Local Dentist Buys Land to Transform Monroe Downtown Riverfront

A Monroe dentist and developer purchased a 1,000 foot stretch of downtown riverfront properties. He hopes to reconstruct the strip of land into retail shops, restaurants and hotels. Downtown business owners and managers we spoke with have high hopes for this large scale project. They think this is the big break that downtown Monroe has needed for years. Dennis Clack is the general manager of the Warehouse No. 1 restaurant on the Monroe riverfront. He is looking forward to seeing someone bringing life to downtown Monroe. "I think its time for somebody to do something its been dormant long enough," he said. Belinda Crymes sells food to local restaurant owners and she feels the same way. "I think its a long-term event that should have happened years ago and I feel that we have the right people in place that are trying to move forward with it." One of the people who have stepped forward is Matt Sanderson, a local dentist and developer. Over the past year he has bought a 1000-foot stretch of property along the downtown riverfront of Monroe. He has also bought the Howard Griffin building on South Grand St. He wants to transform the area into social hub. "There are cities all around that would kill for that river running through the middle of it and to me its just so under utilized," he said. So he plans to utilize it and already has a vision of what it will look like. "Creating a street walk that has an older feel but then you walk in and its upscale and urban and its well done." But is this all a real possibility or just another pipe dream? Sanderson says, "I do think so and partly because of the amount of interest and support I’ve gotten." And Crymes says community support is what it will take. "I think its possible if everyone would come together as a whole and try to make it work and support the ones who have bought and tried to develop downtown Monroe." Sanderson says development isnt going to happen over night and a lot of work is left to be done, but he hopes to begin construction within 18-24 months. (Copyright 2008, NBC 10/FOX 14 News, Written by Casey Ferrand)