Montrose rent irks merchants

MONTROSE — Rents for Montrose Shopping Park retail space continue to rise, but market forces don’t seem to be doing the lifting, merchants and some property owners say.

Current rents being paid along the retail strip — which is home to more than 200 retailers and restaurants, the majority of them single-proprietorship mom-and-pop shops — range from about $1 to $2.25 per square foot, according to an Aug. 31 Glendale Redevelopment Agency report, which included data from the nearby Sparr Heights neighborhood.

But some property owners are now looking to rent units for as high as $3.45 per square foot.

Podiatrist Brad Aguirre will move out of his Honolulu Avenue office in November after 27 years because his landlord more than doubled the rent, Aguirre’s office manager Lori Flagg said.

That space, owned by Montrose Three LLC since 2005, was listed Friday on an online real estate website at $3.15 per square foot, which does not include maintenance, tax or insurance costs.

Representatives from Montrose Three declined to comment.

Glendale City Councilman and former shopping park association President John Drayman said that buzz in town among real estate agents and property owners may be generating a perception of an inflated market value.

“I believe there is a move afoot to try to move the average rental rate to $3.50 a square foot, and I don’t care who likes it or doesn’t like it,” Drayman said. “That is exactly what is going on.”

Greg Tomassian, the 21-year owner of Al’s Italian American Deli, may be the first victim of a perceived jump in market value, said Dale Dawson, president of the shopping park association.

Tomassian said he was alerted to an impending rent increase indirectly, when customers mentioned that they had seen his Honolulu Avenue address listed on a real estate website.

The quoted price was more than $3, and while Tomassian plans to stay in the space, come January, his rent is increasing from $1.17 to $3.45 per square foot, he said.

“That’s a ridiculous price,” said Robert Yoohanna, owner of 11 shopping park units, including the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Quizno’s. “I have not seen any valid leases for $3.45. You can ask anything you want, but.?.?.?”

Most of Yoohanna’s current leases are for less than $2 a square foot, he said.

And while market value may be on the rise, the increase is more tepid, he said.

For a few vacant units he has, Yoohanna plans to ask $2 to $2.25 per square foot, he said.