NORWICH – The $1 million purchase of The Eaton Center by Pennsylvania businessman Randal Hadeed will be finalized sometime between the end of February and beginning of March, officials said Wednesday. However, some of center’s tenants say they are uneasy about the transaction.
Several spoke to The Evening Sun Wednesday afternoon and said they have yet to be contacted by Hadeed or the Chenango County Area Corporation (the building’s current owner) regarding how the deal will affect – if at all – their status in building.
“The fact that he hasn’t come forward to talk to any of the tenants – it makes it difficult to know what’s going on,” said tenant Kim Steward, owner of Executive Image Hair Salon. “The unknown is what scares us.”
The concerned lease holders said they are satisfied with the arrangement they have with the Area Corp., but fear the change in owners could possibly alter their lease agreements and put them under a different set of building regulations – without warning.
“I really like where I am and don’t want to leave,” said Dr. Linda Horovitz, owner of Chenango Speech & Hearing Services in the Eaton Center. “But it’s disconcerting not to know what’s going on. There has to be a two-way conversation – you have to be able to have dialogue to dispel rumors and fear.”