Boston Properties Office Tower | 888 Boylston Street | Back Bay

Oh, wow! I didn't realise they were adding a whole floor to the entire Boylston St arcade! I guess I had never noticed in the renderings that they were also going to be re-facing that entrance, but it also didn't really look like they were adding any significant height.

Do we have any renderings that show what this will look like? Is retail just getting a second floor on the east wall of the arcade and the ceiling raised to line up with the retail podium of the tower, will the second floor fully span over the arcade, will it be open to below?
 
Boston Properties won approval to add 16,000 square feet of retail space to the Shops at Prudential Center in July 2014. The $10.5 million project will add the space along the Boylston Arcade on the upper level of the retail center on Boylston Street.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/r...-foods-is-closing-its-pru-restaurant-but.html

Based on looking at some of the BRA docs, it looks like this has been in the works for a while. It might even have a connection to the new retail space in 888 Boyleston.

http://www.bostonredevelopmentautho...oard-moves-development-projects-forward-at-ju
 
I was under the impression that the Sephora addition was only tangentially related to the 888 project, not that they were linked.


I will say, with half the stores in the Boylston Arcade closed down and the carts at the side of the hall, walking through there is AMAZING. It doesn't feel like DTX at rush hour anymore. I've actually started going to the food court again.
 
davem said:
I will say, with half the stores in the Boylston Arcade closed down and the carts at the side of the hall, walking through there is AMAZING. It doesn't feel like DTX at rush hour anymore. I've actually started going to the food court again.
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Maybe because I've experienced rush hour crowding of the passageway under 41st Street in Manhattan linking the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the Times Square station I have a higher threshold for claustrophobia and it never really seemed that bad to begin with.

For about 6 months, I worked at the Microsoft Store as a part time job on top of my full time job at 33 Arch directly adjacent DTX. I want to say the worst part of the Boylston St arcade was the people standing in front of the Legal Seafood, either waiting for their table or the rest of their party. There's definitely more breathing room at DTX during rush hour. With fast-walking commuters and slower tourists, shoppers, and convention attendees, it can easily get much more congested and claustrophobic in the arcade. Then again, I guess the point of a mall is to encourage greater patronage through slower foot traffic, not cater to through traffic.

I assume that the carts will go back to the middle of the arcade when all is said and done. I'm interested to see how the retail podium of 888 Boylston will integrate with the arcade. Isn't the west side of the arcade directly under the footprint of the tower?
 
Bos -- nice pics of the crane at night

I saw the crane this AM on a local weather view -- the cloud deck was low-enough that a lot of the PRU and even the top of R2D2 [i.e. 111 Huntington] was obscured but the crane stood out
 
thanks^ this will be a cool building to watch as it joins the Skyline
 
Eataly is close to signing a deal for a large store in the Pru:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/04/16/new-eataly-food-emporium-nears-deal-open-prudential-center/IcIHoXb9ftKAFgwCFfBh0I/story.html

Excerpts:
"Spanning 45,000 square feet and three floors, Eataly Boston will feature a vast gourmet marketplace near the center of the Pru’s interior shopping area. The marketplace will offer vegetables, pastas, olive oils and others groceries. It will include at least six eateries, from a pizza and pasta restaurant to a rooftop grill and brewery with a retractable ceiling and patio."

"Early plans call for the marketplace to take over the existing food court at the Shops at Prudential Center. Eataly will add a street-level entrance with a cafe, leading up to the marketplace and connecting to a new building under construction on the Pru property. A new rooftop restaurant and brewery, seating up to 300 people, will be added above the space currently occupied by the food court.

Saper said plans for the Boston Eataly may change and his team has yet to sign a lease with Boston Properties Inc., the owner of the Prudential Center office and retail complex. Eataly hopes to open in mid- to late-2016, he said."
 
So with the development that Eataly will be (hopefully) taking over the food court and a cafe in the new building, I wonder how much retail space will be left over in the 888 Boylston building? I am not sure how much Sq footage you can fit in the food court, but would there be enough space for the rumored Bloomingdales? Or is that now off the table?
 
Cobean said:
So with the development that Eataly will be (hopefully) taking over the food court and a cafe in the new building, I wonder how much retail space will be left over in the 888 Boylston building? I am not sure how much Sq footage you can fit in the food court, but would there be enough space for the rumored Bloomingdales? Or is that now off the table?
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Eataly will only be 45,000 sq. ft.; though it's to be spread over three floors if it incorporates the current food court, I don't think it will monopolize retail space in the building. Of course, Bloomingdales would probably need a space equal or bigger than this... (unless they launch a "City Bloomingdales" concept :)).
 
At 17 stories, is this going to be about the same height as the Avalon towers to its east? Have there been elevation renderings in context with the other buildings that I've missed?
 
Taken from a few pages back.

Downburst said:
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(All images from FXFOWLE)
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If Copley Tower ever gets built that view from the Pike will be awesome. Of course i'd rather not have that view at all (cover), but we're stuck with it for awhile.
 
Fan Pier called. "Have you seen my missing stump?
 
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