How Many is Too Many?
This question is posed in many different situations, but in this case it refers to how many ‘For Lease/Rent’ signs are too many for a city like Boca Raton? For a town of only 29.1 square miles, home to three secondary education institutions, with an ever growing business scene, and that aims at attracting more companies as a means of continuing to grow economically, offering options to investors of rental or lease spaces is a positive thing. However, when the number of signs advertising these spaces is approaching the 200s, taking into account the major roads in the city, it becomes somewhat of a shock.
As part of an ongoing investigation of this issue by the Boca Raton Tribune, our team went out to the main roads of Boca, including Glades, Palmetto, Federal Hwy., Boca Raton Blvd., Yamato Rd., etc. and counted how many “For Lease/Rent” sings are displayed in front of buildings and plazas, where for the most part, there are no vacancies, and the signs are simply posing as billboards.
The astounding sum of nearly 200 signs, with 63 on Federal Hwy. alone, seems a bit steep, especially for visitors or investors who come to the city in search of properties to rent or lease and end up opting to take their business elsewhere. South Florida business consultant Carlo Barbieri confirms that this situation is not conducive to attracting new businesses, “The people I work with come to the city and say: ‘What’s going on here? Is the entire city for rent?’”
Of the signs accounted for, photos have been taken as well as a record of the names of the realty companies responsible for them, which add up to more than 10, and a map of the signs is being prepared by the Boca Tribune team to bring to the public a better understanding of the situation. A problem of this magnitude calls not only for further investigation as to why the signs remain up, but also to taking a closer look at the negative impact this has had and will continue to have in attracting new businesses to town, if the issue is not dealt with accordingly.
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