The Harvard Square Theater, located at 10 Church St., is owned by billionaire investor Gerald L. Chan. The property has been vacant for 13 years. By Amanda Y. Su

By Jaya N. Karamcheti and Kevin Zhong, Crimson Staff Writers

13 hours ago

Gerald L. Chan — billionaire investor, Harvard donor, and prominent Harvard Square property owner — is under fire from city officials for the 13-year vacancy of the Harvard Square Theatre.

The theater, which sits on 10 Church St. across from the First Parish Church, has sat vacant since 2012. On Monday evening, the Cambridge City Council will vote on a policy order to invite Chan to present his plans for the property.

Since a March meeting about vacant properties throughout the city, the Council has considered options to reduce the number of empty storefronts — including imposing fines and taxes on owners.

In response, Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, wrote in a public statement that she is opposed to the fines on developing businesses.

“It has always been our preference to partner with property owners and the city to use unleased space in more useful and community-oriented ways until leases are signed or development plans are underway,” she wrote.

In addition, Jillson publicized a letter from her to Chan urging him to revive the theater before its 100th anniversary in 2026.

“Take your investment to the community a step further by leading the restoration of the movie theater and reactivating live performances,” she wrote.

Jillson also recognized the negative economic impact of the vacant theater on Harvard Square.

“Gerald, this once-thriving, now desolate and ignored section of Church Street is unsafe and a blight to our district,” she wrote. “When it was operational, on average 1000 people a day visited the theatre.”

“The loss of entertainment use has had and continues to have an enormous daily adverse impact on the entire district,” she added.

The theater was first opened in 1926, but has been vacant since 2012 after it was sold by AMC. Chan purchased the property in 2015, and proposed a plan two years later to demolish the building and construct a new mixed-use space.

The Cambridge Historical Commission approved the project after a series of public hearings under the condition that the renovations were also supported by the Cambridge Planning Board.

But, according to Charles M. Sullivan, the executive director of the Cambridge Historical Commission, Chan and his team never made it before the Cambridge Planning Board.

“He’s never spoken to us, and he’s never made any public pronouncements that I know of,” Sullivan said.

Dan White, the manager of Chan’s company, Morningside, wrote in a statement that the Covid-19 pandemic impeded initial plans for the theater’s revitalization.

“Our previous plan, which was well received and on its way to final approval, was derailed by the pandemic, requiring us to reappraise what might work best for the site,” White wrote. “We continue to work diligently on these efforts.”

But no changes have been made to the theater since the plan fell apart in 2019. Now, local leaders are seeking action to bring Chan in front of the council.

Chan has numerous property holdings in Harvard Square, including 40 Bow St., 115 Mount Auburn St., and 39 JFK St., all developed sites occupied by operating businesses such as Blue Bottle, Warby Parker and an apartment complex. But Jillson noted that the theater has not seen the same attention from Chan.

“It seems incompatible to many, myself included, that since acquiring the theater in 2014, you subsequently purchased six additional Harvard Square properties while this asset sits fallow,” Jillson wrote.

Jillson added that she hopes to work with Chan and other business owners to restore the theater.

“Let’s work together to celebrate the theatre’s historic importance, resume its reputation as a cultural destination, repair its cherished mural, and restore its value as an economic driver to our district,” Jillson wrote.

— Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.

— Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.

Time Out says

The Bookish Ball, a celebration of Harvard Square’s bookstores complete with a Revolutionary theme, returns to Harvard Square on April 12 from 11am to 4pm. This free, family-friendly extravaganza put on by The Harvard Square Business Association, in partnership with the City of Cambridge, features literary tours of Harvard Square, sweet treats, live music, and special book-themed promotions within Harvard Square businesses. The festivities begin at 11am on Harvard’s Smith Campus Plaza, where you’ll be greeted by Elizabeth Glover (portrayed by Linda Peck), who established the first printing press in the Thirteen Colonies on nearby Dunster Street. Grab a “Passport to Wisdom” and visit Harvard Square’s five book stores, Groiler Poetry Book Shop, Harvard Book Store, Harvard COOP, Lovestruck Books, and Rodney’s Bookstore to collect stamps. Return to the Smith Campus Center plaza by 4pm to be entered to win the Grand Prize – a one-night stay at the Sheraton Commander Hotel, $300 gift certificate for The Hourly Oyster House, and a $50 gift certificate for each of the five bookstores.

By Spencer Buell Globe Staff,Updated April 6, 2025, 8:15 a.m.

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CAMBRIDGE — It’s been 13 years since the Harvard Square Theatre showed its last blockbuster, and hosted its last “Rocky Horror”show. The only reminders of its heyday are a yellowing marquee and a graffiti-tagged mural.

Now, with frustration mounting over a building that has been vacant longer than any other in Harvard Square, Cambridge officials want answers from the person with the power to change that: its owner, the investor and philanthropist Gerald Chan.

City Councilors thisweek are expected to take the uncommon step of asking Chan, one of the largest property owners in Harvard Square, to appear before them to account for the holdup.

“It’s been too long,” said Councilor Marc McGovern. “It’s time for him to do something.”

Chan, a Harvard-trained scientist and private equity and venture capital investor, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Dan White, the manager of the company controlled by Chan, said in a statement it remains “fully committedto bringing forward a new plan to develop the site.”

Related: End of an era: The Pit, a landmark of Harvard Square, is demolished

“Ultimately, our goal is to create a vibrant space on Church Street by developing a venue that will create jobs, help drive visitors to Harvard Square and, most importantly, bring the site back to life and carry it into a new era,” White said.

But many of his neighbors are getting impatient.

The theater isn’t much to look at now, and in truth was never an architectural marvel. From the street, it’s mostlyjust a long, tall brick wall.

But what it lacks in curb appeal, the nearly 100-year-old Harvard Square Theatre makes up for in nostalgia, and, say many with fond memories of it, potential.

It was a cinema back in Hollywood’s Golden Age, when its entrance fronted Mass. Ave. It hosted live music of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, David Bowie, and Tom Waits. For years, it was a long-term home for superfans of the cult film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and people came from across Greater Boston to get glammed up in fishnets and leather for the shows.

By the 2010s, when it was owned by the multiplex chain AMC, it had seen better days. It closed in 2012 and has never reopened.

Lots of people had their cultural education there, said Ned Hinkle, who grew up seeing both blockbuster and arthouse films in the quirky multiscreen theater, and is now creative director at The Brattle, a single-screen theater that is the last of its kind in Harvard Square. They’ve held out hope it isn’t gone for good.

“Since it closed, we’ve been fantasizing about everything that we could do in that space,” Hinkle said. “There’s such a history in that building with all different kinds of entertainment, and it’s sort of crazy that it’s just sitting there rotting.”

When it closed, AMC sold it to real estate titan Richard Friedman, who intended to renovate the space and keep the lights on.

“We didn’t buy it to flip it. We bought it to run it as a theater if we could,” Friedman said in a recent interview.

But he found the aging building, which by then needed significant investment to bring it up to code, was too far gone to save without losing lots of money.

“We couldn’t figure it out, which is not our style, because we usually figure out complicated problems,” said Friedman, whose firm built the One Dalton tower in Boston, and the Charles and Liberty hotels. “I care about Harvard Square and I care about the culture here. It was just a tough nut.”

He sold it two years later to Chan, who owns multiple properties in the square and remains a major figure at his alma mater: The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is named after his late father, after Chan’s Morningside Foundation gave the university a $350 million donation.

Other parcels under Chan’s control have flourished. The Cambridge Historical Commission has lauded his work restoring properties such as 40 Bow Street.

Chan once proposed a showstopper of a plan for the theater. In 2019, he devised a scheme that had wide support in the city, which would see it replaced by an office building with a hulking LED screen, with room for a two-screen movie theater.

It stalled. The COVID pandemic that hit the following year brought projects of all sizes to a halt and upended the market for office space. The movie theater business slumped, and the return of viewers to in-person screenings has been uneven. Actor and onetime Cantabrigian Casey Affleck publicly expressed interest in taking over the theater. That fizzled as well.

The Harvard Square Theatre has remained dark.

Meanwhile, its absencehas had an impact on business in the square, said Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, who said the theater once brought 1,000 visitors a day into the neighborhood. The commercial district has 11 storefronts that have been vacant for at least six months, according to a database created by the city.

Jillson ideally would like to see entertainment return to the theater — movies, live performance, or both — so it can again be a draw to the square. But at this point she’s not picky.

“Anything is better than what we have now, which is nothing,” Jillson said. “Certainly what’s not helpful is buying properties and not developing them, and not understanding the negative impact of leaving a building or space empty.”

Related: George Howell comes full circle in Harvard Square

White, Chan’s business partner, didn’t respond to questions through a spokesman about their specific intentions with the property and whether they would commit to including an arts component in any redevelopment.

It’s expensive to do nothing. Last year alone, about $190,000 in taxes were assessed on the property, according to city records.

Still, it’s not an ideal time to be making big construction plans, experts say, as markets reel from new tariffs and renewed recession fears, and developers confront uncertainty about the kinds of properties that will be profitable to build, especially in a place like Harvard Square.

“The obstacles are probably the highest they’ve been in several decades,” said John DiGiovanni, who also owns properties in the square, including The Garage shopping center, as well as the building that houses music venue The Sinclair.

But that’s no excuse for letting a historic theater fester in the heart of Harvard Square, DiGiovanni said. If anyone can solve the problems this property presents, he said, it’s Chan.

“He’s a leader in all sorts of areas. He’s a model in the biotech world. We need that kind of focus with his real estate,” DiGiovanni said. “This is a really special, unique urban district that deserves good stewards.”

On the street outside the old theater on a recent afternoon, it was surprisingly quiet, despite being rush hour. A man spread out a flattened cardboard box to take a load off, lounging next to a fading collage of painted movie characters like Robin Williams’s “Mrs. Doubtfire” and R2D2, from “Star Wars.” Above, the Beatrice Sargent “Women’s Community Cancer Project” mural that clings to its exterior wall showed signs of falling apart — neighbors say a chunk of it recently clattered onto the sidewalk.

On the old marquee, which juts over Church Street, it reads “lifting as we climb,” and “onward and upward we go.”

The faded scene suggests otherwise.

Tired of spending every early morning productivity session and every late night grind in Smith or the Science Center? Or, worse, cosplaying a “cute” cafe grind in none other than Lamont Library Cafe? Well, sometimes a change of scenery (and certainly a better latte) is all it takes to refresh your brain. Luckily, the Square’s just slightly off campus offer no shortage of fun, cozy, and aesthetic coffee shops perfect for studying, chatting, or simply escaping the Harvard bubble. Here’s a list of fan-favorite spots by the T-stops that are 100% worth the trek.

Davis Square

Diesel Cafe

From the outside, Diesel looks like a regular neighborhood spot — but step inside, and it opens up into a spacious, diner-style haven complete with red retro booths, tons of seating, and an actual ice cream bar. It’s a solid study location during the week (although the Wi-Fi gets shut down on weekends). Plus, the seasonal drinks are no joke: Think strawberry mocha lattes alongside classic club sandwiches and an assortment of pastries.

Revival Cafe + Kitchen

Revival feels like walking into a hippie-themed Pinterest board. With its warm wood interiors and chill, boho vibe, it’s the kind of place you’d want to journal or settle into a meet-cute romance novel. The seating is definitely limited and it gets busy fast, but it’s worth it for the daily rotating pastries and dreamy seasonal drinks like rose matchas and salted brown sugar maple lattes.

Porter Square

Simon’s Coffee Shop

Simon’s is a no-frills gem with a very loyal following. The matcha here is so earthy and rich, and there’s a wholesome, local feel to everything — from the handwritten notes customers leave on the walls to the friendly baristas behind the counter. It’s a good spot to grab a drink, stamp a punch card, and get cozy.

Phinista

Phinista is one of the newer additions to Porter Square, and it brings Vietnamese flair to the coffee scene. It’s such a refreshing change of pace compared to some of the commercial chain coffee shops. Whether you’re sipping a phin drip latte or trying a purple-hued phin ube, everything feels intentionally-made and delicious. The menu blends traditional and modern flavors, offering banh mi sandwiches together with honey toasts, nutella crepes, and lychee spritzers, and the space itself is cute without feeling too curated.

Central Square

Verveine

Verveine is a dream if you’re into aesthetics. Think greenhouse vibes, plants in every corner, sunlit tables, and a glass pane through which you can watch bakers rolling out the fresh baguette dough. It’s 100% gluten-free and yes, a little pricey, but the lattes (especially the black sesame and matcha) hit the spot every time. The food, like the wondrously buttery chili biscuit or texturally delightful tiramisu cream puffs, is also top-tier. No laptops allowed on the weekends — which is when the foot traffic reaches a new high each day — but if you get there early enough on the weekdays, it’s a relaxing place to lock in.

1369 Coffee House

A reliable go-to with a cozy, classic feel, 1369 is the kind of place that feels truly homey and “lived-in” in the best way. It’s a proper coffeehouse with nothing too extravagant, solid drinks, and enough seating to hole up with your laptop for an hour or four. 1369 feels like a hug in cafe form — it’s always a great place to fall back on if all others fail (or get too crowded).

Kendall Square

PRB Boulangerie

PRB is for the pastry lovers, both layman and sophisticated. Run by actual French pastry chefs, this spot is stacked with flaky croissants, mouthwatering madeleines, and lattes that taste like dessert. Get the creme brulee PLEASE — it even comes with a mini croissant topping the whipped cream! While there’s no wifi and it leans more brunchy than study-friendly, it’s still a great spot to unwind with a pain suisse and pretend you’re in Paris.

Ripple Cafe

Attached to the MIT Press Bookstore, Ripple has the slightly chaotic student energy you’d expect — but that adds to the charm. Drinks and pastries are solid (check out their newest menu addition, strawberry cheesecake latte), and there’s usually a crowd of students or tourists typing away. If you’re looking for something campus-adjacent without being on the Harvard campus itself, this is the spot.

Whether you’re chasing the perfect matcha, a new study nook, or just need an excuse to escape campus for a few hours, these coffee shops have you covered. So, hop on the Red Line, grab a latte, and romanticize your academic burnout in style!

By Valerie Wencis Globe correspondent,Updated March 25, 2025, 10:00 a.m.

Aficionados of Darwin’s — the beloved coffee shop with multiple Cambridge outposts that closed its doors at the end of 2022 after 30 years during the pandemic — cautiously eyed its flagship location on Mt. Auburn Street as it changed hands multiple times since. But the current iteration, Luxor Café, seems to have staying power.

Walking through its doors, one feels transported to Egypt, from the expansive stone wall of hieroglyphics to the evocative vocals of Umm Kulthum playing overhead. Wander downstairs, and you’ll find an intimate space reminiscent of an Egyptian tea salon, with poppy and pomegranate cushioned benches, dangling mosaic lamps, and iridescent sadaf tiled tables. It appears no detail was spared in the rebirth of this space, down to the stunning, sadaf-tiled double-sink-and-mirror bathroom.

But perhaps what most harkens back to the motherland is the name itself — the capital of ancient Egypt, Luxor is known for its abundance of monuments, temples, and tombs — as well as the scarab logo. Holding a to-go cup adorned with what he calls the “cartoon version” of the scarab with a coffee bean for a body, owner Abdelrahman (“Abdel”) Hassan explains that the oval beetle “symbolizes rebirth, health, rejuvenation — basically a lot of stuff that food and coffee does for you.”

There were 109 empty ground-floor storefronts across Cambridge as of last fall, 25% more than there were a year earlier and double the number there were in 2019, according to city data

By Greg Ryan • Published March 19, 2025 • Updated on March 19, 2025 at 2:56 pm

Cambridge city councilors are upset their neighborhoods are seeing more vacant storefronts. They’re also upset they can’t seem to do much about it.

There were 109 empty ground-floor storefronts across Cambridge as of last fall, 25% more than there were a year earlier and double the number there were in 2019, according to city data. Nearly half of the storefronts have been empty for at least two years. A few, like the former AMC Loews theater in Harvard Square that closed in 2012, have been vacant for much longer.

This hidden gem pizzeria tucked off Winthrop Street offers some of the best Sicilian slices in the Boston area!

 Ameera Hammouda – Senior Staff Writer • March 24, 2025

With a hidden side door on Winthrop Street in Harvard Square, it’s easy to miss Pinocchio’s Pizza & Subs—and it’d be a shame to do so. The pizza spot fed many high-profile figures from tech moguls to Hollywood A-listers before they were famous, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. Step inside and the walls are lined with all the icons who’ve enjoyed a slice, or a pie, from Pinocchio’s.

The Sicilian-style pizza spot’s been around since 1966, moving to Harvard Square in the 1980s! Their most beloved slice is the Sicilian tomato basil. Try any of their square Sicilian slices—you won’t be disappointed.

While it’s a hidden gem due to its sequestered entrance, the pizza spot is incredibly popular among Harvard Students, especially for late night grubs or after a Harvard-Yale game. Regulars simply call is “Noch’s.” As noted in the hit series, Suits, everyone at Harvard knows this is the place for the Square’s best square.

Author Michael Vyskocil

March 24th 9:35 AM

Stock Image

A growing group of bagel shops that launched from a backyard pickup window in Connecticut is opening another Boston-area location.

NBC10 News Boston reported that PopUp Bagels is planning to open in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, 1430 Massachusetts Ave., later this year. The six-story, 50,000-square-foot College House building will be the base for its Cambridge business. According to a company news release, PopUp Bagels will serve hot, whole bagels meant to be “gripped, ripped, and dipped” into the brand’s specialty schmears, which include Calabrian Chili Butter and Sour Cream & Onion Cream Cheese.

An opening date for the Harvard Square location has not been announced.

PopUp Bagels has experienced rapid expansion since it debuted in Boston’s Seaport District. Another bagel shop is being planned for Somerville’s Assembly Row. Local franchisee Brian Harrington is directing all the Boston-area locations.

“After the success of our Seaport location and the great feedback from Assembly Row, it’s clear that Bostonians love what we’re doing,” said PopUp founder Adam Goldberg in an interview with What Now Boston. “We’re excited to bring hot bagels to Harvard Square and continue growing our presence in the city.”

Goldberg launched PopUp Bagels in 2020 from his home in Westport, Connecticut. The brand has since expanded to 10 locations across Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, and several Florida extensions are in the works.

Learn more about PopUp Bagels on the company’s website.

By Kara Baskin Globe Correspondent,Updated March 20, 2025, 11:09 a.m.

Fund-raisers: The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) hosts a Taste of the Food Bank fund-raiser on Thursday, May 8, at their Yawkey Distribution Center (70 South Bay Ave.). They aim to raise $1 million to support hunger relief.

Jody Adams (La Padrona) and Steve DiFillippo (Davio’s) host the event, with lots of acclaimed chefs and mixologists on the roster. Taste food from Karen Akunowicz (Bar Volpe; Fox & the Knife); Joanne Chang (Flour; Myers + Chang); Andy Husbands (The Smoke Shop); Erin Miller (Urban Hearth); Peter Nguyễn (Le Madeline); Cassie Piuma (Sarma); Douglass Williams (MIDA); and lots more. See the full lineup and get tickets at www.tasteofthefoodbank.com.

In Boston, Stillwater and Sloane’s chef-owner Sarah Wade runs a Stillwater Strong fund-raiser to support residents in her native Oklahoma as they battle wildfires, particularly in the town of Stillwater.

Twenty percent of sales from pork mac and cheese at Stillwater (120 Kingston St.) and an Oklahoma onion burger at Sloane’s (197 N Harvard St.) will go to United Way Payne County; Wade will also donate $2 from each “Oklahoma Strong” Old Fashioned cocktail. The fund-raiser runs through Tuesday, April 1.

Save the date: Taste of Somerville happens at Boynton Yards (101 South St.) on Wednesday, June 14; the event traditionally benefits a local charity and features some of the city’s most-loved restaurants: Celeste, Juliet, La Brasa, Union Square Donuts, and more. Check out the details at www.tasteofsomerville.org.

Coming soon: New York-based PopUp Bagels expands to Harvard Square later this year (1430 Massachusetts Ave.), joining a busy Seaport location and an upcoming one at Assembly Row. They’re known for serving whole bagels with a side of schmears in flavors both classic and unusual, like spicy vodka sauce and pumpkin spice.

More storefronts are going empty in Cambridge, but there are few tools available to reverse trend

By Madison Lucchesi

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Marc LevyBy April 2017, the AMC Loews theater in Cambridge’s Harvard Square had been closed for five years and city councillors were threatening Gerald Chan with a land seizure. It has never been leased.

There’s really one tool Cambridge has to get deadbeat property owners to fill long-empty commercial spaces with tenants: Getting them to show up and explain themselves.

City councillors explained their shortage of options in fixing Cambridge’s worsening vacant storefront problem Monday after getting advice from the city solicitor at a March 11 committee meeting.

People want the city to “tax and fine the heck out of people who sit on their property,” councillor Paul Toner said. “We were advised that we actually cannot do that, and especially we cannot target just one property owner.”

“Our leverage in terms of forcing people to rent their space is nothing really, very little. But we do have the power of the pulpit,” vice mayor Marc McGovern said. “We do have the ability to call people in and hold them accountable for why properties are sitting, five, six, seven, 10 years vacant.”

A meeting with those property owners – none of whom were mentioned by name in either meeting – will be scheduled, Toner said.

Developer Gerald Chan’s AMC Loews theater on Church Street in Harvard Square has been empty for more than 12.5 years, and in year five city councillors threatened him with a land taking if he didn’t develop a plan for its use; the space has never been leased. Chan presented a plan for a 60,000-square-foot building with two lower-level movie screens; street retail; and five stories of office space. He wanted to cover the building’s facade with digital screens. There’s been no action on the plan since a June 2019 test of the cladding.

At the March 11 meeting, business experts urged officials to appreciate the many reasons for empty storefronts and to separate small property owners who are doing their best in hard times from the handful of big property owners seeming to make no effort to fill spaces.

As of November, there were 109 ground-level storefront vacancies in Cambridge, according to the city’s Economic Opportunity and Development department, which does six-month surveys. Forty-six percent of those are considered long-term vacancies because they’ve been vacant more than two years – though a few of these spaces have leases pending, department director Pardis Saffari told councillors at the meeting of their Economic Development & University Relations Committee.

City data goes back to the fall of 2019, when the figure was 54 storefront vacancies.

“It doubled in five years. And I think we have a softening retail market where it could double in the next five years,” said Michael Monestime, president of the Central Square Business Improvement District.

“What happened in that time was a pandemic where people started working from home, people are eating less at the restaurants. Everyone’s online shopping for the ease of it,” Monestime said. “Traditionally, what we use ground-floor retail for is just a dinosaur, almost. We need to be creative about how we activate our commercial districts and what ground floor means.”

Reasons for empty spaces

Considering the changes in the nature of retail, it may be time to look again at zoning law that demands ground-floor retail space be included when a building goes up, said Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association.

“We ended up with more storefront space that we probably need,” Jillson said, some of which lacks flexibility and by necessity waits years for the right tenant to come along. McGovern recalled how the need for a coffee shop was written into the zoning where Masse Hardware closed in Observatory Hill, because it was what neighbors wanted. “It stayed vacant for years and now it’s a day care, because nobody wanted to open a coffee shop,” McGovern said.

Others had more reasons why spaces stay empty. Saffari added reasons such as owner retirements and business closings, building sales and “unsuitable rent increases” to the list.

MJ Pullins, a board member of the small-business association Cambridge Local First and owner of the adult boutique Hubba Hubba, said she leased space in a building where four of nine storefronts are vacant. At her building, during recent “ugly” rent negotiations against the backdrop of a fellow tenant leaving because of mold problems, the landlord “straight out said, ‘Hey, we’re going to take this building down in five to 10 years. We’re just holding on to it to sell it.’”

“It’s a tax write-off,” Pullins said, describing the practice of “land banking” – holding onto real estate as an investment without plans for use in the short term.

Meanwhile, there are companies such as CVS that will leave a space but keep paying the rent specifically to keep it unoccupied. The pharmacy chain did that in Harvard Square for at least three years at a prominent location, Jillson said.

Legal limits

Concerns about empty storefronts that deaden street activity, show neglect and invite rats led city councillors and city staff over the past few years to offer business owners financial and technical support as well as storefront improvement equipment and marketing grants, and to run a free Site Finder program for entrepreneurs looking for space. A proposed policy would have called for a property owner to notify city staff within 90 days of a vacancy, pay a registration fee and put paper or art in the windows “so at least it is inviting as people walk by,” Saffari said. Leasing and contact information would also have been required.

At the March 11 meeting, that language was proposed for a staff review before summer – that vacant storefronts would have to be registered with the city and show leasing availability or status in a window.

Owners could be fined up to $300 per day for failure to comply, or more if the city appealed to the state Legislature for a home rule petition, city solicitor Megan Bayer said. But the fine would have to be the same no matter how big or small the owner.

“We do have a public health, safety and general welfare interest in not having blighted business districts,” Bayer said. “But there are some scofflaws who are not really deterred by a $300-a-day fine.” And in the eyes of the law, she said, “a sliding scale wouldn’t make sense if it’s based on the economic situation of the property owner … the fine has to be based on the actual harm that’s caused by the property looking blighted.”

Sparing the small landlord

The law may not be able to make a distinction between big and small property owners, but the city must, said business leaders at the meeting including Monestime, Jillson and Jason Alves, executive director of the East Cambridge Business Association.

“There are different sets of challenges,” Alves said. “There’s a lot of reasons for vacancies, and my main caution is making sure that our small property owners are not lumped in.”

As an example, while a policy for fines was never enacted, a program for beautification of empty storefronts was. It relied on filling windows with art printed on paper or vinyl – at the property owners’ expense. “The artwork can be very cost prohibitive if it’s vinyl,” Saffari said. “That’s one of the reasons why we stopped the program: It actually wasn’t resulting in the results that we all wanted to see, because only the property owners that can afford it could do it.”

Comparing small property owners with the land-banking property owners – meeting chair Toner guessed there were 10 of them – Jillson warned against enacting a law that would feel like a punishment. “Most people are doing the right thing, but those who are deliberately not, they have some other intention. This will not change that,” Jillson said. In her experience, “for the most part, property owners, particularly those with ground-floor retail, have been trying mightily to rent their spaces.”