I'd argue it's very much a chicken-and-egg situation along that stretch. One on hand, the area could stand to be activated with some ground floor retail. On the other, my experience as a nearby resident tells me there's nowhere near enough foot traffic to justify any sort of retail there in the first place.
Not saying it shouldn't be tried, but I doubt it's a priority for risk-averse developers.
That entire stretch between Heath Street and Hyde Square should have: more height/density/urbanism, ground floor activation, and an 'E' Branch extension, running along a separated ROW in the middle of South Huntington (not to mention its own ROW between there and Brigham Circle).
I do like the bronze building. The metallic shingles going up on the other are much more coppery and clash horribly with the existing facade. I'm hoping there will be some street trees or other foliage to cover it up.
Yet another project undone by the complete lack of depth to the facade. The shingles portion could've projected some strength if it stood out even a tiny bit from the alucobond portions, but instead it reads as flimsy wallpaper, or rather some 1960s asphalt shingles intervention where the garishness got turned up to eleven.
I think this looks awesome. Great blend of old and new. Sometimes the mix of colors, textures, materials, along with older buildings mixed in looks wonky. I think they pulled this off. The brown building especially looks good with the shingle texture.