SALEM — The news last week that a Flatbread pizza restaurant is moving into the former Goodyear Auto Service Center at 311 Derby St. is more proof that this two-block stretch along the South River is on the rise.

Once dominated by warehouses, automotive and other commercial uses, and more than one empty building, the corridor is fast becoming a place for residents and tourists alike to grab a bite to eat or a pint of brew.

Mayor Kim Driscoll sees more potential there, as a nexus stitching together Salem’s booming downtown with Pickering Wharf’s shops and restaurants and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

“We are excited about the investments that are occurring,” Driscoll said. 

The city made a major investment in the Derby Street corridor — roughly from Lafayette Street to Congress Street — in 2010, creating a $1.6 million Harborwalk on the opposite bank of the South River in what had been a seedy stretch of empty lots. Money for the project, $1.3 million, came from the state’s Seaport Advisory Council and the rest from federal Community Development block grants. Another $730,000 in state and federal money was used to create a new urban park on Peabody Street in the Point neighborhood along the Harborwalk.

The improvements were aimed not only at sprucing up the area, but spurring investment in the commercial corridor fronting the river. Now, there are signs that is happening.

The Derby Street corridor

On the east side of the Derby Street corridor sits Scratch Kitchen on the ground floor of the South Harbor garage, which is directly across from the Salem Waterfront Hotel. Around the corner, on Congress Street, there are plans to reopen the former Grapevine Restaurant as an Italian-themed eatery named Orsini.

Scratch Kitchen’s Bill Fogarty said he’s seen the fortunes of Derby Street improve in the more than five years he has been located there. The eatery takes locally sourced ingredients and creates its menu from scratch, including bacon, hams, bread, condiments and pickles.

“It’s nice to see some other restaurants moving into the area,” said Fogarty, who sees Derby Street becoming a draw.

On the western end of this corridor, in the Derby Lofts building, gourmands can buy cheeses from around the world at the Cheese Shop of Salem, or homemade baguettes and croissants from A.J. King Artisan Bakers. There’s the Engine House Pizza, a longtime mainstay, and across the street an Orange Leaf frozen yogurt parlor and the popular Howling Wolf Taqueria.

Read the entire Salem News Article here