- To submit Business Bulletin announcements, click on image.
Parking issues and the reconstruction of the nearby Pfc. Ralph T. Basiliere Bridge recently prompted the owner of Wellness Hot Yoga at Harbor Place in downtown Haverhill to close her studio.
Teri Almquist told WHAV she and her partner, Michael Gu, couldn’t see a way to keep their business growing with the financial pressures they are facing.
“First, we lost our free parking with the construction of new parking garage, and then we knew with the bridge construction, getting here was going to be all the harder,” Almquist said. “And, we never did feel Haverhill embraced us. Most of our clients were driving in from Andover and North Andover. Haverhill residents would try us out one time and not come back.”
Almquist is now seeing her clients at Choice Fitness in North Andover. Gu is working on opening a new studio, most likely in North Andover, she said. Almquist established her business 18 years ago in East Mill in North Andover. She moved to Harbor Place four years ago.
“We are very proud of the studio we built,” Almquist said. “In addition to yoga, we offered saunas, massages and facials. It is especially sad because Haverhill is my hometown. We tried very hard to make this work, but it just wasn’t financially viable.”
Almquist said she tried to work with LAZ, manager of the new private parking garage opposite Harbor Place, to offer valet parking for her clients.
“When you are coming to yoga five days a week, having to pay for parking just increases your cost, so the loss of free, on-street parking was a big deal,” Almquist said. “And, with the bridge construction looming, in the end it was an easy decision to make.”
She said she is thrilled for Haverhill that Lupoli Companies of Lawrence is building a mixed use complex next to its parking garage.
“I think in five years, the area will be bustling,” Almquist said. “We were just ahead of our time.”
Harbor Place was a joint venture between the Planning Office for Urban Affairs of the Archdiocese of Boston and Greater Haverhill Foundation. Alison J. Gulubicki, executive director of the Greater Haverhill Foundation, told WHAV in an email, the space vacated by Wellness Hot Yoga has not yet been leased.
“Over the coming weeks, we will evaluate the space and determine its highest and best use,” Gulubicki wrote. “We hope to continue to build positive momentum and are optimistic that the right opportunity for this space will present itself in the near future.”