Signs of life: businesses coming back to Westport?

The signs can be seen throughout Westport.

"Office space available," some of them say. "Retail space for rent," offer others. Over the past two years, empty commercial properties have been sprouting up everywhere as established stores and offices either close up or move elsewhere.

While signals are still mixed, some light is creeping through the darkness.

This is good for property owners lending out their space and Realtors. It's also good for the town and the taxpayers. More businesses means more personal property tax revenues, which in turn signifies more money for essential town services as the town works toward its 2010-11 budget.

The former site of the Peppermill Restaurant at 1700 Post Road E. is one of those empty places. Robert Lewis, a partner at the commercial real estate firm Vidal/Wittenstein said there's been recently a reduction of $900,000 of its original $4.5 million asking price. If the building was filled, then the town would be making some extra money.

Still, it sits empty, as has been the case for the last two years. But Lewis has been getting more calls lately than he had in the past. Just getting the calls is a sign that businesses could be coming back.

"What we're finding is that there are buyers ... and they are expecting that there are going to be more bargains coming on the market," Lewis said. "What we found on other properties is that the owners haven't reduced their expectations."

It's still too early for definite numbers, but Paul Friia, the town's assessor, said that he's expecting the total assessed value of personal property in town to rise from the $208.3 million registered in the 2008 grand list.

"One reason we're going to be up is because [Connecticut Light & Power] finished their upgrade to their transmission lines along the Post Road," Friia said.

Compared to property tax involving buildings, the main source of money for Westport, personal property tax, is a comparatively small revenue generator that typically equates to several million dollars annually.

Personal property tax only applies to businesses and includes just about anything purchased for that business: computers for offices, counters in clothing stores and tools for a construction company. Technically, even something as small as pens would be included in the assessed value.

If buildings are empty, then there's no personal property tax to be collected. If an office is bustling with employees using computers, printers and desks, then it's a rosier picture for the town coffers. Same thing if a restaurant is using expensive kitchen equipment, instead of being empty and shuttered.

Later this month, as the town delves further into its budget process, a more complete analysis of the personal property in town will be available when the grand list -- complete with the town's total assessed value in buildings, vehicles and personal property -- is published.

Friia said that right now it's hard to tell if there is an increased number of businesses in town. In the commercial real estate industry, there's been some key differences from where they were at a year ago.

"I think we're starting to see a beginning of some market activity," said Marc Holod, vice president of John G. Hastings Inc, a Westport-based commercial real estate firm. "There seems to be a sense that maybe the market is moving a little bit."

Last year, the phone wasn't even ringing, according to Holod. This year, potential clients are calling and asking serious questions.

While more people seem to be interested in setting up an office or a business, progress has been slow according to figures released by Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm. In their report on Fairfield County which dealt solely with office space, there is still plenty of space to be had by anybody interested.

In Westport and Southport (the two were grouped together in the study), there's an overall vacancy rate of 16 percent in the 1.6 million square feet available in the two towns. This is slightly below the 19 percent average vacancy rate in office space in the county.