Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

How about this, demolish all of DTX and start from scratch? The Macy's currently their is a sad excuse for a department store in the heart of a major city.
 
How about attracting WHSmith

They are located at airports, malls and also "High street" shopping areas

They have a mix of electronics, books (including e-books), entertainment stuff and at the airports travel essentials

they are well connected with BAA through the airports -- and Logan is well connected with BAA as BAA operates as the shopping / restaurant landlord's rep in several terminals
ABOUT BAA BOSTON

"BAA Boston is the developer and manager of the retail and concessions programme at the Airmall at Boston Logan International Airport (Terminals B and E).

BAA Boston is a project of BAA USA, the master developer and manager of the retail and food & beverage operations at the Airmalls at Pittsburgh International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

In turn, BAA USA is an affiliate of BAA Limited, the world’s leading airport company, owned by Ferrovial. BAA owns and operates seven UK airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow). "

does the BRA know this?
 
So, what is everyone's one suggestion, one company / service / retail / restaurant / business to put in the space where Borders is/was.

Go.
 
Rip that fugly front side down (keep the 2 Cent Savings Bank or w/e on the side, at least) so the front is more attractive. Keep the same footprint (my guess is it is the way it is because a street used to run diagonally from Washington to School for w/e reason (you can even see granite curb where it would have been)). But as for what to put inside... no clue. I just hate the entrance side. Everything else is cool.
 
Some ideas:
- a D-Box/4D movie theater (like 1 or 2 screens, and a very premium movie-going experience)
- a signature restaurant, like a Rainforest Cafe or Grand Lux Cafe, except something more Bostonian... thinking "Sam Adams Brewery Store/Restaurant", a relocated Hard Rock Cafe, or like Colonial-themed restaurant by day/themed night club by night type establishment.
- A Boston museum... it's right on the Freedom Trail and centrally located amongst several of the Freedom Trail hot spots.
- A flea market... an under-air market where people can lease push-carts or booths and sell what they own. Like the Grand Bazaar or something like that (granted on a much smaller scale). It could be called the School Street Exchange (or something like that).

Whatever goes there, they need to preserve that plaza space with the Irish Famine Memorial on the corner. I recently began working downtown and everyday I walk by there I see massive amounts of people enjoying that space and its shade trees.
 
Like the Boston Museum concept -- much better location at DTX than on the Greenway

smallish museum with a rotating display of stuff from local museums -- all connected to Boston or the local region -- e.g.:

silver, paintings, books, samplers, maps, furniture from colonial and 19th century
some industrial era artifacts such as parts of looms, shoe machinery
some early information era (telegraph, telephone equip)
some sporting world artifacts and exhibits of totemic sculptures,etc.
some modern world technology, medicine, finance-related
etc.
 
A new concept IKEA store for small, urban footprints complete with Swedish cafe.
 
Shepard said:
A new concept IKEA store for small, urban footprints complete with Swedish cafe.
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I love the idea of an urban IKEA! (Also means I don't have to pile my friends in my car when they want to go anymore)
 
I am in favor of an urban Ikea going in this space. Barnes & Noble seems like too obvious of a tenant, although I am under the impression that this Borders location was relatively successful so maybe they would be interested.
 
Ikea doesn't build in downtown. Their customers drive, and typically haul away most of what they buy. In New York City, there is a store in Brooklyn. There are probably 400-500 parking spaces.
 
I'd like a Sephora in DTX. It's a pain to go all the way to Back Bay for my shampoo. And yes, I know that CVS sells shampoo.
 
The Mayor and the BRA really fucked up this area bad.

It's really tough to present this location as something it's not at this point. Boston DTX district is finished. I don't see companies from outside of Boston dealing with this adminstration especially after the whole Vorando fiasco.

Unless we start giving taxpayer subsidaries. Which is always possible since every project that is in construction now has sometype of tax break


How many private projects in NYC get tax subsidaries?

In the end we will probably get a Huge Walmart as the ancor retailer.
 
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Is there such thing as an urban Costcos or an urban BJs? Not that I think it would fit in the Borders, but maybe Filene's pit.... Just ponderin'....
 
Given Downtown Crossing's proximity to the Common, Freedom Trail, Theater District, Chinatown etc., the potential is there for a phenominal revival. The fact that there are also so many small retail storefronts and unusual spaces bodes really well for a bright future.

Other areas of town merit concern in the short an long term. Not DTX, at least when considering a longer view and especially once there is forward motion on the Vornado/Filenes site.
 
^^any bets on when we see dirt moving again at the Filene's site? I say we have quite a longer downward spiral for DTX. The place is a dump. Can anyone tell me what the BID has done aside from pay exuberant salaries to it's executives and power-wash the sidewalk in front of Macy's? And yes, I have seen the nice t-shirts all the vendors wear.

Ron Newman said:
Barnes & Noble -- keep it a bookstore!
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Is this a joke?
 
There is only one direction for DTX to go at this point, and I agree with Sicilian, it is too good a location to forever resemble Detroit.
 
Not a joke. The current store is quite busy, and is closing only because its parent company got into financial trouble. Why shouldn't a competitor pick it up?
 
Well then why not be an independant store? The 2 Cent Savings Bank Bookstore. Also, collect beat up and used books for recycling by selling them for 2 cents. :)
 
BostonUrbEx said:
Well then why not be an independant store? The 2 Cent Savings Bank Bookstore. Also, collect beat up and used books for recycling by selling them for 2 cents. :)
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Isn't there already one of those off a small side street between the common and DTX? How many independent stores could afford to move into the large(ish) space being vacated?
 
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