A market study conducted by Strategic Edge advocates that Birmingham
work to encourage retail for its ground-floor spaces, as opposed to
office or residential.
Karen Daskas, co-owner of Tender clothing store at 271 W. Maple,
believes mandating first-floor retail and hiring a broker to recruit
national stores are two viable options.
"I do sympathize with the landlords that have empty storefronts," she
said. "But how do you go about solving that problem? I think you need
to hire a commercial retail broker -- and it may not be a broker from
the southeast part of Michigan. It could be someone from New York or
Chicago ... someone who knows nationally which retailers are expanding."
On the issue of legislating, "We definitely need to do it," Daskas
said. "In most downtowns where there's lots of office space, at 5
o'clock you have a ghost town. I don't want to live in a ghost town."
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