Pacifica Tribune Letters to the Editor, 9/16/15. "Vacancy ordinance" by Bob Hutchinson
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| Fairmont Shopping Center |
| Linda Mar Shopping Center |
"Editor: Councilman
Mike O'Neill deserves a big pat on the back for trying to get a
commercial vacancy ordinance on the City Council agenda.
For far too
long Linda Mar and Fairmont Shopping Centers (both owned by mega giant
KimCo) have been driving small businesses out of town by raising rents
higher than is sustainable. They are so big that they don't really care.
Now there are a ton of vacant storefronts which ends up costing the
city in lost sales tax, jobs and added police patrols. By charging a
vacancy assessment it gives the landlord an incentive to keep rents
lower, fill vacant units and keep them filled. This has been done
successfully in cities all over the country.
The City Manager, Economic
Development Manager, and the rest of the City Council need to be backing
Mike, residents, and our small business community on this, and stop
making anymore excuses for KimCo."
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Reference - Kimco Reality, About section, "Our Core Principles: Integrity, Creativity, Stability". "INTEGRITY is clearly the paramount foundation of our business. The
strength and integrity of our leadership is reflected through the
highest standard of business ethics and in delivering the best possible
value to our shareholders and institutional partners. CREATIVITY is a deliberate strategy of our opportunistic and
strategic investments. We are an industry innovator who leverages our
competitive advantages of size, relationships and experience to do what
we do best – own and operate neighborhood and community shopping
centers. STABILITY is the strength of our management team, the diversified
value of our portfolio and our pioneering history and experience."Reference - City of Pacifica: Linda Mar Shopping Center, Fairmont Shopping Center.
Note photographs. Linda Mar Shopping Center/RadioShack location (note Denny's in background right) from Loopnet. Fairmont Shopping Center/Comcast location from Serve All Contracting/Painting Portfolio/Exterior Paint slides.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
Posted by Kathy Meeh
6 comments:
Typical BS from someone who knows nothing about how real estate works. Charge the owners of property a vacancy fee or tax and they pass it on to the other tenants.
Coming from the guy who caved to 7-Eleven, Mike O'Neill shows he has zero clue.
Great! Now let's start charging vacancy fees for vacant homes, apartments, etc. Oh, and how about charging fees/penalties for businesses whose sales numbers don't meet some arbitrary quota established by City Council. Heck, let's start charging everyone for anything that doesn't meet our expectations. Whoever said we supported a free market system in Pathetica, anyway? Well done, comrade!
Start a vagrancy ordinance and the city will make nothing but $$.
The issue is, KIMCO at the moment has no interest in actually leasing out those vacant properties. I have personally tried to get information on one of the vacant spaces and after leaving multiple messages over the last 6 months I have yet to received an call back.
I used to think a vacancy ordinance was the dumbest idea. Now I'm all for it.
It's another band-aid. Treats the symptom but not the cause. The cause is a moribund bedroom community shopping anywhere but here. Makes us vulnerable to the type of property owners who know they do not need tenants or us to make money off their holdings. It's clear this city has zero clout with Kimco. So, purely as a matter of principal we should charge the bastards a vacancy fee! Like a mosquito trying to bite a buffalo..futile, but oddly enjoyable.
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