore was purchased by the Alameda County Redevelopment Agency in 2010 for $2.8 million.
But the state has abolished redevelopment agencies and the future of the property is even more clouded now that the county lacks the tax-funding powers that had previously enabled such local agencies to get involved in property makeovers.
A Patch poll published about 15 months ago asked two questions: should the building be demolished or rehabililitated, and what would respondents like to see on the site. The results were mixed.
Other communities have experimented with the concept of commercial pop-ups to test retail or service ideas in vacant spaces.
During the depths of the Great Recession the U.S. Conference of Mayors created a policy report on how to revive vacant buildings. It was mainly concerned with abandoned residential properties but had some coverage of commercial spaces.
And a few examples can be found of other communities that came up with ways to bring new business to empty commercial space.
In any event some Castro Valley residents are asking similar questions about the Daughtrey space.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
