Business
Three tenants from the Allston building – the Pet Shop, Ritual Arts, and Regeneration Tattoo – say they’re now being priced out.
Beth Treffeisen for Boston.com
The sale of one of Harvard Avenue’s signature commercial buildings is already changing the face of Allston.
After Alpha Management bought the building at 149-175 Harvard Ave. last month, three longtime businesses that have anchored the neighborhood for decades say they’ll be forced to leave as the future of the remaining tenants remains uncertain.
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“This stretch of Harvard Ave. and all of Harvard Ave. is the heartbeat of Allston,” said Ben Franco, the president of the Allston-Brighton Chamber of Commerce. “It has for the last 50-plus years, smaller, independent stores. It’s been so diverse.”
The closure of those three anchor stores is concerning, Franco continued, because “it has the potential to change the fabric of not only that street but Allston.”
The owner of Alpha Management, Anwar Faisal, bought the building for $12.25 million on June 23 from its longtime former owner, land records show. In the weeks since, the Pet Shop, Ritual Arts, and Regeneration Tattoo have all announced they were closing or making plans to move.
It remains unclear what will happen to the dozen or so other businesses located in the building.
For those leaving, the businesses say they can’t afford to stay as the new owners are requesting higher rents.
“What do we do?” asked Danny Kingphilavanh, the owner of Regeneration Tattoo, the last tattoo shop located on Harvard Ave., on Thursday.
Kingphilavanh said that the shop, which has been open since 2004, doesn’t have the means to battle the new landlords in court.
It feels like “the rug got swept from underneath us,” he said.
He is still unsure if he will open elsewhere.
“It’s a sad day for Allston and the culture that this block has grown,” Kingphilavanh said.
Toni Fanning, the owner of Ritual Arts, a spiritual gift shop that has been open in the building for 33 years, said she hopes to find a new location soon. The new rent the landlord asked was way too high for her to stay, she said.
“It is what it is,” said Fanning. “We’ll be OK.”
For her, the saddest part will be leaving her long-time business community.
“The biggest loss is the loss of the neighbors,” said Fanning. “Some will stay in touch, and others will drift apart. But we won’t ever forget each other.”
Alpha Management, a major off-campus student housing landlord in Boston, has previously come under scrutiny for illegally housing students and maintaining unsafe living conditions.
Robert Allen Jr., of law firm RLAW PC, on behalf of Alpha Management, said that the building on Harvard Ave. had gone decades without significant investment while charging below-market rents.
The company said it plans to renovate the property, honor existing leases, work with some at-will tenants to relocate within the building at reduced rents, and eventually bring in businesses it believes will strengthen the retail corridor and support future housing opportunities.
“We are committed to a balanced approach that respects the history of the property while making necessary improvements to ensure its long-term sustainability and contribution to the neighborhood,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Beforehand, the company had not publicly announced its plans for the building.
“We’re in this terrible position of not knowing,” said Scott Matalon, the president of Allston Village Main Streets. “When there is no vision laid out, no plan laid out, people are only left with fear and insecurity.”
The speculation, Franco said, is making the business community and residents concerned about what this stretch of Harvard Ave. will look like in five to ten years.
Matalon added that he worries that it might become another Harvard Square or another Kenmore Square.
“It is the soul of Allston,” Matalon said, and losing three one-of-a-kind stores is troubling, he said.
The area around Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street is already poised for dramatic change.
Plans include a new Great Scott building with 139 apartments above a replacement music venue, a seven-story hotel, four additional mixed-use buildings, and the preservation of Allston Hall and the Allen Building. Altogether, the projects would add 347 new homes and 22,000 square feet of retail space.
All of that change is creating a bit of nostalgia for residents in the community for what used to be in Allston, said Franco. There are concerns that Allston, the place where many college students and young professionals find their footing, will no longer be an affordable place to live.
“There is a lot of angst and uncertainty for what the future holds, both for this building but across the neighborhood,” Franco said.
Beth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime, and business in the New England region.
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