Abercrombie in Quincy Market

[AdamBC]

Anyone know the story behind this? Abercrombie pulled out of this exact space a few years ago, and as of this week is back in it and open.

Did the rents get too high? Unhappy with the foot traffic? What brought them back... and why was this prime space empty for those few years?

 

[tobyjug]

A few years ago there was a plan to convert the building to condos. I dimly recall seeing some interior renderings (emphasis on dim here.) At about that time, it seemed that the building was emptied of its tenants. I don't know if the vacancies were by owner choice or by market fiat.

 

[Ron Newman]

At one point I recall the retail part of this building being full of various chains owned by Limited Inc. Abercrombie was one of them. Were the upper floors offices? I can't remember now.

The building replaced the Sanborn Fish building, which burned down.

 

[underground]

The story is Abercrombie was renovating, there was a fire, and it took them forever to get back on track. But the plan was always for the Abercrombie to move back in, as far as I know.

 

[rikahlberg]

Re: Abercrombie at One Faneuil Hall Square

Ran across this article:

Friday, December 1, 2006

Abercrombie & Fitch to return to Faneuil Hall
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman Boston Business Journal

Abercrombie & Fitch is coming back to Boston's Faneuil Hall.

The youth-orientated clothing retailer signed a lease Friday for 20,000 square feet in its previous location at One Faneuil Hall Square. The retailer will move back into three floors instead of the eight it previously occupied.

The seven-story, 46,500-square-foot building has been vacant since Abercrombie (NYSE: ANF) moved out more than three years ago. The owners, Alex Adjmi and Robert Cayre, are marketing the remainder of the building to office tenants.

Adjmi and Cayre received proposals from at least three other retailers including CVS Corp., Walgreen Co. and American Girl LLC, but Adjmi said he "got wind from the Boston Redevelopment Authority that a drug store wouldn't work."

The BRA didn't immediately respond to a call.

The building at the entry of Faneuil Hall has been notoriously difficult for the pair to lease since they bought it for $22.6 million last year from an unnamed offshore owner. The owners have explored a variety of uses for the building -- including turning the upper floors into condominiums -- and previously reached out to the city to help determine the best way to market the property.

Adjmi declined to provide the rents, but according to previous reports by the Boston Business Journal, rents are between $85 and $100 per square foot for the first three floors.

The pair, who operate under various partnership names, last year made a bid for the Downtown Crossing Filene's building and lost. The building was subsequently sold to Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) of New York who, with Gale International, are redeveloping it into mixed-use property.

Adjmi and Cayre are still looking for retail and office deals in Boston.

"We're looking at several different assets out there," said Adjmi. "We like the city. We think there's good upside on future value."

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/11/27/daily65.html?t=printable

 

[Ron Newman]

CVS or Walgreen would be amazingly unsuitable for this location. Abercrombie was here before, may as well have them back.