When the issue is large scale retail development and limiting the square footage of stores, what transpires in Keene, New Hampshire is none of Brattleboro’s concern. Or is it? Fifteen miles east of Brattleboro is a classic example of how an out-of-state developer impacts the economic, environmental, and social demographics of a community – and not for the better.
Konover Corporation was founded in 1959 in Hartford, Connecticut. According to their web site, “Konover specializes in retail real estate development throughout the Northeast partnering with communities to foster understanding and consensus for every new project. This spirit of cooperation has been successful in achieving the right balance of client and community needs for over 45 years.”
The site of Konover’s twelfth mall is sixty acres of marshland and swamp (as described on geodetic survey maps) on the north side of Route 9 behind the New Hampshire State Police barracks and, ironically, the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife Department.
The first phase of Konover’s “Monadnock Marketplace” was completed last year with the opening of Bed Bath & Beyond, Borders Books, GameStop, Home Depot, and Pier One. Phase two, currently under construction, will include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target (Wal-Mart’s biggest competitor), Chili’s Restaurant, Longhorn Steak House, Olive Garden Restaurant, Michaels, IParty, Price Chopper, Circuit City, and an enormous New Hampshire state liquor store.
The planning and permitting process for this retail extravaganza took ten years to complete. Millions of cubic yards of sandy fill were trucked in to construct this complex surrounded by a wetland moat and miles of silt fence. Even the sign designating the name of the shopping center off Route 10 is built on an artificial island in the middle of a retention pond.
Fact: Not one business in the new Monadnock Marketplace is locally owned or managed. Furthermore, no business in either phase one or phase two sells a specific product, service, or food commodity that was previously unavailable from other existing retail and wholesale businesses in the Keene area.
Fact: The construction of this shopping center required the city of Keene to borrow millions of dollars to widen the approach and exit off Route 9 to four lanes with a new infrastructure of water lines, sewers, and bridges to be paid for in property tax dollars.
Fact: With a base population of 24,000, and a Keene State College enrollment of 5,000, local and non-local consumer demand will not support this gargantuan retail development whose total area, including parking, is equivalent to the Ingleside Mall in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Fact: Available employees for the new shopping plaza do not exist. Case in point: Chili’s Restaurant had a small window of time to fully staff their eatery by opening date. Not having any success hiring new employees, management paid a visit to nearby Bickfords and hired all of Bickfords employees on Bickfords premises. In sheer frustration at Chili’s employee hijacking ploy, the manager of Bickfords complained to the Keene Sentinel and closed the restaurant leaving a caustic message (subsequently altered) on Bickford’s street sign: CLOSED. FOR GOOD FOOD PLEASE VISIT BRATTLEBORO.
Fact: Although Konover’s development will substantially expand Keene’s grand list, property taxes are not going down – just the opposite. New construction of this magnitude is adding a sizeable financial strain on Keene’s infrastructure to maintain its current level of services. The city portion of Keene’s budget will increase this year by twenty-one percent (not including the school system) that translates into a property tax increase of $600 to $1,000 per home.
Fact: The financial strain Keene is experiencing with respect to retail development is having a domino effect on non-retail businesses. A quid pro quo is on the table whereby C&S Wholesale would be permitted to expand their headquarters if C&S pays for a new fire station in northwest Keene. This may sound like a good idea. However, if the precedent is set, then any business with deep pockets will be able to permit bribe their way into a community.
Fact: The sheer magnitude of Keene’s commercial development is impacting the housing market. When it became public knowledge that Konover would be building a mall, additional housing would be needed for management relocating to Keene. Another out-of-state developer did his homework and purchased a sixty acre two-hundred year old farm nestled within a residential neighborhood close to the proposed mall. Despite the vehement objections of the Mayor, who called the plans the worst thing he had ever seen; and the City Council’s objections; and the objections of everyone living in that neighborhood, the sixty new homes on sixty acres met the zoning requirements and received a permit to build.
Fact: The enormous volume of building in Keene has resulted in a spill over development euphoria that has no basis in economic reality. Under discussion is a proposal to construct a fifty million dollar sports stadium (the size of Fenway Park) on abandoned railroad property just off Main Street. The project will be funded publicly and privately with additional monies derived from the sale of luxury condominiums surrounding the sports complex for the affordable price of $300,000.
What is happening in Keene can best described as “Sprawl Darwinism” where only those with the deepest pockets will survive. It’s economic, environmental, and social insanity with no end in sight.