​Brookline’s Storefront Vacancies Hit Record High Amid Pandemic

BROOKLINE, MA — If it seems there are more empty storefronts around town, that's because the town's storefront vacancy rate is higher now than it was during the 2008 recession.

According to the annual storefront vacancy survey this fall, 11.9 percent of storefronts were vacant, up from 10 percent the year before. By way of comparison, the town’s vacancy rate at the height of the 2008 recession was around 7 percent.

"It is the highest that Brookline’s vacancy rate has been in over a decade and perhaps in recent memory," Economic Development and Long-Term Planner Meredith Mooney told the Select Board last week.

Chestnut Hill had the largest vacancy rate, of 27.5 percent and the shops along Commonwealth Avenue came in next with 16.98 percent. Although Coolidge Corner and Brookline Village have the most storefronts, their vacancy rates were 11.2 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.

After the 2008 recession, the vacancy rate declined slightly and stayed under 7 percent until 2014 when it hit 8 percent and headed upward after.

Six more independent retail shops, compared with last year, but gained four new restaurants.

The town had already been struggling with high rent and competition from online retailers before the pandemic struck. Mooney said the increase mirrored trends in the region.

Still, the economic development team said they were surprised the vacancy rate wasn’t higher.

The vacancy rate doesn’t include businesses that had to temporarily close because of the pandemic, Economic Development Director Kara Brewton said, and storefronts in new development projects are only included once construction is finished. Also included in the October tally, were storefronts that were leased but not yet open.

"After the world changed in March, we knew that regardless of what the 2020 vacancy rate would tell us; that special interventions and extraordinary measures would be needed to be taken to help our Brookline businesses survive and recover from the unprecedented toll of the pandemic," Brewton said.

The federal CARES Act funds helped the town give financial assistance to 14 small businesses in June, but Brewton and Mooney said the local businesses needed more federal grant funding.

In an effort to address vacancy issues and enhance the town's commercial vibrancy the economic development department has been taking a lot of calls from businesses and have been working to help local businesses. The department is also putting together a rapid recovery program for businesses.

"Our recommendation is that the town should allocate additional funding - either through the CDBG CARES Act funding or the Town's regular CDBG program - for the small business relief grant program to provide much-needed direct financial assistance to Brookline businesses," said Mooney.

According to the town there are 201 storefronts in Brookline Village. There are 223 storefronts in Coolidge Corner.

Read more: Brookline's Gap In Coolidge Corner To Close After 19 Years

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