Greedy Landlords Causing Storefronts to Sit Empty?
The Daily News has a story about how the one-two punch of unrealistically high asking rents and the recession has resulted in a number of empty storefronts in brownstone Brooklyn. Cases in point, where retail spaces are still empty after rent increases: the dry cleaner on Court and Baltic that had to vacate after the…
The Daily News has a story about how the one-two punch of unrealistically high asking rents and the recession has resulted in a number of empty storefronts in brownstone Brooklyn. Cases in point, where retail spaces are still empty after rent increases: the dry cleaner on Court and Baltic that had to vacate after the landlord hiked the rent from $2,500 to $6,500 a month; Royal Video, above, which left its old Flatbush Avenue spot for a smaller one after the landlord was said to be asking $10,000 a month for the space; and a Myrtle Avenue shoe repair that shut down this fall. It seems, however, that while there are certainly examples of greedy/delusional landlords to be found, there aren’t an overwhelming number of fresh vacancies on the main retail drags in Cobble Hill, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope—that these guys tend to be the exception, rather than the rule. Thoughts?
Brooklyn Storefronts Empty [NY Daily News]
Photo by plangently.
fsrg- yes, but a lot of small businesses create a lot of jobs and money. Maybe not individually, but as a whole. And its a lot healthier for the economy. (And yes, I agree that when the lease comes up for renewal things should be reconsidered. But many small businesses can’t generate the kind of rents landlords want to get. One old time very famous bridal business, a successful one, had to close up when the landlord decided to raise their rent from 5000 to 30,000. As successful as they were, bridal trim and flowers, salaries, benefits and supplies also went up. There was no way they could stay in business with tht rent. And that story was repeated over and over again. I knew quite a few of the shops and owners- ask anyone who was in the industry, and they can tell all the great businesses that were driven out. Instead of working out increases everyone could live with, a lot of the landlords raised it to “market level.”
While the video store may not generate a lot by itself, in communities that video store is only one of many businesses that serve the neighborhood. Businesses every neighborhood needs.
These threads always degenerate into finger pointing. Both sides need attitude adjustments and need to learn how to compromise or we’ll all suffer. More than we already are.
Those are different, ditto. they provide a service you can’t get over the internet.
Also, they are now referred to as “buddy booths” and operate electronically.
DIBS – only ones with glory holes
Great reading!
And thanks Dave, bxgrl, MM and herkermiad for answering my questions.
MM, I will email you after I figure out if we can financially do this without spreading ourselves too thin.
See what you have done Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke. With your low interest money policy you have turned every Joe into a potential bussiness man that knows everything. When are interest rates going up so it will put an end to this nonsense?
Do people still go to video stores????
Bxgrl – “how about a little balance in these things? Small businesses are important to the economy. They used to be the engine that ran the economy. Charging what the market will bear is a lovely mantra but in view of the economic realities these days, it seems to be doing quite a lot of harm as well.”
There is balance in these things – it is however a constantly changing “balance” – the vacancies will inevitably lead to lower rent, lower rent will lead to more business, more business will lead to higher rents, and so on and so on…..
Rather than being a bad sign, vacancies are the best news in years for people looking to start small businesses – and as nice as they may be – Royal Video (for example) is hardly going to be an engine of new jobs – no matter the rent.
“The problem is Brooklyn landlords are asking for the rent they think the space will be worth 5-10 years from now when they sign long commercial leases.”
True and tenants are only willing to pay rent based on today’s market –
and the savvy people who can come to an agreement in the middle (and are correct) will be successful, and the ones that are too speculative/unrealistic to reach a deal are doomed to failure – that is business – and neither side is anymore “noble” or any less “greedy” than the other….
traditionalmod, you’re right. The biggest problems are in the least developed neighborhoods where the building owners oftentimes have a near ZERO cost of ownership but have no money to improve their properties. They also seem the most out of touch with prices because “comps” are scarcer.