Local businesses - legacy businesses that have been there for generations and new businesses owned by neighbors - often get pushed out as a real estate market gets hot.
Do we have a responsibility to create affordable space for locally owned businesses? Even in a hot market?
We work to retain affordable housing so that people can stay in a neighborhood as investment comes in. But often people don't feel like it's their neighborhood anymore when the businesses, and the owners, change. They look to see if the businesses represent them or the new people.
And what happens when we start with vacant properties and catapult to a thriving place?
It happens fast.
Do we have a responsibility to those original businesses that came in to vacant storefronts and made the thriving place we all love?
I say yes, we do have a responsibility.
(I know, not a shock to anyone who reads my blog!)
And yes, small-scale manufacturing businesses should be part of that space from the start.
How do we plan for it?
The first step is to understand how different businesses use space and how they can fit into places we never thought of before. Yes, like small-scale manufacturing.
Check out the latest video for the details:
Need more on the real estate side of all of this? Check out the RC blog, Real Estate Tenants Defined, for details.