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You can’t pay any bills with buzz. As much as hype can build up momentum, you can’t take it to the bank. Eventually, the sizzle needs the steak.
I’m extremely wary of buzz, having seen its hollow effects firsthand. When I lived in Southwest Florida in 2006, I bought a one-bedroom condo for $175,000 in a market real estate agents swore would never stop increasing. Even after the bottom started to fall out, agents in the region said if we could only get the hype back up, prices would follow. I eventually had to let my condo go into foreclosure, and the next buyer paid $35,000 for it.
In June 2018, WBJ News Editor Grant Welker did a deep dive into the economic indicators surrounding Worcester’s so-called renaissance, attempting to determine whether the buzz around Central Mass. was yielding economic growth. In what remains one of the proudest stories I have ever been a part of, Welker found the hype had yet to achieve the desired results. In his follow-up last year, the numbers showed the region was making progress but hasn’t gotten all the way there yet.
The buzz is undeniable around the planned arrival of the Worcester Red Sox in 2021. Every press release we get announcing a new development project in Worcester seems to mention the WooSox as a rallying cry. The buzz, though, has yet to yield major economic impact. The planned revitalization of the Greendale Mall site or the announced two-story restaurant in the Mercantile Center are certainly good for the city, but plans need to be realized before actual residents and visitors and business start spending money on food and retail. As the WooSox public costs keep escalating, keep in mind the buzz remains just a promise of economic development.
Similarly, in our main focus of this edition, the Central Mass. real estate market has benefitted from hype. Increasing demand for a limited supply of homes has spiked the price of residential real estate (see Staff Writer Thomas Grillo’s story). This hype has yielded actual substance, too, where homeowners selling their properties and the agents helping them can take the increased value of the homes to the bank.
Buzz is a good thing. It draws attention you might otherwise never have gotten. But hype only takes you so far. Projects must be seen to fruition before the impact truly is realized.
