Well, I know I have personally "steered away" (not intentionally) several individuals from entering into lease agreements with Abe - just by strongly encouraging them to do their due diligence, press on allocation of costs of needed improvements, insisting space be to code -- or if not, adequately address in a properly written lease agreement, and have their eyes open. In particular, I know of two well-capitalized, good business ideas that tried to negotiate with Abe -- and basically his terms were untenable. They walked away -- and I think were smart to do so. Largely, I believe he has refused to enter into any standard written lease agreement with his tenants -- just price and term, everything else is your responsibility. And there's a long string of his past tenants that have been undone by him. So, for his spaces, it's a frustrating circular problem. In the main, someone who is smart and likely to succeed is also unlikely to agree to his terms. He doesn't give a shit about the mix of his tenant base. So we get the not-well-thought-out business plans that are under-capitalized. And it's not insignificant when he now controls a majority of all available spaces in the village.
I've thrown out some other ideas to people that I thought were very, very good -- they didn't taken 'em up. I've gone out to other successful businesses in the city and encouraged them to open in EAV.
I met the developer of the Icehouse very early on -- insisted he get his shit together with the NPU, etc. -- wrote down phone numbers, contacts, etc. Again, advice ignored. Not that it was his only issue.
And anyone I've run across who thinks about opening a business here I've pointed them to the Buzz among other resources.
But I do think the principal problem comes back to the property owners in the Village. There's certainly a "buzz" to EAV, still is imho -- nightlife is hopping. That seems to make other property owners think the value of retail space is much greater than it actually is. For anything other than a bar/restaurant, the traffic is fairly anemic. Part of that is a shitty mix of retail; under-utilized spaces; and also I think the footprint of the Village is a bit smaller than it needs to be to reach a critical mass for a retail mix. A true destination business -- such as a revitalized Madison theatre, would really change things. But that's a pipe dream -- again, thanks to Mr. Asher who is content to let the space simply rot for reasons known to no one other than himself. As would a well done mini-grocery; that's what the Antiques Market cried out to be -- and I think a sorely missed opportunity. In a way, the lack of development of those types of businesses is perplexing, because I think the demographic for it is here already.
Then you have some oddball single-parcel owners who are not invested at all in the Village (see EALK, et al) and that doesn't help.
Not to digress, but personally, I think stopping the redevelopment on Moreland with the QT was a big mistake. That type of project might have encouraged others in the Moreland corridor. Having better development on that strip would be a plus for EAV.
