Business

Will Whole Foods drive a Midtown real estate boom?

May 07, 2012, 9:44 AM

The Baron de Rothschild once famously said: "When there is blood the streets, buy property."

That may have been true in the 18th Century, but a more practical axiom today may be: When Whole Foods comes to town, buy property.

Salon: [I]t’s also true that the Austin, Texas-based retailer has made a science of putting down roots in urban locations at what often seems to be just the right moment. In Washington, D.C., near Logan Circle in 2000, Uptown New Orleans and the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh in 2002, Boston’s “Latin Quarter” in Jamaica Plain in 2011 — areas that other specialty grocers might have considered unworthy of goat cheese and ostrich eggs, but that were actually on the verge of a boom that, lo and behold, kicked into high gear as soon as Whole Foods moved in.

The phenomena of high-end grocer's arrival boosting the local real estate market is known as "The Whole Foods Effect," and there's some evidence that it can improve a neighborhoods fortunes over the long-term.I'd write more about this but, well, I'd rather spend my morning the local Trulia listings. Hopefully, no one else has the same idea. -- JW


Read more:  Salon


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