Retail space is there, but are they looking for takers?
PHOTO/Emily Micucci
Most of the Nobscot Shopping Center, on the north side of Framingham, sits vacant, including the site once occupied by grocer Countryfare Marketplace, which served as the plaza's anchor.
To the lay person, developing retail space may seem like a simple equation: A location that experiences high traffic volume and consumer demand should be easy to lease or sell. So what's at work when a highly visible retail property sits mostly vacant for years at a time?
This question was raised earlier this spring in Framingham when town officials told the owner of the Nobscot Shopping Center on Water Street to upgrade the crumbling lot and weathered building for the good of the neighborhood.
Situated in the more affluent north side of town, near the Sudbury line, residents of Framingham's Nobscot village have long pressed for action to improve the blighted plaza, which is owned by Salem-based Centercorp Retail Properties. It was once anchored by a grocery store, Countryfare Marketplace, which went out of business several years ago. A handful of tenants, including CVS, now lease the plaza's smaller spaces, but it's unclear from whom; Centercorp suggested earlier this month that Shaw's Supermarket holds a master lease on the property, but Shaw's was unable to confirm that by press deadline. Still, Jeffrey Gulko, public affairs manager for Shaw's, said in an e-mail that the company is “actively working to remediate the situation” and has contacted town officials about its plans for the property.
“We've already painted the building and are taking steps to resolve the remaining concerns,” Gulko said, though he declined to provide information about whether the property will be redeveloped for Shaw's' use.
Citation issued
Town Manager Robert Halpin said officials hold Centercorp responsible, despite any potential lease deals with Shaw's, since the company owns the building, and issued a citation for blight, charging building code violations such as rotting wood, peeling paint and graffiti.
But that's about all the town can do to urge the owner to make the property more aesthetically pleasing.
“Cleaning the property up doesn't solve the problem,” Halpin said. Rather, he said the key question is “When is it going to be redeveloped?”
Officials at Centercorp declined to comment for this story. But Halpin said the speculation has been that Shaw's had been hanging onto the vacant Nobscot space to keep competitors at bay. He believes this to be an “obstacle” in redeveloping the plaza.
“You would expect people to be maximizing their investment opportunities,” Halpin mused.
Meanwhile, nearby retail parcels have been redeveloped in recent years, including a TD Bank branch at the intersection of Edgell Road and Water Street, and a new restaurant, CJ'S Northside Grill, on Edgell Road.
It's the kind of development that seems fitting of the pleasant neighborhood. And Marlene Aron, a Framingham-based broker with the firm MetroWest Commercial Real Estate, said the Nobscot Shopping Center should have prospects, too.
“I could see that section…being like a higher-end specialty store. The demographics there could support a high-end grocer,” Aron said.
Aron, who has a finger on the pulse of the MetroWest commercial real estate scene, said there's been virtually no marketing of the Nobscot Shopping Center, which may point to a disconnect between the property's Boston-based broker and the community.
“For this not to be on anybody's radar screen is a little bit unusual,” Aron said.
In commercial retail, Aron said it's the broker, not the owner, who needs to be in tune with the demographics of a city or town in order to lease out property to viable tenants. Garrett Quinn, a broker with Parsons Commercial Group of Framingham, agreed.
Quinn said retail plazas are often owned by out-of-state investors, and, based on the usual metrics (like demographics and traffic count), a retail property will look good on paper. But when it's time to lease it, owners sometimes run into trouble.
For example, as the broker of Ledgemere Plaza on Eliot Street in Ashland, Quinn said he understands that a large retailer like Staples isn't going to be interested in his space; but a smaller, locally owned business is a more likely lessee.
Local owners are impacted by other factors that may hinder redevelopment. Quinn said sometimes owners are emotionally attached to a property and expect to lease it at a price that's too high for the market. They're also sometimes reluctant to make the upgrades necessary to attract tenants, according to Quinn.
“Some of them have the capital to carry the building even if it's vacant, and wait for the right person to come along and put money into it,” Quinn said.
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