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Comments
Thank goodness something is
Thank goodness something is going in there- it's always terrible when large buildings sit empty for so long, like this one or the empty Walgreens in Porter Square (what's the deal with that place??).
And bonus- it'll still have screens!
Walgreen's Most Likely Still Pays Full Rent
Why bother if you are the landlord if you are still collecting checks?
The space is typically the responsibility of the tenant to fill until the end of the lease, and Walgreen's typically, though probably not in Porter, signs 25 year leases, with some that can extend out with options for 75 years. They can usually sublease, but a corporate monolith like Walgreen's takes their time.
They have left stores vacant in Brockton, Easton Maynard, and Clinton as well. CVS is killing them around here.
probably not
There's a big sign in the window saying the place is for lease (at least according to what's on Google Maps).
Drug Stores Pay Big Rent on a PSF Basis
Also, filling up 12,000 to 15,000 SF with stores that are willing to pay high enough rent may not be worth the effort for some tenants. The needed TI to make the space viable for a new brick and mortar tenant may not be easy for many.
Also, a lot of the leases that are signed have severe sales restrictions and non-complete territorial clauses that protects other area locations of the tenant who is paying the rent.
So, the space may be "for lease" but unless you are getting someplace that only sells Alpaca Food or Garden Hose extenders, a lot of these spaces are vacant for longer than they should be on a level playing field in the market.
That's amazing that Walgreen
That's amazing that Walgreen is looking at ~20 years but rather close just paying rent rather than keep it open with some revenue. I mean didn't they aim that store to be the flagship of the region? How much does one have to lose money before it becomes cheaper to just pay rent with no revenue versus keeping it open?
Also it's too bad Walgreen's are getting rekt that hard by CVS. I like Walgreen's so much more than CVS. The store was nicer, prices were comparable, and I once got to compare CVS versus Walgreen's design for their prescription bottles - Walgreen's design so much more than CVS. But somehow people just went CVS more. I guess front facing parking lot entrance matter just that much more or something
CVS is a rip-off.
It's expensive, and the people who work there aren't always so helpful and obliging, either.
I liked Walgreens a lot better, for the help, as well as the pricing. The Walgreens in Coolidge Corner closed down, and so did the one sort of near the Cambridge-Somerville Line. Too bad, really.
Don't get me started...
The people working at the one near me are a winning combo of creepy and incompetent. I'd put up with it if the cashiers were the incompetent ones, but I'm talking about the pharmacists. At one point I started getting these ceaseless automated calls reminding me to refill a prescription. Trouble was the script was for my cat, who had passed away by then, but until the cat could "come to the phone" to discuss it or I could remember what fake birthdate we'd assigned her, the calls were never going to stop. I should have known we were in for it when I first went to fill the prescription and the dingbat behind the counter asked me if the cat was also covered by Harvard Pilgrim.
Stop & Shop
Not surprising. Stores do this all the time.
Stop & Shop is NOTORIOUS for doing this.
When Stop & Shop in Revere opened their new(er) store on the otherside of Copeland Circle, they kept the lease on their old store in the Northgate mall. Stop & Shop did this to block Market Basket or any other supermarket from renting the space.
Finally after sitting on the property 10 years (the new store opened in 2000).. the city of Revere passed an ordinance that taxed people on leased, yet empty property. So Stop & Shop had no other choice than to find a tenant..... Price Rite, since it's really not a direct competitor of S&S (I mean it is a little bit, but it's more a super discount supermarket).
Of course, in the end Market Basket got the last laugh and leased the old Toys R US (and later National Wholesale Liquidators) space and built a store directly behind Price Rite.
And this situation is not uncommon.. I've talked about this on here, but there's a large swath of land on Route 6 in Eastham on the cape that Stop & Shop also owns but has no intention of building a store there. And they do that to block Market Basket from building a store.
Anytime a tenant vacates a
Anytime a tenant vacates a building owing rent, the landlord is obligated to make a good faith effort to find a replacement tenant.
I agree, RoseMai!
Let's hope the movie screens don't just have the same schlocky films that they play in the multiplex cinemas that dot our highways and byways.
Locally owned, locally run
If it's run by the same people who own the Somerville and Capitol theatres, I expect to see intelligent programming.
Boston Globe article
Staying on topic... it's good
Staying on topic... it's good that at least a couple current film screens will be back in HSq.
Well....
That's a step forward, anyhow.
It's good to see that building in use. How big would the movie screens be, and what kind of movies would they show, I wonder?
About 150 seats each?
The Cambridge Day article, which may have been edited and revised since you last read it, says "The two theaters would collectively seat about 300 people." Also, "The movie theater will be operated by Richard Fraiman, who owns and operates the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square and the Capitol Theatre in Arlington. The team anticipates showing modern blockbusters as well as classic and independent films. "
Great news. Some of the
Great news. Some of the happiest days of my life were going to see "classics" at the old Harvard Square Theater in the early 80s.
During the second quarter of my sophomore year at Northeastern
(1982), most of my classes were scheduled in the early morning and the late afternoon, with the result I had a big gap in between them. When I wasn't preparing for midterms, finals, or completing term papers, I would often go over to the Harvard Square Theater and catch a film.
Good times.
I remember that, too, Scratchie.
That was always quite exciting. I saw a number of great golden oldie-but-goody classics at the old Harvard Square Theatre, including my all-time favorite film, West Side Story, on afew occasions. Come to think of it, I miss the Harvard Square movie Theatre.
Any word on
whether the Saturday midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show will be brought back?
Unlike the Harvard Square Theatre...
I hope the seats are pointing in the right direction.
When they replaced the giant single screen with a bunch of little screens, they never changed the orientation of the seats, so you were always looking off to your side to see the movies.
Speaking of formerly single-screened movie theatres:
I still remember when the Coolidge Corner Theatre was a single-screened theatre, with a balcony, to boot. It was a cool place. I still love the Coolidge Corner Theatre, but it's not the same as it was, now that it's been changed into a four-screened movie theatre, as most theatres have been.
It looks like a suburban
It looks like a suburban medical office building from 1968. Until you let your eyes focus, and then you see the giant creepy faces.