"World of Beer" proposed for Social Security Building - public meeting Wednesday 4/17

[ron_newman]

I got this e-mail from Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz:

I wanted to update you that I have now had two meetings with the proponents of a place called "World of Beer" that wants to go into the Social Security Bldg space [240 Elm Street]. The lawyer for the new owner of the space, Mike Amato, is Rich DiGirolomo. I have told them that I am VERY concerned about this as a possible use since I don't want to see a drinking hole in Davis that allows you to bring in your own food and barely serves any food of their own. They have told me I have the wrong idea and it will be craft brews geared towards an "upscale" crowd. I am highly skeptical.

In response to my concerns, the proponents have now said they are going to partner with a restaurant to come into the space to share adjoining spaces. I'm not sure how that would work. They would like to have a community meeting ON SITE on Wed April 17th at 6:30pm. Can you please help me spread the word far and wide so we can get a large turnout of people who will ask key questions about what they are trying to do?

Comments

[kgradow1.livejournal.com]

It is insanely difficult to find space if you are a small business in somerville, particularly if your space needs are at all idiosyncratic. This post doesn't seem to acknowledge that reality. While this might not be the iconic small business use- and yes, while it may wind up directly competing with redbones - there are few other places that are going to be able to afford $45 sqft for that location and that amount of space, and it's a fair bet that world of beer has space needs that are going to be hard to accommodate elsewhere. If the city is going to insist on it staying vacant, it should at least be making proactive steps to get other kinds of businesses in there rather than simply saying no to a proposal that would at least put the space to use.

It reminds me a lot of the mayor's blocking use of the star market space on broadway. They wanted to turn it into a dollar store and were midway through signing a lease when the city stepped in and said "not in my town.". Froyo place another example. City says no, then lets the property sit vacant for months. It's not fair to midsize retailers and it doesn't do anything to actually encourage of make it possible for small businesses that everyone says they want to be able to afford space in these areas. City says they want more diversified use, but doesn't quite acknowledge the economic realities that prevent such use from taking hold. The aldermen may not singlehandedly be able to lower rents, but they could certainly help steer initiatives that encouraged small business development and built in incentives for landlords to keep these leases affordable.

I would be excited about a proposal that helped world of beer find suitable space (or alternatively, seemed like it was addressing the reasons why more "desirable" business hasn't already moved into the Davis square space - namely pricing and affordability). Ths post seems to indicate a lack of awareness of the realities of running a small to midsize business in Somerville, namely, that there are very few commercial spaces available at any given time that meet the magical location + code + affordability formula - and just saying no without addressing that is tantamount to saying "actually, we just don't want your business in Somerville, why don't you try just outside the city lines?". Which would be too bad, given that if a craft brew store went in here it would surely be patronized.

[ron_newman]

That space is a former department store. The only way it could ever be made affordable to a small or startup business would be to subdivide it. I don't know if city zoning codes encourage that -- but perhaps they should.