Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

[BostonUrbEx]

I'd love to see Park and Tremont turn into something just like Winter and Washington, but Tremont is a pretty big deal. *Something* would have to change.

Beacon is westbound west of Charles, two way from there to Park, and one way for there until roughly One Beacon where's it's then two way very briefly until Tremont. Just make this whole thing westbound. Tremont after it's intersection with School and Beacon can be reduced to 2 lanes that are only for emergency vehicles, delivery trucks, and bikes. Free traffic is allowed south of West St (where traffic is forced off of Washington). Also, Bromfield will have to be reversed just so no one makes a run around and traffic isn't going through the designated ped mall.

 

[statler]

Can you imagine the outcry if someone seriously proposed building along the edge of the Common?

My god, it would be deafening.

 

[aquaman]

...I, too, like Pierce's plan to narrow Tremont and build a grand promenade along the Commons.

Examples of good pedestrian malls:

Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach
Las Ramblas, Barcelona (which is so good, actually, that it doesn't even need retail to anchor it)
Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market, Boston

I disagree in one respect. If one lane of Tremont is to close, it ought to be the eastern-most lane which lines the commercial zone, not the side bordering the Common. Nothing can be built on the Common and, therefore, it will not become a mecca for activity. At most, you might get one burger shack and some pushcarts, but not a permanent improvement nor dynamic public space. I believe that adding one traffic lane wide pedestrian walkway along an already existing broad expanse of open space (one with all kinds of building and development restrictions) will do little to serve the public.

Closing the eastern-most lane of Tremont, however, will provide a broad promenade along potential storefronts, restaurants, theatre and residential buildings. You cite Lincoln Rd. (which, I agree, is terrific public space), but look a couple of blocks south to Ocean Drive. The far busier side of the street is along the restaurant and hotel side, NOT the beach/park side. Expanding the open space on Ocean Drive would do little, but expanding the sidewalk edging the hotels -- golden. People want to congregate among buildings where they can duck in and out of shops, sit down for a coffee, pick up a newspaper and, generally, watch the parade of people gonig by. If we've learned one thing from the RKG (so far), it's that simply expanding space with nothing on its edge does not draw in people. So if one lane of Tremont were to close, it should be the lane immediately abutting existing commercial space, not undevelopable land.

 

[Beton Brut]

Also Church Street in Burlington VT and Third Street in Santa Monica CA, though I haven't been back to either one in a long time.

It's been too long since I visited Burlington, but I was on Third Street in March. Lots of foot-traffic but it's become more generic since my first visit there in 1997.

 

[Shepard]

Well reasoned, Aquaman.

 

[aquaman]

...I, too, like Pierce's plan to narrow Tremont and build a grand promenade along the Commons.

Examples of good pedestrian malls:

Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach
Las Ramblas, Barcelona (which is so good, actually, that it doesn't even need retail to anchor it)
Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market, Boston

woops - double post. DELETE

 

[bdurden]

I disagree in one respect. If one lane of Tremont is to close, it ought to be the eastern-most lane which lines the commercial zone, not the side bordering the Common. Nothing can be built on the Common and, therefore, it will not become a mecca for activity. At most, you might get one burger shack and some pushcarts, but not a permanent improvement nor dynamic public space. I believe that adding one traffic lane wide pedestrian walkway along an already existing broad expanse of open space (one with all kinds of building and development restrictions) will do little to serve the public.

Closing the eastern-most lane of Tremont, however, will provide a broad promenade along potential storefronts, restaurants, theatre and residential buildings. You cite Lincoln Rd. (which, I agree, is terrific public space), but look a couple of blocks south to Ocean Drive. The far busier side of the street is along the restaurant and hotel side, NOT the beach/park side. Expanding the open space on Ocean Drive would do little, but expanding the sidewalk edging the hotels -- golden. People want to congregate among buildings where they can duck in and out of shops, sit down for a coffee, pick up a newspaper and, generally, watch the parade of people gonig by. If we've learned one thing from the RKG (so far), it's that simply expanding space with nothing on its edge does not draw in people. So if one lane of Tremont were to close, it should be the lane immediately abutting existing commercial space, not undevelopable land.

Good post -- this sounds like an even better plan. Improve the Common by once and for all appropriately developing the Common entrance (translation: fixing the piecemeal efforts from the 70s thru present that now looks dingy at best) and widen the commercial zone akin to Ocean Drive or Champs Elysees.

 

[Mike]

Skipping out on BID tax
Nstar, other landlords may not ante up for Hub retail district
By Thomas Grillo
Monday, August 9, 2010


Despite a successful campaign to convince Downtown Crossing landlords to pay more taxes to improve the troubled shopping district, several landlords are balking.

Last week, the Boston City Council approved the city?s first Business Improvement District, or BID, covering a 50-block-area downtown that expects to raise more than $4 million.

Nearly 480 property owners signed a support petition and a letter was mailed to 504 landlords who own 744 parcels in the district. The newfound cash will be used for street cleaning teams, uniformed ?ambassadors? and marketing.

Under the plan, which has the enthusiastic support of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the city would levy a tax on merchants from $200 to more than $200,000 annually, generating up to $4.5 million. Landlords have 30 days to opt out of the new tax by notifying the City Clerk.

Nstar, the utility giant that owns a building on Chauncy Street, declined to participate. The company is being asked to pay an additional $14,000.

?We?re already the largest taxpayer in the city having paid $48 million last year, and we expect to pay in excess of $50 million next year,? said spokeswoman Caroline Allen. ?We have to be very careful about how we spend our customers? money.?

Another Downtown Crossing landlord, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution from City Hall, said he will not pay the tax and called the Menino administration ?fascists.?

?They don?t understand the concept of private property,? the owner said.

The biggest landlord in Downtown Crossing, Equity Office, is undecided. A source said the company - which owns five buildings in the BID and pays more than $20 million in real estate taxes - is reluctant to pay more given that commercial property values have slid in the recession.

The BID is the latest initiative supported by Menino to spruce up the gritty shopping district. Two years ago, the Boston Redevelopment Authority spent $800,000 on another study for the district.

The city has installed flower beds, benches and art in vacant storefronts, and limited traffic, but shoppers still favor suburban shopping malls, the retailers on Newbury and Boylston streets and the offerings at the Prudential Center.

The Filene?s block redevelopment, stalled since the fall 2008 economic meltdown, gave the district another black eye while sales at the luxury condo project at 45 Province have been slow.

Ronald Druker, president of the Druker Cos., owner of the Orpheum Theater, the Corner Mall and the Jewelers Building on Washington Street, is among dozens of cheerleaders for the extra tax.

?Having the BID in place will enhance the neighborhood and retail environment and make it more attractive,? he said.

Donna DePrisco, owner of DePrisco Jewelers, also supports the BID, saying the extra money will be a tremendous help. But she said the Filene?s site needs to be redeveloped as soon as possible.

?Unless Filene?s is taken care of, nothing will happen here,? she said. ?Anything that could be done there at any price would be a welcome addition, as opposed to leaving it the way it is. It?s extremely depressing. No one wants to come here.?


Link

 

[czsz]

?Unless Filene?s is taken care of, nothing will happen here,? she said. ?Anything that could be done there at any price would be a welcome addition, as opposed to leaving it the way it is. It?s extremely depressing. No one wants to come here.?

Bingo. What is the BID going to do, beyond laying even more flowers around Filene's gravesite?

 

[Lurker]

The BID could do something about the horrible asphalt sidewalks that the city somehow thinks are perfectly fine for a central downtown location.

 

[TheRifleman]

The BID could do something about the horrible asphalt sidewalks that the city somehow thinks are perfectly fine for a central downtown location.

Lurker,

Can some of the retails that could end up bankrupt start to take legal action against the BRA, the City or Vornado for the disaster that they created?

 

[Lurker]

Any lawsuit would be counter productive. The city is too corrupt to pin anything on without repercussions, and going after Vornado would only provide an excuse to back out of or further delay development.

 

[TheRifleman]

I thought this was a free country?


City hits store landlord
Bookstore space open since 2006
By Thomas Grillo
Thursday, August 12, 2010 - Updated 9 hours ago
+ Recent Articles

E-mail Print (15) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!Four years after a Downtown Crossing bookstore closed, the city is blasting the landlord for refusing to lease the space and letting the building fall into disrepair.

?It?s very frustrating to have such a prime location stay empty for so long,? said Randi Lathrop, the Boston Redevelopment Authority?s community planning deputy director. ?It?s a mystery to us why it continues to be vacant. The only explanation is that the owner is asking way too much rent.?

After 30 years at 395-403 Washington St., Barnes & Noble closed in 2006 when the retailer was unable to reach an agreement with its landlord, Robert Posner, on a new lease.

Today, the 63,733-square-foot property across from the former Filene?s building is still empty and there are no prospects to fill the five-story building.

Since the bookstore left, the city has helped steer retailers seeking space downtown to Posner, but a lease never gets signed, Lathrop said.

?Lots of property owners are willing to lower the rent to make a deal happen,? she said. ?But at the end of the day, it doesn?t work out with Mr. Posner for whatever reason.?

Lathrop also noted that she has sent BRA staff to clean the outside of the building, removing posters and stickers at no charge.

Posner refused to speak to the Herald yesterday.

Mark Browne, a principal at Berenson Browne Advisors, a downtown retail broker, said Posner is seeking $125 per square foot on the first floor and $65 for the upper floors - numbers that Browne calls ?distorted.?

?Nearly every tenant that has any interest in the city of Boston has looked at that space and walked away without a deal because of Posner?s unrealistic expectations of market value,? Browne said. ?The ground-floor space is worth about $70 per foot and upstairs is valued at $30.?

Browne said office-supply chain Staples, discounters Filene?s Basement and T.J. Maxx and apparel retailers Zara and Forever 21 have all looked at the space and wanted do a deal. ?But Posner is afraid to leave a penny on the table,? he said.


http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...ore_landlord_bookstore_space_open_since_2006/

 

[statler]

I thought this was a free country?

Depends on how you define free, I suppose. If by "free" you mean free of laws, rules, regulations and consequences of your actions, than, no, we've never lived in a 'free' country. Sorry.

 

[TheRifleman]

Now the BRA is telling him to rent the space. Our State and Federal tax laws probably make it easy for him at this point to keep the building vacant.

That is the true reality.

 

[type001]

Now the BRA is telling him to rent the space. Our State and Federal tax laws probably make it easy for him at this point to keep the building vacant.

That is the true reality.

Where did you read that the BRA is telling him to do this? Blasting is not the same thing. It's the BRA's freedom of speech to criticize the landlord for not lowering the rent, which I think most agree with.

Nobody's freedom has actually been infringed upon here.

 

[Shepard]

I bet that space was worth much more before they Dresdened the other side of the street. Owner is probably wishing he'd leased it earlier at a reasonable market rate, but who knows what his thinking is now, though. BRA has a complete right to call him out on this, in any case.

 

[TheRifleman]

I bet that space was worth much more before they Dresdened the other side of the street. Owner is probably wishing he'd leased it earlier at a reasonable market rate, but who knows what his thinking is now, though. BRA has a complete right to call him out on this, in any case.

Besides the State and city taxes, he probably wants to skip out and paying BID.

 

[Boston02124]

Today sitting at the traffic light at Washington st

 

[JohnAKeith]

So, could someone give a synopsis of what happened in the late 1980's in Downtown Crossing?

The way I remember it (and I was just a tyke at the time, of course), Canadian financier Robert Campeau and his Campeau Corporation bought Allied Stores (the company behind Jordan Marsh) in 1986 and then bought Federated Stores (the company behind Filene's and Bloomingdale's) in 1988.

Around the same time, he made a grand proposal to merge several large parcels of land in the Downtown Crossing area into a project given the name "Boston Crossing".

Boston Crossing would have been a massive development near the then-existing Jordan Marsh (now Macy's) and would have included a Bloomingdale's across the street on what is now the parking lot at Hayward Place.

It would have included 1.6 million square feet of office space, 1.5 million square feet of retail space, a hotel with 413,000 square feet of space, and up to 2,000 new parking spaces.

But, it was not to be. Soon after this plan was proposed, Campeau Corporation found itself unable to service its huge debt load. Eventually, both Allied and Federated went into bankruptcy. The name "Jordan Marsh" disappeared, as did "Filene's" and over 250 other department stores chains.

Boston Crossing and the "Commonwealth Center", across the street (where?), were never built, the victims of the financial meltdown in the late 1980's (the stock market dropped more than 500 points the day I interviewed for my first job, if memory serves).

EDIT: Actually, Phase I was built - at least, the new Jordan Marsh and Lafayette Place part. There were no new high-rises, but the retail portion was built. It was a complete failure. It was almost always empty and few stores ever opened.

Phase II, the Hayward Place / Bloomingdale's development, was never built (obviously). The BRA held onto this and eventually sold it to Millennium Partners after it built the Ritz Carlton Towers. It remains to this day a parking lot.

The plans for Downtown Crossing were made about the same time the city of Boston, under its esteemed mayor, Raymond Flynn, proposed a new "Midtown Cultural District", which was envisioned as a vibrant city center full of live theater and dance halls, some existing, some to be built. Although several of the projects came to be, much of it remains only in our imaginations.

Do I have any of this right?