Train Whistle No Longer Blows Its Lonesome Song
ByWe are fast closing in on a dubious milestone in DuPont’s brief business district history. Our awarding winning planned community that at one time hosted a street of dreams now has a new landmark. Think of it as the retail spot that time forgot.
Yes, it has been nearly one full calendar year since the most public and wild embracing of our dubious branding effort closed the blinds for good. Last January, Dynamite Jack’s went out of business, catastrophically failing after a bizarre month.
Of course, we all know the spot better as Harbor Rock, and for all intents and purposes, it was Harbor Rock that closed. In fact, that is the sign that still adorns the building.
Just what was Dynamite Jacks? At the time, it seemed like the worst idea of all time. Had the owners of Harbor Rock lost its mind? A plastic banner heralded in a new era that did not last as long as the William Henry Harrison presidency. By the time you actually got in to check out the changes, it was gone. Some would say mercifully so.
The changes took an ordinary looking bar and restaurant, one that previously embraced the oft emulated coffee shop palette, and replaced it with something that can only be described as something between Jackson Pollack and the Tate-LaBianca crime scene.
“I’ll have the “Death to Pigs” pulled pork sandwich, please.”
In addition to the extraordinary paint job inside were artifacts “celebrating” our town’s heritage as a place that once manufactured explosives. Whatever the desired intent the end result was more closely linked to our history of a Superfund site. Gone were the standard issue black and white server’s garb. It was replaced with dungarees held up by suspenders. There was also an obnoxious train whistle that announced the spinning a wheel of (mis)fortune where you could get a 25% discount off your Cobb Salad.
What a mess. They could not be serious. Thankfully, they still had a fully stocked bar where I needed two fingers of Jameson’s just to make sense of it all.
Recently, a new theory was offered to me over the din as I sat in lament one evening at Farelli’s. Perhaps the changes at Harbor Rock were always intended to be temporary. Maybe the owners knew they were going under and decided to ruin the interior to spite their landlord. Wouldn’t it be perfect? The lease is written in such a way where the tenant is responsible for all interior modifications.
Basically, what that means is you pay the rent you can do whatever you want to do inside, including projectile vomiting paint onto the walls. What better way to say Effhew to the owners? That’s what I think of your $25 a square foot.
The January 9th edition of the Hometown Clipper ran a story and interview called The Cost of Doing Business in DuPont. While it made no mention of the nutty theory I heard shortly beforehand, it did offer a glimpse into the world of operating a business in DuPont Station.
The leasing agents (The Neil Walter Company) and ownership of DuPont Station remain steadfast in their assertion that their $25 per square foot rates are competitive for the region. Business owners disagree. And, if you read the article where it cites Hawks Prairie as a basis for comparison to DuPont Station you have to stop and ask what does Lacey have that DuPont does not?
Traffic.
It seems insane to charge Hawks Prairie prices in DuPont when you consider the disparity in the volume of traffic. It also seems to be corroborated by Anytime Fitness owner, Helen Ireland, “I think the biggest issue is that DuPont does not have the people or traffic to justify that high of a lease. I may be paying the same in Yelm; however the traffic is amazing out there. I have been open for nine months and have hundreds more members than DuPont after three years.”
What is bothersome to me is what I perceive as the somewhat cavalier attitude expressed by DuPont Station owner Mike Rabstoff. From the Clipper: Developer Mike Rabstoff of DuPont Station Partners said rent costs can not be entirely blamed for business failure. “In any retail community you have businesses that come and go. One business closing does not a failure make,” said Rabstoff during a phone interview. “Any time that a tenant decides to scale back or close, there are other factors involved. It’s not because of the setting, quality of the development or the community,” he said.
Really, Mike? Then how about three, four, or five failures? What does that say? It may not be “…because of the setting, quality of the development or the community” it may be due to some decisions that were made. It also speaks to the vision and marketing of the property.
The citizens of DuPont were giddy with excitement when that stretch of Wilmington was developed, it represented freedom from having to trudge up to Lakewood or slog down to Lacey. We were like a sixteen year old getting our keys to our first clunker. We were a little too blinded by the thought of what could be than tempered by the reality of what was.
A jewelry store? A self serve ceramic decorating studio? Sure, they didn’t have a snowball’s chance, but what about a smoothie shop? A bakery? A coffee house?
It was a dubious pairing of ridiculous businesses for the community and inept business ownership in some of the cases, to be sure. It also reflects the willingness to rent to anybody regardless of the viability of the tenant. Basically, if you can afford the $25 per square foot then here are the keys.
As much as I want to see a viable business occupy the old Harbor Rock I shudder to think what could go in there next. Who will be willing to fork over the nearly $120,000 a year in rent?
It also makes you wonder what the outlook is now. DuPont Station could not keep spaces leased when the economy in this region was still sound. Now they have that soft pillow of the poor economy to lay their heads upon. Just how much responsibility does DuPont Station bear in this matter? After all, the remaining development around Ross Plaza has slowed and even Venture Bank cannot rent out its retail space. Will the planned growth be enough to push the central business district over the top?
There still remains the here and now, and sadly, it appears DuPont Station is just as happy to let the Harbor Rock space remain vacant and collect no rent rather than lower the rent to attract a possible anchor to the corner spot at Center Drive. Probably because lowering the rent will require messy lease renegotiations with the rest of the tenants hanging by a thread. Selling the property to invigorated ownership is out of the question too, since it likely is nowhere near the claimed valuation of $62M listed on the Miravest, Inc. website.
For some reason, marketing the property in DuPont has also fallen off of the radar. Just for giggles go ahead and click the Miravest link and go to the page representing DuPont Station. The website listed on that page is no longer in existence. There is your Miravest DuPont Station marketing plan. Bupkis.
An interesting aside is that the dead website link that Miravest used in marketing DuPont Station was www.dupontstation.net. Dot net. Why not dot com? If you google www.dupontstation.com you will find that it is offered for sale. Some eighth grade google skills will reveal that the phone number provided is to none other than Arsland, Inc.
Et tu!
If you are still not convinced that DuPont Station ownership is behaving like absentee landlords then just go back to last summer. Anything thing jog your memory?
The fact of the matter is that the people of DuPont have been spoon fed a steaming pile for the last several years regarding this property. Take, for instance, this second hand smoke that was blown up our colon in 2006, “Mike Rabstoff (DuPont Station Partners LLC) provided an update on Economic Development for 2006/2007. He stated that currently they are working to provide a 106 unit apartment complex, Walgreens, Kindercare, and grocery store. He also informed Council that DuPont Station Partners donated as a gold level contributor to the Centennial Celebration Event Fund.” – Source: DuPont City Council meeting minutes, June 13, 2006.
Gold level? In DuPont? Say it ain’t so!
Do you think any of these potential businesses balked once they found out what their rents were going to be?
So while DuPont Station is transmogrifying Wilmington Avenue into a Pottersville, the city wrings their hands claiming to be powerless. It is private property and if an owner wants to keep a property vacant so that it contributes to blight, well, what can they do? Surely, a community development director, with actual marketing experience, who can oversee the direction of the sputtering local business district would seem a logical start. Can someone please give me a shout out on who is fulfilling this role currently?
One year and little motivation to fill the Harbor Rock space. So, this is how we are preparing for the 2010 golf tournament, greet our visitors with vacate store fronts? Of course, as DuPont Station sits idle and collecting no additional tax revenue for city, the city hatches a plan to impose a tax on the golf course. If the city is so keen on creating a new tax then why not consider a vacancy tax? A commercial property not adding to the city coffers is actually taking away from the city coffers.
Ohhhh…..don’t get me started…..
DuPont Station = Tax Write-Off
The taxpaying citizen then has to carry a bigger burden to fund our dissolving fire department and other overhead. Great job!
The other business areas in town seem to be busy, based on the cars in parking lots. Same rents? Why do they work and DuPont Station not? There could be more to it.
I doubt we will ever know for Rabstoff has a tight reign on anyone working for him, and he is the master of putting blame on everyone else but himself.
The recent debate at City Hall over the text change to add a drive-thru to DuPont Station is somewhat telling as to where our council members are on this issue. You have Trotter, a busineswoman herself, wanting to keep traffic out of the city, fearing it would interfere with pedestrians walking thru downtown. Yet in order to get pedestrians into downtown, they have to drive in off of I-5, so her arguement doesn’t hold. A recognized fast-food chain would actually increase traffic counts into the City. And if you were to put another drive thru in, then DuPont Station would be the place to put it.
I hear that someone from within the City of DuPont is being recruited heavily to be promoted to the Community Development position. But the individual does not have a degree in economics. Nor does he know the land use code.
And Rabstoff is the winner with a drive thru going into town with the increased traffic, even though he has not lifted a finger. The finger he has the city wrapped around. We sure are showing our desparation in hammering through the drive thru. We went from quaint village to I-5 lay over in 7 short years. Maybe we can build another fast food joint next to the civic center. That way the city leadership can stare at it all day.
Someone told me a while back of a great business to bring to that space…. Hooters! The one in Lakewood is always packed with people and it appeals to the single military folks in town and near Fort Lewis. We are already a community of national branded stores, why not add a Hooters to the menu! To those who say it wouldn’t blend with the planned community look and feel, get real and get over yourself. Anything is better than an empty storefront.
As much as that idea would piss off the women in our community, I know it would do well because of our neighbor next door…Fort Lewis. I’m still not crazy though about marketing to sexism.
I’m female and I love Hooters. Although I haven’t been to the one here, I used to go to the one in Tempe AZ all the time. Great wings.
I doubt Hooters would open a second location so close to the first in fear of canniblizing business from their Tacoma branch. Besides, the Harbor Rock location is too small. I doubt any national restaurant would want into that space.
It looks bigger than it seats. Wonder if the kitchen is huge??
What a great read.
If something does not change, Our city center will soon become “Pottersville”.
How many of you get an erie “plastic” feeling when you visit the DuPont Station businesses?
I, for one, do not really like going to any of them. It is a really hollow feeling I get to go there. Perhaps because it is so empty and open on the walk and street in front. Nobody really present…
Palisade Res, that is because the space is really two businesses. The Wilmington side has another entrance if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it just looks big because you remember it without any customers!
The empty feeling is projected by the business owners wondering how they will make the monthly payment with so few customers.
That area around Harbor Rock is really sad, the only place with a bit of soul is viva la mexico
(Built and owned by someone other than Rabstoff)
There is a serious flaw in DuPont Station that is going to make it even more difficult to complete with new businesses.
The architectural layout is a 1990’s era concept – integration of apartment/offices/shopping into a high end urban creation. By the time our economy picks up, the idea will be so outdated, nobody will want to exist in that style of shopping venue.
Do you see this concept being built anywhere else in America? It will not fly, the idea is dead. It is too risky. Not in our area.
Palisade Res I’m trying to get you started, want to hear your thoughts – How could a Community Development Director help resolve this issue in our city?
What I don’t understand is why there is a dentist, vision center, and chiropractor on this strip. You would think having them in a medical center building would make more sense. Anyway, we miss Harbor Rock and a place in DuPont where you could get a burger and a beer.
We need a community development director who has an economic background to promote our downtown core to potential developers and investors. We have no one right now other than hte city administrator who is overwhelmed (but not overpaid) and is not familiar with DuPonts land use code AT ALL. Rabstoff keeps saying that grocery stores or any stores for that matter, think residents won’t shop here and will continue to go down to Lacey or up to Lakewood. He claims that the marketing data isn’t there. I don’t believe him. DuPont is an island, and that does effect marketing data for our community. What I don’t understand is why doesn’t the City have a better idea on who is living her, what the income levels are. They don’t do any type of polling or data collecting. If they did, and the data supported a major grocery store chain or drug store coming to town, we as a city, could provide additional marketing data to help bring one here. Instead the City sits on it’s heels and lets Rabstoff run the show. And residents continue to pick up the bill. Every week I hear of another complaint about how the City is difficult to work with when trying to open up a new business. That’s another reason why we need a Comm. Dev. Dir. in place, to help monitor those complaints and make improvements. To promote someone within the organization would be a huge mistake. We need a fresh set of eyes looking at our situation and new solutions. It’s time to grow up.
What a cop out to think people will still go to Lacey or Lakewood. It is out of sheer necessity. Then they rent out store fronts to a hodge podge of businesses. They scratch their heads when they fail but don’t lift a finger to market the area via print ad or radio spots. Did anyone really think that a jewelry store would thrive in DuPont? Would you casually pull of the freeway for a tennis braclet? There is no vision in DuPont Station. Drive across the street and you can’t find a parking spot most days.
Nice mold shown in the last photo. Such a perfect indictment of what is growing in our city center. The owners are a huge part of the reason this parcel sits idle but the city should not be left off the hook. They should be turning the screws on this guy. The problem is they don’t have a tool box in which to do it.
A lot of misnomers stated here. Every developer has done extensive studies on the demographics in DuPont. Colliers CB Ellis have done detailed studies, right down to the type of shampoo that is bought. The City is also amemberof the Tacoma/PierceCounty Economic Development Board.Prospective developers check out DuPont all the time. The biggest draw back according to the studies is the commissary. 40% of population in DuPont is military. Every military family that I talk to says they would prefer shoppoing at a neighborhood store. But since grocery is so small a profit margin, they are hesitant to buck the figures. The City has statistics, the average household income in DuPont is $71k. That is about double the average for Pierce Co. Do you think that businesses and developers should have to perform to the letter of the law?? Or should they be left off the hook?? Should final occupancy permits be given if the punchlist is not fulfilled?? Why isn’t anyhone jumping all over Venture BAnk. If you compare their $30/sq ft price to Rabstoff $24/25. Plus fig out how many actual sq ft are empty. Probably closeto the same amount. It’s free enterprise who anyone leases to.
Why don’t you answer your own questions Fartter? You jumped from demographics and the inability to draw in a market because of the commissary then to something about developers not performing to the law and punch lists, then you end it with a poke at Venture Bank. Was there a point somewhere in there? Maybe Venture has as much vacant square footage (doubtful) but they are not in the business of retail. Sure, it would be nice to see the dream fulfilled but for that is a weak defense of Rabstoff. I believe that between the city and the partner of DuPont station, there is enough blame to go around. Who knows, all the citizens see is a parade of failed businesses and curious choices.
What I find curious is that the retail spaces across Center Dr are so successful, you cannot find parking at lunch time. What is the secret sauce in that recipe?
Fartter – every military family you speak to would prefer shopping at a neighborhood store to the commissary? Prices at the commissary are about 30% lower than most markets (but not WalMart) and are free of sales tax. The commissary is also co-located with the exchange, which is a large, comprehensive retail store with lower prices and no sales tax. Finally, the commissary/exchange complex is close to DuPont. I’d be interested in your explanation of why these customers would prefer to pay significantly higher prices at a neighborhood market.
Yon’s is no more. Sign came down yesterday.