|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Maybe there’s something to be said for this talk about the Deep State determining everything after all.
First a chancellor from UMass Dartmouth, three years after he arrived in the region, announces that he will immediately close New Bedford’s UMD arts campus without previously discussing his plans with either the mayor of the city or the area’s state legislators.
And now we learn that federal government bureaucrats — officials with General Services Administration, to be precise — have decided to close New Bedford’s federal building — depended upon by thousands to conveniently deal with their Social Security matters — without ever discussing the matter with either the mayor or the congressional delegation.
In both cases, the administrators made their decisions solely based on numbers that they said didn’t work for good fiscal management. Numbers are important, of course. But any good business person can tell you there is always a way to make the numbers work. That is, if you have enough desire and creativity.
The UMass system and the General Services Administration evidently have neither of those qualities.
Hard on the heels of the announcement of the Hastings Keith Building’s planned closure came the news that Rite Aid would close its downtown New Bedford drug store after many decades in the city’s center. While there are other drug stores and grocery stores in the downtown, Rite Aid was among the most convenient for many. Unlike a nearby full-service Walgreens, it was situated in a much easier walk from the heart of the city.
But the drug store chain is gone from the downtown without a discussion from the community it served.
Rite Aid, of course, is remotely and corporately owned. Its departure is said to have something to do with a bankruptcy proceeding and selling off stores to stay solvent. But the chain has provided no specific details about either.
There’s been a lot of talk from elected officials about the newfound success of downtown New Bedford lately.
In the wake of the College of Visual and Performing Arts removal, some folks have been saying that downtown New Bedford has come far enough now that maybe it’s not so disastrous for the UMass campus to close. Maybe the Star Store building could be used for housing or offices for some other government or nonprofit agencies, maybe even artists’ studios.
For the record, both Mayor Jon Mitchell and Sen. Mark Montigny are saying that discussions with state officials are continuing about bringing at least some portion of the Dartmouth-based university back to downtown New Bedford.
It’s sure taking a long time.
“There’s a fair amount of discussion right now,” Mitchell told me this week.
Maybe the mayor and state senator are waiting for money to be placed in the Fiscal Year 2025 state budget. But Chancellor Mark Fuller seems not to be paying attention to them. He’s already talking about the possible construction of a one-story addition to the CVPA building on the Dartmouth campus.
The two sides don’t seem remotely close. So what is the public supposed to believe?
Subscribe to our Weekender newsletter
Busy week? Catch up on the most important stories you might have missed with our Weekender newsletter.
The comments that the downtown has come a long way have truth to them. It’s certainly not 1999 when you could drive up most of the Union Street hill and encounter more closed storefronts than open ones. The same with Purchase Street.
But anyone looking at downtown New Bedford with fresh or objective eyes knows that while there’s been significant progress, in many ways it’s still struggling.
That’s not unusual in 2024. In the wake of the pandemic, office workers have not yet completely returned to successful metropolitan areas like Boston — never mind New Bedford, a city that has not had a healthy office space sector for decades. With the rise of the post-pandemic remote-workers economy, maybe those offices will never be back.
What is finally happening in downtown New Bedford is a resurgence of housing construction. Virtually all of it, however, has been subsidized by state and federal government grants. That’s fine. It would still be impossible to spur any kind of multi-unit apartment buildings in many parts of New Bedford in a purely market-based economy. Construction costs are simply too high, and rents and housing costs still too low compared to other parts of the state.
Even with these several housing starts, New Bedford is certainly not in a construction boom yet.
I took some time this week and found the following empty spaces in the downtown: Two storefronts on Purchase Street in the Times Square building; the former Merchants National Bank on William Street (empty and for sale for years now); the old Lupo’s building across from Custom House Park (empty and for sale for years); the old Kruger Brothers ship supply building on lower Union where the owner has said it could take as many as five years to replace it with something like a five-story housing development.
Then there’s that building at the foot of Johnnycake Hill that has been worked on for the last year. The historic tea kettle is back, but there’s only one business in the complex. Construction seems to have come to a halt for a few months.
Travel up Union Street and you’ll see that there are empty spaces in the main foyer of the old New Bedford Institution for Savings building at Union Square. There’s an empty storefront a few addresses down from the empty Star Store, and there’s a string of empty storefronts west of the Harbor Hotel on the south side of Union. There’s another empty storefront just west of the Fall River Pawn Broker. Over on Pleasant Street, more empty commercial spaces.
Slideshow: Empty New Bedford
On the right is the just closed Rite Aid pharmacy in downtown New Bedford. On the left is the former Bamboo Garden, a longtime Chinese restaurant that closed a few years ago. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
One of two empty storefronts in the Times Square Building on Purchase Street in downtown New Bedford. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
The Merchants National Bank on William Street, once the site of the New Bedford Lyceum, has been closed and for sale for several years. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
This complex on lower Union Street and the foot of Johnnycake Hill has undergone a handsome renovation. But construction has drawn to a halt for months, with some of the retail spots still empty. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
A “For Rent” sign in a Union Street building, a common sight in downtown New Bedford. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
This storefront on Union Street was planned for a suboxone clinic for a short while until the federal government filed fraud charges against the owner. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
Multiple possible storefronts on this building on the south side of upper Union Street have been developed but no occupant has moved in yet. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
An empty storefront on Union Street with the windows whited out. This one sits between the Star Store and the New Bedford Institution for Savings, now called Union Square. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
A reflection in the window looking in on a grand foyer at the former New Bedford Institution for Savings. Some spots in the former bank are occupied but this one not. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
The site on Acushnet Avenue near the former Lupo’s restaurant has sat vacant and for sale across Custom House Park for many years. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
The site of the former Kruger’s ship supply store. The owner has talked about eventually building a five-story structure here, possibly for housing. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
The former Blue Moon cafe, across from the bus station in downtown New Bedford, has been closed for years. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
For years, Saducci’s was the late-night place for pizza in downtown New Bedford. Another pizza shop made a go of it. But it’s all closed now on Purchase Street. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light 
Cafe Italia was successful in the South End and also downtown, popular with the Zeiterion audiences. It’s been closed for a year now. Credit: Jack Spillane / The New Bedford Light
Why are there so many empty slots? Well, it’s a combination of reasons.
We’ve long reported that the cost of building in New Bedford makes it difficult for a developer to realize a profitable return because rents and sale prices are not high enough. Sure, there are government programs to subsidize development, but they take a long time and there are not enough to develop at scale.
Also, a lot of folks criticize the city’s Building Department and say it still takes too long to issue permits. As a result, it’s a lengthy, expensive process to develop anything in New Bedford.
The mayor’s not buying that view, common among at least some contractors and developers. Mitchell’s spokesman issued a statement saying the Building Department issued almost 4,200 permits last year and expects more this year. “The city’s move to electronic permitting has hastened the process,” according to the statement.
It’s certainly true that small businesses do come and go. There’s always some amount of empty storefronts in any city, and even in the suburban malls that surround most urban centers — certainly in the strip malls in the North End of New Bedford.
But New Bedford has a lot of empty spaces like the string of them north of the Harbor Hotel that have been there for years.
“We’re not a first-tier downtown,” Mayor Mitchell told me when I asked him about the number of empty buildings and storefronts struggling to attract offices. He was stating the obvious. “It’s not midtown Manhattan,” he said.
It’s certainly true that Mitchell and a string of mayors before him have done a lot to set plans in place and slowly encourage the rebuilding of the downtown. But by no means is it there yet, and center city New Bedford is taking some tough hits just now.
Both Mitchell and the legislative delegation have tried ad nauseam, and apparently unsuccessfully, to reason with the state university and the governor. And both the mayor and congressional delegation have written to the General Services Administration, pointing out the federal building’s potential for additional federal offices, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other Port of New Bedford federal concerns, that could bring in more rents. Mitchell’s February letter to GSA argues the city may even need additional federal space beyond the Hastings Keith building.
The feds, however, are not making any promises. The GSA does not let on if they are reconsidering their decision, Mitchell said. A statement I received from GSA confirms that.
The GSA spokesman’s press release consists of some vague blather about economic development and jobs, but with no acknowledgement of the importance of all the federal government agencies outlined by the mayor — from fisheries to wind to Coast Guard to Army Corps of Engineers to Agriculture and Drug Enforcement — and no nod to the congressional delegation’s admonition that they follow federal laws governing stakeholder engagement and equity and diversity issues.
There are other good signs that will bring more folks into the city.
Mitchell points out that the Whaling Museum is planning a $30 million expansion for gallery and retail space; the YMCA is planning a $20 million upgrade; and the Zeiterion Center for the Performing Arts is in the midst of its $30 million renovation.
All good.
But any walk around the downtown commercial sector will quickly prove that we’re not there yet. It’s a long way back from where New Bedford has been.
Email Jack Spillane at jspillane@newbedfordlight.
Editor’s note: This story was modified on Friday, March 1, 2024, to correct the street that the former Merchants National Bank is located on.
Having just returned from several days in midtown Manhattan last week, I can vouch for the fact that there are many empty buildings there too. I don’t think New Bedford’s downtown is that different than any city regardless of size when looking at empty buildings.
Sadly the demise of the visual arts school was a huge mistake. Artists are always in need of affordable space to work and they also bring a vibrant culture to areas. This enriches an area, increases property value and commerce. Should not have happened. It could have become a real center of cultural activity. Many former art areas like Provincetown and the South End are no longer financially viable for artists housing and studios. New Bedford was inching towards becoming a great art hub.
First of all this is a great article. Yes ,all one has to do is travel down Union Street or any of the other streets to see the vacate and underutilized storefronts. Its also timely that an article in the Vineyard Gazette is highlighting the possible loss of our State Pier (Precious Working Waterfront) to a proposal by so called Public / Private Organization Mass Development for leasing of space on the State Pier of all places !! for : Retail Shopping Space , Restaurants and the Like. There should be a concerted effort to keep those types of uses off of our all ready congested Working Waterfront .They belong on Union and other streets where you can build upon a vibrant Downtown with appropriate use of business space. This will
draw visitors and locals downtown and create a snowball effect. Portland Maine and other locations up and down the coast experienced a push for gentrification of the Working Waterfront, and this is another example.
Disturbing and informative article on empty store fronts by Jack Spillane but I was surprised at the lack of coverage of the “Light” inspired climate resilience discussion on Wednesday evening at the New Bedford Art Museum. It unexpectedly drew a standing room only crowd that could probably have filled the Whaling Museum auditorium. The panel provided the audience with information on climate resilience that the “Light,” I hope, will focus on. Its relevance to our area cannot be underestimated.
Good story although “good” is not the right word. This trend is happening in big cities like San Francisco where people started working from home during Covid. New Bedford has taken steps to revitalize itself but Covid has caused long lasting harm to retail stores and downtown businesses. Maybe the city can work on making it an artist mecca on its own without the help of UMass and hope for the best. It is hard to park downtown so that’s an issue for me even if I might like to go to Tia Maria or the French bakery. As far as shopping, the Dartmouth Mall is also being decimated because of Covid and Amazon and it frankly isn’t very appealing. I have to drive to Providence, the Cape or up near Boston to buy some things if I want to see something and not take a chance by buying it online. Yet we have a sizable population here. I hope at least the city will build the Riverwalk and convert some of the empty buildings to artist studios and housing. What will happen to the federal building? I’m beginning to think that some empty buildings should be just torn down and replaced with parking or inner city green spaces. I’ve been watching Home Town on HGTV about the couple in Mississippi who are reviving their home town. Maybe we can learn from them.
The ND Mall is doing quite well. Vacancies are filled quickly and just this week Macy’s announced it will be staying in place. Maybe you can’t park in front of a particular store, but there is plenty of parking above and below Purchase St.
The thing that hilds NewBedford back from more development is simoly the outlandish real estate taxes….control that and you’re going to see a resurgence of growth.
Like Peggy, I’ll consider the story a worthwhile piece to hopefully kick off a more in-depth look on the state of downtown, and with it, the state of the city. It might be helpful for the next story to have someone speak to someone at MIT Urban Planning & Studies, or some other academic in a related field, to ask what they see as the key features of successful small to mid-size cities’ urban cores in 2024. What are the data points and variables we should be looking at? Vacant buildings bother me, too, but I’m not about to say NB is struggling because upper Union hasn’t been totally redeveloped. There are some places where downtowns are small enough that even the side streets can become part of the downtown fabric. For others, that might be asking too much. When I was in Lowell 20 years ago, I was impressed by the signs of commercial life 3-4 stories up in buildings. Downtown Newburyport became a huge turnaround success, but its footprint is probably too big for its overall population. Peggy mentions the Dartmouth Mall, but who would have bet 20 years ago that out of Swansea, Taunton, and Dartmouth — that Dartmouth would be the one still standing in 2024? Still though, losing Christmas Tree Shop, BBB, and Office Max have left major retail holes that the town needs to be doing more to fill…but back to NB.
We should look at the number of people working downtown today. The city seems to be at “full employment” with its unemployment rate below 5%. That’s incredible. The number of full time jobs available in the GNB area is mind-blowing. Yet we know, that even with a strong MA minimum wage, rents in NB (and in many, if not most, areas) are out of sync with historic housing costs as a % of income. At the same time, the number of people employed downtown doesn’t necessarily accurately convey the health of the area. For too long downtowns, NB included, were made up of bankers, lawyers, government workers, and social service providers — most of whom were gone by 5pm, and absent on weekends. So we also need to look at the sectors people are working in. While hospitality and service jobs aren’t great, they also speak to a city’s “vibe” and for which NB looks pretty, pretty good.
This also points to why so much new housing in the downtown may be the best news in 50 years: not only by addressing a housing shortage, but by creating a need for a full time commercial sector to serve its resident consumers. This could mean the Rite Aid could be replaced by an urban grocer. But again, there are so many variables. Personally, I hated seeing all the new drug stores being built in NB because I knew they were there only to sell legalized drugs: and most of it, oxycodone. But does anyone still think that Wal-Mart and Target want to continue their expansion into urban areas after continuous headlines about smash and grabs and so much of their inventory having to be behind lock and key? So who knows? But it may be that smaller downtowns are better suited to make the move from commercial space to residential. The scale of a conversion in a downtown Boston building to residential has got to be so costly, that it’s probably going to take years for the lending sector to figure it out, and owners of Class A office space — years after that to be convinced that they’re ready to convert.
And what do building permits mean as a sign of anything? Does one permit mean a new building, or that Jimmy got a new water heater? How about we ask, what is the total dollar investment in new construction in downtown NB? How many construction jobs are there currently in downtown NB? What’s the impact on the tax base? What’s the number of additional people living in the downtown?
The point is let’s get some facts. The absence of facts leads to conspiracy mongering and finger-pointing. The GSA, the nation’s largest landlord, has also sorts of formulas it follows as to what it should keep in its inventory, and how its facilities score on its metrics. And as for consulting with Congress, how has that worked for US taxpayers with trying to shutter DOD facilities or weapons programs? (They had to create a commission for base closings because of the constant uproar.) Where are the “scores” or people going to have to go now to deal with in-person SS needs? If it’s still in the region, then at least our locals’ needs will be met. But we should also tell the GSA that they had better take that Lincoln Log urchin thing with them.
As for UMD, again, we’re missing the bigger picture that everyone wants to avoid. UMD is in trouble. There was a reason why Tsarnaev was never removed from the “enrolled” students count… And the scores of students at the Star Store had to have had only a negligible impact on downtown. Show me facts that say otherwise, without the handwringing.
Interestingly, the decimation of the daily newspaper was probably a good thing for those who prefer to be workhorses and not showhorses. For example, the region is really fortunate to have someone like the new Sheriff, who seems like he is all the about the work, meaningful reforms, and not his ego. What a contrast! Meanwhile the city has finally turned over its leadership to Gen X, millennials, Y, Z, etc. They don’t burn up fax machines with press releases — much less even talk about themselves; they don’t use words like “power,” they don’t build “machines” or “war chests” or fill jobs with relatives and “referred” candidates. This is a remarkable time. Outside investors are free to do business here, without first kissing a ring, being told who to hire, who to subcontract with, and to simply obey the law and follow regulations and procedures. Now that’s a story. And we shouldn’t feel any nostalgia for those who set up and benefitted from the old system which did more to hold the city back, than it -and they -ever accomplished.
The challenge is politics though, is that the news beast (even if only through on-line social media) needs to be fed, or it will bite. So now all those workhorses who would rather be working on the next project, need to scurry around to gather all the strong facts to generate the PR to tell their story.
I’ll never be accused of wearing rose-colored glasses, but if I were to walk around downtown NB, you bet I’d be taking note of two hotels still in business, the National Club being redeveloped, The Black Whale, Moby Dick, the Keystone hole being filled in, the other redevelopment going on on lower Union and numerous other signs of major investment.
We have a lot to figure out in a post-COVID world. Great cities like San Francisco and DC are struggling, wondering if the workforce will ever return, if ground floor retail can make it, and if they can stop the ensuing crime. Meanwhile NB, as usual, is no worse for the wear, and nimble and creative enough to continue the really hard work of trying to revitalize a downtown in one of the state’s most hard-pressed, under-educated places. The work goes on, and I’m impressed and appreciative of the strides being made.
Something missing in this story, who are the owners of the chronically vacant properties? Why aren’t they identified! Are they New Bedfordites! More likely out of town entrepreneurs that are looking for their score rather than the community, like the owner of Star Store!
Too bad some of the$30M Zieterion Covid money couldn’t be used to help startups in the vacant downtown storefronts. New Bedford downtown isn’t Manhattan and the Zietrerion isn’t Broadway.Back in the day we protested and won the state ad federal Superfund legislation which brought hundreds of millions for the Acushnet River cleanup.Ironically myself and Jan Payton who were both from NB had a significant hand in the campaign which won the state legislation which preceded the national campaign. On a national level the key vote came from Robert Dole after activists occupied his D.C. office for several days.Occupying Meehan or Fuller’s office might be a time honored strategy. Also opening up downtown to Pot dispensaries might make sense since its healthier than alcohol. Maybe Portland Maine might be a model which has a thriving downtown and where state legislators were wise enough to encourage small growers and boutique dispensaries in support of small startups.Also some light from NB Light could be shed on UMass Dartmouth and UMass Boston’s dismal graduation rates which are under fifty percent something Meehan and Fuller might not want the public to know about.Yard signs about their grad rate in storefront windows in NB and in Dorchester on Dot Ave might do the trick.
The issue is the real estate taxes are such a burden that it pushes rentals out of the reach of small businesse which are usually start ups….property owners will not invest in their properties if they are not financially viable….perhaps they could have a tax break overlay district for downtown …majority of properties owned by local people.
The federal building seems to be leaving the way it arrived, with little if any collaboration with the city. It was built in an historic district without any local review. It was twisted 45 degrees away from the street to create a plaza that was eventually, and surprisingly, occupied with a sea sculpture by a Texan artist without a minute of discussion with the city’s art community. (Unlike many, I have come to like it) Its wall and window treatments and overall appearance could have been so much better if there had been local consultation. It stood out like a sore thumb, but over time the citizenry came to rely on their access to important federal agencies. Alas, after 40+ years, the GSA has decided, for reasons unknown, they’re pulling the plug. Had the GSA not informed the city of the move, I’d have proposed nominating it for the “Chancellor Fuller Urban De-Development Award” for 2024. At least the “deep state” revealed its intentions, while the local public university abandoned downtown in broad daylight, than you very much!
Honestly, just turn that federal building and parking lot into green space or a mix of housing and small shops. It’s a bit of a blight on downtown anyway, especially the huge surface lot.