Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

[Charlie_mta]

Local satellite art piece, Alouette, vandalized in Downtown Crossing - The Boston Globe

The piece depicts a Canadian satellite crashing into a Nissan Altima. A man allegedly stole the 150-pound satellite and fled.

www.bostonglobe.com

No big loss. IMO.

 

[bigpicture7]

No big loss. IMO.

I know, that model year Altima was just OK.

 

[#bancars]

Some coverage of the Breaktime acquisition of the office building on Franklin Street:

Thanks to a 26-year-old nonprofit founder, one less downtown Boston office building is vacant - The Boston Globe

Connor Schoen, the leader of homelessness nonprofit Breaktime, engineered a $6.3 million deal to purchase the five-story building at 63 Franklin Street.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[themissinglink]

Boston is putting out the call to artists to help revitalize the downtown district - The Boston Globe

Mayor Michelle Wu, working with the Downtown Business Alliance, says the city "is committed to expanding accessible culture space."

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[#bancars]

Many residents, workers feel unsafe in downtown Boston. A meeting this week aims for answers. - The Boston Globe

Boston can brag about being among the safest big US cities, but drug-dealing, shoplifting, and petty crime continue to plague the Boston Common and Downtown Crossing area.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[themissinglink]

A summit on the safety of downtown Boston happened Thursday. Here’s what came of it. - The Boston Globe

More than 90 people packed a room in a downtown condo building Thursday night for a summit to discuss the drug-dealing, shoplifting, and other quality-of-life issues plaguing the area.

www.bostonglobe.com

Boston police officials have said they will step up patrols in the area. Other short-term solutions that were discussed include: fixing busted sidewalks and handicapped ramps; improvements to lighting in the area; more outreach from the city’s homeless shelters; and more programming on the Common and around Downtown Crossing such as music, food trucks, or art exhibits.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Excuse me if this has been posted elsewhere.

Marlboro Building at 399 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing sold for $13,000,000 on March 5, 2025. It's a 76,000 square foot five story building. Previously sold for $63.25 million in 2017.

This is where Barnes & Noble used to be until circa 2006 and has been vacant since. Two levels of retail and three stories of offices above that. The entire front of the building has been redone in the past few years to remove the (heinous) first-two storeys facade.

The building dates back to 1881, Bradlee & Winslow architects, and rose in the ashes of the Great Fire of 1872 that was extinguished practically at its front door. (I just read it is called the "Marlboro Building" because it used to be on what was called Marlborough Street and no I'm not kidding.) In the 1950s it was the WT Grant department store.

Seller is Redus Properties Inc, which is affiliated with Wells Fargo, which took over ownership of the property in 2023. Buyer is Hudson 399 Washington LLC. This is Ori & Noam Ron's company. He built Radian facing the "Greenway" and holds other parcels in the DTX and Chinatown neighborhoods.

(Image courtesy of Historic New England)