11 Forest Gets a Tenant?

I heard a fairly reliable rumor that a CVS will fill the ground floor retail space under 11 Forest , the reconstructed children's furniture store off Bedford St, possibly as early as July.

I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming, pharmacies along with bank branches are the few retail developments that typically grab any foothold as of late. (Walgreens in Glenview House and First County Bank in Eastside Commons sit among empty stores in those new developments).

CVS isn’t a bad move for the spot, there is a lot of residential in & around the area within walking distance that is under served by “practical use” retail. If the mini-market on Prospect Street pans out, the area will be in business for convenience in walking distance.

Drugstores are usually among the worst offenders of throw-away buildings. James Howard Kunstler has a great riff on them in one of his “Kunstlercasts”. The potential CVS on Forest, and the recently opened Walgreens under Glenview House on the East Side though aren’t nearly as egregious. They are mixed use buildings with housing above, equally accessible to pedestrians and cars, and simply “programming” in an overall form – meaning the building isn’t entirely contingent on the drugstore chain being there. If the drugstore didn’t go there, something else could. If the store went out of business, it wouldn’t simply be a choice of finding another drugstore chain to replace it or tearing the building down. Compare that to the long delayed CVS up the road in Bulls Head, which will ultimately end be the usual unremarkable mini-big box drugstore outpost complete with strip mined hill/ concrete retaining wall. The location would definitely be better served by a building more in line with Glenview or 11 Forest, something that can help define the neighborhood and move it a few degrees away from the clusterfuck of traffic and crappy buildings it is now.