Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Kimco empty storefronts


Pacifica Tribune letters to the Editor/Twitter, 2/24/15, "Problems with Kimco" by Dennis Harvey

Image result for Fairmont Shopping Center, Pacifica, CA picture
Fairmont Shopping Center
Image result for Linda Mar Shopping Center, Pacifica, CA picture
Linda Mar Shopping Center
"Editor:  My name is Dennis Harvey and I am a decade long resident of Linda Mar Blvd. I have read, with great interest, your article in last Wednesday's Tribune concerning Kimco Realty and the large number of vacancies existing in Linda Mar Shopping Center and Fairmont Shopping Center.  Thank you for your thoughtful article. Kudos to Mike O'Neill, Sue Digre, and John Keener for at least making an effort to try and resolve this issue. 

Image result for empty store front picture
Empty store fronts are the problem:
no business, no city revenue, city blight

I am not sure why Mayor Karen Ervin and Council member Mary Ann Nihart seem so tepid about confronting Kimco Realty regarding this. They want to wait until the matter can be taken up with the city's new economic development manager; a position that has not even been filled. No wonder nothing is being done about this. 




I saw nothing in your article regarding, and also am not sure why, no one is holding Nicole Hauscarriague's feet to the fire regarding this. Her name is plastered all over the shopping center, as she is the local representative for Kimco. It is my understanding that Kimco Realty is a large New York corporation, and as such, probably couldn't care less about a small Pacific coast town like ours. I would be very interested to see if Ms. Hauscarriague would write a follow-up article for the Tribune explaining the reasons for these long vacancies and what she is trying to do to improve the situation. But I'm not holding my breath." 
----------

Referenced newspaper article.  Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, Staff Writer, 2/10/15. "Alarmed at how many vacancies are in the Linda Mar Shopping Center and Fairmont Shopping Center, a council member asked the city to send a letter expressing serious concerns to the management company for both, Kimco Realty Corp. Council Member Mike O'Neill asked for Kimco to attend a City Council meeting to explain its long term plans, marketing efforts and visions for the shopping centers and to answer questions. He drafted a letter to that effect and asked his fellow council members if they could support the letter as written."  For past Fix Pacifica reprint articles, search:  Kimco.


Referenced Corporation - Kimco Realty Corporation.  "(NYSE: KIM) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in New Hyde Park, New York, that owns and operates North America’s largest publicly traded portfolio of neighborhood and community shopping centers. As of December 31, 2014, the company owned interests in 754 shopping centers comprising 110 million square feet of leasable space across 39 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Chile. Publicly traded on the NYSE since 1991, and included in the S&P 500 Index, the company has specialized in shopping center acquisitions, development and management for more than 50 years."  

Note photographs:  Rite Aid from Commercial Search/Fairmont Shopping Center.  Safeway from Source listing unavailable/Linda Mar Shopping Center.  Covered store window by Thom Randall from Den Pubs. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

While your at it, you can file a lawsuit about clouds being white and the sky being blue.

Our City Manager doesn't know how to even handle real estate transactions. That means the City Attorney has to look over her shoulder as the meter is running.

We shall build trails. We shall build a Library

Anonymous said...

Kimco only cares about:

The rent, the rent, the rent.

Anonymous said...

Short leases, empty stores, 'for sale' last summer...sounds like Kimco wants out or at the very least something different. Yikes! We could be on the verge of progress. God speed big bad Kimco.

Anonymous said...

These MESFITS (My Empty Store Front Is Tough Sh*t)is hurting the Pacifica Real Estate Environment. Who is going to buy a Harmony mansion if you can't even rent a movie in town?

enough is enough said...

anon 10:46
What fucking century are you from?
Who rents movies in town?
Harmony mansions couldn't come soon enough. Finally someone sees the extraordinary beauty and value available in Pacifica.
These new residents won't go to the store in their bedroom slippers, won't want a dilapidated town to call home and will start holding our elected officials accountable to the population at large.
Bring it on!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, like video store or anything else in an aged shopping center is at the top of the amenity list for Harmony buyers--when and if they show up. Whatever Kimco is up to, get on with it! A future as a corporate tax deduction is not pretty.

Steve Sinai said...

Considering what I see when I go into the nearby 7-Eleven, anyone who opens a store that sells cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets would make a killing in town.

Anonymous said...

Kimco is playing games and couldn't care less about Pacifica.
Stop all the handwringing and tales of woe and start acting.
Identify the owners of the other retail centers in town. Invite them to a joint Economic Development session. Boost their morale and provide incentives to modernize their shopping centers.
Money talks (even Kimco knows that).

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! We're going to be gentrified! Harmony is just the start. The rich will discover what 1223 calls the "extraordinary beauty and value" of Pacifica? Crikey! Local realtors are just gonna faint dead away from anticipation--savor that feeling--it's as close as you local yokels will get to any of that business. We're movin' on up, baby! Well, someone is. Let us know when the gentry get here. The twirlies want to do a show for them.

Anonymous said...

1245 Uh, how's that work? Pacifica doesn't have any money. Kimco has money, but looks like they have no interest in investing in Pacifica. Not as a shopping center, anyway. Manor is owned by multiple, diverse and independent owners who seem content with their mess. The owner of Eureka Square always wanted to build housing. What are you gonna do?

Anonymous said...

1245 Is it "woe" if Kimco sells and someone new reinvents that space? Might be progress--a stranger to Pacifica, I know.

Anonymous said...

Gotta start somewhere.
Let's get some consensus from the "other" commercial strip owners.
Kimco is playing us for fools (which is what we are if we just sit by and cry "woe is me").
These "other" owners can be emboldened if they believe that the community is behind them.
Come on politicians!
Come on Chamber of Commerce!
Come on City Manager!
There's an opportunity to be a hero here. Is there no spine left in Pacifica?

Anonymous said...

The twirlies are broke and irrelevant.
The gentry will come and they will prevail. Just hope it's in our lifetime.

Anonymous said...

217 Embolden these other owners to do what? Kimco isn't their problem, it's their competition. What is it exactly that you are advocating? This is capitalism and no laws are being broken. I hate the idea of a lingering death or being at the mercy of the tax accountants so let's hope Kimco decides to fish or cut bait real soon.

Anonymous said...

220 Oh, yes, the gentry. They'll fix what ails Pacifica or at least allow us "pioneers" to retire comfortably elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

I think the people who buy at Harmony @ 1 may be able to afford Blu Ray and Home Theatres.

Not everyone uses VHS tapes.

Anonymous said...

I PRAY every day for gentrification, but it isn't going to come from Harmony. No one in his or her right mind will pay 4-5 million to live in this town. Yes, we have views, but, for that kind of money, potential buyers can easily purchase homes in well- run, well-maintained cities that also offer beautiful bay and/ or ocean views -- including San Francisco! Rich people Ike to shop -- all we have to offer them are more dollar stores per capita than most other cties in this and surrounding counties; cash-checking stores; cheap liquor stores (where one goes to buy low-priced wines and spirits, as opposed to the fine wines and drinks favored by people with 4-5 million to spend on housing); and tawdry nail and massage joints. And those fancy Harmony closets are not going to be filled with shoes from Payless. Also, wealthy folks tend not to purposefully move into towns that welcome homeless camps with open arms (where "residents" deposit their waste into the waterways that flow to the beautiful ocean) and whose citizens fight common sense amendments to city codes that would make it illegal for people to live in their cars or RVS. As for that pretty view . . . Wait till prospective buyers learn that there are actually people in this town trying desperately to destroy the ONE thing their new homes have to offer them (again, that view) by doubling the size of the highway the Harmony Houses overlook. I'd love to get my hands on the disclosure statements the Harmony developers have to give prospective buyers. It will read like a Stephen King novel.

Anonymous said...

They probably won't watch movies on a TV screen anyway. Or shop at Safeway.

Anonymous said...

VHS?! dear god, who let gramps fire up the ol' AOL account and get online again? lol

DVD rental volume is in the crapper and Blu Ray is heading in that direction too. Everyone is headed to the streaming model and even budget kiosks like Redbox are taking a hit. They just jacked their rental rates across the board due to dropping volume.

Anonymous said...

These...Rich People. How will they ever manage to live among us? Do we even speak the same language as we do? Will we be able to communicate with them using hand gestures? I hear they like to shop. Yes, that's what Rich People do. They shop. And they watch their movies -- not on televisions -- but on other...things.

How will we know we are in the august presence of a Rich Person? Will it be their colorful garb that gives them away or will it be the aversion of their gaze from the peasantry such as I?

Rich People live on rainwater and filtered air. They are not like us mere mortal beings. Let us wave to them up on their hill. Perhaps we can sell tickets. Come see the Rich People in person.

Rich Person said...

Peasants of Pacifica: Not to worry. No way we will confuse you as one of us. But we wish you no ill will. Enjoy your shabby little life in your shabby little rancher, with jealous eyes turned upon our "monster" homes. The stench of your sewers will never reach our heavens. The blight of your town has no effect upon us. Plant another native if it makes you feel better. Drive another developer out of town if that bakes your cake. The shelves of your Planning Dept. are filled with broken dreams and broken promises. I will watch you and your folly in my new, 1,000 sq. ft. media room and laugh. You people really need to get over yourselves.

Anonymous said...

What was that about hand gestures? I've got a hand gesture for ya!

Anonymous said...

It's not about rich people versus poor people.
Rather it's about people with self respect, ambition, good taste and a little class versus people who worship stupidity, selfishness and poverty as a way to maintain their entitled, publicly supported, "I got mine" lives.

Anonymous said...

Of all the rich people in the world we get the ones willing to pay 4 to 5 million to live in Pacifica. The stupid ones. Our luck never changes.

Anonymous said...

Bold words, Rich Person, bold words.

Anonymous said...

"Plant another native..."? You rich people are freaks!

Anonymous said...

Harmony 1 means JOBS! I've got my butler's uniform ready to go. After a tough week of decanting wine I'll kick up my heels, turn on the telly and watch Downton Abbey. Life is good in Pacifica!

Now if only someone will tear down that "Give Your Wife to Jesus" sign, my view will be complete!