►
Description
Docket #0215 - Hearing discussing commercial vacancies in Boston
A
Wow,
okay,
so
I'm
gonna
gabble
us
in
I'm
calling
this
hearing
to
an
order
for
the
record.
My
name
is
julia
mejia,
I'm
a
city
counselor
at
large,
I'm
also
the
chair
of
the
boston
city
council's
committee
on
small
business
and
workforce
development,
as
well
as
the
lead
sponsor
in
order
of
recognition.
I
also
would
like
to
know
that
we've
been
joined
by
at
large
city,
councilor
flaherty,
and
I
will
continue
to
announce
my
other
colleagues
as
they
come
on.
A
A
If
you
wish
to
testify
via
video
conference,
please
email,
michelle.a,
goldberg
boston.gov,
to
sign
up
when
you
are
called.
Please
state
your
name
and
affiliation
residency
and
limit
your
comments
to
no
more
than
two
minutes
to
ensure
that
all
comments
can
be
heard.
You
may
also
submit
written
testimony
by
emailing.
A
A
We
have
had
the
pleasure
of
working
with
jarrell
and
jacob
both
of
what
who
are
serving
as
panelists
this
morning
in
this
morning's
hearing.
They
approached
our
office
because
they
were
passionate
about
something
that
we
all
have
been
seeing
going
on
across
the
city.
It
feels
like
every
year
more
and
more
store
fronts
are
empty
along
our
streets,
especially
since
the
start
of
the
pandemic
we
have
even
seen
storefronts
become.
I
just
want
to
make
sure,
can
you
all
hear
and
see
me.
A
Okay,
yes,
we
can
okay,
great,
I
I
thought
my
internet
was
unstable.
It
feels
like
every
year
more
and
more
storefronts
are
empty
along
our
streets,
especially
since
the
start
of
the
pandemic.
We
have
seen
even
more
storefronts
become
vacant.
A
recent
study
report
in
wbur
found
that
60
to
80
percent
of
commercial
lenders
are
tightening
their
purse
strings
when
it
comes
to
handing
out
money
for
small
business
loans,
so
we're
in
a
situation
where
it's
incredibly
hard
for
people
to
access,
brick
and
mortar
storefronts.
A
We
know
what
the
problem
is,
and
we
have
the
opportunity
in
this
hearing
to
talk
about
what
solutions
to
this
problem
could
look
like.
I
look
forward
to
hearing
from
our
panelists
and
to
working
alongside
everyone
towards
finding
a
solution.
I
believe
that
we
also
have
been
joined
by
counselor
at
large
anissa
asapi
george,
as
well
as
counselor
ed
flynn
from
district
2,
would
love
to
give
you
all
an
opportunity
in
the
order
of
rival
to
say
hello.
So
I'd
like
to
ask
my
colleague,
counselor
flaherty,
for
your
opening
remarks.
B
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
and
also
for
hosting
it
for
sponsoring
very
timely,
just
given
everything
that's
going
on
throughout
the
pandemic,
and
even
as
we
head
into
what
most
are
forecasting
is
as
a
recession.
So
obviously
our
business
community,
particularly
our
commercial
stakeholders,
are
key
to
this
discussion
as
they're
levied.
I
think,
arguably,
probably
the
highest
they've
ever
been
levied
at
a
time.
B
So
also,
I
want
to
note
that
that
commissioner
nick
arnell
and
natalia
they've
been
super
responsive
throughout
the
entire
pandemic,
so
I
want
to
commend
them
on
behalf
of
all
of
us
here
at
the
council.
You
know
day
doesn't
go
by
when
me
and
my
staff
are
not
on
the
phone
with
with
either
nick
natalia
to
help
small
local
businesses
or
our
residents,
who
are
feeling
the
crunch
with
the
the
increased
tax
levy.
B
C
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
and
as
council
flyer
you
mentioned
as
you've
mentioned,
and
I'm
sure
others
will.
Our
small
business
districts
are
the
heart
and
soul
of
many
of
our
neighborhoods
and
what
you
know
really
contribute
and
create
our
neighborhoods,
certainly
in
addition
to
our
residents,
so
just
grateful
for
the
opportunity
to
understand
sort
of
a
deeper
impact
of
vacancy
rates
across
our
city
and
in
our
business
districts,
and
look
forward
to
today's
conversation.
C
E
Not
an
easy,
not
an
easy
task,
but
they've
been
very
professional
and
representing
the
city.
Well,
had
the
opportunity
yesterday
to
visit
some
small
businesses
in
the
south
end
chinatown
and
south
boston,
and
certainly
the
our
business
districts.
Small
businesses
are
struggling
and
we
want
to
see
what
we
can
do
to
be
helpful
to
them.
E
Many
women-owned
businesses,
many
immigrant-owned
businesses
as
well,
but
as
counselor
sabe
george
mentioned
and
council
flaherty,
did
as
well.
They
play
a
critical
role
in
our
neighborhoods,
and
one
of
the
small
business
owners
I
met
talked
to
yesterday
was
actually
volunteering
serving
lunches
for
seniors.
E
Even
though
it's
during
a
difficult
time,
she
was
out
helping
helping
people,
so
they're
they're
the
backbone
of
our
neighborhoods,
and
they
play
a
critical
role,
and
we
want
to
do
everything
we
can
to
be
helpful
to
them.
Council
mejia,
thank
you
for
calling
us
and
thank
you
for
your
leadership
on
this
important
issue
as
well.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn.
I
know
that
some
folks
have
a
time
commitment,
I'm
going
to
just
shake
things
up
a
little
bit,
I'm
going
to
be
super.
Mindful
of
the
administration.
I
do
know
that
we
have
shina
collier,
who
also
has
a
heart,
stop
at
10
30.,
so
I'm
hoping
we
can
lead
with
with
sheena
from
boston
while
black
and
who
has
been
doing
a
lot
of
work
with
entrepreneurs
in
the
city
of
boston.
A
So
if
you
don't
mind
to
the
administration,
gonna
just
lead
with
her,
so
I
think
that
there
might
be
an
opportunity
for
some
questions
that
you
may
want
to
natalia.
Then
I'll
go
next
to
you,
because
I
think
that
they,
it
could
be
a
really
good,
robust
dialogue
between
you,
both
while
we
have
you
both
here
is
that
okay,
yes,
so
gina
collier!
You
now
have
the
floor.
Thank
you.
So
much
for
joining
us.
F
Yeah
good
morning,
thank
you,
councillor,
mejia,
and
to
the
boston
city
council
for
having
this
conversation,
as
counselor
moji
had
mentioned.
My
name
is
sheena
collier,
I'm
the
founder
and
ceo
of
the
collier
connection,
as
well
as
boston,
while
black
and
for
those
who
are
not
familiar
with
have
have
been
in
boston
almost
two
decades
and
a
lot
of
what
I've
done
over
the
last
particularly
15
years,
is
really
helping
to
create
more
spaces
of
belonging
for
professionals
around
the
city,
entrepreneurs,
particularly
black
professionals
and
entrepreneurs.
F
I've
also
worked
through
working
at
dudley
street
neighborhood
initiative
many
years
ago,
as
well
as
the
greater
boston
chamber
of
commerce,
have
worked
with
many
businesses
owned
by
people
of
color
and
have
been
building
my
own
businesses
for
more
than
five
years.
Throughout
my
journey,
supporting
businesses
and
growing
my
own,
the
issue
of
space
is
a
recurring
issue.
You
know
who
has
access,
who
can
afford
to
be
in
what
neighborhoods
and
how
this
impacts?
F
What
our
neighborhoods
look
like
and
feel
like
how,
where
people
feel
like
they
do
and
don't
belong,
and
then,
of
course,
longer
term
issues
around
generational
wealth
building
and
and
just
how
we
can
utilize
and
leverage
space
as
a
way
for
people
to
build
wealth
in
the
city
and
so,
unfortunately,
with
covid.
We,
we
all
know
that
a
lot
of
spaces
have
become
vacant.
F
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
sheena
for
that.
I
know
we
have
until
10
30,
so
don't
go
away.
I'm
gonna
ask
natalia
I
I
know
you
are
also
on
a
time
crunch.
Would
love
to
offer
you
an
opportunity
to
have
some
remarks
and
then
would
love
to
see
the
the
next
15
minutes
to
kind
of
do
a
round
of
questions
with
you,
both
just
in
the
spirit
of
keeping
the
conversation
moving.
G
Yes,
thank
you
so
much
and
always
great
to
see
sheena
on
a
panel.
I
I
love.
I
love
the
work
that
sheena's
been
doing
and
I'm
proud
to
to
have
her
here
so
just
very
quickly.
I'm
going
to
run
through
some
of
the
the
the
things
that
the
city's
been
doing
that
our
team's
been
doing.
I
want
to
note
that
this
has
been
a
topic
of
conversation
for
us
for
years.
Pre-Pandemic
and
obviously
the
pandemic
has
created
a
space
for
additional
risk
for
our
small
businesses.
G
G
G
I
also
will
note
later
in
the
conversation
that
these
rates
are
very
difficult
to
measure,
so
the
city
of
boston
has
asked
the
boston
public,
sorry,
the
boston
planning
and
development
agency,
the
bpda
to
help
us
with
some
of
this
research
data.
As
you
can
see
here,
city-wide
office
vacancy
rate
is
9.9,
so
that's
that
blue
line
that
you've
seen
gone
up
during
the
pandemic
and
the
retail
vacancy
rate
is
2.6
as
of
march
9th
2021..
G
So
the
and
that's
that
red
line,
as
you
can
see,
the
retail
vacancy
rate.
So
that
is
mostly
what
we
see
in
our
neighborhood
commercial
districts
is
actually
still
pretty
consistent
throughout
the
pandemic
and
throughout
the
last
couple
years.
What
we've
seen
happen
here
is
obviously,
with
the
stay
at
home
order
and
coven
19
we've
seen
offices
really
be
mostly
impacted
by
this
pandemic.
G
G
G
So
what
I'm?
What
you're
seeing
here
is
the
difference
between
the
years
in
vacancy
rates.
So,
as
you
can
see
here,
the
average
obviously
is
that
is
that
big
chunky
blue
line
and
you
can
see
the
different
colors.
I'm
sorry
if
this
is
hard
to
read
I'm
happy
to
share
this
with
folks
later,
but
we
actually
see
if
you
can
see
here.
This
is
the
2020
number
versus
the
2017
number,
so
we
have
seen
some
decrease
in
the
vacancy
rate.
G
G
We
can't
say
that
that
data
is
100
accurate,
but
it
is
reflective
of
what
we're
seeing
kind
of
as
you
walk
through
the
neighborhood,
which
you
know
shutters,
are
closed.
What
door?
What
doors
are
locked?
What
lights
are
off
et
cetera,
assessing,
does
not
capture
lease
information,
so
it's
really
hard
for
us
to
actually
know
whether
a
space
is
actually
vacant
or,
if
it's
just
not
being
utilized.
G
So
the
idea
of
a
landlord
having
a
space
leased
out,
but
maybe
not
occupied,
may
be,
is
one
of
one
of
the
barriers
to
getting
accurate
data,
and
the
other
thing
is
leases
are
obviously
private
contracts.
It's
really
challenging
for
the
city
of
boston
to
get
a
lot
of
details
around
leases
and
around
information.
That
is,
you
know,
part
of
a
private
con
contract
between
two
entities,
the
landlord
and
the
business
owner.
G
Another
challenge
is
long-term
vacancies.
Pre-Coveted
we've
seen
there
have
across
the
city.
There
are
some
spaces
that
just
have
never
been
fully
occupied
or
are
occupied,
but
not
accessible,
and
this
is
something
that
we'll
discuss
in
in
a
little
bit.
The
other
thing
we
don't
quite
know
yet
from
kovid19
and
the
impacts
of
coven
19
is
what
are
new,
actual
vacancies
versus
businesses
that
are
in
hibernation.
G
They
may
have
long
term
leases
and
have
been
able
to
cover
their
leases,
but
maybe
are
just
not
open,
so
we
don't
actually
know
with
real
certainty
where
all
of
these
vacancies
actually
are.
We
do
know
that
some
businesses
have
closed,
but
we
don't
know
whether
or
not
they've
terminated
their
lease
and
that
that
space
will
be
vacant
and
available
for
a
new
business
or,
if
they're
hanging
it
onto
that
space,
so
that
they
could
potentially
reopen
or
start
a
new
business.
G
So,
first
and
foremost,
we
offer
technical
assistance
to
to
businesses.
We
have
a
wide
range
of
experts
that
we
pair
a
business
up
with
for
one-on-one
free
support
to
the
business.
This
includes
everything
from
planning
for
growth,
customer
acquisition
and
retention,
marketing
and
branding
improving
the
customer
experience,
financial
management
and
lease
and
legal
guidance
over
the
last
two
and
a
half
years
since
I've
been
in
this
role,
we
have
also
expanded
to
include
helping
helping
businesses
with
lease
negotiations,
as
well
as
helping
businesses
put
together.
G
We
also
work
really
closely
with
with
businesses
for
signage
and
facade
improvements.
So
anytime,
a
new
business
goes
into
one
of
those
vacant
spaces.
We
want
to
help
them
get
signage,
as
you
can
see
in
this
picture.
This
is
nos
casa
in
roxbury,
one
of
the
signage
projects
of
2019-
it's
obviously
very
beautiful,
but
it
helped
them
obviously
get
started
and
opened
up.
We
also
do
facade
improvement
projects
with
a
partnership
with
the
landlords
and
property
owners.
G
Our
economic
development
center
launched
in
2018,
sorry
2019
and
we've
done
workshops
on
a
very
a
variety
of
different
resources
for
businesses,
around
expansion
and
growth.
The
starting
your
business
three-part
workshop
series
that
you
see
here
is
the
one
that's
coming
up
next
week,
starting
next
thursday
next
wednesday
for
the
three
following
weeks
for
new
businesses.
G
However,
in
the
past,
we've
done
workshops
around.
How
do
you
find
the
right
space?
How
do
you
negotiate
a
lease?
How
do
you
build
that
business
plan
etc
in
order
to
be
able
to
expand
into
these
new
spaces?
Anyone
interested
in
these
workshops
they're,
absolutely
free.
You
do
need
to
register,
and
you
can
do
that
for
this
one
in
particular
at
bit
that
lee
forward
slash
boss,
biz101
or
you
can
go
to
boston.gov
forward,
slash
small
dash
business
and
find
out
all
about
the
workshops
that
are
upcoming
in
the
next.
G
So,
thank
you,
counselor
I'll,
be
quick,
so
pre-covered
we
held
several
vacancy
fairs
to
create
a
pipeline
of
businesses
and
connecting
them
directly
to
property
managers.
As
you
can
see
here
in
may
of
night
2019,
we
held
our
first
virtual.
Our
first
fair
2020
was
canceled
and
we
are
planning
one
for
2021
again.
I
think
one
of
the
biggest
issues
in
filling
commercial
vacancies
is
making
sure
that
businesses
have
access
to
the
the
property
managers
and
oftentimes
property
managers.
Don't
have
access
to
the
actual
businesses.
G
I
also
want
to
just
talk
about
some
some
ways
in
which
we're
using
vacancies
in
creative
ways,
we're
looking
for
partnerships,
always
there's
a
great
organization
called
spacious
that
actually
takes
vacant
spaces
and
activates
them
in
different
ways.
You
can
see
here
a
picture
of
the
roslindale's
substation
and
what
it
is
now
that
that
got
activated
through
a
partnership
and
we're
also
doing
you
know
different
types
of
art
installations
and
pop-ups
for
vacancies
to
ensure
that
we're
not
just
letting
those
spaces
sit
there
and
be
idle.
G
I
want
to
just
remind
folks
about
resources,
through
our
small
business
conference,
call
every
tuesday
at
three.
You
can
join
us
at
bit.lee.com
forward,
slash
small
biz
boss.
This
call
is
in
multiple
languages
and
and
we
encourage
folks
to
join
in.
But
finally,
what
I
really
wanted
to
talk
about
was
our
coven
19
response
to
commercial
vacancies
and
and
potential
displacements.
G
We
put
out
the
commercial
rent
relief
fund
this
past
november.
To
date,
we've
funded
352
businesses
at
over
three
point.
At
3.4
million
dollars
of
those
58
percent
were
minority
owned.
44
were
women,
owned
and
57
were
immigrant
owned,
and
you
can
see
how
those
how
the
dis
distribution
of
those
funds
have
been
executed
across
the
city.
A
Okay,
I'm
sorry
because
I
mentioned
that
china
has
to
leave
at
10,
30.
and-
and
I
just
really
want
to
be
super
mindful
of
the
time
and
I
I
really
do
appreciate
all
of
the
in-depth
work
that
you're
showcasing
on
the
and
all
the
work
that
you
all
have
been
doing.
But
I
really
like
the
last
side.
Counselor.
A
Yeah
so
sorry,
I
just
I'm
trying
to
be
really
respectful
of
everyone's
time
and
we
went
on
wait.
15
minutes
would
normally
look
like
five.
So
just
we're
trying
to
be
super
generous
here,
but
I
do
want
to
make
sure
that
while
we
have
sheena,
we
can
utilize
this
moment
to
get
some
input
and
some
feedback
and
some
questions
sheena.
You
know
I'm
just
curious,
based
on
some
of
the
report
that
you
just
saw.
F
I
think,
particularly
on
the
space
side
of
things.
You
know
one
of
the
things
I
that
natalia
mentioned
well,
it
actually
brought
up
a
question
for
me
around.
How
can
we-
and
I
just
mean,
like
we
as
a
city
or
even
business
owners,
help
with
on
the
data
collection
side,
you
know
and
helping
to
get
a
more
accurate
picture.
Those
the
challenges,
natalia
that
you
mentioned,
make
a
lot
of
sense.
F
As
far
as
you
know,
my
my
limited
knowledge
of
main
streets,
you
know,
I
know
every
neighborhood
operates
differently
and
you
know
people
have
different
information
and
access
in
different
ways.
So
you
know
what
can
we?
What
can
we
do
as
a
city
and
utilizing
other
business
owners
to
help
you
all
with
getting?
I
guess
like
more
accurate
numbers.
F
You
know
for
folks
like
me
that
have
groups
of
people
that
we
convene
are
there
things
that
we
can
send
off
on
your
behalf,
to
be
able
to
to
help
to
fill
in
some
of
those
gaps.
I
think
for
the
you
know
the
space
activation
piece
that
you
were
starting
to
mention
towards
the
end.
There's
there's
been
a
lot
of
even
pre-covered.
F
I
think,
because
of
all
the
development
happening
in
the
city-
and
you
know
particularly
developers
knowing
that
they
need
to
do
some
around
community
benefits,
and
I
was
getting
a
lot
of
calls
myself
around
bringing
some
of
my
events
into
some
spaces
and
just
helping
to
activate
those
spaces,
and
I
I
think
all
of
that
is
it's
great.
The
part
that
was
missing
and
not
necessarily
what
the
city
is
doing,
but
it
might
be,
I
don't
know
it
as
well-
it's
like
how
does
that
translate?
How
does
that?
F
F
You
know-
and
I
think,
even
sometimes,
even
recently,
I
was
talking
to
someone
about
a
a
space
where
they
did
do
that
with
some
artists
and
with
some
business
owners,
but
they
didn't
have
in
mind
that
those
people
were
going
to
be
there
long
term.
You
know,
and
they
kind
of
used
it
utilized
it
as
a
holdover
until
they
really
figured
out
what
they
wanted
to
do
with
that
space.
So
you
know
how
wild
spaces
are
being
activated
so
that
there's
not
kind
of
a
eyesore
vacancies.
F
F
So
you
know
how
can
we
do
more
mapping
of
like
what
we
want
those
neighborhoods
to
look
like
and
then
find
the
business
owners
to
go
into
those
spaces?
I
think
that
there's
I'll
just
speak
for
folks
that
I
know
you
know.
A
lot
of
us
are
too
small,
maybe
to
have
our
own
spaces,
but
we
have
examples
of
kind
of
incubator
spaces
or
shared
workspaces
that
are
happening
around
the
city.
F
How
can
we
do
more
of
that
as
a
way
to
get
people's
foot
in
the
door
and
give
them
the
opportunity
to
have
you
know
whether
it's
office,
space
or
other
kind
of
maker
space,
as
we
as
a
city
continue
to
build
out?
You
know
kind
of
bigger
plans
of
what
we
want
the
city
to
look
like.
Lastly,
I'll
say
you
know
I
we,
this
hasn't
come
up
yet,
but
what
I've
seen
over
the
years,
one
of
the
the
barriers
around
all
of
this
I
mean
obvious
rent
is
obvious.
F
So,
aside
from
that,
I
think
is
speaking
from
folks
that
do
events
are
trying
to
bring
people
together,
just
stuff
like
how
is
this
all
connected
to
permitting
and
just
other
city
processes
that
make
it
really
hard
for
people
to
even
pop
up
in
spaces
or
kind
of
navigate
around
the
city,
and
that
that's
what
I've
seen
a
lot
of
people?
Don't
they
have
there's
these
kind
of
arduous
processes
that
people
aren't
sure
how
to
navigate,
which
I
know
you
all
know
very
well
and
so
how?
F
How
is
that
related
to
these
vacancies?
You
know
how
is
it
related
to
kind
of
like
how
people
are
and
aren't
moving
around
the
city?
There's
obviously
a
lot
of
opportunity
right
now
in
the
seaport
in
those
areas,
and
so,
while
we're
talking
about
what's
going
on
in
the
neighborhoods,
you
know,
how
are
we
also
moving
people
into
those?
You
know
vacant
spaces
that
these
bigger
corporations
are
leaving
vacant
as
well.
A
G
Yeah
and
thank
you
for
those
questions
gina
so
I'll
start
by
kind
of
just
framing
a
little
bit
of
the
data
piece.
So
the
state
of
massachusetts
requires
businesses
with
50
or
more
employees
to
report
data
to
this
to
the
state
that
they're
they've
closed,
for
example.
So
that's
where
a
lot
of
these
you
know
issues
lie.
Is
that
do
we
do
we
require
you
know?
How
does
the
city
then
require
people
to
report
data
right
and
how
do
you
hold
them
accountable?
G
So
there's
a
lot
to
be
said
there
we
did
put
out
on
our
web
page
and
through
our
small
business,
calls
a
request,
for
you
know
to
know
whether
or
not
businesses
have
closed
again.
That
does
not
mean
that
their
lease
has
been
terminated
or
that
they
no
longer
have
a
legal
right
to
that
space
right,
especially
if
they've
paid
or
they
continue
to
pay.
G
It
is
definitely
something
that
I'm
eager
to
figure
out
how
to
get
better
data
on,
but
I'm
not
sure
that
necessarily
that
that
we
we
have
any
system
set
up
to
actually
capture
that,
because,
obviously,
if
the
property
is
being
taken
care
of
and
managed
by
a
property
owner
or
a
landlord
and
is
paying
taxes
and
all
that
we'll
know
later,
if
a
space
becomes
vacant.
But
usually
you
don't
know
that
that
information
on
the
day-to-day.
G
I
want
to
touch
on
a
little
bit
of
the
relationship
between
the
city
and
what
our
role
is
in
getting
those
spaces
filled.
So
we
work
with
the
main
street
districts
and,
as
you
all
know,
there
is
not
a
main
street
district
in
every
neighborhood
in
the
city
of
boston
and
we
are
doing
a
reimagined
main
streets,
conversation
and
initiative
right
now
to
help
identify.
Where
else
maybe
there
need
to
be
main
streets
and
what
that
might
look
like.
G
But
we
work
with
all
main
streets
and
the
community
and,
as
you
all
know,
if
a
business
is
going
to
into
a
space,
it
is.
The
community
tends
to
have
a
big
voice
there.
And
we
love
that
because
it
helps
us
make
sure
that
we
don't
have
too
many
nail
salons
or
too
many
barber
shops
or
not
enough
of
you
know
something
or
the
other
in
any
one
neighborhood.
It's
really
important
to
have
that
good
mix
of
businesses
across
the
city,
and
we
really
rely
on
the
community
to
help
us
shape
that
right.
G
I'm
not
sure
it's
the
city's
job
to
say
you
know
four
is
too
many
nail
salons
right.
I
think
it's
more
of
what
does
the
community
want
in
their
commercial
spaces
in
their
commercial
neighborhood
areas?
So
we
rely
on
that
relationship,
and
you
know,
I
think,
advocates-
have
a
huge
role
to
play
in
making
sure
that
the
spaces
are
mixed
in
in
great
ways
and
and
almost
always
those
require
community
processes,
especially
if
there's
a
change
of
use
in
the
zoning.
G
G
I
think,
as
far
as
these
programs
go
and
as
far
as
helping
people
actually
get
into
those
spaces,
I
think
having
a
programmatic
element
to
any
vacant
space,
I
think,
is
a
private.
You
know
private
deal.
I
think.
How
do
we
work
with
you
know,
folks,
like
you
to
help
you
get
connected
to
those
spaces,
we
don't
always
have
landlord
or
property
manager.
Information
readily
available,
or
you
know,
they're,
not
always
super
responsive
to.
G
You
know
these
types
of
efforts,
so
we
do
everything
that
we
can
to
ensure
that
we
can
make
those
connections
to
spaces
for
businesses,
because
again,
these
are
private
deals
that
the
city
of
boston
does
not
regulate,
we
don't
regulate,
who
a
private
property
owner
you
know
leases
to.
We
can
help
make
introductions
and
we
can
help
prepare
businesses
for
those
conversations.
A
So
I'm
going
to
in
that
I
I'm
gonna,
keep
saying
time
and
I'm
gonna
manage
my
own
time
here.
I
think
we've
gone
on
a
little
bit
longer
than
what
I
anticipated
from
my
round.
I
want
to
give
my
colleagues
an
opportunity
to
ask
questions
to
either
sheena
or
natalie
where
we
still
have
them
both
here,
and
I
also
wanted
to
acknowledge
that
we've
also
been
joined
by
counselor,
braden
and
counselor
bach
as
well,
so
just
wanted
to
acknowledge
your
presence
and
we'll
be
kicking
it
over
to
you
all.
A
B
That
thank
you,
madam
chair.
You
never
see
thank
you
for
the
presentation
there
from
natalie,
very
thorough
and
maybe
just
a,
I
guess,
a.
I
guess,
I'll
offer
a
comment
in
that
you
know
our
local
main
street
main
streets
districts,
our
small
local
business
leaders,
as
well
as
greater
boston,
real
estate
board
they've
all
been
very
helpful
throughout
this
pandemic,
and
I
know
that
that's
also
the
role
the
boston
city
council
plays.
B
I
know
that
I've
worked
with
a
number
of
my
colleagues
over
the
years,
helping
small
businesses
just
navigate
the
myriad
of
different.
You
know,
permits
and
licenses
that
are
needed.
You
know
due
to
sort
of
public
safety
and
public
health
needs
so,
and
we
also
need
to
work
with
local
communities
just
to
make
sure
that
we,
you
know,
have
a
diversity,
businesses,
it's
it's!
No
good!
When
you
have
you
know
your
local
main
street.
Just
has
you
know,
hair
and
nail
salons
and
pizza
places.
B
You
know
we
need
to
make
sure
that
we
have
other
services
that
obviously
make
our
local
business
districts
works
and
that
they
feed
off
each
other
and
we'll
also
work
closely
with
our
local
community
health
centers.
You
know
it
always
seems
that
wherever
there's
a
local
community
health
that
the
small
local
businesses
all
around,
that
community
health
center
prosper,
and
so
that's
the
sandwich,
jobs,
etc.
It's
the
pharmacies
so
again
just
being
strategic.
B
I
guess
about
that
business
where
they
want
to
locate,
and
you
know
working
with
your
local
elected
official
working
with
folks
like
natalya
and
her
team
and
the
main
streets
district,
I
think,
will
go
a
long
way
to
help
and
that's
kind
of
what
we
do.
I
know
I
do
and
my
staff
does
it
regularly.
I
know
I
work
with
colleagues
doing
it
that
going
through
that
the
process
of
just
opening
up
those
doors,
letting
know
who
to
call
calling
on
their
behalf.
B
Those
are
things
that
I
think
that
you
know
that's
why
we
get
elected
to
the
boston
city
council,
to
help
people
navigate
the
bureaucracy
and
to
be
helpful
as
any
way
we
can.
So
to
to
the
folks
that
are
on
this
line
that
are
interested
in
either
opening
a
small
business
or
trying
to
keep
their
small
business
in
their
neighborhood
feel
free
to
call
my
office
or
any
of
my
colleagues
office,
because
that's
what
we
do
as
europe,
boston,
city,
councilors,.
A
E
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
Council
mejia.
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
to
to
both
natalya
and
gianchina
for
their
testimony
for
their
leadership
and
working
together.
I
think
that's.
What
we
need
going
forward
is
continuing
that
developing
those
partnerships,
ongoing
communication
and
making
sure
that
our
small
businesses
continue
to
play
a
critical,
critical
role
in
our
neighborhoods,
just
wondering
going
forward
natalia.
E
G
Thank
you,
counselor
flynn.
I
really
appreciate
that
question,
so
I
mean
I
think,
for
us
it's
always
about
building
capacity.
You
know
for
our
team.
The
commercial
rent
relief
fund
was
a
tremendous
success
and
we're
hoping
to
see
the
long-term
effects
of
that
of
that
fund.
One
of
the
elements
that
I
didn't
get
to
share
is
just
that.
That
fund
creates
a
contract
between
landlord
and
businesses
in
a
way
that
helps
prevent
displacement,
which
I
think
is
really
important.
G
E
No,
I
just
I
just
want
to
say
those
that
was
a
great
answer.
Thank
you
for
that
information.
Also,
we
might
want
to
some
sometime
over
the
next
month
or
so
check
in
if
there's
a
working
section
session,
checking
with
sheila
dylan
at
dnd,
because
I
know
there's
some
options
that
that
department
might
have
as
well.
I've
worked
with
them
in
the
past
on
small
business
related
issues
again.
Thank
you.
Natalia
thank
you
counts
to.
Let
me
hear.
A
H
H
You
know
where
transactions
are
happening
and
basically
like
if
a
point
of
sale
has
stopped
doing
any
transactions
like
that,
might
give
us
a
more
accurate
heat
map
of
where
the
real
vacancies
are
in
the
city
and
especially
I'm
thinking
about
in
the
moment
of
reopening,
because
I
tend
to
agree
with
you
that
there's
a
my
greatest
fear
is
that
there's
a
bunch
of
businesses
that
we've
all
been
assuming
are
temporarily
closed,
but
everyone
is
about
to
find
out.
Our
are
closed
closed.
H
But
it's
you
couldn't
tell
the
difference
from
the
transaction
data
today,
but
you
might
be
able
to
tell
the
difference
in
a
couple
of
months,
and
so
I
was
wondering
if
you've
looked
at
that
much
and
then
my
my
tail
on
to
that.
That
might
be
a
commissioner
aranello
question
is,
commissioner,
I
know
that
you
guys
get
private
lease
details
in
order
to
do
property
tax
assessment
on
the
commercial
side
which,
by
law
you're
not
allowed
to
share
with
the
council
or
the
public
or
anyone.
H
But
I
wonder
if
there's
any,
is
there
any
way
to
use
that
data
in
the
aggregate
to
give
us
a
picture
of
like
where
we're
at
and
and
what
happens
like?
If
somebody
gave
you
their
lease
details
and
then
you've
set
their
property
taxes
and
then
they
lose
their
lessees
and
they
aren't
getting
any
lessies
like
is
there?
H
Is
there
a
moment
where
commercial
folks
reach
out
to
you
in
a
hope
that
it's
going
to
affect
their
property
taxes,
or
does
that
not
really
matter,
because
it's
just
the
last
lease
on
file
that
sort
of
sets
the
baseline?
So
those
are
two
questions,
one
for
each
of
you
but
kind
of
related
to
establishing.
What's
really
going
on
in
vacancies.
G
Thank
you,
counselor
park
I'll,
be
quick,
so
we
do
work
with
the
bpda
every
day.
They
actually
helped
us
pull
the
information
for
this
particular
counselor
hearing.
So
I
I
don't
know
if
they
have
pos
data,
but
I
know
that
there
is
cell
data
that
we've
used
to
kind
of
track
the
movement
of
tourism,
and
you
know,
residents
et
cetera
across
the
city
during
the
pandemic.
So
it
might
be
interesting
to
to
see
if
we
can
create
some
some
clarity
there.
I
D
J
J
We
do
have
data,
it's
a
little
complicated
for
the
kind
of
issue
that
we're
talking
about
today,
because
really
when,
when
you
guys
are
talking
about
vacancy
you're,
talking
about
vacancy
right
now,
right
and
and
what's
about
to
become
vacant,
the
data
requests
that
we
send
out
are
always
backwards.
Looking
and
so
right
now
we're
just
sending
out
requests
about
vacancy
data
from
last
calendar
year,
and
we
will
get
that
data
and
start
to
process
it
and
have
an
idea
of
what
that
kind
of
looks
like
by
the
summer.
J
So,
even
when,
once
we
have
that
aggregate
data
which
we
we
might
be
able
to
discuss,
it's
not
going
to
give
you
a
good
picture
of
what's
actively
happening
in
that
moment,
it'll
be
like
hey.
We
just
figured
out
what
happened
a
year
ago
and
it's
highly
dependent
on
response
rates
and
and
things
of
that
nature,
so
it
makes
it
a
little
tricky
to
kind
of
use
that
as
the
kind
of
tool
that
you're
talking
about
it
still
can
probably
have
some.
J
Perspective
can
still
be
useful
in
terms
of
current
vacancy,
because
when
you're
talking
about
businesses
that
have
five
year
leases
instead
one
or
two
year
leases.
It's
a
lot
of.
This
also
gets
a
little
bit
into
the
problem
that
natalia
was
talking
about
where
you
can
have
something
that
looks
vacant
and
as
far
as
assessing
is
concerned,
it's
not
economically
vacant
because
someone's
still
paying
rent
and
that
that
happens
a
lot.
You
also
have
if
a
building
is
resetting,
that's
not
really
vacancy,
because
that's
not
that
they
aren't
able
to
get
a
tenant.
J
What
would
that
space
have
generated
in
rent
if
it
were
using
current
market
rents
for
the
for
the
value
time
that
we're
looking
at
so
basically,
what
that
means
is
we
don't
tend
to
use
actual
vacancy
when
we're
valuing
something
the
same
way.
We
don't
use
actual
income
generated,
we
use
kind
of
an
estimate
of
what,
if
something
released
out
at
market
rates.
What
would
that
income
be?
You
know
what
is
a
normal
expense
ratio,
what
it?
J
What
is
a
normal
vacancy
rate
for
something
that
has
achieved
stabilization
so
to
the
extent
that
we
usually
give
something
an
above
and
beyond
vacancy
discount?
It's
because
something
dramatic
happened
either
it's
a
brand
new
building
that
we're
giving
an
opportunity
to
lease
up
or
it's
there
was.
There
was
some
disaster
and
something
emptied
out
completely
and
they're
facing
a
circumstance
that
isn't
normal
for
something
that's
already
achieved.
Stabilization
got
it.
A
H
H
We're
gonna
want
to
find
ways
to
incentivize
exactly
what
sheena
described
right
like
actually
locating,
especially
our
like
you
know,
our
our
neighborhood
businesses,
our
black
and
brown
owned
women-owned
businesses
in
these
like
commercial
vacancies,
including
right,
downtown
and
neighborhoods
I
represent,
and
it
feels
like
in
order
like
the
tricky
thing
about
all
of
the
economic
development
stuff.
Is
you
want
to
incentivize
behavior
that
wouldn't
happen?
H
Otherwise,
you
don't
want
to
just
give
money
to
people
for
things
that
they
were
going
to
do
anyways
and
so
the
question
of
like
how
do
you
establish
a
baseline
of
like
something?
That's
actually
been
vacant
been
meaningfully
vacant
right
and
then,
like
you
know,
the
city
is
helping
to
support
them
moving
one
of
these
clients,
and
I
think
I
think
we
need
to
think
really
carefully
about
what
data
we
have.
That
could
help
us
set
up
a
responsible
program
on
that
front,
and
I
also
just
really
want
to
underline
what
gina
said.
H
I
mean,
I
think,
there's
a
couple
of
limitations
with
the
current
main
streets
program.
One
of
them
is
the
neighborhoods
that
aren't
represented,
and
I
represent
a
bunch
of
neighborhoods
that
don't
have
main
streets
and,
frankly,
like
I
really
saw
it
in
the
pandemic
like
mission
hill,
if
one
of
their,
if
one
of
their
restaurants
was
having
a
problem,
I
immediately
heard
about
it
through
the
main
streets
director
fenway
it
took
it
would
take
weeks
longer
for
things
to
trickle
up,
because
there
was
nobody
walking
the
street
being
like.
H
So
the
question
of
like
how
do
you
move
something
across
like
I
bet
a
lot
of
folks
have
read
in
the
globe
right
about
bentamani
and
them,
like
you
know,
losing
their
spot
in
the
in
roxbury
south
end
and
going
this?
Is
this
west
african
restaurant
right
getting
snapped
up
to
providence
downtown
like
we
need
a
mechanism
where
boston
downtown
is
saying?
H
Oh
you're
losing
your
lease
in
the
neighborhood
like,
wouldn't
it
be
great
to
have
you
here
and
and
because
we're
in
this
location-based
system,
like
that
kind
of
cross-cutting,
isn't
happening,
and
so
I
just
really
want
to
raise
that
and
counselor
mejia.
I
if
I
can
just
put
a
question
on
the
record,
because
I
know
we're
time
but,
like
you
know,
for
natalia,
I
do
really
want
to
know
a
little
bit
more
and
it
might
be
an
info
request
reply
afterwards
about
the
small
business
relief
fund.
H
I
think
it's
awesome
that
three
and
a
half
million
we
got
out.
I
certainly
heard
from
I
heard
both
from
people
who
were
thrilled
to
get
it
and
from
people
who
didn't
get
those
funds
because,
like
it
seemed
like
sort
of
there
were
various
time
cut,
offs
their
landlords,
hadn't
gotten
back
to
you
guys
in
time,
etc.
H
And
so
I'm
trying
to
understand,
like
you
know,
is
there
a
second
round.
Did
we
like
meet
like
you
sort
of
gave
us
the
numbers
that
we
met,
but
like
did
we
meet
the
request
of
like
everyone
who
qualified
or
is
there
a
pool
of
people?
No,
it
looks
like
no
right,
so
I'm
curious
for
your
context,
with
the
with
the
dnd
rental
relief
fund.
H
The
council's
had
a
series
of
hearings
and
seen
that
go
through
a
series
of
iterations
and
like
heard
about
what
you've
learned
in
that
process
and
how
you
would
update
it,
and
I
think
we
probably
need
to
have
like
a
similar
conversation
about
the
small
business
one,
because
I
I
would
love
to
be
able
to
tell
people.
Oh
there's
like
a
decent
chance
with
this
federal
funding
that
there'll
be
an
opportunity
for
some
more
of
that
and
also
to
know
how
you
guys
are
sort
of
streamlining
it
for
the
second
round.
H
A
A
I
think
that
there's
ways
for
us
to
do
this,
that's
a
win-win,
and
if
anyone
knows
anything
about
me,
I'm
always
trying
to
figure
out
what
is
the
common
ground
here.
And
how
can
we
get
to
a
place
that
everybody
feels
like
they're
contributing
this
in
terms
of
community
benefits?
I
think
that
it
needs
to
go
beyond
just
scholarships
in
our
community.
A
A
He
would
like
to
know
what
can
the
city
do
to
help
restaurants
affected
by
landlords
who
refuse
to
negotiate
better
terms
on
rents?
We've
lost
too
many
restaurants
around
the
city
due
to
this,
and
so
basically
this
goes
back
to
the
point
that
our
councilor
bach
was
making
about
this
restaurant
that
went
all
the
way
to
providence
downtown
when
we
could
have
probably
potentially
supported
them
here
right
in
downtown
boston.
G
Yeah,
that's
a
great
question,
so
I
urge
any
restaurant.
That's
you
know
dealing
with
a
tough
landlord
to
reach
out
to
us.
We
can
offer
pre
free
lease
negotiation
support
again.
You
know
the
city
doesn't
have
a
lot
of
tools
in
place
to
be
able
to.
You
know,
come
down
on
landlords
who
don't
want
to
negotiate
at
least
again.
That
is
a
private
contract.
G
G
A
K
K
One
concern
I
have
is
that
when
an
area
is
being
redeveloped
that
we
see
a
lot
of
displacement
of
small
business-
and
one
thing
we
advocate
for
maybe
not
that
successfully-
is
that
when
developers
come
in
that
they
do
some
recognize,
just
as
we
need
affordable
housing
that
we
also
need
rental,
affordable
retail
space
as
well.
So
I
don't
know
what
your
office
is
doing
in
that
space
or
if
it's
something
we
should
be
more
aggressive
with.
G
Thank
you
for
that
question.
Counselor
breeden.
I
think
so
there
isn't
a
lot
of
formal
again,
there's
not
a
lot
of
formalities
there
around
around.
You
know
either
pairing
up
those
spaces
and
new
development,
but
we
we
have
started
working
with
the
bpda
on
doing
some
early
conversations
with
developers
about
the
those
retail
spaces
about
what
type
of
business
they're
looking
to
put
in
there.
G
How
do
we
help
connect
them
to
some
businesses
who
are
ready
or
you
know,
able
to
grow
or
expand
their
their
business
into
new
space
they're?
You
know
I
I
want
to
just
be.
You
know,
mindful
of
the
the
fact
that
our
job
is
to
make
those
introductions
again.
We
we
can't
really
do
a
lot
around
securing
you
know
a
business
in
a
space.
All
we
can
do
is
help
prepare
that
business
for
that
application
and
we've
actually
been
able
to
do
that
in
several.
G
You
know
several
spaces
in
partnership
with
some
of
the
developers
across
the
city
and
where
they
say
to
us:
hey
we're
looking
for
a
x
type
of
business.
Here's
the
the
price
point:
can
you
help
us
connect
to
businesses
and
we've
we've
been
able
to
do
that
more.
You
know,
like
I
said,
more
informally,
because
there
is
no
actual
legal
way
for
us
to
like
build
that
partnership.
All
we
can
do
is
make
those
introductions,
I
think,
around
affordability.
G
I
think
this
is
a
bigger
conversation
that
we
have
started
to
have
on
with
you
know,
chief
dylan
and
d
with
the
bpda
around
affordability,
but
there
are
trade-offs
there
right.
So
in
order
to
have
more
affordable
retail,
we
need
to
think
about
the
affordability
of
the
entire
development
project
and
whether
or
not
that
is
something
that
the
community
is
willing
to
work
with
us
on,
because
I
think
you
know
we
don't
want
to
take
away
affordability
from
residential
space
in
order
to
give
space.
G
You
know
for
affordability
at
the
retail
level.
I
think
a
lot
of
that
does
happen
to
come
down
on
the
landlord
of
the
property
owner
around
getting
good
tenants
into
those
spaces
and
what
that
might
look
like,
but
there
are,
we
are
thinking
creatively
again.
This
is
more
on
a
policy
level
and
I
think,
a
project
by
project
level
to
identify
ways
in
which
we
can
make
affordability
of
retail
spaces
more
accessible.
K
G
A
A
M
How's
that
hello,
everyone,
my
name,
is
darrell
weathers.
I'm
a
black
man
from
boston,
I'm
born
and
raised
in
boston
massachusetts.
Today,
I'm
fighting
for
a
policy
that
could
possibly
change
the
democracy
in
the
third
most
centrified
city
in
america
being
a
black
man
in
boston.
I
know
how
it
feels
to
work
a
full-time
job
and
still
be
homeless,
never
mind
renting
a
forty
thousand
dollar
box
for
commercial
space.
L
Yeah,
so
thank
you
all
for
joining
us.
We,
we
are
continuing
this
conversation.
Some
of
you
were
able
to
join
us
in
november
of
last
year
for
the
housing
policy
summit.
The
equity
summit
shout
out
to
councillor
bach.
You
know
all
the
other
folks
who
is
there,
and
so
basically
we're
continuing
on
that
that
mission,
and
so
that
all
came
out
of
a
conversation
that
that
we
started
around.
You
know
basically
vacant
vacant
units
and
filling
vacancies
in
our
neighborhood.
L
This
conversation
was
started
before
covet
and,
while
kovit
has,
I
think,
in
a
lot
of
ways
shed
light
on.
You
know
pre-existing
inequalities
and
divisions
in
our
community.
I
think
in
a
lot
of
ways
this
problem
will
still
be
here
when
covet
is
gone,
unless
we,
you
know,
undertake
drastic
systemic
change
to
the
way
we
approach
it.
L
So
you
know
I'm
also
a
lifelong
bostonian
born
and
raised
in
jamaica
plain
and
where
we
kind
of
got
the
spark
to
take
this
issue
on
was
initially
as
residents,
business
owners
and
community
organizers
looking
to
have
a
space
in
our
community
to
do
stuff
similar
to
sheena
who
spoke
earlier.
You
know
we've
been
working
for
many
many
years.
We
have
a
business.
That's
just
past
this
10
year
mark.
L
We
can
see
vacant
units
that
have
been
vacant
for
10
12
years,
where
we
know
the
landlord
kicked
them
out,
raised
the
rent
and
has
been
sitting
there
waiting
for
somebody
to
pay
a
higher
rent.
Ever
since
and
we've
spoken
to
them,
you
know
as
hey:
we
live
in
this
neighborhood
we're
trying
to
access
this
space
and
met
a
lot
of
those
roadblocks
and
barriers,
because,
quite
frankly,
what
kenzi
block
was
talking
about
there
are.
L
L
That's
your
decision,
it's
your
property,
but
since
you're
trying
to
own
it
here
in
the
community,
there
needs
to
be
some
sort
of
measure
and
some
sort
of
toll
for
the
impact
that
that
has
on
the
community.
So
if
you
choose
to
leave
it
empty
and
vacant,
we
need
some
sort
of
offset
that
we
can
use
to
invest
in
other
spaces
that
the
city
can
maintain
as
open
and
available
to
people
in
the
community
affordably.
L
And
then
you
can
have
your
storefront
sit
empty.
If
that's
what
you
want
to
do-
or
you
could
also
rent
it
out
at
a
lower
rate
that
somebody
from
the
neighborhood
could
afford,
get
somebody
in
there
avoid
that
penalty
and
maybe
also
incur
the
benefit.
So
I
think
that's
the
overall
idea-
and
we
had
that
idea
more
broadly
for
all
forms
of
of
of
property.
L
We're
having
this
community
conversation
today
around
commercial
vacancies,
particularly
because
we
recognize
that
it's
easier
to
sort
of
tackle
them
one
by
one
and
also
that
they're
sort
of
separate
in
the
way
that
they
work
and
function,
and
so
you
know
just
to
just
to
kind
of
bring
it
all
back.
You
know
I
appreciate
natalia
the
the
work
you
did
trying
to
collect
the
data
we've
been
looking
at
this
as
well.
L
That's
one
of
the
main
sources
of
issues
we
just
how
do
you
even
know
how
to
qualify
or
quantify
it,
but
as
somebody
who
lives
in
the
neighborhood,
you
know
jamaica,
plain.
Two
percent
feels
like
a
lot.
You
know
two
percent
walking
down
the
main
street
feels
like
a
lot
and
especially
as
someone
who's
tried
to
open
a
store.
L
L
I
think
one
of
the
ways
that
we
could
enforce
that
on
the
city
side
is
look
at
the
power
we
have
to
withhold
occupancy
permits
or
building
permits
for
people
who
don't
comply
with
the
vacancy,
the
vacancy
tax
or
the
vacancy
offset
or
whatever.
We
need
to
call
it.
So
that's
our
idea
in
a
nutshell,
we
brought
this
forward
as
community
folks
who
just
wanted
to
see
it
happen,
and
then
this
conversation,
you
know,
was
the
logical
next
step.
M
M
So
let's
ensure
our
people
today,
everybody
who's
watching
here
who
has
some
some
type
of
chance
to
change
this
democracy,
I'm
close
to
the
pain
of
the
people
of
black
and
brown
people,
and
we
need
to
change
this
and
single
household
the
mothers,
everybody
we
everybody
needs
a
chance.
You
know
what
I'm
saying,
and
this
is
the
start
to
change
in
moral
corruption
too,
because
if
people
own
businesses
outside
of
just
in
these
neighborhoods,
where
they're
not
making
money,
I
mean
it
changes
the
dynamic
of
the
people.
M
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
Both
you
know.
I
I
think
I
met
you
all
alongside
when
I
had
an
office
in
jamaica
playing
and
our
office.
We
opened
up
the
doors
literally
to
the
people.
We
created
an
opportunity
for
artists
to
showcase
their
artwork
on
our
walls.
We
hosted
album
release
parties
for
young
people
who,
who
were
dropping
their
albums.
A
I
think
it'll
be
a
win-win
for
our
entire
community
to
have
space
to
be
able
to
incubate
and
these
small
businesses
to
be
able
to
grow,
and
these
the
folks
who
own
these
spaces
they
can
still
get
some
revenue
right.
I
just
think
that
that
incentive
in
terms
of
doing
business
in
our
community
has
to
just
be
more
than
just
having
a
storefront
in
our
community,
like
you
have
to
do
business
with
the
people
and
doing
business
with
the
people
is
really
about
creating
space
for
the
people
to
build
alongside
you
as
well.
A
So
I
think
it's
both
an
opportunity
and
a
responsibility
for
us
to
to
really
lean
into
this
work
and
figure
out
what
we
can
do
as
a
collective
and
I'm
curious
darrell
and
I'm
jacob
to
get
your
thoughts
on
some
of
the
proposals.
We've
heard
from
other
counselors
around
how
to
collect
data
and
other
ideas
wondering
you
know.
I
know
you
all
have
done
a
lot
of
work.
We
worked
together
on
the
housing
policy
summit
and
you
brought
in
all
the
right
voices
into
that
space.
A
L
L
You
know,
I
think,
perhaps
some
sort
of
a
case
study
on
you
know
where
we're
not
necessarily
a
bad
example,
because
we've
had
a
business
for
you
know
just
under
10
years,
and
it
took
us
that
long
to
get
our
first
storefront
and
that's
what
we're
about
to
try
to
open.
You
know
and
looking
at
you
know
what
you
know,
we
all
have
jobs.
We
all
work
hard,
but
the
le
the
level
of
resources
that
it
takes
to
start
a
business
in
boston.
A
O
O
These
small
businesses
will
work
for
years,
as
jake
mentioned,
to
get
to
the
place
where
they're
ready
to
open
a
brick
and
mortar
and
then
we'll
look
and
find
no
available
spaces
in
their
communities.
And
so
often
it's
an
issue
where
there
is
no
option
in
their
price
range.
And,
as
we
all
know,
it's
not
easy
to
get
a
small
business
loan
and
that's
getting
harder
every
day.
O
And
so
they'll
either
be
forced
to
abandon
their
dream
of
opening
a
brick
and
mortar
in
their
own
community
and
stay
virtual
or
have
to
shift
their
business
model
away
from
that
or
force
them
to
move
out
of
boston
into
the
suburbs,
forcing
them
to
open
their
small
business
outside
of
their
own
community.
Which
is
you
know,
never
what
they
wanted.
O
And
so
you
know
really
think
that
using
the
you
know,
sort
of
a
devastating
outcome
of
the
pandemic
and
twisting
that
as
an
opportunity
to
really
rethink
the
way
that
we
are
using
commercial
space
in
the
city
and
really
trying
to
make
it
more
equitable.
By
providing
more
space
for
small
minority,
immigrant
and
women-owned
businesses.
A
H
H
It's
sort
of
for
the
whole,
I'm
grateful
to
the
administration
panel
for
still
being
here,
because
it's
kind
of
about
what
they've
been
saying
and
sort
of
reflecting
it
back
to
you
all.
I
mean
like
the
the
thing
that
the
thing
that
I
hear
jake
and
darrell
is
describing
it's
something
that
that
frustrates
me
and
that
I
hear
frustrating
residents
around
the
city.
All
the
time,
which
is
people
can't
understand
how
it
could
be
economical
for
people
to
keep
these
spaces
vacant
for
10
15
years.
H
I
mean
for
five
right,
it's
just
it
seems
crazy
and
it
and
based
on-
and
I
still
feel
like.
I
don't
really
understand
it,
but
digging
into
it
a
little
bit.
It
seems
like
a
thing
that
gets
worse.
The
more
our
property
is
owned
by
a
small
group
of
large
property
holders,
because,
if
I'm,
if
I'm
like
one
person
who
owns
one
building-
and
I
leave
it
vacant
like
because
I'm
chasing
a
higher
rent
like
over
time-
I'm
losing
a
lot
of
money.
H
You
know
part
of
what's
going
on
is
that
we've
got
owners
who
own
a
lot
of
portfolio
on
the
street
and
so
they're.
Thinking
about.
Oh,
if
I
set
this
lease
too
low
it'll
affect
what
I
can
get
on
all
the
other
leases
on
the
street
and
so
they're
willing
to
have
that
building
sit
empty
in
order
to
help
drive
up
the
rest
of
their
portfolio.
If
it
was
the
only
building
they
owned.
H
That
would
be
much
harder
to
do
and
I
guess
I'm
worried
about
a
dynamic
where
property
ownership
in
general
in
the
city
gets
driven
more
and
more
to
these,
like
large
investors,
and
that
after
the
pandemic,
we
see
the
folks
who
are
deep
pocketed
scoop
up
the
desirable
locations,
and
so
I
just
you
know.
I
want
to
strongly
agree
with
like
with
jake
and
darrell
that
we
have
to.
H
Like
those
conversations
that
you
make
happen,
natalia
like
what
seems
to
actually
move
the
needle
with
getting
landlords
to
decide
that
it's
in
their
interest
to
do
these
below
market
leases
and
are
there
any
of
the
things?
I
know
you
can't
sort
of
commit
the
administration
today
on
these
things,
but
are?
Are
there
any
of
the
things
that
you're
hearing
folks
say
that
seem
like
directions
that
if
we
actually
went
it
would
change
their
calculation?
H
Because
because
we've
got
to
do
something,
I
think
otherwise
we're
just
going
to
end
up
more
and
more
living
in
the
town
of
like
a
small
handful
of
major
commercial
landlords
and
that'll
be
good
for
chains
and
terrible
for
local
businesses.
So
I'd
love
to
hear
a
little
bit
about
how
you
understand
their
calculations
to
operate
here,
because
it
doesn't
make
any
sense
to
the
average
citizen
why
they
sit
vacant
on
our
main
streets.
G
I
know
that,
for
example,
I
know
that
there's
a
space
in
center
street
that
at
one
point,
was
a
hair
salon.
A
lot
of
water
damage
to
the
floor.
Small-Time
property
owner
don't
have
a
lot
of
liquid
cash
to
then
be
able
to
invest
in
their
space,
so
they're
waiting
for
a
lot.
You
know
a
high
rent
business
to
then
potentially
be
able
to
in
you
know,
use
that
money
to
reinvest
in
the
floor
to
then
be
able
to
actually
have
someone
in
there.
G
I
do
want
to
say
that
for
the
first
time
our
office,
due
to
the
pandemic
and
due
to
this
commercial
rent
relief
fund,
we
actually
have
access
to
landlords
for
the
first
time
in
ways
that
we
didn't
before
both
for
the
main
streets.
They
now
have
access
to
them
because
they've
worked
with
them
through
that
throughout
the
pandemic
and
for
us
just
collecting
data
and
having
who
you
know
be
able
to
for
us
to
be
able
to
contact
them
and
ask
them
questions
and
engage
them.
G
So
I'm
I'm
thrilled
about
kind
of
this.
Moving
this
conversation
forward.
I
can't
speak
to
why
you
know
landlords
wouldn't
be
willing
to
rent
out
a
space
an
individual's
face,
a
specific
space
to
you
know
an
up-and-coming
business
at
a
lower
rent.
I
I
can't
speak
to
that,
but
I
I
do
want
to
reemphasize
that
you
know.
G
Our
funding
is
federal
funding,
so
there's
a
lot
of
requirements
around
actually
being
able
to
use
those
those
those
dollars
in
those
ways,
but
we
are
looking
into
that
and
I-
and
you
know
again
if
there
is
additional
funding
available,
that
is
usually
what
can
help
businesses
get
started.
Some
of
the
the
vacancies
are
around
change
of
use
right.
G
So
if
you
want
a
restaurant
in
a
space
that
was
previously,
you
know
a
salon,
you're
gonna
have
to
do
a
lot
of
work
and
a
lot
of
investment,
and
that
usually
comes
from
the
from
the
business
owner's
side
that
they
have
to
actually
pay
for
a
lot
of
those
capital
investments
in
order
to
convert
a
space
into
that.
So
so
there's
a
lot
of
elements
there,
counselor
and-
and
I'm
looking
forward
to
working
with
this
group
on
identifying
some
real
policy
and
programmatic
solutions.
A
Thank
you
for
that.
I
just
wanted
to
ask
a
quick
follow-up
question
to
counselor
box
and
I
just
kind
of
want
to
just
put
it
out
there
that
we
know
I'm
just
curious
in
terms
of
the
data
that
we're
collecting
just
to
see
how
vacant
storefronts
also
impact
the
income
for
other
businesses
right
like
when
we
have
neighborhoods
that
look
distressed
when
we
have
neighborhoods
that
don't
look,
vibrant.
A
That
also
impacts
the
the
the
financial
success
of
our
neighboring
businesses,
right
so
even
from
an
accountability
standpoint
in
terms
of
data,
if
there's
a
way
for
us
to
really
assess
how
these
vacancies
are
impacting
the
overall
general
income
wealth
of
other
businesses,
I
think,
is
something
for
us
to
consider
in
terms
of
another
data
point
to
look
into
and
then
in
terms
of
incentives.
Right
like.
A
I
think
that
there
is
an
appetite
here
to
move
beyond
the
conversation
and
come
with
with
some
really
specific
here's
three
things
that
we
can
commit
to,
or
at
least
start
exploring
and
come
out
with
some
a
dashboard
of
ways
that
we
can
hold
ourselves
accountable.
I
also
think
that
tashina
sheena
texted
me
before
she
left,
and
I
wanted
to
just
make
sure
that
I
bring
this
into
the
conversation.
While
I
still
have
you
all
here,
she
basically
said
to
counselor
box
comments
and
her
own
feelings
about
it.
A
For
years
is
how
do
we
reimagine
the
whole
main
street's
infrastructure,
because
it
is
not
working
for
everybody,
then
there's
also
the
piece
around.
Can
there
be
the
incentives
for
business
owners
and
landlords
who
want
to?
Let
us
know
about
the
vacancies
like?
Is
there
a
way?
Maybe
we,
if
you're,
not
able
to
get
that
data?
Is
there
a
way
to
incentivize
people
to
provide
you,
the
data
that
you
need
so
that
we
can
have
a
better
accurate
account
and
the
on
the
validation
formula
that
nick
that
you
shared?
A
I
G
So
I
just
want
to
re-emphasize.
Obviously,
nick
nick's
team
doesn't
work
directly
with
small
businesses,
often
unless
that
small
business
actually
owns
that
property,
so
there
may
be
a
disconnect
there
and
just
to
touch
on
the
point
about
main
streets.
I
urge
everyone
here
and
anyone
listening
at
home
to
get
involved
in
the
reimagined
boston
main
streets
program.
We've
actually
been
working
to
engage
community
members,
business
owners
in
thinking
about
the
actual
structure,
the
the
the
framework
and
the
existing
program
of
main
streets.
So
that
is
happening
right
now.
G
You
can
go
to
boston,
dot,
gov
forward,
slash
reimagine
dash
main
streets
and
get
that
information.
Sorry
dash
main
dash
streets
to
get
the
information
about
that
program.
We
do
need
all
the
business
owners
and
community
voices
at
those
conversations,
because
that
is
literally
what
we're
doing
right
now.
A
Thank
you
so
priya.
I
wanted
to
just
ask
wanted
to
get
your
thoughts
on
some
of
the
proposals
that
we've
heard,
and
I
we've
also
seen
the
office
space
vacancy
rates
skyrocket
since
the
start
of
covet
and
would
like
to
what
would
you
like
the
city
to
do
to
help
fill
these
vacancies
by
local
small
startups.
O
Yeah,
thank
you.
So
I
I've
liked
a
lot
of
the
ideas
that
we've
had
here.
The
vacancy
tax,
I
think,
is
especially
one
that
is
interesting
and
can
go
a
long
way
to
sort
of
change.
That
cost
benefit
analysis
that
a
lot
of
the
landlords
are
going
through
when
they
decide
that
it's
okay
to
just
keep
these.
You
know
spots
vacant.
O
You
know
we're
seeing
a
lot
of
small
businesses
struggling
because
they
can't
negotiate
with
their
landlords.
Now,
there's
no
longer
any
moratorium
on
commercial
evictions,
and
so
landlords
are
moving
quickly
to
evict
because
they
have
that
tool
and
their
arsenal
again,
and
it
hurts
sort
of
the
negotiation
process
on
both
sides.
You
know
I
commend
natalia
and
her
team
for
everything.
G
Yeah,
I
just
want
to
respond,
so
I
think
almost
immediately
when
the
pandemic
hit
and
the
eviction
moratorium
was
put
on
residential
properties.
Our
team
worked
really
closely
with
the
state
on
making
sure
that
the
governor
extended
that
to
commercial
vacancies,
so
it
was
definitely
something
that's
been
on
our
mind
for
a
long
long
time,
even
prior
to
obviously
the
pandemic,
but
more
immediately
during
the
pandemic.
G
I
think,
as
far
as
you
know,
vacancy
tax-
it
is
something
that
we're
talking
about
on
a
policy
level
again,
you
know,
there's
a
vast
difference
and
vast
different
impact
on
small-time
property
owners,
which
we
know
are
a
lot
of
the
folks
in
our
neighborhoods,
our
small-time
landlords
who
maybe
have
one
or
two
properties.
Maybe
they
own
one
building
with
four.
G
You
know
commercial
properties
and
those
folks
are
really
usually
connected
with
us
and
and
willing
to
work
with
us
versus
kind
of
those
larger
property
owners
where
a
property
tax
might
not
be
incentive
enough.
So
we
don't
want
to
disproportionately
impact
the
small-time
landlords
that
are
doing
the
right
thing
by
by
putting
a
tax
you
know
in
place
because
they
can't
afford
to
fix
up
a
space.
So
then
they
can't
bring
in
someone
because
they
can't
pass
like
there's
a
lot
of
like
you
know,
underlying
impacts
of
that.
G
So
we
are
thinking
about
that
on
a
daily
basis
where
we're
trying
to
explore
what
those
right
levers
are
to
to
pull
in
order
to
ensure
that
we
are
incentivizing
having
those
properties
filled.
I
also
you
know
when
I
like
reiterate
how
important
it
is
for
folks
to
be
engaged
in
these
processes.
As
you
know,
new
businesses
are
coming
online
and
supporting
them
and
then
just
connecting
with
our
office,
we
can't
know
what
your
issues
are.
G
G
We've
worked
together
a
lot
and
you
know
we
send
folks
your
way
all
the
time,
because
obviously
capacity
is
is
limited,
and
so
you
know
we
work
with
a
lot
of
local
small
business
development
organizations
that
you
know
want
to
support
businesses,
and
so
I
just
urge
folks
to
get
involved
in
the
process
and
connect
with
us
so
that
we
know
what's
going
on
with
your
particular
property
and
we
can
figure
out
how
to
best
help.
You.
A
Nick
I'm
curious
since
you've
been
on
and
and
natalia
quickly.
Let
us
know
what
you
may
or
may
not
be
able
to
kind
of
really
lean
into,
but
from
from
from
a
property
tax
and
an
assessment
standpoint.
What
are
some
of
the
things
that
you
have
seen?
Other
cities
do
to
address
this
issue
and
where
do
you
think
in
terms
of
a
best
practice,
we
should
you
know,
be
leaning
in
a
little
bit
more
into.
J
That's
that's
a
really
good
question.
Thank
you.
Counselor
here
I
haven't
had
an
opportunity
to
really
look
at
what
other
vacancy
taxes
or
concepts
like
that.
Other
communities
have
used.
That's
definitely
something
that
we
can.
You
can
take
a
look
at
and
see
if
there's
there's
assistance,
for
you
know
to
kind
of
follow
up
on
the
the
point
that
natalia
was
making
taxes
it.
J
It's
very
interesting
and
it's
worth
taking
a
look,
but
taxes
are
kind
of
a
very
blunt
tool
and
it
can
be
really
easy
to
accidentally
catch
and
hurt
people
that
we
don't
want
to
hurt
when
we're
doing
something
like
a
vacancy
tax.
So,
for
example,
if
you
had
a
vacancy
tax
based
on
the
percentage
of
space
in
a
building,
if
you
have
someone
that
owns
a
huge
building,
that's
a
hundred
thousand
square
feet
just
for
an
example.
J
J
I
think
one
of
one
of
the
more
nuanced
tools
that
we
have
is
kind
of
providing
support
to
the
work
that
natalia's
group
does,
because
it's
really
targeted
and
it's
targeted
to
help
the
actual
end
business
and
the
end
occupants,
whereas
property
taxes
and
taxes
on
ownership
aren't
helping
the
businesses
they're,
helping
or
penalizing
the
landlords,
and
so
that
that
ends
up
being
a
little
bit
tricky.
But
it's
really
interesting
to
think
about
and
figure
out.
If
there
are
things
that
we
can
do
to
kind
of
get
at
these
problems.
A
Yeah,
I
I
would
think
so
nick
and
I
think
that
there,
because,
if
we're
doing
this
with
a
racial
equity
lens,
I
think
that
we
could
be
really
intentional
about
what
that
looks
like.
So
there
won't
be
those
unintended
consequences
right,
so
I
think,
being
proactive
and
thinking
about
their
their.
The
number
of
I
would
say
their
their
profits
right.
I
would
look
at
that.
I
would
probably
look
at
the
years
of
business.
A
I
would
also
just
I
would
look
at
the
whole
entire
portfolio
and
and
look
at
the
makeup
of
this
the
owner
and
make
decisions
and
then
create
like
a
formula
of
how
we
could
lead
with
this,
with
a
racial
equity
lens
to
ensure
that
those
who
have
the
most
we're
we're
doing
this
in
a
way,
that's
the
most
fairest
right,
and
I
think
that
I
think
that
we
can
be
creative
and
get
ahead
of
that.
If
we're
intentional
about
leading
with
equity.
J
All
right,
I
think,
I
think,
you're
great
counselor
and
I
think
one
of
the
things
that's
kind
of
been
brought
up.
That
is
something
that
natalia's
group
works
on
and
something
that
miss
lane's
business
works
on
is
things
like
figuring
out
a
way
to
provide
legal
assistance,
provide
negotiation,
help
to
small
businesses
to
kind
of
get
the
landlord
to
the
table
with
them,
because
I
think
the
answer
to
a
lot
of
these
questions
and
counselor
bach
had
a
very
good
question
earlier
about.
J
You
know
it
doesn't
seem
to
make
economic
sense
as
to
why
landlords
would
intentionally
keep
their
space
vegan
and
the
reality
is.
It
does
not
make
economic
sense.
I
think
that
sometimes
people
just
make
kind
of
bad
economic
decisions
and
they
think
that
there's
this
opportunity
cost
where,
like.
Oh
I'm
scared.
If
I
I
take
this
person
that
isn't
gonna
pay
me
the
amount
of
money
that
I
think
I
can
get,
I'm
gonna,
I'm
gonna
miss
out
on
the
next
person
and
the
next
person
is
gonna.
J
Pay
me
a
lot
more,
so
I'm
just
gonna
wait
until
the
next
person
comes
along
and
then
they
spend
years
and
years
with
their
building
vacant
and
they
keep
waiting
and
that's
they're
not
making
a
good
decision
when
they,
when
they
do
that,
and
if
we
can
provide
assistance
through
like
the
work
that
natalia's
group
does
to
help
get
those
conversations
started
to
help
small
businesses
negotiate
with
those
landlords
to
explain
why
it's
better
for
them
to
have
that
small
business.
Now.
J
That
space
filled,
then
that's
that's
how
we're
going
to
kind
of
drive
and
solve
this
problem,
and
so
I
think
that
oh
the
opportunity
there
is
a
little
bit
more
of
a
something,
that's
driven
by
by
funding
and
and
grants
and
the
city
spending
money.
That
way,
as
opposed
to
you
know,
tax
assistance
or
kind
of
sometimes
the
punishment
tool
works,
and,
and
sometimes
it
doesn't.
J
But
we
know
that
the
providing
assistance
tool
does
work
and
hopefully
there'll
be
some
opportunities
that
are
gonna,
come
up
thanks
to
the
new
federal
funding
stimulus
money
to
kind
of
help,
us
direct
some
some
aid
to
pull
us
a
little
bit
out
of
this
problem,
and
it
has
definitely
been
a
an
ongoing
problem.
Even
though
it
you
know
the
pandemic
might
have
made
it
worse.
But
it
was
a
problem
before
the
pandemic.
J
D
L
L
So,
you
know,
if
we're
looking
at
all
right,
we
don't
want
to
have
this
negative
impact
by
accident
on
the
unintended
you
know:
small
property
owners,
that's
part
of
the
conversation
that
we
were
starting
and
that's
part
of,
I
think
the
really
important
work
of
figuring
out
how
to
like
julius
said,
come
up
with
the
right
formula.
That
says
who
are
we
talking
to
and
what
are
we
trying
to
get
them
to
do?
L
And
lastly,
while
I
do
think
there
is
opportunity
for
education
and
for
folks
to
be
like-
oh
wow
great,
I
didn't
know
that
having
a
small
business
in
my
store
would
be
the
economically
sensible
thing
to
do.
You
know
I
didn't
know.
Small
businesses
were
great
tenants
and
responsible
thanks
for
teaching
me
city
of
boston.
I
think
that's
a
great
approach,
but
I
also
think
that
there
are
some,
especially
in
that
larger
category
of
landowner,
who
have
multiple
blocks
of
properties.
L
I
think
that
they're
a
little
bit
past
that
message
and
I
think
they
might
not
be
moved
to
do
this
out
of
the
goodness
of
their
hearts
or
the
economic
sense
that
we
all
think
it
makes
for
them.
I
think
we
might
have
to
consider
some
other
measure
to
get
them
to
again
offset
the
the
impact
that
they're
having
by
saying
I
want
to
own
half
of
newberry
street
and
charge
this
much
or
whatever
you
know,
half
of
jamaica,
plain,
etc.
So
that
thank,
but
thank
you
all
really
for.
L
M
Know
boston
has
showed
some
seriously
some
serious
capitalistic
ways,
and
I
mean
by
that
it's
just
like
you'll
leave
with
something
vacant
from
2011
all
the
way
to
2020..
It's
not
just
happening
now.
It's
been
happening.
It
was
already
a
crisis
before
the
pandemic.
Only
thing
I
can
say
is
like
I
really
would
like
everybody
just
to
like
understand
that
if
we
could
write
this
out
the
right
way,
we
could
figure
it
out,
but
also
the
small
business
owners-
that's
great,
but
also
you
know
we
have
to.
M
We
have
to
make
some
type
of
financial,
some
punitive
financial
measure
towards
getting
something
towards
these
large
developers
and
all
these
people's
coming
into
this
city
and
just
taking
us
out.
We
have
to
define
ourselves
and
we
have
to
do
better.
This
is
serious.
This
is
not
something
that's
going
to
be
on.
If
we
don't
change
it
now,
we
could
be
run
into
a
real
serious
series
problem
within
the
next
five
to
ten
years
or
that's
all
worse
than
it
already
is.
D
O
A
A
I
think
that
again,
this
is
what
it
looks
like
when
we
create
community
centered
approaches
to
the
problems
that
we've
been
contending
with,
and
I
think
this
is
what
partnership
is
all
about,
and
I'm
really
incredibly
grateful
to
both
jake
and
darrell
for
this
that
fast
conviction
in
this
space
and
bringing
us
here
together.
So
thank
you
to
you
both
for
for
joining
us
and
for
leading
this
conversation.