Fairbanks businesses filling empty retail buildings
Published Sunday, November 2, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!
A shopping cart holding construction tools sits on the reminiscent black and white floor tiles of the old Fred Meyer store on College Road Friday afternoon, October 31, 2008.
Fountainhead Development carpenter Russ Vincent wheels his tools through the old Fred Meyer store on College Road during renovations Friday afternoon, October 31, 2008.
Floorer Terry Martin looks over plans to remodel the old Fred Meyer store on College Road for use by the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Friday afternoon, October 31, 2008. Martin commented that he liked the idea of remodeling old structures for use by a new client. "Doing this makes a lot more sense than throwing it away and building a new one," Martin said.
FAIRBANKS — When a big store leaves town or builds more space, it may leave behind more than just a void in the market for its products.
It also could leave a big empty store. Think Fred Meyer in northeast Fairbanks, the former Kmart on Airport Way or the downtown Carrs Foodland store near Cushman Street and Gaffney Road.
The smaller companies that move in and buy second-hand big box stores face the task of creating a gem by finding new tenants, and the challenge of attracting enough interest from private businesses or public agencies to fill the space. And as more retail stores sprout up across Fairbanks, some developers and planners wonder whether the public sector should take a bigger role in determining how large-scale construction should fit into Fairbanks’ landscape.
“It’s a risk,” said John Bachner, a manager with The Bachner Group, of some firms’ decision to buy big, vacant stores. “This is a benefit for (companies) buying them, and for the public if we fill them. It’s not a benefit if we don’t fill them.”
Bachner’s company owns the Foodland building, which he said was built in the 1960s and measures roughly 50,000 square feet. It’s a recognizable, brick-and-concrete-exterior cylinder just east of Cushman Street downtown.
Access Alaska, a nonprofit organization that helps disabled residents live independently, has filled part of the Foodland building for two years.
But companies like Bachner’s have met varying success as they take sometimes different routes to put old space to new use, and in many casesm large stores can sit vacant for years. The issue has led public officials to review zoning rules and other public policies with an eye out for options for encouraging developers to reuse developed space or put more thought into how large-scale stores get built.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly approved rules last year aimed at guiding development toward sharper-looking retail outlets and well-planned parking lots at big stores, rules that national retailer Target, which is eyeing the Fairbanks marketplace, are working through.
Chris Miller, a mechanical engineer who serves as chairman of the community’s public Planning Commission, said he’d like the policy discussion to broaden to other avenues — possibly to new tax rules — that encourage the community to re-use more of its developed land instead of building new stores, something he acknowledged is often a cheaper option for developers than retrofitting old space. He pointed to Safeway and Regal Cinemas, which in recent years have expanded by replacing the existing buildings on their respective properties instead of building on raw, “green” land and leaving an old building for others to deal with.
“The whole community would benefit if poorly used buildings were upgraded to be revitalized,” Miller said. “Empty buildings are just a burden.”
About a year ago, Anchorage-based Bailey’s Furniture bought an old car dealership on South Cushman Street and turned it into a showroom and warehouse. Vice President Mike Bailey said his company has chosen to buy most of its seven stores in Alaska instead of building new construction. The Fairbanks store is 25,000 square feet, but the company’s stores can run much larger — one Anchorage store has 75,000 feet of showroom space and an equal amount for a warehouse.
“Building brand new is just expensive and a lot more time-consuming,” Bailey said of the company’s decisions to look for existing stores when expanding into new communities.
Another landlord of second-hand stores, Fountainhead Development, recently struck a deal with hospital officials. The deal will put a physical therapy and home medical equipment outlet in part of the old 76,000-square-foot Fred Meyer store, which the Fairbanks company bought in 2005.
Fountainhead project development director Derik Price said firms like his try a number of angles as they look to fill space, reaching out to other private companies and government and educational entities as they look for long-term tenants. Even then, he said, it can be tough to justify taking steps to spruce up an old property unless a major potential tenant is lined up.
“One would typically not spend (any) money on a building to ‘redevelop’ or reposition it to a new use unless there was a national anchor or large, long-term tenant involved,” Price stated in an e-mail to the Daily News-Miner this week.
Major grocery stores, booksellers and other chains generally build superstores to fit their respective needs, shaping a large chunk of property in the process. In doing so, planners say they indirectly present unique challenges, either to public officials looking to impact the physical landscape of a town or companies who buy the space to lease, and to neighbors, who might find themselves watching — often from across a sea of empty parking spaces — as the new owners try to fill the space with tenants.
Major retail chains regularly look to build closer to residential areas, where the cost of land can be cheaper, than to move into developed land. It leaves owners of second-hand stores in a downtown, like Foodland, at a particular disadvantage as they look for tenants, said Michael Beyard, a planner and senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute, a member-supported nonprofit organization that focuses on land use within communities.
Downtown Fairbanks lost its last large-footprint grocery store eight years ago — a subtraction Beyard said could indicate the market for large grocery stores downtown may have vanished. He noted communities where major chains have built new stores on vacant, semi-suburban land instead of redoing old retail space have turned to downtowns as a chance for “experiential” shopping districts — clusters of coffee shops, movie theaters, restaurants or specialty stores.
Beyard said empty, large-footprint buildings sometimes offer those niche stores a chance to team up under one roof, but probably only if the space is within a stone’s throw of the busiest square in town — a proximity issue that takes greater importance in a place like Fairbanks, where cold weather might discourage shoppers from walking long distances between stops.
“This is a kind of retailing that can work in a downtown area,” Beyard said of centrally located clusters of specialty shops. “But it’s got to be planned as a district.”
David Deason, vice president of real estate for Barnes & Noble, said his store might look to build an anchor book store in a “dynamic” metropolitan downtown neighborhood packed already with restaurants, lots of homes, other retail stores, pointing to downtown Boston as an example. In large part, however, retail companies are increasingly investing in new-construction districts where developers have looked to recreate a downtown experience in largely suburban areas.
“It’s just absolutely crucial to my business that there is a collection of restaurants” close to a major bookstore, Deason said. “My customers tend to be busy, working families. If I’m not where they’re eating, I can’t be approximate to them.”
Price, with Fountainhead Development, said he senses some communities across the country have looked at big box development as a “huge challenge.”
“Until we as a community decide that we want to ‘encourage’ building reuse and put pressure on our officials to support reuse alternatives and incentives, we will likely have more vacant boxes and more vast acres of empty parking lots in our future,” he said.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
This is great they want to use all these buildings for stores BUT who is going to staff these stores?? What is here now can't even get staff.
Maybe if the state stopped giving so many hand outs to everyone and handed out more job applications and made the people fill them out and have the state take them to the employer every place wouldn't have a help wanted sign up for 2 years.
The state needs to stop babying the people up here.
RE: all the Help Wanted signs
Law of supply and demand.
The best places to work, and those that pay the best, will attract the best employees.
When I see a place with high employee turnover, a new face every time I go in, I advise my children not to apply there. Obviously those who work there don't stay for a reason--low pay, bad management, etc.
Same with a place that offers lousy service. Either the manager doesn't care, or is getting what he/she is paying for.
Another use for those type of buildings (and let's not forget the Polaris) would be condo or mini malls.
The Polaris could be renovated to have a shopping mall in the lower half, professional offices and condos.
I do like seeing the growth in our area. It would be nice to see us produce more within our state and town and quit having it all shipped in. We DO have the resources we just need to develop it.
Sooooo--
FMH and Banner Health seem to be filling ANOTHER need that Fairbanks has had for a long while.
Any chance THEY are doing it due to the C.O.N.?
I guess if you have the right kind of money ( you know to grease palms) then you can stop the Private sector from starting their own services. Or you can flood the market enough so that there won't be room for other medical services.
Lets see what they charge to use these facilities!
Seems I remember them telling John Q. Public that Fairbanks didn't need any other medical services than what FMH and Banner Health provided already. Then through carefully timed planning and waiting to announce until after the fervor dies down, they "buy" TVC and set up another medical facility.
Now this.
Zero competition.
Nice.
Just food for thought.
Peace
What's the excuse for the old Kmart building. It was built in the mid 90's, literally from the ground up. It was always packed full of customers, and then Kmart went bankrupt and sold to Sears. I don't know who owns this building; but its a darned shame to see it just sitting there, becoming another old building.
fairbanksforever said: RE: all the Help Wanted signs
"Law of supply and demand. The best places to work, and those that pay the best, will attract the best employees. When I see a place with high employee turnover, a new face every time I go in, I advise my children not to apply there. Obviously those who work there don't stay for a reason--low pay, bad management, etc. Same with a place that offers lousy service. Either the manager doesn't care, or is getting what he/she is paying for."
ff...you are just adding to the problem. By encouraging your children NOT to apply may be the reason a lot of these places experience high turnover...having to hire those "less than desireable" employees. I can tell you from personal experience that the turnover in our office is not due to low wages or poor working conditions, but the lack of loyalty by employees. No longer do employees care enough to work in a position for any length of time...or even work the minimum amount of time agreed to at the onset of employment. The "grass is greener" theory is unfortunately alive in Fairbanks and actually causes more problems for these businesses. Kids these days don't get it. My father worked in the same place for 42 years...something even I couldnt do. But the point is...if people cared more about doing a good job at a place of employment and gaining a good employment reputation...their challenge of finding other, "better" employment in the future will be easier. I can't tell you the number of sub-par employees that I have been asked to be a reference for...many of which I have declined or ended up simply verifying dates of employment. But for those employees who live up to their word...the recommendations are glowing.
Please don't assume just because a place has high turnover that there is something wrong with the business. That's just short-sighted. Buisness practices haven't changed...the employment workpool has, and it makes life much more difficult for businesses now then ever before. Instead of encouraging your children not to apply, maybe talk with the owner/manager yourself and ask them why they believe the turnover is high. You can get a pretty good indication of the real reason by just talking to the people in charge. I can tell you that more times than not...it's the lack of employee loyalty than anything.
“Until we as a community decide that we want to ‘encourage’ building reuse and put pressure on our officials to support reuse alternatives and incentives, we will likely have more vacant boxes and more vast acres of empty parking lots in our future,” he said."
Answer, Pipeline! McCain / Palin, God Bless America!
The old K-mart building has been used to store the vehicles of the deployed troops and is owned by a local company who brings a lot of business to Fairbanks.
WANNA FILL VACANT BUILDINGS WITH
SOMETHING MEANINGFUL ??
GOBS OF JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!
sustainable growth opportunities
tons of union workforce training
total benefits package
good for the environment
affordable heat and fuel forever
building roadless-roads infrastructure in the bush
Alaskan Polypipe made from Alaskan Gas
gaspipe
waterpipe
mining slurry pipe
dredge pipe
sewer pipe
fish hatchery pipe
hydropower pipe
coalwater slurry pipe
fuel product pipe
geothermal pipe
conduit pipe
63"big pipe / 1/2" noodle pipe
Fairbanks should fill all of the old buildings with poly-gasline extrusion machines for building the All-Alaskan poly-gasline energy&fiberoptic infrastructure everywhere from Kaktovik to Kotzebue to Kodiak to Ketchikan.
http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk209...
...over 30,000 visitors have seen the slideshow
what does a pipe extrusion machine look like?
[I know where to get them!!!}
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&am...
...quit whining and do something about it, start small -- THINK BIG!
..otherwise your grandkids will be sitting in an igloo wondering why all the gas went to the tarpits.
oldakcuss, you make some good points and I am rethinking my attitude.
But I will say, having worked with youth, that while some kids are the unreliable-types you say they are, there are also some employers who don't seem to know how to attract and keep good employees. Examples: no training, no attention to safety (know of 2 young people who have been burned, literally, and the supervisors took the burns way too casually), good and bad workers treated equally (great way to increase motivation,eh?), no response to job applications although the "hiring" sign never went down, and on and on.
Obviously, you are one of the better employers, and I appreciate your support of the many kids in this community who really do want to work and to do a good job.
I, too, would like to see the empty buildings in town filled before we raze any more land to build new ones. I think urban planners call it "infilling", and they like to put shops and homes in the same neighborhood so that people can walk to school, the store, etc. and save the gas and the commuting time. It brings back the neighborhood feeling. The idea of putting shops in the bottom of the Polaris would be an example of that. I miss the old downtown, where we could park and walk from shop to shop--Woolworths, Penney's, Nordstroms/NC, Co-op, B & W Disco, Owl Tree, House of Fabrics, Hoitts, Frontier Sporting Goods. Now we have to drive all over town, (and down Memory Lane).
FMH already has physical therapy and home medical equipment divisions, my guess is that they are just expanding into a larger space by moving into the old Fred Meyer's building.
oldakcuss - I can think of one employer in Fairbanks that is famous for it's employee turnover, and it is also known within that industry that it is the employer and not the employees. I also agree that at some places employees either don't know what they are getting into, or aren't willing to put the proper effort into it. Anyway, my point is that it goes both ways, and it's natural for people to be wary when they always see new employees at a place.
I would like to see the old old buildings that have been vacant for years bulldozed away. There are alot of buildings in town that will never be filled again.
What would be really nice is a new youth activity center, similar in size to the old kmart bldg. I'd like one where law enforcement and firefighters could visit at all hours too so that you have that crime deterrent in place. A building that has something for all ages too. Maybe a 24/7 snack bar too. Anyway, a nice safe place for the kids to play, study and have fun in. Of course all someone needs is to find the money to start it. We already have the vacant buildings - that's half the battle I think.
Ljc120802
Great idea on using a vacant building for a youth center, and involving law enforcement. Maybe a multi-use building with a police station, bank, health center, a branch of UAF or GED or another educational program, and a place for our youth. Safe, and with great role models. What a combination!
Employee loyalty?? How about employer loyalty.
This was an old building in Denver that now has trampolines, batting cages, and dodge ball for all ages all year round.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVNKATs_0...
seven51:
I run a company who works hard for not only the customers, but also for the well-being and satisfaction of the employees. Loyalty is a huge part of maintaining a strong relationship with our employees. I have gone above and beyond the call of duty in supporting my employees...all with the only request is that the loyalty is returned. Unfortunately with very, very, very few exceptions, it is not given back. There ARE businesses out there worth working for that provide a positive, suportive working environment. Unfortunately employees these days don't understand that and want everything for nothing. Employer loyalty runs high at my business...far higher than employee loyalty.
(This comment was removed by the Newsminer.com staff. Please see our User Agreement for further information.)
I've had a business here in Fairbanks for 15 years. Finding a person who will show up to work on time, actually work while on the clock, and not steal from me has proven to be impossible. I pay well and treat people with respect. Many parents in this town have not taught their children good work ethics or behavior which has made it difficult for employers. And, yes I too have worked for people here in Fairbanks that seriously needed a class in public relations and diplomacy. I've had supervisors that were uneducated and under qualified. People, we (Fairbanksans) have problems on both sides of the track. Employers: Give employees acceptable work hours and stop cheating them at the time clock! Employees: GET OUT OF BED - SHOW UP ON TIME - LEAVE THE CELL PHONE AT HOME. We have to start somewhere and it doesn't end here. All of these problems can be solved if the Fairbanks community can come together. We have jobs, we have people. We can get all these good ideas in motion - or not.
I too am pretty disgusted to see FMH (Fairbanks Memorial Hospital) expanding to other locations, considering how they have manipulated the CON (Certificate of Need) program, to lock out all new medical facilities and doctors, that would be in competition with them.
Everyone should note, in many cases, it's cheaper to fly to Anchorage, and be treated there, and fly back, than it is to be treated at FMH.
Time and time again, FMH has blocked competition, citing that there is no need for them, YET FMH is constantly expanding, remodeling, and now, opening new facilities.
It should also be noted that I've heard either they have, or are in the process of acquiring TVC (Tanana Valley Clinic).
Block competition or run them down and buy them out, seems to be their 'modus operand i'.
But according to them, there's no need for anyone else to open up shop. What a con job they've done.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.