Grove's fate may be same as Bleecker Street
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| The abandoned Playhouse is one of the main problems in the Grove. |
According to an article in Curbed NY, it's everything that can go wrong with gentrification. And that is what is happening to Coconut Grove.
The Grove is all shiny and new or becoming shiny and new, but to what end? All the one-of-a-kind mom and pops are being pushed out due to high rents. And in the end, the stores that pay the high rents will be pushed out due to lack of business.
As the Curbed article says, "tourists weren't necessarily forking over cash to buy $400 t-shirts." Bleecker had "essentially become a vanity location, meaning it's more about the image than about retail sales or foot traffic."
Bleecker is dead now. Storefronts sit empty. High rents and the internet had a lot to do with that.
I think that is what is happening to Coconut Grove. The office workers apparently are not spending money at the restaurants, will they spend money at the new CocoWalk and other new places coming in that are paying high rents? Will the office workers and new condo tenants support the new businesses?
Regrading Bleecker Street, the article says, "For many longtime Village residents [Greenwich Village], what the street is missing is not a cool factor but the essential mix of businesses that makes a neighborhood function.”
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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5 Comments:
As a biz owner for over 22 years in the Grove, I can’t see how anyone is going to be able to afford the over priced square footage the lords will be making it, Unless you are a big Corp store or chain that will be able to pick up the low end of the stick when sales aren’t happening. You can only stay open so long in the day before it turns into a ghost town...there is absolutely no way to bring in the extra foot trafffic to cover close to the double increase in rent I’ve heard it’s going to be. Free parking on the weekends would be a great start to try and revive, we know the parking wars have done the damage already though, so scratch that idea. There is no way I will be able to stay unless I start trafficking humans and or drugs cause that’s about the only commodity that would be able to make the money ito cover rent. So I will have to work more hours than I already do(+70/hrs/wk) just to keep my stuff dry and I won’t get to take an extra dime home with me because it’s all for the lords of the land!! GREEDY MFer’s. I didn’t open a biz to work for the landlords but that is exactly what’s going to happen... see you all at Home Depot!! Thanks Sarnoff for that mistake at least!!
My thought is that the Grove is being groomed to become Miami's Rodeo Drive -- Full of high-end shops and eateries where fancy people can be seen and shop when in town. It didn't work in the design district because of the surrounding neighborhoods, but it may work here -- sadly!
Michael Comras Company is synonymous with unaffordable.
Miami's Rodeo Drive???? Seriously? You do know they tried that in the 80's with Mayfair. So, we have Bal Harbor and Merrick Place, but Coconut Grove is going to be Rodeo Drive? Why couldn't people just let Coconut Grove be Coconut Grove? There will never be another like it. I cry when I see Starbucks gracing our 5 corners....the Home Depot of coffee shops.
There are plenty of bakeries, restaurants and bookshops popping up. Even if rents were reasonable, who would be opening retail shops?! Retail is dead, dead, dead. And one of the reasons is that there is no originality anymore. Look at the retail we have now--do we really need one more t shirt? Beaded necklace? Tie-dye beach cover up? It isn't ever going to be upscale---Merrick Park is dying on its feet. And all those luxury brands in the Design District and Bal Harbour have strict contracts that will not allow them additional stores anyway. No: the only hope is businesses that will bring in staff who want to live here.
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