Shopping Center Owners Refuse to Meet With Selectmen
Property owners of two neighborhood shopping centers again rejected requests by the town to meet and discuss reviving the retail spaces.
Selectmen again publicly implored the owners of two distressed shopping centers in Framingham to meet and discuss what plans they have for the future of the neighborhood focal points.
But the owners of the Nobscot Shopping Center on Water Street and the Mount Wayte Shopping Plaza on Franklin Street have indicated, through their agents, they have no desire or motivation to meet with town representatives, in a public forum.
Alison Steinfeld, director of Framingham’s Community and Economic Development department, contacted both owners and reported to the Selectmen at their meeting this week.
“The Mount Wayte owner has moved to Florida,” she told Selectmen. “They say they maintain the property and they pay taxes and they don’t see a reason to appear before the board. They say they do have a new leasing agent, who is aggressively marketing the plaza.”
Steinfeld went on to say the corporation that owns the Nobscot shopping center also contends they maintain the property, have done some landscaping work and cooperated with the town, when the town-wide sewer project tore up Water Street and adjacent roads.
“They said they are only concerned with a grocery store and CVS,” said Steinfeld, a reference to the former Star Market, which has been empty for more than seven years and the shopping center’s largest tenant, CVS.
“We have watched the decline of the shopping centers for more than a decade,” said Selectman Dennis Giombetti. “I just want them to tell us their story. The status quo of steady decline is unacceptable. We want positive action.
“At the end of the day, the landowners have the final say on their properties. But they are not willing to entertain any ideas.”
“I brought up eminent domain as something that we may have to discuss,” said Giombetti. “Eminent domain would be a last resort. But we are at a point of desperation and until we get a commitment from them we are just spinning our wheels.”
“Threatening them with eminent domain is not the answer,” Selectmen Charles Sisitsky said. “We have to convince the landlords that we are serious about development. We have to work with the owners, give them new ideas, and present certain tax advantages. We have to gain their confidence.”
Chair Jason Smith directed Framingham’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation to work with Community and Economic Development, other town departments that would have a stake in development of the plazas and local developers to come up with ideas and concepts that would revitalize the two shopping centers. Steinfeld was asked to give a progress report to Selectmen on Nov. 15.
TOM SYDELL
3:35 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
LETS INCREASE THE TAX ON VACANT PROPERTY,IF ITS VACANT FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS . THEY CAN RENT IT OUT OR SELL IT.
David Miller
3:42 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I agree... why is commercial property taxed based on if it is occupied and not it's potential? If I leave my house empty, I still have to pay full taxes on it...
M'liss Tusoni Klein
3:58 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
In 2004 I inquired several times to look at the property and did not get a response. I guess the owners would rather have the property vacant than rent to a small business.
Heidi
6:16 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I heard from a reliable source that Stop and Shop pays them rent so no other grocery store goes in Nobscot. That would explain why they don't respond to anyone. BTW, Stop and Shop has no intentions to put in a store just pay rent to keep the competition out!
Rich
10:18 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I've heard this rumor but it was Star/Shaws paying to keep the space vacant. At this point it has been many years since CountryFare Star closed. The reason they closed was that it was a small store so most of the products sold were overpriced. The area is saturated by SudFarms and Shaws to the North; and, 2 SnSs, WholeFoods and TraderJoes to the south. I just dont know what might do well there other than an expanded CVS.
Amy Schwartzberg
7:40 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I would love to see Wegmans come to Framingham and give Stop and Shop a run for their money.
Papabarn
8:19 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
What a great spot for a Hannaford's!
Susan Petroni
8:33 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Loving the discussion here. Tom & David great question!
Just a reminder that Patch policy is anyone can comment, but we ask that everyone use their first & last name. Thanks!
Brenda Crawshaw
10:22 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Regarding Nobscot, I called and talked to The IGA, Big Y, Wegman's, Aldi's, Trader Joes, DeMoulas, Stu Leonards, Omni, and Russo's. Wegmans, Trader Joes, DeMoulas, Omni, Aldi's and Big Y all said that location was not located on streets that are considered "main" enough to be considered; all of that subgroup knew EXACTLY where I was calling about and *appeared* to have considered the location given the specificity of our conversation. The rest weren't considering the town for a location.
I called several times over the course of a couple of years asking about retail space and my calls were NEVER returned. As I have said before, clearly they do not WANT to rent space at Nobscot. Why remains to be learned.
Jim Rizoli
10:33 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Jim Rizoli CCFIILE.COM
My question is....Could another food store do well there?
How about putting the new library there......
Seems to have plenty of room is on one floor. Good parking etc....
David Miller
6:01 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2011
If StopnShop or Shaw's or anyone is paying them rest to keep it open, then they should be taxed on that value! more to the point of taxing based on value rather than actual usage! Also, who says that it needs to be a grocery store there. Just look at Pinefield with Robinson's Hardware... That plaza is nearly fully rented!
David Miller
Susan Petroni
6:12 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2011
David: I agree. I don't think it has to be a supermarket, it just needs to be a destination store/business.
The Nobsot community met in June and did some brainstorming -- http://framingham.patch.com/articles/playground-garden-swap-may-help-to-revitalize-nobscot
It's time the town/neighborhood made a list of 10 businesses they want in that area and start a campaign to recuit them. I think everyone is tired of waiting and reacting to more bad news - it's time to be proactive.
Sadly, as I wrote on the Framingham Patch Facebook page last week, we have been writing about this issue since we launched in December 2010 --
http://framingham.patch.com/articles/no-development-planned-for-former-star-market-storefront
and
http://framingham.patch.com/articles/selectmen-want-commerical-property-owners-to-end-blight
Jennifer Havard
11:46 am on Monday, September 19, 2011
The Nobscot property would be a great location for the new proposed library.
Jennifer Havard
11:47 am on Monday, September 19, 2011
The Nobscot property would be a great location for the new proposed library, rather than paving over a new piece of land.
Jim Rizoli
12:34 pm on Monday, September 19, 2011
Jim Rizoli CCFIILE.COM
Jennifer....Interesting how I said the same thing but my post seems to been deleted.
Even when people agree with me my post get censored. Go figure!
Amy Schwartzberg
4:15 pm on Monday, September 19, 2011
the location would be great for the new library, as it is close to Shillman house and Heritage. Probably could use a nice coffe shop, clothes boutique -- the opportunities and ideas are endless but the owners need to be open to renting.
Hector Gomez
11:47 am on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The real problem is there's just no demand for retail space. Any business owner is going to choose Route 9, Route 30 or Route 20 over these locations. The store fronts are empty because the businesses that were in them couldn't make any money. I propose we rezone these obsolete plazas, bulldoze the run down buildings and start from scratch.
Jim Rizoli
12:06 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Jim Rizoli CCFIILE.COM
Hector....good points! Don't know how the bulldozing would go over with the owners though.....LOL There are a lot of things that could go in there..... we could use the buildings for town needed facilities or use them for housing, or something that would be a benefit for people living somewhere.
Right now, there seems to be not a good fit....but we could figure one out.
K. Maloney
3:01 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
It seems to me that with the new Shilman House, the two apartment complexes on the corner, and the Windsor Townhouses, it's a perfect spot for a small grocery store like Market Basket or Trader Joe's. Many of the folks in those places, especially Shilman House, are unable to drive, and this would be a walkable solution.
Debbie Mosgrove
4:22 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Wishing it so doesn't make real. These plazas have been mostly abandoned for years. Even the one in Saxonville is just barely hanging on. And they have a day care, a driving school and a limosine service occupying space. These aren't even businesses that require storefronts. I agree with Hector. The area is saturated with retail space. We should see if the town can buy the properties from the owners. Rezone and sell.
David Miller
4:37 pm on Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Debbie, Sorry, but where exactly is Framingham going to find the money to do this? We can't afford the sewer/water repairs we were forced to do by the state, we keep reducing our fire/police and schools... If only the town residents didn't vote down the CPA when it was brought forth so many years ago (when the state was matching $ for $ of contributions into such preservation funds). It has worked out so nicely for towns around us who found it a worthwhile investment (Acton, Maynard, Sudbury to name a few). Nothing comes for free.
David Miller
Jenny S Hooper
9:27 am on Wednesday, September 21, 2011
I'm with Debbie and Hector. In it's current state these plazas can't be worth a whole lot. The land they're will likely be more valuable after it's rezoned. The town might even make money by purchasing, rezoning and selling.
Let's not pretend we are poor. Budgets for town departments have never been higher. We just ordered a fire truck that costs $975,000 and spent $600,000 on laptops for 100 police cars. the school budget is around $90 million.
We've wasted enough time waiting. Let's try something new.
Rich
9:48 am on Wednesday, September 21, 2011
I dont think anything good comes with the Town becoming a developer. I agree that something has to be done and that retail is saturated between Route 9 and 20. I think CVS could trive there even as an expanded store (like on temple st or Walgreens by prospect). What I think could or might work best is small retail or office on the first floor and a second or possibly third floor of apartments or condos which could attract some younger professionals (if they even exist anymore) that could feed into some more businesses nearby. This would take a willingness of the town to rezone for mixed use and the current property owner to either crap or get off the pervebial pot and sell the property to a company/person who has some vision. The only thing the town should be doing is helping to expidite any zoning or permiting changes needed. This could work too for fountain/franklin st plaza too.