Reply to RIP Johnson's -- Now let's move on

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It all sounds good, but here's the "money shot" quote:

While acknowledging that Johnson’s has been a 
valued tenant and the neighboring community benefits from Johnson’s 
services, our fiduciary responsibility to be good stewards of limited 
University resources dictated that [b]we could not agree to an arrangement 
with terms substantially below market value for the location. [/b]

A plant nursery just isn't going to be able to pay as much in rent as another yet national bank branch or a chain restaurant, and certainly won't offer to same real estate 'market value' potetnial as dense redevelopment into more "Generica" mixed-use.  But in the process, we lose essential neighborhood-serving businesses on which the community has depended for a long time.  As a tax-exempt organization that benefits from paying virtually no local taxes, AU should also consider its stewardship responsibilities in the community, rather than imagining itself as a wannabe hedge fund portfolio manager.[/quote]

I disagree. Having Johnson's was not the best use of the space and it certainly shouldn't be up to AU to subsidize Johnson's business model. I would be disappointed if they get a bank branch or some other crappy tenant, but it certainly doesn't sound like that is the intention.

If Johnson's were so vital to the neighborhood and so supported, there wouldn't be so many DC tags in the American Plant(s) on River Road. Clearly people who voting with their pocketbook. While I loved having Johnsons's there, it wasn't the same store over the past 10 years in quality of customer service.

[/quote]

More vibrant upscale Millenial mini-units on top of another Five Guys and a CVS.  Just what the neighborhood needs, especially after Cathedral Commons, Wegmans Town Center, GDS Harvard Square, etc.  But you'll have to drive miles to the Maryland suburbs to buy a flat of plants or to get your shoes re-heeled.  [/quote]

Is there really something illogical about having to drive a mile to the American Plant Center on River Rd for something that most people buy once or twice a year?  We go to CVS 2-3 times a week.  We also eat out a couple of times a week.  Garden supplies we get infrequently.  I'm really having a hard time getting my head around the central grievance here - that peoples lives are ruined because they have to travel a short distance for something they only very rarely need to buy.  Or am I missing something?  I'm certainly not going to miss Johnson's and we did actually shop there.[/quote]

Well, the immediate neighborhood is filled with gardeners. It was a nice outing to do with your kids. They did flowers in a pinch  - bouquets and also corsages etc. I bought a few last minute there. And in some ways it was one more "green space"--open and airy with plants on the sidewalk in an area that feels like it is getting too rapidly built up. Plus, it was an institution. There's a huge body of research on the importance of connections and relationships. Otherwise we are just in some sci fi consumer future where our material needs are taken cared of, but not our social and emotional ones. And that impacts both neighborhood and individual health. I think AU struck a blow against both, in that for all it's 'wisdom' it could not recognize a few simple values.[/quote]

Are you nuts?

I love this line:
[i]
There's a huge body of research on the importance of connections and relationships.[/i]

You've exposed a great danger to our community - all of our relationships are going to be shot because the only retailer in the community anyone in the community went to is closing!

You certainly don't sound like a parent - I'm one and taking the kids to Johnson's has zero appeal to me and given how curmudgeonly you come across I have a feeling you would have glared at me if I had brought them.

Also it is absurd to argue that Johnson's was a greenspace - the physical form of the store was dominated by an asphalt parking lot which was usually a nightmare that also spilled out into the street blocking the sidewalk and adjacent bike lane.  I guess there is something airy about hanging out in a parking lot but there are lots of other places in the neighborhood where you can still do that so if that is how your social and emotional needs are being met you'll be just fine - the CVS parking lot in TT is particularly stimulating and social.

BTW what is rapidly being built-up in the community?

The handful of projects we've had have retained existing buildings and simply converted them and in fact that is mostly what is happening with the projects at 4000 Wisconsin and Fannie Mae.

You need to spend a little more time in your garden and a little less time being paranoid.[/quote]

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