Raising Commercial Rents in Concord: What Are They Thinking?

News Flash!  The world is having more than a little economic trouble these days, from which Concord is not immune.

Imagine our great surprise to repeatedly hear that starting in November, some Concord landlords have been RAISING rents on commercial, manufacturing and retail spaces.  And not just a tiny amount: some are going much, much further, driving established, family-owned, independent businesses out of both their longtime locations, and/or out of business all together. Here are some of the stories we've gathered.

Light manufacturing space tenants on Beherrall Street in West Concord report that their new landlord gave many of them notice back at Christmas that they would have their rents raised 50%, 60%, and even as high high as 100%, when their leases were up in the coming months.  Some of these businesses have so much necessary equipment that in order to disinstall, move and reinstall their shops, they would go broke.  Yet, doubled rents in this economy is also something they cannot manage.  They are really between a rock and a hard place, with really nowhere to turn.

Another landlord is raising long-time Milldam retailers' rents -- retailers being businesses that of course have been quickly and negatively effected by the economic downturn.  If they fail, who will rent these spaces? We wonder how well these rent increases track with the realities of the market today.

Wise, Humane Landlords Also Exist in Concord
But all is not such sad news -- some Concord landlords understand that vacancies are bad for their bottom line, and that everyone has to pull together to get through these rough times -- some sacrifice by each of us is called for.  We're pleased to report we've also heard of some Concord landlords vowing no rent increases until the economy really improves, being committed to their tenants' well being... and knowing rightly that what's good for tenants is good for themselves. Yet other landlords are reducing rents even in prime locations on a case-by-case basis in order to avoid vacancies they cannot afford.

Our Wonderful Downtowns Could Be Destroyed
Here's what really worries us, besides landlords' search for short-sighted financial gain driving valued businesses to close: we need Concord's local economy to survive this downturn. If we gut the unique, varied and independent nature of our local business mix, we run the risk of crushing something that has been a huge boon for the town.

We have had three thriving downtowns, and much commercial and some manufacturing space with good-to-high occupancy rates.  When business areas develop multiple, long-term vacancies, they begin to lose their vibrance. Foot traffic, upkeep, and business fall off.   Vacancies become more difficult to fill.  Some landlords develop bad reputations by squeezing their tenants, and find additional problems renting their empty spaces. It becomes a downward spiral... one that many other communities have never pulled out of following economic downturns of the past.

One tenant facing a massive rent increase put it starkly this way:

It is very hard to explain to others just exactly what is at stake here. On the outset to someone who doesn't own a business they may say, "So what? They have plenty of money -- they have their own business".  But if only they knew the "Whole Story".  How the business came out of nothing, and how you used your head, heart and hands to build it. And that in this economy how it is extremely fragile. Each day brings new challenges to overcome.

Equate it to getting a call from the bank that holds your mortgage and they say, "The payments you have been making for years now aren't enough. We made a few bad decisions and paid too much for things, and you have to make up the difference for us or move."

The message we want to send to these rent-raising landlords is this: real estate speculation is risky business. If you find your cash flow not to your liking, that's the risk you took on. Raising rents and driving tenants out of business is not a solution -- it's just going to make everyone's problems worse, including your own. If you don't have a heart, then at least look beyond  short-term gain to see how you are in the long-term hurting yourselves.