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

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Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

fattony said:
It is a rare day that I defend Mumbles, but Vornado were attempting to extort the tax break from the city. Here, it appears Millennium offered a reasoned case.
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That begs the question: why did Menino not offer Vorando the same tax break before they attempted to extort it? He's playing favorites here, plain and simple.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Can't wait till this guy vacates the corner office...he's done a lot for the city but he's gotta go.

Who looks good? Connelly?
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Millennium may have earned their favored status through prior successes? I honestly don't know.

Boston Magazine did a great piece on the history of Vornado's involvement about a year ago. When Vornado entered the picture the economy was fine and tax breaks weren't required to lure them in. The recession coupled with a cut-throat attitude from Vornado led to stalled construction, blight, and an outstretched hand with the threat that the blight will continue without a handout. Menino was justifiably pissed at them.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Unlike Vornado, Millennium has been agressively marketing the site and I suspect that they might have a potential big fish on line here. A last minute sweetener in the form of reduced rent through reduced taxes might be enough to get a major tenant to sign on. Just a guess.

Interesting to note, these breaks wouldn't do anything for the residential portion of the project, which is a greater portion of the construction here. Those units would be assessed and taxed like any other private home in the city.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Nordstrom would be great...manhattan is getting a flagship store.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

jdrinboston said:
Unlike Vornado, Millennium has been agressively marketing the site and I suspect that they might have a potential big fish on line here. A last minute sweetener in the form of reduced rent through reduced taxes might be enough to get a major tenant to sign on. Just a guess.

Interesting to note, these breaks wouldn't do anything for the residential portion of the project, which is a greater portion of the construction here. Those units would be assessed and taxed like any other private home in the city.
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Tax breaks only benefit the developer. It basically lowers the cost of the development so the developer can pesuade a tenant to rent out the space at a reasonable price.

The only problem with these types of tax breaks is it games the system from the private investor, landlord, builder across the street trying to rent out his space for a certain amount especially when the investor purchased a building without using tax breaks.

Menino is favoring certain developers but not others. This is a dangerous game going on with our govt in general. The govt is picking the winners and deciding who loses not the free markets.

THEY PAID TOO MUCH FOR THE SITE AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY THE ARCHITECTURE SUCKS IN THE CITY
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

datadyne007 said:
I love you. =)

I finally have someone else on my side.
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Nordstrom is nice but not unusual in cities. Even providence has one. What would be really cool and New Englandy would be a huge L.L. Bean flagship. The only one is in Freeport. The Dedham store is disappointing. It has a lot of square footage and not a lot of product in what should be one of thier best markets. They have clothes, shoes, furniture, housewares, linens, and many of the other things found at other departments stores. They even have an outlet/discount center. No giant makeup counter though (unless patchouli counts).
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

TheRifleman said:
Tax breaks only benefit the developer. It basically lowers the cost of the development so the developer can pesuade a tenant to rent out the space at a reasonable price.

The only problem with these types of tax breaks is it games the system from the private investor, landlord, builder across the street trying to rent out his space for a certain amount especially when the investor purchased a building without using tax breaks.

Menino is favoring certain developers but not others. This is a dangerous game going on with our govt in general. The govt is picking the winners and deciding who loses not the free markets.

THEY PAID TOO MUCH FOR THE SITE AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY THE ARCHITECTURE SUCKS IN THE CITY
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Is it that they paid too much or are taxes too high on commercial properties? Does anyone know what kind of rate (per sq foot, or overall percentage) commercial RE taxes are?

I know my RE taxes in Boston are ridiculously low compared to the 'burbs and always assumed the commercial base was picking up the slack....
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

What would be really cool and New Englandy would be a huge L.L. Bean flagship.
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I think of LL Bean as being like Eddie Bauer. Cool in 1996. A bit dated in 2013. Am I wrong? (I'm asking honestly because I have ZERO fashion sense).
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

Semass said:
Nordstrom is nice but not unusual in cities. Even providence has one. What would be really cool and New Englandy would be a huge L.L. Bean flagship. The only one is in Freeport. The Dedham store is disappointing. It has a lot of square footage and not a lot of product in what should be one of thier best markets. They have clothes, shoes, furniture, housewares, linens, and many of the other things found at other departments stores. They even have an outlet/discount center. No giant makeup counter though (unless patchouli counts).
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True forgot Providence had one...still would be nice though...typically Nordstroms are not in city centers bc rent/sqft is too high, as they require a large space.

LL bean won't draw high end residents to the tower in my opinion.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

^ This is correct. LL Bean is not very current. Although their products are good quality and look nice. They are not at the same level as a Nordstrom as far as how stylish their clothes are.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

AmericanFolkLegend said:
I think of LL Bean as being like Eddie Bauer. Cool in 1996. A bit dated in 2013. Am I wrong? (I'm asking honestly because I have ZERO fashion sense).
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Were they ever cool? They make useful and sometimes good looking clothes, but I've never seen a piece of clothing by them with one ounce of cool to it.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

About as cool as wrangler jeans
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

kz1000ps said:
Were they ever cool? They make useful and sometimes good looking clothes, but I've never seen a piece of clothing by them with one ounce of cool to it.
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Fully agree with you here. They are not particularly cool/stylish but they are an attractive company to a higher end demographic. Not to say that anyone would be heading there to prep for a night at the opera but that is not their purpose. I think that we all agreed that for most residents in the tower, this would not be their only residence. I'd bet that the target residents have their Cape/Maine/Vermont place fully furnished in L.L. Bean chic. They probably have their kids who are away at prep school outfitted in Bean as well. It is the brand that the residents are probably wearing as they stroll the public garden or the waterfront.

The attraction for me to a Bean superstore is the longevity and reliability of the brand and company, the ability to draw large numbers of customers (in addition to residents) to DTX who would shop there, and to populate the lower floors of the classic Burnham Building with an anchor that is not available at the South Shore Plaza or Burlington or even in NYC.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

For all of the "outdoor allure", if you wore LL Bean going fishing or hunting you'd be laughed at. Filson is better, and has a lifetime guarantee.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

The obvious question: Why would they need a tax break to induce them to build when it's already under construction?????!!!!!!
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

LL Bean can stay in Maine where it belongs. That's all I have to say. Bring in JC Penney or preferably Nordstrom.
 
Re: Millennium Tower - Filene's

To get them to finish?
 
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