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Westfield panel outlines flexible zoning, incentives and experience-focused retail to fill vacant storefronts
Summary
Mayor Brindle convened developers, planners and retail experts to argue Westfield can recover lost storefront activity by using flexible zoning, targeted incentives and experience-driven tenants — not just rent cuts — and by treating downtown as an ecosystem that favors food, experience and omnichannel operators.
WESTFIELD — Mayor Brindle hosted a town panel on downtown retail on a night billed "You Can't Just Buy It Online," where developers, downtown managers and planners outlined a multi-pronged strategy to fill vacant storefronts and guide redevelopment around the Lord & Taylor properties.
The panel — Bob Zuckerman of the Downtown Westfield Corporation; Richard Heath of Street Works Development and Hudson's Bay Company; retail futurist Michael Burns; and town redevelopment planner Phil Abramson — told residents that Westfield's combination of walkable streets, attached residential neighborhoods and transit access gives the town an edge in attracting the right kinds of retailers.
"We are in many ways the victims of our own success," Mayor Brindle said, arguing that reliance on national chains left downtown exposed when consumer patterns shifted. The mayor said the town has spent the last three years updating its master plan,…
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