2021 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Billerica, Everett: activities, vehicles, Walmart)

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Can anybody confirm or deny where the valuations go if a distribution center is in the proximity? The Willington meeting is Tuesday about the distribution center and I think it's going to get pretty ugly. I haven't seen this much anger in a community or at least region in about 12 years.

I'm not technically against it but I think they're going to probably have to shrink some of it down and give a greater projection of how many jobs it will create. I don't think the Woods by themselves serves as that much of a benefit to properties but they do have to keep in mind the amount of traffic it will create. 1.5 million square feet is huge

Should go up if they're good paying jobs, right?

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Should go up if they're good paying jobs, right?

Not sure

[MikePRU]

So if this is an Amazon distribution center we're talking about here . . . my understanding is that values in the immediate area around the site will go down. They're usually pretty large and not very aesthetically pleasing buildings. Plus, they create quite a lot of additional traffic and noise in the area from trucks and delivery vans coming and going from the facility at all hours.

Muzi Motors closed here in Needham within the last year or so and before they closed there was a lot of chatter around town that if we didn't rezone the property an Amazon distribution center would likely be built on the stie. Based on what I read at the time about the effect they have on the towns they're built in that was pretty much what everything said.

On a different note, there have been a ton of articles written opining that if a Starbucks opens in your neighborhood that values will go up. Personally, I hate the taste of their coffee and generally hate the atmosphere in the store of people hanging out and occupying tables for hours on end so that no one has a spot to sit down and enjoy their coffee. Go right the next great American novel somewhere else.

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

So if this is an Amazon distribution center we're talking about here . . . my understanding is that values in the immediate area around the site will go down. They're usually pretty large and not very aesthetically pleasing buildings. Plus, they create quite a lot of additional traffic and noise in the area from trucks and delivery vans coming and going from the facility at all hours.

Muzi Motors closed here in Needham within the last year or so and before they closed there was a lot of chatter around town that if we didn't rezone the property an Amazon distribution center would likely be built on the stie. Based on what I read at the time about the effect they have on the towns they're built in that was pretty much what everything said.

On a different note, there have been a ton of articles written opining that if a Starbucks opens in your neighborhood that values will go up. Personally, I hate the taste of their coffee and generally hate the atmosphere in the store of people hanging out and occupying tables for hours on end so that no one has a spot to sit down and enjoy their coffee. Go right the next great American novel somewhere else.

You get a Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and a Whole Foods in your town you get the golden apple

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

You get a Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and a Whole Foods in your town you get the golden apple

They should put a Whole Foods in Burlington, at the failed shopping center across from Simonds Park. There's only 3 or 4 businesses there. Everyone complains about how old and dirty Shaws is.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

So if this is an Amazon distribution center we're talking about here . . . my understanding is that values in the immediate area around the site will go down. They're usually pretty large and not very aesthetically pleasing buildings. Plus, they create quite a lot of additional traffic and noise in the area from trucks and delivery vans coming and going from the facility at all hours.

Muzi Motors closed here in Needham within the last year or so and before they closed there was a lot of chatter around town that if we didn't rezone the property an Amazon distribution center would likely be built on the stie. Based on what I read at the time about the effect they have on the towns they're built in that was pretty much what everything said.

On a different note, there have been a ton of articles written opining that if a Starbucks opens in your neighborhood that values will go up. Personally, I hate the taste of their coffee and generally hate the atmosphere in the store of people hanging out and occupying tables for hours on end so that no one has a spot to sit down and enjoy their coffee. Go right the next great American novel somewhere else.

To counter this, they put an Amazon warehouse very close to me and right across the town line in Norwood. It's possible valuations have taken a hit, but the house that is literally the next one up the street just sold in under two weeks. It was a corner lot on two (relatively) busy streets, so it was my "if this house sells quickly, I'll know things are still crazy" test house.

Probably easier to compare an Amazon warehouse to what is already in the area when adjusting for impact. The Amazon center is busier than the liquor warehouse that was there before, but there are similar numbers of large trucks, so it's probably more of a wash. I'm sure if they replace something desirable with a warehouse it's a loss, but if they replace a stockyard it's probably going to increase values.

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

They should put a Whole Foods in Burlington, at the failed shopping center across from Simonds Park. There's only 3 or 4 businesses there. Everyone complains about how old and dirty Shaws is.

That's a good idea. Burlington has a Trader Joe's near Market Basket that looks very busy any time I've been in that area.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

They should put a Whole Foods in Burlington, at the failed shopping center across from Simonds Park. There's only 3 or 4 businesses there. Everyone complains about how old and dirty Shaws is.

I suspect Shaws has trouble competing against Market Basket. They have experienced a lot of store closings anywhere they directly compete. With soaring food prices, I’d bet Shaws is feeling even more pain.

Besides, there’s an H Mart. I sure wish I had one of those nearby.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

They should put a Whole Foods in Burlington, at the failed shopping center across from Simonds Park. There's only 3 or 4 businesses there. Everyone complains about how old and dirty Shaws is.

The town will never let a Whole Foods into the "Shoppes at Simonds." When it was built, it was approved on the premise that only local, small, independent businesses would move in. Right now there's a bank, a daycare, a vet, a martial arts studio, and a orthodontist.

There's a Whole Foods 4 miles down on 3A in Winchester.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I suspect Shaws has trouble competing against Market Basket. They have experienced a lot of store closings anywhere they directly compete. With soaring food prices, I’d bet Shaws is feeling even more pain.

Besides, there’s an H Mart. I sure wish I had one of those nearby.

Shaw's is in the middle of town and the 3 nearest Market Baskets are 2-3 miles away. They are convenient for me to stop at to pick up a couple of things but they are expensive. The store is never busy yet they manage to be profitable enough to stay open.

I'm waiting for that store to close and for Market Basket to take them over. Since it's on 3A, they need one to the replace one of the 3 on 3A in Billerica that closed recently.