FeedsComcast to close Wayne office
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The Comcast building on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wayne Road will be closed at the end of the month and put on the market.There will soon be another prominent vacancy in downtown Wayne.
Officials from Comcast informed the city two weeks ago that they would close their office at the end of August.
The building, owned by the cable franchise, is located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wayne Road, in the heart of the downtown district.
“They have talked about closing it down for a few years now,” said Peter McInerney, community development director for the City of Wayne.
Fred Eaton, head of government affairs for Comcast, said the move was an economic one. Most customers pay their bills through the mail or online, he said, so fewer and fewer used the drop box or office. It no longer makes sense to pay for the overhead—labor costs, utilities, taxes and maintenance—since those are costs their competitors do not incur, he added.
Bob English, assistant city manager, said Comcast has been consolidating offices throughout the area for several years. That’s when officials decided to close the studio located inside the Wayne office, but keep the payment office open. They even transferred staff from other locations.
“Almost all of the offices, studios and buildings owned by Comcast were originally opened by other cable franchises at a time when it was a common practice for a cable provider to be required to have an office or a physical presence in a city as part of the franchise agreement,” said English. “When Comcast started merging with other cable providers, they ended up with too many offices.”
Eaton said the decision was final, despite requests from city officials that the company find a way to save the Wayne office. He said the property would be sold—or at least put on the market—but didn’t have an exact timetable. English said that was a concern, too.
“I asked him to get back to us when he knew more information and also asked that he pass off to his bosses our concerns about not having a long term vacant building at a major intersection of our downtown area,” English said. “He said that he would do what he could to encourage their realty division to move as quickly as possible.”
McInerney said the city would be offered the first chance to purchase the building, but he had no idea how much that would cost.
“I don’t think there’s any price on it yet,” he said. “We’ll have to figure all that out.”
