Gables Seaport (née Waterside Place 1B) | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

whighlander said:
Exactly -- there are over 1000 housing units in those photos that DigitalSciGuy posted -- many will be occupied by this time next year
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Also worth noting that the construction zone is pedestrian hostile, but once they are done, everything clean and repaved with some ground floor features/retail, then pedestrians will want to be there.
 
stick n move said:
There is room for the buildings across the street to incorporate retail if they want to, so Im hopeful they will. Looking around the city theres lots of buildings incorporating more retail into streetwall spaces that had none, so its definitely trending in the right direction.
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Stick -- the problem is that "Bricks and mortar" retail is in general decline as people shop more and more on-line -- don't really need many more retail slots in most areas

the only retail categories now growing are small shops offering unique stuff, services [such as massage, laundry], bars and taverns, fast food chains, banks [for some bizarre reason] and big box [discount and Home Depot-type] Lots of empty storefronts once occupied by small hardware, small pharmacy, small grocery, etc. Even full-serve restaurants are not doing too well these days as people get food delivered or go for fast food.
 
whighlander said:
Stick -- the problem is that "Bricks and mortar" retail is in general decline as people shop more and more on-line -- don't really need many more retail slots in most areas

the only retail categories now growing are small shops offering unique stuff, services [such as massage, laundry], bars and taverns, fast food chains, banks [for some bizarre reason] and big box [discount and Home Depot-type] Lots of empty storefronts once occupied by small hardware, small pharmacy, small grocery, etc. Even full-serve restaurants are not doing too well these days as people get food delivered or go for fast food.
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All the kinds of retail now growing are the exact kinds of retail that are flourishing in the Seaport and all across the city, and which Stick proposes expanding even further in this location. We're talking about one specific location here, not "most areas" "in general."
 
Exactly, Im just saying that once gables is open, hopefully they go back and add some retail spaces across the street for restaurants or whatever... just to make the street more lively. When they were originally built it made sense to leave out retail here, but now having a blank wall here is a detriment to the street life, so since they have the space, hopefully they use it.
 
What is the deal with the proliferation of banks and XL-sized drug stores? Within 5 blocks of me in the past year, 2 Duane Reades, a Chase and a Wells Fargo branch has opened. I haven't been to a bank branch teller window in ages. And how many prescriptions honestly need to be filled?

I am sure with all that residential, there will be some coffee shops, and some high-end spin/pilates/cross-fit/boutique gym that charges $250 a month that also sells $10 green juices and probably a "gourmet market" or two.
 
They're gauranteed money for land lords, easy tenants to deal with, and it's advertising for the bank.
 
Agree with Meddlepal about the banks. There are also lots of prescriptions that need to be filled. And drug stores are also convenience stores. Not surprising that there are lots of them going in. Banks and drugstores also tend to be big corporations, and so have an easy setting up new outlets, which goes along with them being easy tenants.
 
^ All true. Drugstore margins are also huge.

Plus, banks and drugstores have many fewer regulations/licensing requirements to deal with than food or drink establishments do. Look at the multi-year regulatory battle it took to get the Milk Bar / &Pizza opened in Harvard Square. A bank branch or CVS wouldn't have been subject to any of that.
 
When I worked in the World Trade Center East building in the early 2000s I would have loved retail on that street. I know the Seaport wasn't built up then but 711, Dunkins, and some small Lunch grab place(I forget the name)was basically all the retail there. Summertime was the highlight when the little food shack in the park would open.
 
I can't make up my mind on this. On the one hand it does feel irretrievably shoddy. But on the other hand the contrast is so striking I can't help but like it anyway.

I especially like the view from this angle (from Friday):
 
Poolio said:
I can't make up my mind on this. On the one hand it does feel irretrievably shoddy. But on the other hand the contrast is so striking I can't help but like it anyway.

I especially like the view from this angle (from Friday):
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This view, at this same time next year, will be quite different with the Omni
towers in the background.
 
what

odurandina said:
The Seaport's faux-pas uppity-class, politically incorrect, banal, not quite ready for prime time, poser-glitter, post-modern/gilded age, mid-rise canyon, presents fully exposed, refreshing colon cleanse quite-more-honest than Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and 1/2 the rest of Boston. Thank you Tom Menino/Marty Walsh/ BRA. The more they hate it--the more i love it.
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