Quincy Center property owner decries redevelopment push
Erin Tiernan Erin Tiernan The Patriot Ledger @ErinTiernan
QUINCY — Almost a century ago, Margaret Sherman built a single-story building on Hancock Street to host her growing business, a women's apparel shop called the Daylight Stores.
It was unusual for a woman to own a business in the 1920s, but Sherman grew the department store started by her husband into one of Quincy Square's most vibrant and well-known shops after her husband died.
Today the four storefronts host a mix of businesses, but the building, owned by Sherman's great-niece Eileen Robertson, is still in the family.
"This property has been here for 96 years and it has a lot of history for Quincy and for my family," Robertson said as she stood on the sidewalk of Hancock Street on Thursday.
The future of the Robertson's strip of storefronts at 1562-1568 Hancock St. and 13 other nearby properties is uncertain in an evolving Quincy Center. City councilors are considering an amendment to the urban revitalization plan that would add 7.1 acres to the special zoning district that guides redevelopment in Quincy Center and names Robertson's property and others for potential acquisition by the city.
The goal of the revitalization plan, a state-managed process that began in 2007, is to turn the area into an economic center for the city through investment in public and private infrastructure. The properties named in the planned amendment, including Robertson's, are considered "underutilized" by city planning officials who are trying to attract a higher-density mix of commercial and residential spaces to the area.
At a meeting this week, city officials said the amendment doesn't mean the listed properties will necessarily be taken by eminent domain, but it's a step in that direction. Local governments are empowered to take property through eminent domain in urban revitalization districts for the purpose of economic development.
"The city can take action to acquire and rehabilitate the properties, or work with property owners to turn it around if that meets the city's vision," Planning Director Jim Fatseas said Wednesday.
Ward 4 City Councilor Brian Palmucci agreed.
"People need to get on board with progress we are making or get out of the way for someone who will," he said. Quincy Center has seen $200 million in public infrastructure investment in recent years and about the same in private development.
The properties identified for potential redevelopment include 1550 Hancock St., 1562 Hancock St., 1570 Hancock St., 1620 Hancock St., 1495 Hancock St., 1569 Hancock St., 1459 Hancock St., 1455 Hancock St., 1445 Hancock St., 1433 Hancock St., 95 Parkingway and 119 Parkingway.
The burned-out windows, empty storefronts and "for lease" signs that adorn some of the properties included on the list do not describe Robertson's building, she said.
"We have good tenants and we take care of our building," Robertson said. Her stores host a dentist's office, Eye Lush, Thai Wellness Massage and Rent-A-Center.
"I just feel they want to knock my stores down and put something big up," she said, gesturing at the seven-story apartment building being built by commercial developer LBC Boston nearby on Hancock street.
Robertson's property is valued at $1.2 million, according to city property records, and she said she relies on the money she makes monthly from her four tenants as her sole source of income. In February, the city started the process to acquire a similarly valued neighboring property owned by F.X. Messina Properties through eminent domain, paying the owner $6.7 million. The city is required to compensate landowners the value of the land at its "highest and best use."
Robertson said for her it's about more than just the money: It's about her legacy. She said she's interested in working with the planning department to renovate her property.
"I feel I'm not getting guidance in how to do that," she said. "I don't want to invest a few hundred thousand dollars in my building just for them to take it anyway. I'd like to pass this on to my children someday."
The changes being made downtown are the culmination of more than three decades of discussion and work, and Mayor Thomas Koch said it "shouldn't be a surprise to anybody."
The downtown once known as "Shopper's Town, USA," is getting the biggest injection of investment in decades after many, many years of decline. Koch credits that to the work guided by the urban revitalization plan.
"I'm doing everything in my power to force these improvements in Quincy Center that provide jobs, homes, great economic activity and adds to the tax base — all positive things for the city," Koch said.
Reach Erin Tiernan at etiernan@patriotledger.com or 617-786-7320. Follow her on Twitter @ErinTiernan