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

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Re: Filene's

tobyjug said:
The lease (at such a low rate and with liquidated damages) is a valuable asset. The Bankrupcy Trustee will split the assets up what ever way will yield the highest return.
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Isn't it a Chapter 11? Has a Chapter 11 Trustee (which is extremely rare and usually only when there is evidence of fraud or other misconduct) been appointed?
 
Re: Filene's

Yeah, I thought this was still a debtor-in-possession situation.
 
Re: Filene's

You have a point, and I don't know the answer.

Ron Newman said:
I don't understand what would invalidate the lease. Filene's Basement may be bankrupt, but the prospective buyer (Crown) wants to keep the lease. The bankruptcy doesn't invalidate the lease unless the bankrupt tenant wants to reject it (and the bankruptcy judge agrees to the rejection).
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The point I was trying to make is that nothing is invalidating the lease. It is valuable, and I can see why the developer would try to buy it (get out from under the below market terms and liquidated damages) and why the party controlling the lease would sell (quick liquidity).
 
Re: Filene's

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Re: Filene's

Talk about BAD TIMING. This development might be on the block of Bankruptcy in a year or two. The market is heading for a depression.
 
Re: Filene's

statler said:
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Statler -- I love the crop-job. The juxtaposition of "Menino" and "bananas" is priceless.

Thanks for this shot, Toby:
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Somehow, black & white enhances the act of urban desecration happening on Washington Street.
 
Re: Filene's

And the cause of the devastation can be seen peeking down on us from afar.

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Re: Filene's

^ Indeed. The difference between a snapshot and a photograph is framing. I'll bet it's intentional. Toby?
 
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A lot of times I put a hidden joke in a shot. You are walking along the street and see it, and just start laughing like you are stoned. Sometimes it works; sometimes it comes out as inscrutable or even just plain stupid; sometimes it turns out you were stoned. Nice catch BB, Shiz and Stat.

p.s. The fence has been moved in the final shot, opening up Urinal Park to...urine?
 
Re: Filene's

Ah...Filene's, if you look around the site a bit, you can find a "Help Me!" written on one of the expose steel bars.
 
Re: Filene's

Hynes eyes U.S. aid for Filene?s plan
By Thomas Grillo
Thursday, May 28, 2009 - Updated 1d 8h ago


E-mail Print (0) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!The developer of the Filene?s block is in Florida this week searching for cash to jump-start the stalled project in Boston?s Downtown Crossing.

John Hynes, managing partner at Gale International, met with lenders in the Sunshine State yesterday on the heels of lobbying Massachusetts economic development czar Greg Bialecki and congressmen Barney Frank and Stephen Lynch about the possibility of government help.

?I?m not looking for a handout,? Hynes said. ?But I am looking for the state and federal government to recognize that there is a well-capitalized - but not completely capitalized - project that will generate 3,000 jobs and transform a portion of Downtown Crossing.?

The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the $700 million Filene?s project in 2007 when the developers envisioned a 39-story tower with office, hotel, residential and retail space.

But after construction halted last year as credit disappeared, Hynes responded with a smaller, $500 million project - with no condos and a shorter tower at 32 stories.

Hynes acknowledged yesterday the developers still need $300 million. ?We haven?t heard back from anyone, but we will keep banging the drum,? he said.
 
Re: Filene's

Why doesn't Vornado start liquidating some of their Assets to get this project done instead of using TAXPAYERS money. These PEOPLE are JOKE. They sure have enough money to buy FAO Schwarz. Society better start waking up because we are getting our money stolen from us. We are no longer in Capitalism.



High-end toy retailer FAO Schwarz was purchased Wednesday by toy giant Toys-R-Us in a move that marks the second time in the last six years that FAO Schwarz has changed hands. In 2003, firm D.E. Shaw paid more than $41 million to buy out the ailing toy company from bankruptcy. The details of the yesterday?s deal have not yet been released.


Image: Flickr

Toys-R-Us and FAO Schwarz are owned by three reputable private equity firms: Vornado Realty Trust, Bain Capital, and KKR. Vornado Realty Trust has owned a third of Toys-R-Us since 2005 and joined forces with the other two firms in a payment of $6.6 billion for the toy retailer.

The move to purchase FAO Schwarz means that the three firms have decisively jumped into the toy market, one that critics have argued is too heavily based on subjective qualities. The visual appeal of a toy?s packaging, for example, is often more important than the toy itself, which makes the market more difficult to control.
 
Re: Filene's

I don't understand the relevance of FAO Schwarz or Toys-R-Us to the Filene's project.
 
Re: Filene's

Ron Newman said:
I don't understand the relevance of FAO Schwarz or Toys-R-Us to the Filene's project.
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The Point is Vornado has Assets that could be liquidated to get this job done. They actually have cash and why do we need to ask for Taxpayers money? They paid too much for the site? That is not the Taxpayers problems. Either Build it or sell it.
 
Re: Filene's

TheRifleman said:
?We haven?t heard back from anyone, but we will keep banging the drum,? he said.
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Yikes! Hynes can't even get lenders to tell him to buzz off. This is a mess. Could be 6-8 years before this development is complete. I know that no one predicted this much of a downturn but Hynes should never ever be allowed to build in Boston again after destroying a city landmark without any close to sufficient financing in place. There is a big difference between gutting a garage/parking lot or older building and then stalling a project versus what Hynes has done here.
 
Re: Filene's

BosDevelop said:
Yikes! Hynes can't even get lenders to tell him to buzz off. This is a mess. Could be 6-8 years before this development is complete. I know that no one predicted this much of a downturn but Hynes should never ever be allowed to build in Boston again after destroying a city landmark without any close to sufficient financing in place. There is a big difference between gutting a garage/parking lot or older building and then stalling a project versus what Hynes has done here.
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Let's not go overboard here. While nobody likes a hole in the ground, or an open-faced historical building, the only thing destroyed was a butt-ugly 1972 low-rise addition and an even uglier 1950's addition on Hawley street. They also took ALL the asbestos out of the Burnham Bldg. (and it was EVERYWHERE-walls, floors. ceilings, column covers, etc). Most of what they've done so far has been a positive. The only negative is that they stopped.
 
Re: Filene's

Arch101 said:
Let's not go overboard here. While nobody likes a hole in the ground, or an open-faced historical building, the only thing destroyed was a butt-ugly 1972 low-rise addition and an even uglier 1950's addition on Hawley street. They also took ALL the asbestos out of the Burnham Bldg. (and it was EVERYWHERE-walls, floors. ceilings, column covers, etc). Most of what they've done so far has been a positive. The only negative is that they stopped.
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I think the whole area is now a shadow of what it was due to that giant ruin that was Filene's. I rarely go down there now but when I do it appears that it has had a negative influence on the area.
 
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