It\u2019s one of the most popular entertainment spots in Dallas, but Deep Ellum business owners say ongoing street construction is hurting their bottom line. And, they worry the problem will only get worse.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, we\u2019re open!\u2019<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message from bars and restaurants up and down Deep Ellum\u2019s Commerce Street.<\/p>\n
Ever since construction began last fall, business owners tell NBC 5 they\u2019ve seen a drop in foot traffic.<\/p>\n
Pete Zotos, longtime restaurateur of St. Pete\u2019s Dancing Marlin, said his business is down 21%.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been getting creative on social media, encouraging customers to visit and work around the mess.<\/p>\n
The $30 million city project will convert Commerce into a two-way street and improve drainage and sidewalks. The construction is expected to last until the first quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s Dallas construction. We all know how that is,\u201d said Zotos.<\/p>\n
Dot\u2019s Hop House & Cocktail Courtyard put a large sign outside that reads \u2018The construction is a real ditch, but we are open.\u2019<\/p>\n
Owner Jeff Brightwell said business at Dot\u2019s is down 30-40% depending on the month, ever since the giant hole appeared outside his door.<\/p>\n
He and other business leaders hope a meeting on Monday will bring solutions.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve invited city leaders to hear their concerns about the expected timeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got to speed it up,\u201d said Zotos. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t take this long. It just shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, business owners have one message.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you like Deep Ellum, if you\u2019ve ever liked Deep Ellum, if you thought \u2018Hey, maybe I\u2019ll go back there next week,\u2019 don\u2019t do it next week, do it today,\u201d said Zotos.<\/p>\n
The Deep Ellum Foundation stresses there is plenty of parking in the area. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson said the nightlife district has added more than 1,000 parking spaces since the pandemic through surface lots and parking garages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s one of the most popular entertainment spots in Dallas, but Deep Ellum business owners say ongoing street…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,24726,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-77524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-deep-ellum","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114884562377368475","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}