Comments on: Health department signed $4,650 monthly lease at mall

By: Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:02:15 +0000

@Concerned Citizen The story wasn’t released by anyone. My colleague first discovered the new storefront in the mall and wrote something short about the programming at the center. As a follow-up to the original coverage, I filed a Freedom of Information Request with the Virginia Department of Health for a copy of the lease. Anyone else, including other media and the general public, could also file a request for a copy of the lease. By law the state has 5 working days to respond to the request and in this case release a copy of the lease.

By: Concerned Citizen

Concerned Citizen — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:59:32 +0000

This story is outrageous, and is not getting sufficient media coverage by the Roanoke Times. I assume this story is not being released to other media outlets.

By: Local Color

Local Color — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:40:18 +0000

I think a more responsible approach to this story might have been:

HEALTH CENTER OPENS AT VALLEY VIEW MALL TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR ROANOKE RESIDENTS.
(Insert details here).

By: Local Color

Local Color — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:39:28 +0000

ALL businesses – Private OR Public pay rent for the space in which they operate unless they are fortunate
to OWN a building. The headline and focus of the story seems misleading and angled to provoke controversy.
Their six month lease amounts to roughly $27,400 for the space. If they were to pay to buy or build a facility you’d be talking half a million or more. And the woman who said she visited during “office hours” and no one
was there…you were there. Staff were there. Who wasn’t there? What time of day did you go? I’ve been to the emergency room at certain hours and “no one was there”. I’m not sure what the point of the story, the blog
posts or the responses are? One imagines renting a filthy toilet at a local gas station would be cheaper…but…

By: Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:49:46 +0000

@Mike Lawson Since the mall is private, they are under no obligation to disclose typical rates. I’m sorry I don’t have that context for you.
What other context are you looking for? Can you elaborate on how this is unfair? This entry was an update to a story that we already reported in the Retail Roundup column that ran Sunday, which I linked to above. I had more information on the subject that I thought was important to report.

By: Mike Lawson

Mike Lawson — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:25:57 +0000

How much do other occupants pay for a similar size space? $4.22 per sq. ft. seems reasonable… I think typical mall rents are usually around $6 sq. ft…

@sarah jones — you really need context to make this a fair article!

By: Joe Stanley

Joe Stanley — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:00:37 +0000

I spoke earlier this summer with Veronica Breck of CBL Properties, about renting a kiosk in Valley View Mall. Ms. Breck informed me that rental was $4000 a month. When I polled the other kiosk merchants, I found the highest rent to be $1300. I was dismayed at the discrepancy between reality and what I was quoted. I decided at that point to look elsewhere.

By: TL

TL — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:19:56 +0000

There is NO reason to use these funds to pay nearly $51 per square foot.

The program is worthy (preventative health issues and a bridge to self sufficiency). There are certainly other accessible locations just as or more accessible. This could have provided more funding to direct benefits rather than increasing administrative program costs.

Certainly hope this isn’t some insiders knowing each other and padding their own bottom line.

By: Shanon

Shanon — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:14:31 +0000

I do want to say that while the WIC program is a very beneficial program, this outreach center is NOT needed. If you want to reach the general population that receives WIC, put the center somewhere out in the community where people can walk to it. Leasing a “store front” in the mall will not provide access to the people who most need it.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:14:10 +0000

What a huge waste of money!