Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower
If you didn't know the class of stores in Copley Place you would never guess it was a high-end mall. The cheezy water feature screams suburbia. I'm in Bangkok at the moment, and the newer malls here--even the less-affluent ones--put Copley Place to shame in terms of design and ambiance.
I haven't been to a lot of malls in Boston yet (still relatively new here and not much for malls) but I think the Pru Mall is quite pleasant--much better than Copley Place. I don't know if that's Simon's standard or just that Copley is old (I'm assuming it's about 20 years old to look at the interior finishes).
Tomb -- Copley Place regularly vies for the highest $ sales volume per sq. ft. in the US -- not bad for something which is nearly 30 years old (1983)
The combined Copley Place (75 shops + restaurants + 2 dept stores) and the Shops at Prudential (75 shops, restaurants, food court + 2 department stores) is located in nearly the ideal base for a very succesful mall (or malls including the Pru).
Connected via all-weather '"streets" and Gerbil Tubes you have:
1) Hynes Convention Center (specializes in high-end conferences, science/medical and high tech conventions. and technical trade shows)
2) Upscale office tennants in the connected towers (Copley Place, Pru, 101 Huntington, 111 Huntington) -- some of the highest rents pers sq ft in the US
3) the very up-scale residents in the Pru complex condos including the quite recent Belvedere and Mandarin Oriental Condos ($15 M on the top)
4) The Sheraton, Marriottt, Westin and Mandarin Oriental Hotels
5) Two large parking garages with thousands of spaces
6) Two subway stops and Back Bay railroad station (TCommuter Rail and Amtrack to NYC and Chicago)
7) High-end destination restaurant in the Top of the Hub
8) Tourist site in the Skywalk
9) and while not connected -- just around the corner or accros the street are more high-end hotel rooms and more high-end office space, and several iconic tourist venues (BPL, Trinity Church)
Yes -- the Copley Place Mall itself looks a bit dated (nearly 30 years old -- constructed in 1983) -- it has hardly changed on the macro-level since it opened except for the replacement of the theatre complex with restaurants and shops
I suspect that when the new tower is underway that Simon will do some work updating the public areas of the Copley Place Mall -- just as there was a major revamp of the Pru Complex when the Belvedere residences, 111 Huntington Office Tower and Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences were added to the Pru Complex
