The 'Vacancy' Blight: Finding New Uses for Empty Stores
source: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1927067,00.html?iid=tsmodule
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Last spring, Manon Slome was walking down a street in New York City when she noticed something odd: "Store after store was closed. When stores are empty it's like, 'What's going on?' It was a feeling of siege."
Plenty of people in America could make the same observation. Nationwide, 10% of shopping center stores sit empty, according to the real-estate analytics firm Reis. That's the highest percentage of vacancies since 1992 — what you get when you mix a bad recession with a commercial real estate bust (thanks to years of overzealous building).
(See pictures of Americans in their homes.)
Slome is now among the people doing something about it. After her springtime walk, the museum curator started contacting building owners, suggesting they let her use their empty space for art exhibitions. She landed her first storefront in June: a former tackle shop was soon home to photographs, paintings and videos on the bad economy and — in homage to the space's former use — fishing. Says Slome: "It's art coming in to fill the vacuum."
The repurposing doesn't stop there. Around the country, property owners and managers are trying out new uses for empty stores. Spaces that used to house Radio Shacks and Linens 'N Things now serve as libraries, auction houses, TV studios, even block-long billboards to advertise other stores and brands.
Such endeavors are not going to solve the retail real estate glut. Only a realignment of supply and demand for long-term leases will do that. But in the short-term, getting creative with commercial space keeps storefronts filled, which helps keep properties secure and community spirit intact, and may even bring in a little money for would-be landlords to offset costs like utilities, taxes and maintenance.
...More...
Plenty of people in America could make the same observation. Nationwide, 10% of shopping center stores sit empty, according to the real-estate analytics firm Reis. That's the highest percentage of vacancies since 1992 — what you get when you mix a bad recession with a commercial real estate bust (thanks to years of overzealous building).
(See pictures of Americans in their homes.)
Slome is now among the people doing something about it. After her springtime walk, the museum curator started contacting building owners, suggesting they let her use their empty space for art exhibitions. She landed her first storefront in June: a former tackle shop was soon home to photographs, paintings and videos on the bad economy and — in homage to the space's former use — fishing. Says Slome: "It's art coming in to fill the vacuum."
The repurposing doesn't stop there. Around the country, property owners and managers are trying out new uses for empty stores. Spaces that used to house Radio Shacks and Linens 'N Things now serve as libraries, auction houses, TV studios, even block-long billboards to advertise other stores and brands.
Such endeavors are not going to solve the retail real estate glut. Only a realignment of supply and demand for long-term leases will do that. But in the short-term, getting creative with commercial space keeps storefronts filled, which helps keep properties secure and community spirit intact, and may even bring in a little money for would-be landlords to offset costs like utilities, taxes and maintenance.
...More...
