Valerie Wencis
There are currently six vacancies among 32 storefronts in Belmont Center. It’s not the number of vacancies but the space they occupy that is alarming to long-time Belmont Center business owner and Belmont Toys owner Deran Muckjian.
The empty storefronts of CVS, Trinktisch and Craft Beer Cellar, Comella’s, and Bank of America, for example, are among the largest properties, accounting for close to 30% of the square footage of the Center.
“I think it’s going to get worse,” Muckjian said. “When you see vacancies come up, how many people are opening toy stores or gift stores like they did in the past?”
Roxana Lemus, who opened Belmont Wine & Beer in May, has noticed low foot traffic in Belmont Center. She even anticipated November and December would be quiet despite being the holiday season, something she attributed to the number of vacant storefronts.
“People are willing to bring business here, but the rent is too high,” said Lemus.
She added that many of her customers, who previously bought $30 bottles of wine, now reach for the $12 bottles.
“The cost of living is too expensive now,” Lemus said. She said when storefronts are empty, there’s less of a draw for shoppers to come to the Center, affecting revenue for the remaining businesses.
“If tourists come to visit the town and see it’s empty, they don’t come back,” she said.
Lee Gaston, who has been in the Center for more than 15 years as the owner of Bessie Blue, a women’s clothing store, said attracting customers from other towns is essential to Belmont Center’s survival.
“We don’t have the support from enough people in the town to keep the stores thriving the way we need them to in order to survive,” she said. “We need people from other towns, and we’re not going to get them when we have this many empty stores. Our town is too small to support it.”
During Gaston’s time in Belmont Center, she has endured several issues affecting business: a recession, construction, the pandemic, and “now all these closures.” She said the closures are caused by various factors, from the economy to the boom in online shopping and the rents landlords are charging.
“We’re one block,” she said, “We’re so close to being this amazing, cute, little spot that’s more accessible because of its size. But landlords aren’t pushing for what people want, and there are these enormous rents.”
Revenue Versus Rent
As president of the Belmont Center Business Association, Muckjian prioritizes involving Belmont Center landlords and town officials in association discussions. He said two representatives from Locatelli Properties, a major Center landlord, attended an association meeting, as did Select Board Chair Roy Epstein.
“We asked [Epstein] to put some pressure and talk to the landlords about the empty spaces and see what they can do,” Muckjian recalled. “Every landlord has to do what’s right for them, and every tenant has to do what’s right for themselves. I hope there’s a happy medium; it will only be beneficial for the residents of the town.”
To Muckjian, the balance between revenue and rent is a struggle. One strategy he’d like to consider is rent based on a percentage of revenue. He said some Boston landlords do this, and it serves as a creative way to attract and retain businesses.
“There’s not a tenant in the Center who doesn’t feel the rent is higher [than what they can afford] —everybody has an issue of what their rent factor is compared to what they can do for revenue,” Muckjian said.
Avoiding Long-Term Disaster
Select Board Vice Chair Elizabeth Dionne wants to avoid a point-of-no-return situation in Belmont Center.
“It feels like we’re unfortunately reaching a tipping point,” said Dionne “I’m describing it as an implosion. If we don’t have a certain degree of foot traffic, it impacts all the other businesses.”
Dionne said the town has simplified the restaurant permitting process and is exploring ways to allow boutique hotels in Belmont, which she says will increase the town’s tax revenue.
“We want to signal that Belmont is open for business,” Dionne said.
She said Belmont’s zoning bylaws should be rewritten because they restrict commercial development and contribute to Belmont’s financial troubles. She referred to Watertown and Waltham, which she called “flush with cash,” after changing their zoning code to increase the capacity for future development, known as upzoning.
“ We downzoned and we’re broke. You can’t have everything,” she said.
Vision 21 Committee Chair Taylor Yates envisions a Belmont that is friendlier to businesses “so we have fewer vacancies in our business district and a place that’s thriving.” Vision 21 was established to help the town achieve those goals.
“Everybody wants to be friendlier to small businesses because they’re cornerstones of our community, and they work really hard,” he said.
He said Vision 21 takes notes from Arlington, which created a registry of storefront vacancies, making it easier for potential business owners looking for space.
“It’s easily accessible, they don’t need to cruise around town, [they] don’t need to sign up for a brokerage,” he said.
Belmont Center’s Biggest Hole
Kevin Foley, a trustee with Locatelli Properties, which owns all of the buildings from CVS to Butternut Bakehouse, said he searches for “exciting tenants.”
But his most recent tenants to leave Belmont Center have left one of the biggest holes: Trinktisch and Craft Beer Cellar. As The Belmont Voice previously reported, the popular businesses closed up shop after settling a legal dispute with Locatelli to pay more than $180,000 in back rent. Suzanne Schalow and Kate Baker were planning to sell the business but said the potential buyer backed out after Foley proposed increasing the rent from $13,000 to $30,000.
Foley declined to discuss specific rent amounts, citing confidentiality.
“Ideally we look for experienced, well-financed tenants that have a great concept,” he wrote in a statement to The Belmont Voice. “We look forward to working with the Select Board and town officials to continue to make Belmont Center an attractive and convenient place to shop.”
He said the town can help with better parking and maintenance.
Dionne wants to explore ways to reverse the trend of empty storefronts.
“There are tools available in Massachusetts. If a town feels that a commercial property isn’t being run to its highest and best use, the town can take that property over by eminent domain and turn it over to a developer,” she said. “Given the pressures on small businesses and the many closures, it is a tool that we have to consider.”
Actions that drastic would take a two-thirds vote at a Town Meeting and would only be taken if all agreed it would be in the best interest of the town.
“At the end of the day, the solution is for landlords to charge rents that are sustainable and hopefully start to build a virtuous cycle where you have more and more foot traffic and businesses do better,” she said. “With so many closing, it’s an increasing struggle for those who want to remain in business.”
Dionne shared that she is seeking a meeting with Foley to understand what his plan is for his properties in Belmont Center.
“What’s happening is untenable,” she said. “It’s not good for businesses, not good for Belmont, and it’s not good for him.”
The listing agents for the former CVS and Bank of America properties did not respond to The Voice’s requests for comment.
