Structural 'weaknesses' discovered — forcing 9 Taunton businesses to close abruptly

TAUNTON — Nine businesses on Main Street in downtown Taunton were forced to close last week due to structural issues found on the above floors of the buildings.

Since then, all affected businesses, from the corner of Weir Street, down almost to Merchants Lane, are currently fenced-in as part of a construction site, with signs and tape on both sides saying “Police Line. Do Not Cross.”

The businesses affected are Real Art Studios, Applause Academy, Taunton Antiques Center, Tex Barry’s Hot Dogs, Taunton Venetian Blind Company, Open Doors Yoga Studios, Uplifted Nutrition, Amy’s Nail Bar, and Metro PCS.

“This has impacted us greatly.  We’ve been extremely busy, and I have employees that can’t work right now,” said Tracy Brett, owner of Uplifted Nutrition.

All these businesses are connected to the long-in-the-works Union Block project, which will create 38 affordable and mixed-income housing units on the top floors of the system of conjoined buildings.

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What happened?

It was not the plan to close down these businesses at all during the construction process for the Union Block property, which began in mid-June.

According to Phil Giffee, executive director of Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc. (NOAH), the developer for the Union Block housing, the construction crew gutting the interior of the top floors “discovered a variety of weaknesses in all of the building’s systems that were cause of concern.”

Specifically, these weaknesses are fractures in crucial, load-bearing brick walls, as well as parts of the roof.

Giffee explained that crack monitor gauges were inserted into these fractures to “watch for movements” and see if the fractures widened. As an example, Giffee said when monitoring the floors above the Applause Academy, particularly during one of their production rehearsals, the fractures increased from the vibrations from the first floor.

“It’s not just one wall and one roof. It’s a system that will require a variety of interactions in this very complicated three-story building,” he added.

Giffee said the decision was made on Tuesday, July 25, to close down the Union Block, and the landlords for the first floor contacting each business owner.

“It was very clear to me I would not send people to the third floor to work,” he said.

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What is happening to the businesses forced to close?

Taunton Mayor Shaunna O'Connell said in a written statement: "Understanding that this is a redevelopment of buildings from the late 1800s, the city has been in regular contact with these private developers since the project commenced.  Unfortunately, there are multiple challenges in renovating such old buildings."

"The city has been meeting with the developer on a continuous basis to address the issues for not only the existing businesses, but the public safety issues."

Colleen Simmons, executive director of the Downtown Taunton Business Improvement District (BID), said her office and the mayor’s office are working together to help the affected businesses. 

One way being offered is finding space for businesses to temporarily relocate.

“We are putting businesses in touch with other property owners for a temporary relocation,” said Simmons.

Marilva Wedge, owner of Open Yoga Studios, with help from BID, has been able to move her classes to other venues, such as the Trescott Street Gallery, as well as outdoor sessions at Liberty Union Park. However, the retail side of her business, consisting mainly of New Age products, is the “biggest interruption” for her and is at a standstill currently.

Applause Academy was able to relocate to the Friedman Middle School, through coordination with BID, for productions, according to its Facebook Page.

Tracy Brett, who was at a business conference in Texas last week when the shutdown occurred, said she will be speaking with BID and looking into finding a new location, whether permanent or temporary for Uplifted Nutrition.  In the meantime, her customers can travel to her other location, Downtown Nutrition, in Middleboro.

Some businesses, like Taunton Antique Center and Tex Barry’s Hot Dogs, may not be able to relocate.

The Gazette reached out to the other businesses affected, including the landlords for the businesses in the Union Block property, Armen Tenkarian and Michael Keene, but they could not be reached for the story.

Evidence of prior faulty renovations?

Giffee said working with NOAH in Boston, “it’s not an uncommon experience” finding these issues in many of the older brick buildings in the city that have been exposed to erosion and wear-and-tear.

He said, when it comes to the Union Block property, it’s not just a case of parts of the upper floor being exposed to the elements over decades. There’s evidence that sub-par renovations occurred decades pasts in some sections.

“Some of the structure was taken apart in ways that it shouldn’t have,” he said.

Numerous building inspections were conducted before NOAH purchased the property, said Giffee, but not all areas of the top floors were accessible until demolition began. One example he gave was delving deeper past the outward appearance of walls to find water damage and eroding brick.

“You don’t always find these things until activity occurs,” Giffee said.

Giffee explained that, whether it was NOAH constructing housing, or another owner just leaving the top floors alone to do nothing with them, these are issues that, ultimately, would have had to be addressed.

“Eventually, it would have tumbled down. Gravity wins every time,” Giffee said.

When will the problem be fixed?

There is currently no timetable regarding when the structural issues will be fixed. Engineers from NOAH are still examining weakened points to come up with solutions for stabilizing the building.

“We will be working with as much speed as we can,” said Giffee, also acknowledging all this is a “major inconvenience for all the businesses.”

Both Wedge and Brett said they have been allowed to return to their business spaces, under supervision with the NOAH construction crew, to retrieve anything needed. Brett said some of her product stock from Uplifted Nutrition has been picked up and relocated to her Middleboro branch.

Simmons said the city, like all the affected businesses, is anxiously waiting for a timeline to be established, to determine if these solutions are going from short-term to long-term.

“It’s a waiting game right now. We are waiting to get a handle regarding how much time we’re looking at here,” Simmons said.

Will this delay the Union Block apartment project?

Giffee said this incident is a setback for the project.

The non-profit developer has spent the last eight years persevering and laboring through legal, financial and permitting challenges to renovate the Union Block property for affordable and mixed-income housing, according to a press release issued back in June for its groundbreaking.

Restabilizing the vulnerable areas of the property will require NOAH to go above the estimated $24 million total development cost budgeted, which means going back to its assortment of public and private financing backers for the project for more money, said Giffee.

“We’re on the hook for this,” he said.

He also said this will undoubtedly push back the project’s 16-month construction schedule.

Giffee acknowledged “there’s pain all around” with the businesses being forced to close. He said NOAH will be looking into compensation for lost revenue with these businesses, possibly through insurance payouts under the project’s coverage.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Structural weaknesses found in downtown Taunton Union Block building