Lack of suitable real estate keeps Geraldi's from reopening
Albert Geraldi closed his Italian restaurant serving pizza, pasta, and sandwiches on north Locust Street last year and has looked unsuccessfully for a space in which to reopen.
A lack of commercial real estate is keeping one Floyd restaurant from reopening.
Albert Geraldi closed his Italian restaurant serving pizza, pasta, and sandwiches on north Locust Street last year and has looked unsuccessfully for a space in which to reopen.
“I’d reopen in a minute,” he said.
Unable to find a site, Geraldi now spends some of his spare time building birdhouses at his home in Willis. “I’d rather be making pizzas,” he said.
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Geraldi’s predicament didn’t surprise Derek Wall of Thomas and Wall Real Estate.
“There probably are not any restaurant spaces available. It’s a hard thing to find in Floyd. There’s really not much space available at all for commercial use, so it is a need,” Wall said.
Wall said he would argue that Floyd needs more commercial real estate. However, high development costs, when coupled with local economic conditions, are an obstacle, he said. “You don’t see commercial development in Floyd at all, ever,” he said.
Floyd Mayor Will Griffin called the town’s small size a limiting factor. “The town limits are half a square mile,” he said. “Most of the area in town has been developed.”
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However, officials and private-sector partners believe several dilapidated structures can be redeveloped for commercial use. The redevelopment of several buildings on Harris Street, which could provide spots for restaurants and shops, appears to be the closest of two efforts to completion. Meanwhile, the town is making efforts to improve the DonnKenny site near Food Lion and make it available to a developer or developers, which could provide additional commercial space.
Although progress is occurring, ribbon cuttings won’t happen for some time, possibly for years.
New business activity would be a plus because restaurants generate meals-tax proceeds, a key source of municipal income, according to Griffin. He noted that that category of receipts has declined as a result of changes in the local restaurant scene.
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Floyd is not alone in lacking commercial real estate.
A search of LoopNet, a website for finding available commercial real estate in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe, listed no available commercial properties in Floyd or five other nearby communities.
“No Results Found,” the website said in response to searches for commercial real estate in Ferrum, Floyd, Meadows of Dan, Riner, Willis, and Woolwine. Bassett, Radford, and Wytheville had sites, but Geraldi wants to reopen in downtown Floyd, he said.
He had been in business almost three years in his former space, which was too small, he said. One issue was that the dining room seated 12 people. He needs three times that, he said. In addition, the dining area was open to a retail space next door, and the two uses were incompatible, he said.
