ATHOL — Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski told the Selectboard at its meeting on Tuesday, March 15, that the lease on the building in Lord Pond Plaza which once housed a Sherwin Williams store is due to run out at the end of April. The Cleveland-based paint retailer closed its Athol store in August 2020 but has continued to abide by the terms of a five-year lease.
“As you’re aware,” Suhoski told the board, “the longstanding lease we’ve had with Sherwin-Williams will expire on April 30. And just to kind of prepare and see where the board wants to go, I wanted to share some information. If you have a direction or decision to make tonight, that’s great but it’s not urgent.”
Suhoski then provided some details regarding the property.
“It’s 3,300 square feet of ‘general commercial’ zoned space,” he said. “It’s the location next to the Chamber of Commerce and adjacent to Ocean State Job Lot. The town took over (the lease) in 1989 and it’s been renewed over the years for 30 years.”
The Town Manager then offered the board some ideas on how to handle the property.
“The things that the board could do immediately,” Suhoski said, “you could direct me to follow procurement and we could offer — here’s the space, it’s 3,300 square feet, describe the environs — and we could just put it out to the highest bidder on a per square foot basis. Obviously, any bidder would have to comply with zoning.
“Another option is — as we’ve done a few times over the last few years — if there were a particular use that the board felt would be beneficial to the community, or other benefits that may not just be reflected in the lease value, we could come up with comparative criteria. We could do an RFP (request for proposals) based on that.”
He then offered other some other options.
“We can leave it vacant or possibly use it for municipal purposes,” he continued. “Years ago, I had floated the idea that the entire building could be conveyed to the private sector, but we retain the senior center as a lease-back for a period of 20 or 25 years. But that’s a bigger question. These are just options that I wanted to put out.”
Suhoski told the board he had spoken with Keith McGuirk, the chair of Athol’s Economic Development Industrial Corporation and a real estate professional, about the potential of leasing out the property.
“His opinion is ‘the location’s good, great retail space with ample parking and in generally good condition,” Suhoski explained. “He did some research on properties in Orange, Athol, and Greenfield — commercial sites — and also consulted with another commercial real estate agent. They came up with a top dollar amount range of $10 to $10.50 per square foot as a potential lease value. Ten-fifty would equal about $34,000 a year, which is $2,888 a month, which is just under Sherwin-Williams’ final terms, because they came down some as their business was dwindling. So, it looks to be on point.”
Suhoski said there have been at least four inquiries from people interested in the site, including proposals for retail space, a package store, and “a couple of others that don’t want to disclose their business plan; one would be a business-type operation, the other would be more an entertainment-type operation.”
He then reiterated that the board need not make an immediate decision.
“There will be another lease payment,” he said. “Sherwin-Williams has it through April. But there will be a 30-day notice period; we go out and follow procurement — however we want to proceed. We can hold this over for one or two meetings, or if you feel like you’re ready to put it out there, we can do so.”
“I think this is worth holding,” said board Chair Rebecca Bialecki, “just so that we can absorb it. We can get some feedback from folks in the community. I think that would be helpful.
“The other piece I would like to know more about is if there is a need for the municipality itself for space. I know the Town Hall can be a little crowded and a little tight — is there some department here that make sense? And then you have to weigh out the value of incoming rent versus having more room here. I think it’s worth at least investigating that option so that we have a better understanding.”
“I can delay it for a month,” said Vice Chair Alan Dodge, “but I’ve got admit I’m leaning toward leasing it out, unless something really changes my mind. I think we need as much revenue as we can get.”
The board agreed to delay a decision on the property until sometime in April.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.