2016 Downtown Economic Indicators

New Business Arrivals- 12

During 2016, Northampton has seen the following businesses open their doors to customers:

• Pure Barre Northampton, 63 King Street
• The Blue Marble, Thornes Marketplace, 150 Main Street
• Green Earth Computer, 20 Crafts Avenue
• Bombay Royale, 1 Roundhouse Plaza #4
• Wireless Zone, 180 Main Street
• The Grateful Hound, 114 Main Street
• Brits R Us, 16 Armory Street
• Pita Pockets, 91 Main Street
• Glazed Donut, 8 Crafts Avenue
• Oriental Taste, 41 Main Street
• Con Vino, Armory Street
• Antiquarian, 108 Main Street

Business Moves Within Downtown - 8

Several downtown businesses have relocated within downtown for varying reasons such as expansion for some or adjustments in their physical floor space needs.

• The Hempest, relocated from 177 Main to 2 Conz Street #4
• Birdhouse Music, relocated from 14 King Street to 164 Main Street (Relocated)
• Deals & Steals, Closed locations on Main and Pleasant and consolidated into 1 Pearl Street
• Happy Valley, relocated/expanded from 229 Main Street to 177 Main Street
• Northampton Running, relocated to 28 Pleasant Street from 90 King Street
• Nourish Wellness Cafe, Moved from a kiosk at 150 Main Street to storefront location 10 Bridge Street
• Theory Skate Shop, relocated from 16 Armory Street to 32 Main Street
• Edward Jones, From 54 Main in Florence to 6 Market Street in Northampton

Retentions and/or New Ownership -3

• A2Z Science and Learning Store, 57 King Street continues with new ownership
• Faces, 175 Main Street also continues with new owners
• Cedar Chest, 150 Main Street (Thorne's) completed a major floor space expansion

Business Closings - 11

The following downtown businesses have closed:

• Berkshire Yogurt, 10 Bridge Street
• Subway, 93 Main Street
• Iris Photo, 164 Main Street
• Hinge, 48 Main Street
• Western Village Ski and Sports, 32 Main Street
• Mercantile, 108 Main Street
• Sip, 8 Crafts Avenue
• Zen, 41 Main Street
• One Bar, 1 Pearl Street
• Dunkin Donuts, 273 Main Street
• Don Gleason's Camping Supply, 9 Pearl Street

The projects below represent growth and investment into the vibrancy of downtown Northampton.

Major Developments 2016

Downtown Storefront Vacancies

• There are 14 vacant storefronts out of 220, which translates to a vacancy rate of 6.4%
• 10 of these storefronts have been vacant for several years or more
• During 2016 18 storefronts transitioned from vacant to occupied or leased immediately

Hotel Occupancy Tax Revenues 

Note:  Analyzing Hotel and Meals tax revenues can be a good barometer of consumer spending in giving viewers a trend line over time and based on the tax rates, one can calculate total spending on meals or hotel revenues.

Hotel Tax Definition: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts imposes a room occupancy excise tax of 5.7%. The law allows cities and towns the option to levy an additional 6%, which Northampton does.

Hotel Tax Analysis: Tax revenue collections show that hotel patronage has been essentially flat since 2012 with an increase of nearly 26% in 2015 which may be attributable to the Autumn 2014 opening of the new Fairfield Inn. Alternatively, in November of 2015, the Clarion Inn closed but despite this decline in hotel rooms, revenues for 2016 decreased slightly. At 50% occupancy with 1.5 persons per room, Northampton's 357 hotel rooms will generate at least 97,700 visitors who at 50.00 per day could generate $4.8 million in consumer spending.

Meals Tax Revenues

Meals Tax Definitions: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts imposes a sales tax on meals (6.25%)

purchased from restaurants. Locals towns and cities have the option to add an additional 0.75% to the Meals Tax (Total 7.0%) with the revenues from the 0.75% remitted back to the city. Northampton exercised this "local option" in 2009. Please note that the meals tax revenues represent city wide revenues although the downtown would contribute a major share to these figures.

Meals Tax Analysis:

Meals tax revenues for Northampton yield the largest totals in Hampshire but have trended on a consistent plateau level. In 2015, revenues climbed 10% or $65,000.

Parking Revenues

Parking Revenue Defintion:City of Northampton revenue for garage, parking lot, and on-street parking

Analysis: Parking revenues have trended on a stable plateau level since 2013.

Retail Rents

Retail Rents Definitions: The table below provides a sample of retail rents for Northampton and other communities taken in the early months of 2016. The sources used to gather this information are Loop Net, local brokerage web sites, and conversations with downtown tenants and building owners.

Retail Rent Analysis:  It is evident that Northampton retail rents lead the market locally, regionally and even compare to major retail markets in Connecticut and New York. All rental amounts are per square foot.

Downtown Northampton Building Values

• Similar sized and purposed buildings were sampled from the downtowns of Northampton, Amherst, and Middletown, CT. Middletown is a small sized city with its downtown shared by Wesleyan University and Middlesex Community College.
• Northampton buildings had an average price per square foot of $143 versus $81.14 for Middletown, this is a 70% differential.