Photo courtesy of the city of Lowell
Allison Carter
Director of Economic Development, City of Lowell
Age: 44
Industry experience: 17 years
Rent subsidies, forgivable small business loans and short-term leases are the recipe for renewing Lowell’s downtown retail landscape following a spike in vacancies. City economic development officials leveraged federal ARPA funding to fill storefronts, creating a pair of pop-up retail incubators at 51 Market St. and 262 Merrimack St., and some tenants have moved onto permanent locations in the Merrimack Valley Gateway City. Allison Carter coordinates the city’s retail programs as economic development director, a position she has held since 2022. Carter previously worked at Brighton Main Streets and was director of the town of Arlington’s economic development department from 2016 to 2022.
Q: How does the Project Pop-Up retail incubator work?
A: The company that Lowell partners with to do pop-up retail incubators, Project Pop-Up, started during the pandemic. Their first big event was in Newton and as I watched their projects progress, and I thought Lowell was a good place because we have lower-cost retail space that was easy to activate, and we have a pipeline of manufacturers or artists who were ready to take the leap. It felt like a really good connection, and with ARPA money, it was good to take advantage of that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s really worked well. We received $462,000 for two retail incubators, and the first one started in 2023.
Q: What is the landlord’s role in the program?
A: The incubator has a lease. It’s part of the city’s contract with them to help them find the space. The first pop-up opened in a retail space that had been vacant for a couple of years. It is a very small property with just two units, so it was easy to contact the property owner and say, “Hey, I’ve got a lead for you.” It was going well, and another retail space opened up closer to City Hall. So, when I had a budget for it, they were open to it. Lowell is the fifth-largest city in Massachusetts, but it’s also a little bit of a small town. ARPA helps pay for the rent subsidies for the entrepreneurs that it is incubating. For most of the pop-up tenants, it’s been a three-month commitment, but some people are looking for a longer term, and we’ve done our first six-month lease.
Q: How many of the tenants have graduated and expanded out of the pop-ups?
A: The Lowell General Store cut the ribbon on their own store next-door to the retail incubator literally one year later. There are two brands, the Merrimack Company – a lifestyle apparel brand – and Mill City Mercantile, which makes candles and soaps. They share a store, and are looking to move their manufacturing to the back of the space.
Q: What are the options for Mill No. 5 tenants that are forced to relocate with its recent closure and sale to a charter school?
A: One of them is going into a pop-up for six months: Fragile State Vintage. There are three others who have signed leases in the downtown. They haven’t reopened yet, because they are fitting out their spaces. And five to eight of them, depending on how you count it, are working together to rent a very large space in downtown Lowell. They are negotiating as a group. The prospect of it is very exciting.
Q: What is the current vacancy rate in downtown Lowell?
A: It took a hit for sure, and it’s come back to normal. But normal for downtown Lowell is hovering around 10 percent vacancy, which is higher than I’d like it to be and higher than a lot of places in the area. I’d like to be closer to 5 percent. One of the things we tried to do is find spaces that were offline for a long time, and bring together the property owner and prospective tenant to maximize the investment. If the property owner knows the city is supporting the tenant, they feel more secure in their investment. I’m trying to take places that are totally defunct and return them to use.
Q: How does the Downtown Lowell Vacant Storefront Program and its tax incentives work?
A: The city has to apply with the business owner, and the state grants the tax credit. What’s unique about it is it goes to the tenant, not the property owner. So far, it offers up to $10,000 on a unit that has been vacant for a year or more. The city has to do a 100 percent march, so we’ll either use ARPA money or community development block grant money from [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] for small business job creation.
Q: What takeaways did you bring from your Brighton Main Streets position?
A: I was working in Brighton at a time when the Boston Landing project was coming together, and watching that neighborhood turn in the course of three years from this really low-grade industrial, underutilized area to modern huge buildings. That was really early in my career, learning how big projects can come together. They need a coalition of large companies, the community and nonprofits working together to make a positive change.
Carter’s 5 Favorite Movies to Watch with Her Kids
- Leo
- Encanto
- Big Hero 6
- Yes Day
- The Sleepover
