And they haven’t even been approved yet!
From MassLive:
“We’ve been trying to sell the business for some time,” said Makarowski, of Enfield, Conn., who also co-owns Theodore’s on Worthington Street. “We had a buyer, but the landlord refused to bend on the rent in the 11th hour. I guess with the casino coming, he feels his property is worth more.”
The city block where JT’s is located falls within the proposed MGM resort casino for the South End – a proposal since the casino question will appear on the statewide ballot in November. While city residents and the state’s Gaming Commission approved the project, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled the state’s new gaming law should be approved by voters in a ballot question.
The prospect of national chains with national purchasing power is already jacking up rents and closing small, popular, local businesses.
Vote Yes on Repeal.
I’m not sure that this situation is being portrayed correctly.
There are very few businesses in downtown Springfield anymore. The reasons are numerous:
1) A lack of residents with disposable income (80% of housing units in downtown Springfield are income-restricted i.e. low-income).
2) A lack of events which draw people downtown (whereas there used to be several concerts per month at the MassMutal center, now most shows to go to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun in CT and Springfield gets only 2-3 shows per year).
3) An over-perception of crime (since most people you see are low-income and there aren’t many people down there, most of the region is afraid to go into Springfield at all).
4) A weak professional sector (many of the once-downtown jobs have moved into suburban office parks, or are locked up in the two class-A tower buildings).
There are plenty of open storefronts downtown for a restaurant to move into. In this particular example, the owner of the building told the media that he was not interested in lowering the rent because he was hopeful that the casino would inject some life into the downtown area and he could envision a better establishment than a small bar/pub in his space.
This particular business has been solid, but not outstanding. It is a working-class pub which attracts some city employees, some office workers after work. I doubt they do much business after 6pm on most nights of the year, which is probably why they have been trying to sell for a some time. They are in a weird place, in between the area cluster of restaurants and bars (which is getting a bad rap right now because of some late night violence incidents related to the bars) and the MassMutual Center and Symphony Hall.
The property owner appears to be waiting to see what happens once a casino goes in, if this is going to bring any life to a completely dead downtown area. The bar owner appears to be looking for a rent reduction for a new buyer.