Provincetown Plans

The Cape Cod Times profiled the Karp/Lagasse plan for Provincetown. They talked just a wee bit about Newburport.

.

An Extra Set of Eyes

I still can't find the link to yesterday's lead story in the Daily News, "Councilor Set to Fight Marina Plan."

The councilor is Larry McCavitt, and the marina belongs to the Waterside group aka Steve Karp and the Lagasses. We wrote about McCavitt's opposition to expansion of the marina behind the Black Cow a month or so ago.

No time to revisit the details of the case. But in yesterday's News Stephen Tait writes that McCavitt is positioning himself to be an enormous thorn in the side of the Waterside Group. His main contention--at least at the moment--is that by adding to the marina the developers are trying to develop the Waterside parcels piecemeal. He'd prefer they present an comprehensive vision for the waterfront.

"I believe their unstated goal is to wrap up the edges before they get to the back of it," McCavitt said, referring to Waterside West. "By then it's too late.

"If we don't get a comprehensive look at the development we'll get nickeled and dimed," he said.

Hmm. I'm really of two minds here. On one hand, I'm told that under our zoning Karp & Co. really have no legal responsibility to present a big picture here. They could develop piece-by-piece if they so choose. But I have the feeling they're not going to go that route. Just a gut feeling. But Karp seems to prefer doing large, interwoven projects in other towns.

But I'm really glad McCavitt is on top of this. Perhaps he is fear monger as some in the article suggested, but he wouldn't be selling if folks weren't buying. People are worried. Mayor Moak says the planning department can handle it. I suppose it can, but I'm glad to see another pair of eyes on this project.

As an aside, Chuck Lagasse didn't exactly bolster the case with his statement about the state encouraging waterfront development of marinas.

"Who could envision a more public situation?" Lagasse said. "These aren't owned slips. They can be rented by the month, by the season by anyone in the public."

I suppose get his point, but I'm not really interested in ponying up a seasonal fee to park my beach chair on the dock. I just want to be able to walk along the river unimpeded by gates and fences.


.

Shots Heard Round The Waterfront

Has the war over Waterside West begun? Massive wars often have seemingly minor starts. Lexington-Concord certainly didn't amount to much in size, but we know the results.

Similarly, the recent scrap over the Karp & Co.'s request to add 24 boat slips doesn't seem like much. But it could be the start of an uncivil war over the development of the Waterfront. I'm hoping this dispute will prove to Property owners Steve Karp that the current one-way line of communication isn't cutting it.

First, the dispute as told by the Daily News' Stephen Tait:

City Councilor Larry McCavitt last night blasted a plan to reconfigure a riverfront marina and add 24 boat slips to the Merrimack River, calling the application incomplete and the plan an "incremental" development of the land dubbed Waterfront West.

But despite the Ward 1 councilor's objections, the Harbor Commission voted unanimously to approve the proposal, which was presented by Butch Frangipane, marina manager for Stephen Karp, the billionaire developer who is looking to develop Waterfront West, an 8-acre plot of land between the Black Cow Restaurant and the Route 1 bridge.

The plan calls for reconfiguring the Hilton marina, near the Black Cow, and adding another series of floating docks perpendicular to the enclosed deck of the Black Cow.

McCavitt argued that Frangipane's application did not follow the rules set by the Harbor Commission, by not showing the entire property, by not showing where parking spaces for the slips' users would go and by not showing the area affected by Chapter 91, the state law that monitors development near waterways.

A particular sticking point for McCavitt, who is not part of the commission but was there speaking against the proposal, was the parking required to be provided by the marina for the slips. He said there is no indication of where that parking is or if it could be provided...

New docks will jut out into the river 240 feet from the back of the Black Cow. The present docks - which extend 380 feet into the Merrimack River and include 46 slips - are directly to the west of the Black Cow.

Half of the 24 new slips will be for larger boats, in the 40-to-45-foot range. The fueling station along the river at Hilton's will also be removed.

Now, I know squat about boats or docks, but the idea made sense to me when I first read about it a few months back. To be honest I enjoy the marina even though I don't have a boat. I like staring at the boats in the summer. I enjoy watching the boats get pulled off and on the water each Fall and Spring. This area seems like the only genuine part of the working waterfront left.

Still, I found myself mentally cheering for McCavitt as I read Stephen's article. The opposition initially surprised me, but as I read I thought McCavitt made some good points. Frankly, I was glad to read someone was asking questions to ensure the application got a proper vetting. This isn't intended as a knock against the city in general or the harbor commission but these were the first critical comments I can recall reading.

Not everyone agrees. A friend wrote to suggest McCavitt is "stirring up unnecessary trouble." Indeed the article about the meeting led to the writing of at least three letters published in the News and/or the Current. Here, here, and here . Like me, none of the authors opposed the idea, but they complained about the apparent lack of oversight.

As my friend points out, there's plenty of room for 28.8 cars (1.2 per slip) once the boats are in the water. At one time the deep seat boat used up 50 to 75 spaces, by my friend's account, so there's plenty of room for 28.8. Plus, there's the environmental benefit of removing the fuel dock from the river, lessening the risk of a spill. So there's really no downside to the plans.

But that isn't really the point.

To be honest I'm still a little unclear on the whole mess. McCavitt says the applicant must account for the new parking in it plans. Butch Frangipane and Chuck Lagasse say they don't. One letter writer says he found copies of documents supporting two positions.

I see more wisdom in McCavitt's stance. Every element of a project this large--including parking--should be accounted for in the plans. I'm just not sure what the city actually requires, but enough of this speculation.

Here's a fact. While I read the article I found myself appreciating McCavitt's stance at the meeting. I'm also somewhat sympathetic to the letter-writers (although I thought use of the word "sinister" is a bit much.) Afterall, we've had no words, ideas or thoughts put forth from Karp & Co. other than "the plan is coming" and "you're gonna love it."

Well, that stance isn't working. It'd be nice to get a dialogue going so locals at least feel empowered. Otherwise, every single move should undergo as intense scrutiny as the marina plans.

My friend wisely asks, "At what point do all of these fears of the unknown become unnecessary--and counter productive--hysteria?"

I don't know the answer to that. But if this continues we're going to find out if this meeting is a single skirmish or the beginning of a much larger fight.

Said it before,

and I'll say it again. I'm willing to bet a cup of coffee that Karp & Co. present no significant plans for the Waterside West site this year.

I just don't see how any plans can go forward with a soft real estate market locally, relatively weak consumer confidence and a retail development tailing off nationally. (Did anyone notice that 3BR "luxury" condo selling for $399,000 in the Daily News?)

A reader kindly directed us to this recent article in the Jan. 9 Wall Street Journal, "Housing Drop Saps Retail Landlords' Strength."

The gist:

Sparked by the housing boom across the country, shopping-center and mall developers have gone on a tear in recent years, delivering millions of square feet of new space in Phoenix, San Antonio, Cleveland, Tampa, Fla., and numerous other markets. Since 2005, developers in the U.S. have produced more retail space than office space, rental apartments, warehouse space or any other commercial real estate category.

But just as that new space is hitting the market, demand is declining. Mounting home foreclosures have sapped the strength of previously hot markets like Phoenix and California's Inland Empire near Los Angeles, leaving retail-property owners with rising vacancies and slower leasing rates for new space. And anemic sales gains in the just-completed holiday season fell short even of the retail industry's tepid preseason forecast.

For those of you concerned about chain stores willing to take losses on local stores to preserve a hold or monopoly on the larger market, this article suggests that isn't necessarily a case.

Analysts expect that more bankruptcies and liquidations of second-tier retailers are likely this year. Some retailers, such as Talbots Inc., are closing weak stores. Projected retail demand will justify only 43% of the new space delivered this year and last, predicts market-research firm Property & Portfolio Research Inc.

Note, I have NO idea how our local Talbots is going. Well, I hope.

More from the article:

Retail development is "basically at a three-year high," says Steven Marks, chief of research on real estate investment trusts at Fitch Ratings Inc. "And that three-year high is at a point in the economic cycle where it's probably not the best time to be developing right now."

If consumer spending falls off much more, the retail-property market faces a bloodbath, some say. "In a recessionary scenario, retail gets killed, absolutely killed," says Suzanne Mulvee, senior economist at Property & Portfolio Research.

If the market holds steady, current trends will still translate into varying degrees of stress for owners of retail property. Most of the country's largest malls are owned by huge public companies that are financially equipped to survive a downturn, but the stocks of many of them are trading near their 52-week lows.

And smaller owners that bought or developed property at the top of the market expecting high occupancy and high rents may face problems with their lenders. Some are already scrapping or delaying projects that are scheduled to be delivered this year.

If you're skimming, take a moment to reread the last graph. For those keeping track at home, Karp bought the bulk of his Port properties in 2005, the top of the market.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but a cup of coffee says I'm not.

Nantucket North--Post Game

So class let's thanks Stephen Tait for enlightening us about Karp's impact on Nantucket. Seriously, I thought the series had a strong finish.

I was particularly heartened to read that there are downtown merchants who recognize a chain store or two could add to the downtown. I sometimes think ordinances like the ones proposed underestimate the ability of our local merchants to compete against the big guys. These are smart folks who know what they're doing.

Anyway, back to the series. Interesting details on the Beinecke-Karp-Lagasse connection. Kudos again to Stephen for finding the right people to interview, like Ann Oliver, Beinecke's daughter. It added a lot to the story to have someone speaking on the late man's behalf.

So what did we learn? I'll offer some thoughts below. Feel free to add more on the comments.

Nantucketers are a rather arrogant folk. But I suppose people might think the same of us.

The Developer you know is always better than the Developer you don't know.

Karp's undertakings on the island and in Newburyport are very different.

His work on the islands seems to involve rehabbing (or destroying) older properties. Newburyport presents a very different scenario. His projects on Waterside West and, eventually, East will significantly alter the face of the downtown.

The longer I live here the more I realize just how big our downtown really is. Toss up some retail and hotel near the Route 1 bridge and he might spin the downtown off its Market Square axis. This is a big deal that goes beyond rents and hand-written signs in windows.

I'm not sure the chain store ban made a bit of difference in Nantucket. Just as I'm not sure it really would make a huge difference to Newburyport. More on this later.

I'm glad we have the Park Lunch and the Barking Dog.

I'm really thankful I don't live on an island. I think I'd go nuts.

Well, I'm stuck right now. Please join in.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Prior to allowing my fingers to type down memory lane, I'd emailed Ann Lagasse.

I wanted her to know I was going to write a post on how merchants used to complain about the tactics used by Piper Properties, which were strikingly similar to those employed by Steve Karp in Newburyport.

Specifically, the merchants didn't like to be told when to open their stores. They also didn't like sharing their financial information. I can't blame them, but I guess there's a price of doing business on State Street.

Anyway, Ann replied this morning to the issue about store hours. She didn't address the financial part of the question but I did restate it so I might have more on that later today.

Her reply.

Thanks for the email and the opportunity to comment. Yes, we do have hours of operations in our leases why - first we want a year round downtown economy. We don't want seasonal businesses. Newburyport is a commercial business center that serves the area 12 months a year and we want merchants who understand that. In terms of hours, the good retailers are open more hours than described in our leases. We want merchants - not hobbyists running stores. The successful retailers are frustrated when their neighbors don't keep consistent hours. They know it hurts the downtown. Customers get mad and probably won't come back. In a chamber meeting probably 5 years ago, a long time merchant downtown (not our tenant) told the retail committee who was discussing downtown shopping hours - 50% of his sales occur after 5 o'clock. Good retailers get it !

Note: Ann didn't provide the name, but I did delete two words that would have identified the merchant. Only seemed fair.

So while Steve Karp's tactics in Nantucket might seem heavy handed to some. They won't be all that unfamiliar to merchants in town.

Thanks to Ann for taking time to reply.

By the way, what happened to the Nantucket North Series? I was a bit disappointed today.

Nantucket North

The problem with reporters like Stephen Tait is that they're able to produce fair and compelling articles even when the principal subject of the piece--in this case Stephen Karp--won't talk to them.

Where's some good ole' media bias when you need it?

Seriously, Stephen did an excellent job on the first day's installments. I'm anxious to see tomorrow's paper.

A few quick thoughts on today's pieces.

If I were a retail shop owners downtown I certainly wouldn't enjoy reading "Karp's shadow looms over Nantucket." But I'm not. I'm a reporter who once wrote about our downtown so instead I felt a bit of nostalgia.

See, I could have written a nearly identical story a decade ago. The subject wouldn't have been Steve Karp but rather Chuck and Ann Lagasse who by that time had accumulated most of their downtown holdings.

It's funny. People tend to romanticize about the past a bit when a new perceived problem arises. With Karp in the picture, people long for the day when the buck stopped with Chuck and Ann.

But 10 or 12 years ago, business owners downtown complained off the record about the Lagasses' rising rents that forced out store owners downtown.

The also muttered about the Lagasses managing the downtown as if it were as shopping mall, asking business owners to open their books and share in their profits.

I don't remember if the complaints ranged to the Lagasses' dictating hours. (It would be interesting to hear if any property owners in the downtown do that.) But evening hours always were a sore spot downtown. I once received a hand written thank you from one notable downtown merchant because I'd noted in a column that the arrival of Starbucks meant one thing for the downtown--at least one business would be open past 5 p.m.

I'm not saying Karp's reported approach right or wrong nor am I suggesting the Chuck and Ann Lagasse did wrong by their tenants. I'm just noting the similarities. Now, it's quite possible that Karp will take this concept a lot further than Chuck and Ann supposedly did so Stephen's article is important.

Would such a structure be good for Newburyport? I don't know. If I were a business owner I certainly would want the ability to determine my own hours, but a little uniformity would be nice. But seven 10-hour days seems quite extreme. Seems like there's room for compromise.

As for Nantucket catering to the "superwealthy," this may be the Revere Boy in me talking but I never really saw the island as a blue collar vacationland. Again, Stephen did an excellent job telling the tales of those folks who feel left behind, and I can empathize.

But let's not pretend that Nantucket was Nantasket Beach. I guess I have a hard time telling the wealthy and the superwealthy apart.

I recognize that sounds a bit glib. But I just think there are larger societal forces at here than just Steve Karp. Our society is creating more wealthy people. Are they going to Nantucket because he caters to them? Or is he catering to them because they go to Nantucket?

Maybe a little bit of both.

Lagasse, Karp and a Hotel on the Waterfront

In Provincetown.

The worst kept secret is revealed. The Karp is out of the bag.

The Provincetown Banner quotes Chuck Lagasse as saying Steve Karp is definitely part of bid to buy Provincetown's Fisherman's Wharf, and they might just build a hotel on top of it.

A decision on whether to purchase Fisherman’s Wharf should be made around the end of this year, and Lagasse said he plans on traveling to Provincetown this month to continue his due diligence. In addition to Lagasse, his wife Ann and Boston-based developer Steven Karp are also partners in the potential Fisherman’s Wharf purchase, he said.

Karp is a real estate billionaire who, among other projects, has been instrumental in the high-end redevelopment of Nantucket. Karp and the Lagasses are partners in a major redevelopment project on Newburyport’s waterfront, which includes multiple marinas. As part of that project, Lagasse said earlier that one of the first priorities would be to find a hotel partner to agree to come to that city.

“He [Karp] is a very knowledgeable and sensitive guy to be involved. I’m proud of our team and proud of our track record,” Lagasse said.

So there you go.

Karp or No Karp

That is the question.

I was surprised to read the headline announcing the the Lagasses and Karp are teaming up to buy Provincetown's Fisherman's Wharf.

Obviously, his participation wouldn't be surprising. In fact, Karp has been rumored to be involved in the acquistion since the announcement was made. But until I read the Comment article they were just that unconfirmed rumors.

The article is sourced well. It quotes Chuck and Ann Lagasse extensively, although neither is quoted saying the Karp is involved.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Provincetown's Board of Selectmen is quoted as saying, “Lagasse and Karp have the means and the expertise. That’s good news.” Now, she's not quoted as saying Karp is directly involved, but that's the implication. She also might have said so in unquoted portions of the interview.

I emailed Ann Lagasse asking her if Karp is indeed involved in the deal. Her reply.

At the moment the Provincetown purchase is still being investigated and the ownership/partnership (if bought) is not defined yet. I think we have 120 days to do due diligence. Will New England Development be part of the deal?- they have expressed interest but again there is nothing firm.

So that's where we're at. Ask me to bet my house, and I'd wager it on New England Development being part of the deal. But the official word is Karp & Co. aren't part of the package--yet.

By the way, here's a little background on the piece of real estate the Lagasses and (perhaps Karp) are purchasing. Apparently, the pier is used to park up to 200 cars during the summer season. But read this article first.

I once contemplated writing a joke post suggesting that Newburyport settle the park vs. parking dispute by parking our cars on piers or floats. But somebody's already doing it.

Truth is stranger than crappy humor, I guess.

A Growing Empire?

The Daily News has a story today about Chuck and Ann Lagasse's purchase of Fisherman's Wharf in Provincetown, but they're a little too slow in getting the article up on their Web site so check out the news in the Provincetown Banner.

I'll update with the News link later on. I've got no real insights on this at this point other than I was surprised by the news.

Makes you wonder though if City officials from Provincetown, Nantucket and Newburyport ought to meet somewhere in the middle (maybe a cafe in the new Pinehills Village in Plymouth) to compare notes. It would appear they're all facing similar, albeit not identical, issues.

Questions?

As I suggested in my earlier post, Ann Lagasse of Piper Properties/Waterside Group/Karp & Co. offered to sit down with a few of us interested bloggers to discuss their approach to identifying retail business for the downtown.

So I'm hoping to have a chat (an actual chat or an online chat) with Ann. I'll pass on the results here.

My take? I have fewer concerns about the downtown than some people. I think a large majority of the business down there do sell products targeted at higher end consumers. But that's been the case for years. Do I shop for clothes there? Not usually, but I tend to buy gifts down there as well as breads, cheeses, coffee, and some other goods.

I have some concerns about the chains. But I was surprised at the level of anxiety when I returned to town. At the time, one new friend asked if I was worried about the spread of chain stores downtown. I asked what she meant. She identified Starbucks, Boston Chowda, and Tablots.

I thought back to when I left town in 1997. Starbucks was here. Boston Chowda was a TCBY and the Strand was empty if I recall correctly. (I'm told a locally owned restaurant took over the former TCBY space for a while before Boston Chowda came on. UPDATE: An emailer tells me the shop was called the Off Center Cafe.)

Richdale's was here as well. Dunkin Donuts wasn't. Believe me, I would have welcomed an opportunity to buy a late night coffee after covering a town meeting.

Frankly, I didn't see the need for the fuss. But now I do recognize the Karp development will change everything and change breed fear. Hell, I wrote the hand-wringing "Will Chains Overtake Downtown" article when we broke the news that Starbucks was coming downtown in 1995. I helped feed the fear.

But this downtown has been changing for some 40 years now. But ALL downtowns are changing; some for the better, some for the worse. I think Newburyport's downtown falls in the former category.

I do give a lot of credit the Buy Local folks for putting their concerns into action and education. I also tend to give the Lagasses and Karp a benefit of the doubt. I'm hoping there is some happy medium between the two.

Back to my original point. If you have questions for Ann please send them along in a comment. If you don't want the comment published let me know. I'll honor that.

Don't wait too long. We might chat over the weekend.