Canal District
I was at a zoning board meeting and I noticed another restaurant either on Water or Harding, I forgot the actual street, looking for relief of parking. This got me to thinking. I know we keep hearing alot about all the new restaurants happening in this area and I think it is great, but what about the employers in this area.
In particular you have Table Talk Pie and Pressmet. I wonder how they feel about these changes?? Are they happy?? Do they feel threatened?? I do not know the answer, but I hope someone is talking to them to let them know that we want employers like this to remain in District 4 (I think that is still part of the District).
Even if it is not in the District, they are both valuable assets for the City of Worcester. It is a real balancing act between the existing business and the new condos/restaurants, lets hope we are able to do it.
posted by Bill Randell @ 5:28 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I can only imagine the companies feel good about having the surrounding neighborhood spruced up and re-used.
I'm not aware of any roving gangs of restauranteurs looking to forcibly remove these businesses. In fact, I'd argue a restaurant takes a big chance by locating in semi-industrialized neighborhoods.
Chris:
I would worry about PressMet (more industrial, etc), not so much Table Talk. As more and more condos and restaurants move in, they most definately will not expand and may feel compelled to leave the area to one of the towns with lower tax rates.
Look now further then WoodMeister as an example. Time will tell.
Bill
Bill, you've got a good point there.
Chris:
Don't get me wrong maybe the future of this district is restaurants, condos and the uncovering of the Blackstone. All I know is that if I owned Presmet, I would see the writing on the wall unless someones was assuring me that there were buffers around the Industrial uses..
Presmet and Table Talk are large employers and good corporate citizens... My point in this blog was that it is truly a balancing act, but with that said, I would really worry about Pressmet leaving town.
There are plenty of pad ready industrial sites in industrial parks in surrounding towns that would love to have them with much lower property taxes and plenty of parking.
Bill
Bill
These companies will weigh the value proposition of a cheaper site in another town with the substantial logistics and cost of relocating.
If anything, I'd say these firms will go not to a neighboring town, but another state entirely -- where the government actually does a decent job of pulling in businesses with incentives.
Post a Comment
<< Home