A Bubbling Brew of BS - Part 2

I will assume Ashland residents are aware of the 10-50 Main Street Mill Buildings, and the plans for a 40B mixed-use development. If not, the Town has plenty of available information about the property and the proposed project.

The Town was recently informed that MassHousing approved the developer’s 40B proposal as presented and the developer can now submit an application to the Ashland Zoning Board of Appeals, the Board that adjudicates 40B projects.

This is not about the pros and cons of the project. It’s about a comment from a Facebook page, one of many comments that blend together into general noise. But occasionally a specific statement stands out, and deserves to be pointed out as a Bubbling Brew of BS. The comment reads, “For that reason, why would we want to take a historic mill building filled with thriving businesses and replace it with 200 apartments and way smaller commercial.”.

On the surface, this sounds reasonable, and if you know nothing about the Mill Building occupants, you might agree. But what stands out is the use of “thriving” to describe the businesses currently occupying the buildings.

A simple review of the current occupants tells a different story. Yes,  there are several on-going successful businesses, but the the building directories also includes a long list of businesses who no longer occupy the buildings. In their place are “storefront” churches. If my math is correct, I counted (5) churches. There seems to be more churches than actual businesses.

Now, my criticism is not with “storefront” churches. These churches provide community and provide support services to their congregations. This is important work, but there is an economic reason that the Mill Buildings attract churches as tenants. Simply, cheap rent.

And this gets back to describing the current activities of the Mill Buildings as “thriving”.  Normally “thriving” is related to a flourishing establishment, typically reflecting growth, economic growth that enhances the local economy.

But how do “storefront” churches enhance the local Ashland economy? Besides rent payments to the building owner, what positive economic impact occurs? Who else benefits? Do other Ashland businesses benefit by increased sales and foot traffic?

What engagement exists between the “storefront” churches and the Ashland community?

There are plenty of concerns with the Mill Building redevelopment, but the buildings are in serious need of rehabilitation. Anyone would be hard-pressed to describe and defend the current state of the property as “thriving”, and to suggest that “storefront” churches represent part of a “thriving” economic environment is being disingenuous.