Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Re: Filene's

Millennium's reputation for active ground floor in Boston isn't overly impressive unfortunately. They are really going to have to step out of their mold on this one to impress me.

What makes you say that Stat? Didn't the Ritz development include the Lowe's theater and Sports Club LA?

 

[BosDevelop]

Re: Filene's

What makes you say that Stat? Didn't the Ritz development include the Lowe's theater and Sports Club LA?

If you take a walk over there you will see that they included in the Ritz development a ton of ground floor retail beyond the gym and movie theater. I believe there is a furniture store in one of the spaces (or there was at one time) and the remainder of the retail has sat idle without a single tenant since the development was finished some 7-8 years ago. Even if you include a members only gym as "retail", the retail component of the Ritz development has overall been a large failure.

 

[choo]

Re: Filene's

I think MP will do good. Ritz was on the fringe and had to be a little more insular for its high end clients. this i believe will be more outward facing as so many people pass by it and thru it everyday. I am very hopefully (and dont want to be disappointed.)

 

[found5dollar]

Re: Filene's

Larger image:

I see a gerbil tube...... anyone else see it?

EDIT: I don't mean this necessarily as a negative. Iit seems they are leaving a pedestrian walk way between the two buildings so some connection is needed.

 

[KentXie]

Re: Filene's

I can't really tell from the rendering but it looks like it could be a 3-story connection between the tower and Filene's.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Re: Filene's

If you take a walk over there you will see that they included in the Ritz development a ton of ground floor retail beyond the gym and movie theater. I believe there is a furniture store in one of the spaces (or there was at one time) and the remainder of the retail has sat idle without a single tenant since the development was finished some 7-8 years ago. Even if you include a members only gym as "retail", the retail component of the Ritz development has overall been a large failure.

But in terms of foot traffic and bringing people to the site during non-traditional work hours, you can't do much better than a multiplex and a gym. And particularly the movie theater has a ripple effect (restaurants tend to spring up around them).

 

[KentXie]

Re: Filene's

I am loving the comments on the article on Boston.com. People talking about scaling it back, it's too tall, it will look way out of place. Someone even believes all of the building in the surrounding area are 3-10 stories tall.

Frankly I enjoy trolling the NIMBYs with sarcastic and ironic remarks. It allows me to indirectly insult them.

 

[type001]

Re: Filene's

Frankly I enjoy trolling the NIMBYs with sarcastic and ironic remarks. It allows me to indirectly insult them.

Same here. The best thing to do is let them get their nonsense out first. Then when all the sane people take a break out their work days, they go online and write how dumb those NIMBYs are. Just look at the 2nd page going forward.

 

[ledjes]

Re: Filene's

A question for you Boston history buffs:

Assuming this gets built, when was the last time that this section of Washington Street from State (including 45 Province) to Kneeland has had a critical mass of residences? Do we have to go as far back as pre-great-fire?

 

[Semass]

Re: Filene's

It would be a shame to have that nicely renovated Burnham Building and tower with a dumpy DTX subway station. I hope that improvements will be included in the project.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Filene's

Even the height is good -- 606 top floor over 650 to the roof

Where do you get the "over 650 to the roof" from? That would make this even taller than the Copley Place Tower, and a clear new tallest building in the financial district (as opposed to 2nd to the Fed, and right in the general 5 [to then 6] tower plateau between 590'-614'). Are you sure it isn't just 606' total? This is a pretty major difference.

 

[statler]

Re: Filene's

So I'm the only one who hates the ground floor of the Washington St side of MP I & II?

Ok.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Filene's

I am loving the comments on the article on Boston.com. People talking about scaling it back, it's too tall, it will look way out of place. Someone even believes all of the building in the surrounding area are 3-10 stories tall.

If you look, you had a typo on your comment and somebody responded to you as if you were a troll. Multiple "recommendations" on the response too.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Filene's

So I'm the only one who hates the ground floor of the Washington St side of MP I & II?

Ok.

What was there before? As far as I can tell, it was a (fairly) bad neighborhood that is slowly but surely improving, which brings future potential for something better in MP's retail offerings.

 

[statler]

Re: Filene's

Somewhere in the MIT Dome project there is an excellent shot of those two blocks filled with active store fronts and people. Where as today there is a high-end furniture store, a CVS and two very large, very blank walls.

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Filene's

I'll give it points for being less fussy on the transition from the new tower to Burnham building.

I'd like to see greater detail on this question. From the rendering we have, it almost looks to me like there is no transition at all, other than what might be termed abrupt.

The other question I have -- when do we re-christen the "ladder district" as "millennium city?" This looks quite a lot like the various Ritz buildings and the soon to rise Hayward Place stump.

 

[stellarfun]

Re: Filene's

A question for you Boston history buffs:

Assuming this gets built, when was the last time that this section of Washington Street from State (including 45 Province) to Kneeland has had a critical mass of residences? Do we have to go as far back as pre-great-fire?

The Great Boston Fire only struck the south side of Washington St from Milk to Summer. None of the buildings were residential to my knowledge.

More destructive to Washington St was the Memorial Day fire of 1873. Of businesses on the premises, only those with the largest loss are listed below

411 Washington St, furniture store
419 Washington St billiard saloon
409 Washington, clothing store
389-395 Washington dry goods store
397-401 Washington, Museum of Anatomy
413-415 Washington, International Hotel
425-427 Washington, small shops, barber, druggist
429-431 Washington, gent's furnishings
354 Washington, Chickering pianos (showroom)
360 Washington, furriers
362 Washington, Globe theater
364 Washington, tailors
370-374 Washington, restaurant, beer saloon

The only (presumably residential) dwellings burned by this fire were two on Bumstead Ct., eight on Fayette Ct., and eight on Brimmer Pl. None of the buildings that burned on Essex St., or Boylston St. were residential.

Helluva fire, I remember it as if it were yesterday.

 

[KentXie]

Re: Filene's

I think that area is a victim of its own surroundings. The building across the street provided no retail and Hayward Place, until its completion, is a parking lot. IMO, the area as it is doesn't draw much attention. Lafayette Place has been having trouble getting retail to fill their storefront as well.

I think we should withhold judgement until Hayward Place is completed and more retail stores fill the empty storefronts.

Until then, no matter how well design the ground level is, it will not attract pedestrian.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Re: Filene's

Somewhere in the MIT Dome project there is an excellent shot of those two blocks filled with active store fronts and people. Where as today there is a high-end furniture store, a CVS and two very large, very blank walls.

Isn't Bina Osteria there. Used to be one of the most high-end restaurants in Boston, failed pretty quickly with its uber-avant garde menu and reopened as a less fancy place.
Plus there's a sushi place there as well I think. EDIT: I might be thinking of another block of Washington.

 

[Hutchison]

Re: Filene's

Avery St. has Artisan Bistro now and the Avery bar in the lounge. Blu is upstairs somewhere? Bina Osteria has closed but Sip Wine Bar is supposed to open at the end of the month in its place.