Will deep discounts lure businesses to downtown Ellsworth?
Two Ellsworth commercial property owners are taking matters into their own hands to address the high vacancy rate they say has become all too common a sight on the city’s Main Street: offer deep discounts to prospective businesses looking to set-up shop in Ellsworth’s downtown.
Jim Pendergist and Mark Rosborough, who co-own a building at 112 Main St. that currently sits half-empty after a former tenant moved to another location, are trying to lure businesses with the following proposition: If a business signs a three-year contract for the location, only 50% of the normal rent will be required for the first six months and then 75% for the following six. After the first year, the rate would return to its full amount, according to The Ellsworth American.
Rosborough will be following the same reduced payment arrangement for the building he owns at 71 and 73 Main St., where there are additional vacancies.
“You’ve got to make downtown Ellsworth an attraction, not a distraction,” Pendergist told the American. “And the distraction right now is empty storefronts.”
Micki Sumpter, Ellsworth’s economic development director, told the American that the city of Ellsworth has contacted approximately 130 businesses that could be future tenants of the properties, touting the deep discounts.
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