The Armory Thread

[chemgeek]

I heard a rumor that a used bookstore will go in the former Gun Molly Video location on Dean Street. Last time I went by about a week or so ago I saw boxes in the window that appeared to be labeled with book-type references ... but I haven't checked on recent progress.

Brent just moved to Providence from New Orleans, where he worked for years in an independent book store. He and his wife live in the Armory area. It will be mostly used books for now, but perhaps some new books later. Currently some issue with the shelving, but he plans to be open near the end of August. It'll be called Ada Books, after a character in some Nabokov novel. Hope it works out well for him.

K.

[LMWW]

Yes, they have been working pretty steadily. Nice to see that the storefront finally sees the light of day again. Also they put some granite on the bottom of the storefront, looks cool.

Visited the open house of the funeral home, turned condos on Westminster. Amazing, quality work was done here all the way to finishing the basement into seperate locked storage rooms. Really cool original detail and design.The prices are steep, but the quality is there. They have already sold one, which makes me happy.

Also heard from the Armory agent there that Armory is moving to Broadway. They are the ones that bought the triple building on Broadway. A funeral home, house and storefront all attached together. Armory will be moving into the funeral home, and they are looking for a cafe type business to go into the storefront. I suggested that whatever cafe they put in, also make or carry quality ice cream. Definitely need one on this side of the city.

Seriously?! I had actually posted about that storefront months ago, saying that it would be the perfect location for a coffee shop - in fact, my husband and I refer to the building as "my coffeeshop." In any case, it would be an excellent addition to the neighborhood.

Though I have to wonder if someone was on here, reading my coffeeshop idea...

[jencoleslaw]

Seriously?! I had actually posted about that storefront months ago, saying that it would be the perfect location for a coffee shop - in fact, my husband and I refer to the building as "my coffeeshop." In any case, it would be an excellent addition to the neighborhood.

Though I have to wonder if someone was on here, reading my coffeeshop idea...

in the 7+ years i've been over here, numerious folks have wanted to buy that storefront and put something in there, including a restaurant, coffee shop, etc, but the owners weren't interested, not even in renting. I guess the market caused them to change their mind.

[Garris]

in the 7+ years i've been over here, numerious folks have wanted to buy that storefront and put something in there, including a restaurant, coffee shop, etc, but the owners weren't interested, not even in renting. I guess the market caused them to change their mind.

This attitude all over Providence still baffles me... So many empty storefronts with what seem like little to no effort to get them rented. Some in prime places, too...

How can you own a retail building and not want revenue from it? Can someone explain this to me?

- Garris

[basachs]

Seriously?! I had actually posted about that storefront months ago, saying that it would be the perfect location for a coffee shop - in fact, my husband and I refer to the building as "my coffeeshop." In any case, it would be an excellent addition to the neighborhood.

Though I have to wonder if someone was on here, reading my coffeeshop idea...

Well the lady from armory told me that they polled various neighborhood people and a coffee shop was one of the most requested. Nothing is set though, they are just looking for someone to actually do it. So you still could open your place, just contact Armory

[basachs]

This attitude all over Providence still baffles me... So many empty storefronts with what seem like little to no effort to get them rented. Some in prime places, too...

How can you own a retail building and not want revenue from it? Can someone explain this to me?

- Garris

Well, sometimes the tax breaks are worth more than rental revenue. Depends on how much of a loss you can declare. Plus if the place is decrepit, bringing it back to code to be able to rent might not make financial sense either.

Plus I think a certain degree of absenteeism and general laziness are involved. Especially if this property is inherited by people that have no desire to be landlords and/or run a business. In short, a myriad of reasons can exist that sound crappy to us, but perfectly sensible to another person.

In Armory's case, now that they own that whole "complex" (funeral Home, House, and storefront) they have a real motivation to actually do something with it. Cant have a realtor and development company dedicated to bringing back a neighborhood housed there while having an abandoned storefront right next to you.

[jencoleslaw]

Well, sometimes the tax breaks are worth more than rental revenue. Depends on how much of a loss you can declare. Plus if the place is decrepit, bringing it back to code to be able to rent might not make financial sense either.

Plus I think a certain degree of absenteeism and general laziness are involved. Especially if this property is inherited by people that have no desire to be landlords and/or run a business. In short, a myriad of reasons can exist that sound crappy to us, but perfectly sensible to another person.

In Armory's case, now that they own that whole "complex" (funeral Home, House, and storefront) they have a real motivation to actually do something with it. Cant have a realtor and development company dedicated to bringing back a neighborhood housed there while having an abandoned storefront right next to you.

what will happen to their place on westminster street?

[basachs]

what will happen to their place on westminster street?

I asked about that too, was told that they will retain ownership of the house and rent it out. Not sure if it will be residential or office space.

[Garris]

Well, sometimes the tax breaks are worth more than rental revenue. Depends on how much of a loss you can declare.

Not being a financial person myself, can you explain this to me?

Plus if the place is decrepit, bringing it back to code to be able to rent might not make financial sense either.

So are they just holding onto the land speculating with it? I would think that given the current market, we would see a lot of people want to sell now and "cash in." If not now, then what are they waiting for?

Plus I think a certain degree of absenteeism and general laziness are involved. Especially if this property is inherited by people that have no desire to be landlords and/or run a business.

Again, what are those people doing with it then? They have to pay taxes on it. Is this too a form of speculation, holding onto it hoping its value goes up?

- Garris

[basachs]

Not being a financial person myself, can you explain this to me?

So are they just holding onto the land speculating with it? I would think that given the current market, we would see a lot of people want to sell now and "cash in." If not now, then what are they waiting for?

Again, what are those people doing with it then? They have to pay taxes on it. Is this too a form of speculation, holding onto it hoping its value goes up?

- Garris

I'd have to ask my father the accountant for the specifics again when I asked him the question awhile ago. But generally, besides the normal tax breaks for insurance, taxes and the like, you also have depreciation. IRS lets you depreciate residential over 27.5 years and nonresidential, 39 years. So for some there is an incentive to keep it dormant for a decent clip of time. Plus if it shows a loss,you can deduct that too, up to 25k a year in some cases.

As for why they dont just sell it at a profit, taxes also play into this in the way of capital gains. And the way the fed calculates your gain here is crappy. If you bought a place for 50k and sold it for a 100 you not only owe tax on that difference, but you also owe tax on an additional amount, depending on the property's depreciation. In some cases this may be enough to have people just hold onto it.

A general overview. I am sure shrewd/careless landlords find other ways to make an empty building make more for them than an occupied one.

Also, the concept of cashing in sounds good and has happened, but the reality is it does not happen as often as it seems. Some of these locations are hard to unload due to a number of reasons. There really are a limited number of people with the fortitude, money, and vision to buy crap and turn it into a gem. In the storefronts case here on Broadway, it was attached to two other establishments with an asking price of 1.6 million. Someone looking to just open a coffee shop is less likely to have that. Even a potential landlord might shy away from operating/maintaining a complex like that.

[Dan]

Voice Your Vote Kick-Off Event

Saturday, August 5th

10am to 1pm

Armory Park, Providence

Between Westminster and Cranston on Dexter Street

Come join more than 50 volunteer leaders for an inspirational press conference, training, and voter engagement drive. Free picnic lunch for all volunteers! Voice Your Vote is a coalition of non-profit, non-partisan organizations working to get underrepresented voters to the polls in November. Join our kick-off and help give all Rhode Islanders a voice.

Contact [email protected] to RSVP. For more information about Voice You Vote, check out our website at www.voiceyourvoteri.org.

[quente]

I'd have to ask my father the accountant for the specifics again when I asked him the question awhile ago. But generally, besides the normal tax breaks for insurance, taxes and the like, you also have depreciation. IRS lets you depreciate residential over 27.5 years and nonresidential, 39 years. So for some there is an incentive to keep it dormant for a decent clip of time. Plus if it shows a loss,you can deduct that too, up to 25k a year in some cases.

I thought there was a provision within the tax code that permitted the city to tax vacant property at a higher rate. Has anyone heard of that or did I just imagine it?

Kent

[chemgeek]

Teardown the storefront church and the gas stastion next door and do a Trader Joes as well as a couple smaller store fronts with Condo's upstairs as well as in the Lawton Building. The only issue of course is parking. Maybe there would be a way to do a parking garage in the rear of the lot where the lot for the church is currently.

I noticed some construction-like activity at the storefront church on Westminster in the past few days. The sign is down and there's some scaffolding up. I wonder what's up...anyone know? Maybe (fingers crossed) an actual storefront?

K.

[chemgeek]

I had actually meant to mention last week that it looked like the new Nicks was moving ahead again. Plywood is down and new windows are in place. Looks good.

I peeked in the crack between the window frame and the butcher paper in the front window in the new Nick's location on Sunday. There's a cool red tile wall on the far side of what I assume is the open kitchen area. Quite a bit of stainless steel too. And, there was someone working in there on a Sunday, up on a ladder. I take that as a good sign.

So, even though it means I walk 6 blocks instead of 1, I'm looking forward to the grand opening. Someday...

K.

[jencoleslaw]

I peeked in the crack between the window frame and the butcher paper in the front window in the new Nick's location on Sunday. There's a cool red tile wall on the far side of what I assume is the open kitchen area. Quite a bit of stainless steel too. And, there was someone working in there on a Sunday, up on a ladder. I take that as a good sign.

So, even though it means I walk 6 blocks instead of 1, I'm looking forward to the grand opening. Someday...

K.

very soon.

[basachs]

I noticed some construction-like activity at the storefront church on Westminster in the past few days. The sign is down and there's some scaffolding up. I wonder what's up...anyone know? Maybe (fingers crossed) an actual storefront?

K.

Dont know exactly, but it looks like the church is out, and retail is going in. I drove by last night and saw inside. It is all partitioned out into what looks like different shops/offices, etc.

Liam, you still in Portland? Know whats happening?

[basachs]

From the rumor mill: Possible entry level condo project for the Lawton warehouse on Harrison st. One of the run down houses next door may be taken down for parking. Personally I would be ok with the loss of the house if it meant new life for the Lawton warehouse.

From the Historic Commision Agenda:

"Case 06.113 27-29 Harrison Street (Armory)

Case 06.120 19-21 Harrison Street (Armory)

The applicant is requesting the demolition of the three-story building located at the rear of the lot (19-21 Building); the applicant is requesting the removal of the concrete block addition on the north elevation of 27-29 Harrison Street as part of the rehabilitation of the building."

19 Harrison is the Lawton Building. Someone is looking to demolish this totally? Or am I reading this wrong?

[Liamlunchtray]

From the Historic Commision Agenda:

"Case 06.113 27-29 Harrison Street (Armory)

Case 06.120 19-21 Harrison Street (Armory)

The applicant is requesting the demolition of the three-story building located at the rear of the lot (19-21 Building); the applicant is requesting the removal of the concrete block addition on the north elevation of 27-29 Harrison Street as part of the rehabilitation of the building."

19 Harrison is the Lawton Building. Someone is looking to demolish this totally? Or am I reading this wrong?

Its in reference to the cinder block addition at the rear of the Lawton bldg and the 3 family house that sits behind it. This will be used as parking for the condos. Im alll for it.

[Liamlunchtray]

Dont know exactly, but it looks like the church is out, and retail is going in. I drove by last night and saw inside. It is all partitioned out into what looks like different shops/offices, etc.

Liam, you still in Portland? Know whats happening?

Hmmm, Well the church sign is down and there are indeed partitions going in, however the Jesus Wagon is still parked out back. Man I hope its retail!!! There are also still remnants of the church in the front window. I just hope they are moving on and not remodeling or something. The fence out back seems to be coming down as well.

Liam

(Highly biased against creepy store front churches)

[urbie]

IRS lets you depreciate residential over 27.5 years and nonresidential, 39 years. So for some there is an incentive to keep it dormant for a decent clip of time. Plus if it shows a loss,you can deduct that too, up to 25k a year in some cases... As for why they dont just sell it at a profit, taxes also play into this in the way of capital gains. And the way the fed calculates your gain here is crappy. If you bought a place for 50k and sold it for a 100 you not only owe tax on that difference, but you also owe tax on an additional amount, depending on the property's depreciation. In some cases this may be enough to have people just hold onto it... A general overview. I am sure shrewd/careless landlords find other ways to make an empty building make more for them than an occupied one.

I'm not an accountant (yet -- just got the degree; diploma hasn't even arrived in the mail yet), so I don't know how it works in practice, either. But the thing is, there has to be a tenant -- someone who wants to shell out rent AND the often huge costs to put in the infrastructure for a business -- before you can have an occupied store. Here in Flagstaff, there are a lot of empty storefronts just because... there are no tenants!

The depreciation is a way of spreading the cost of purchasing the property over a number of years (39 in the case of a commercial building). But nobody intentionally loses money just for the tax breaks. Sure, if you're losing money on an investment, it's going to lower your taxes, because your losses offset your other income -- but you'd always* rather be making money than losing it.

It costs a lot of money to start a business -- a buddy of mine started a coffeehouse (which eventually failed, and he left town) in Flagstaff, and it cost him about $60,000 to get it up and running. Even if the rent is low, the store might still be vacant if no one can make a profit at that location. In a bad neighborhood, this may be true in a lot of cases -- there were vacant stores in Jamaica Plain when I lived there. If a location isn't profitable, it isn't profitable....

Urb

*Well, unless there are wacky circumstances like wanting to look broke to get a better divorce settlement or something -- but that's not what we're talking about.

[basachs]

Hmmm, Well the church sign is down and there are indeed partitions going in, however the Jesus Wagon is still parked out back. Man I hope its retail!!! There are also still remnants of the church in the front window. I just hope they are moving on and not remodeling or something. The fence out back seems to be coming down as well.

Liam

(Highly biased against creepy store front churches)

I saw the remnants of the church in the front window too and took a better look at what is going on inside. It kinda looks like they may be building the space into more of church, sort of a building in a building. Some drywall is up and it looked like it was just enclosing the existing space into something. Perhaps it will be an office of some kind, but the fact that there is still church stuff in there, kinda leads me to beleive they are just renovating the space. I guess that is nicer than what it was, but disappointing overall.

Thanks for clearing up the Lawton issue, all for it as well.

Also, lookes like Royal Lunch is getting a total facelift both inside and out.

[Liamlunchtray]

I saw the remnants of the church in the front window too and took a better look at what is going on inside. It kinda looks like they may be building the space into more of church, sort of a building in a building. Some drywall is up and it looked like it was just enclosing the existing space into something. Perhaps it will be an office of some kind, but the fact that there is still church stuff in there, kinda leads me to beleive they are just renovating the space. I guess that is nicer than what it was, but disappointing overall.

Thanks for clearing up the Lawton issue, all for it as well.

Also, lookes like Royal Lunch is getting a total facelift both inside and out.

I noticed the same thing. It looks like they have built a foyer of some sort and there are cutouts for windows and whatnot in the partition walls. Bah!

[f1rehead]

National Neighborhood Day Block Party

Sunday, September 17th, 2006

Dexter Training Grounds (next to the Cranston Street Armory)

2:00-5:00pm

Featuring performances by:

Rhode Island Black Storytellers

JUMP Dance Theatre

LUB-DUB Circus Troupe from the

Providence Circus School

Bring a blanket or chair and a picnic and enjoy the shows!

Also:

Arts and Crafts Table

Childhood Identification from CHIPS

Used Book Sale

&

FUN WITH NEIGHBORS!!!!

There's also a 'cleanup' thing beforehand that basachs can fill us in on.

[chemgeek]

Ada Books opened last week. Good to see something in that space. Talked to the owner - the sign should be up very soon, for now it's in the front window.

K.

I heard a rumor that a used bookstore will go in the former Gun Molly Video location on Dean Street. Last time I went by about a week or so ago I saw boxes in the window that appeared to be labeled with book-type references ... but I haven't checked on recent progress.

[chemgeek]

It finally happened! Miss Tina reopened her restaurant on Atwells. The sign out front said Grand Opening September 13. It's two doors down from the Bank of America, in one of the storefronts that had the dollar store/Aussie Mart. I wouldn't have pegged that for a restaurant space, but who cares? I can once again get my jerk goat fix.

We'll definitely be taking walk over there this weekend between kickball league playoffs and park cleanup and block party.

K.

We were in Newport for the St. Patrick's Day parade and got some lunch at the Jamaican restaurant by the City Hall. The woman running it was Tina from Tina's Carribbean Restaurant on Broad, by the Y. She said she had closed that one, but was opening a new restaurant on Atwells this spring, near Dean. I can't for the life of me figure out where that would be, since every storefront vaguely restaurant-y seems to be occupied. However, I'm all for more jerk goat within walking distance!