Enough may be enough

I never did take the opportunity to introduce myself to Steve Karp. No real reason. He seemed like an approachable guy. I didn't avoid him. But I hate waiting in lines for anything. Plus, I sort of like the relationship as it stands now. I'm sure we'll meet eventually.


But I did sneak at the end of the line to ask a question, risking the Wrath of Nancy Colbert who dutifully tried to preserve enough time for the informal Q&A after the meeting.


My question was this. Or an awkwardly phrase version of this: Every time I see a property go up for sale on the waterfront I think to myself, Oh, Karp will buy that one. Yet you haven't. Do you intend to expand your real estate holdings here. (I'm taking enormous artistic license with the paraphrase.)


Karp sort of stared at me. I couldn't tell if he hadn't heard me or didn't like the question. But he answered saying New England Development would always be open to adding properties if the terms were attractive.


But he went on to say that hoped another developer or two would follow his lead and take on some of those projects.


Could it be that Karp has had enough? I don't have exact counts on how much he owns downtown. I think the Daily News suggested 20% of the storefronts. During his presentation Karp flashed a map of NED's holdings. He owns a lot, but not close to everything.


So why hasn't he acquired more when properties like the Bennett & Co. building, Mike's Sub or even Davis Auto Parts have come up?

It might be as a simple as the asking prices being too high. Perhaps he'll wait until the real estate market settles.


Or maybe he recognizes any additional acquisitions would come at a political and public relations cost.


But I wonder whether NED has reached a tipping point. Perhaps it fears owning too much of the downtown would leave it vulnerable if things ever went south locally.

Hard to say. Karp's entities own 75% or so of the storefronts in Nantucket, so he's not afraid of taking big bites. But Newburyport may truly be a different nut to crack.

I guess if I were to bet I'd say the asking prices might be the primary reason. But I'm sure the other two come into play as well.