MIT Museum/Book Store | née Boeing | 314 Main St. | Kendall Square

This morning I lacked the equipment necessary to do this view justice, but wanted to share this one because I think it captures the neat optical effect of this building's facade from across the river:

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bigpicture7 said:
Looks like Row 34 will be taking the remaining ground level retail spot here.
www.bostonglobe.com

Row 34 will open a fourth branch in Kendall Square this fall - The Boston Globe

There are other Row 34 branches in Fort Point, Burlington, and Portsmouth, N.H.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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Wow, that's freakin' awesome. This was already the best new building in the area, but now it's the crown jewel ;). Incidentally (maybe I should inquire in the New Retail thread), but does anyone know what's happening with the retail at sites 3/4?
 
That is kind of cool. Though I’m still disappointed they didn’t get any storefront at the actual sidewalk level. They’re going to lose half their potential walk-in traffic because people will just walk right by.
 
Dr. Rosen Rosen said:
That is kind of cool. Though I’m still disappointed they didn’t get any storefront at the actual sidewalk level. They’re going to lose half their potential walk-in traffic because people will just walk right by.
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Yeah, I agree, but I do not think it is a foregone conclusion they won't have street level presence. The upstairs space was supposed to be a transition space that had a bookstore component, a cafe, and an entryway into the museum. I had heard that the upstairs programming got put on hold during the pandemic. I would not be surprised if the bookstore took a decent chunk of the street level once that design is fleshed out.
 
Gameguy326 said:
Wow, that's freakin' awesome. This was already the best new building in the area, but now it's the crown jewel ;). Incidentally (maybe I should inquire in the New Retail thread), but does anyone know what's happening with the retail at sites 3/4?
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Hey @Gameguy326 , I thought of your above post when I stumbled on this nicely updated and consolidated retail space listing encompassing all of the MIT Kendall Gateway project:

A few points therein (assuming the named gray slots are leased, the unnamed red slots are open):
- CVS seems to be confirmed for the big corner slot @ 238 Main St.
- Something called "Locke Restaurant & Bar" occupies another slot along Broad Canal way (north side of NoMa)
- Row 34 (as reported above) confirmed for 314 Main st.

Beyond that, a ton of open retail slots being marketed.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Hey @Gameguy326 , I thought of your above post when I stumbled on this nicely updated and consolidated retail space listing encompassing all of the MIT Kendall Gateway project:

A few points therein (assuming the named gray slots are leased, the unnamed red slots are open):
- CVS seems to be confirmed for the big corner slot @ 238 Main St.
- Something called "Locke Restaurant & Bar" occupies another slot along Broad Canal way (north side of NoMa)
- Row 34 (as reported above) confirmed for 314 Main st.

Beyond that, a ton of open retail slots being marketed.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping a lot of retail arrives/comes back. I'm honestly a little pessimistic on it, though. I don't know if it's the area, or if MIT or Graffito just suck at it, but that retail spot next to Sulmona/Cafe Luna/Aveda has been unfilled for six years straight. They're marketing, but will they fill? I just don't understand.

Really excited about the CVS though! Good find! Could Locke have something to do with Locke-Ober? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locke-Ober
 
Gameguy326 said:
I'm hoping a lot of retail arrives/comes back. I'm honestly a little pessimistic on it, though. I don't know if it's the area, or if MIT or Graffito just suck at it, but that retail spot next to Sulmona/Cafe Luna/Aveda has been unfilled for six years straight. They're marketing, but will they fill? I just don't understand.

Really excited about the CVS though! Good find! Could Locke have something to do with Locke-Ober? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locke-Ober
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I feel the same, and honestly don't know why leasing seems to be so tough. In fairness, I have seen Graffito do an admirable job with filling ground floor retail in certain places. For instance, I think 300 Mass Ave (Takeda) was done by them, and that came together pretty quickly with Roxy's, A4 Arcade, the running store, University Stationery, Pagu. Most of those are small/local business, and with a couple of them having somewhat of a bar/nightlife component (A4 Arcade, Pagu). Meanwhile, I truly can't explain the infamous 6-year-vacant corner slot next to Aveda on Main St.

At the end of the day it could really come down to retail rents being unrealistically high.

The thing I'll say about the Kendall Gateway retail though is, holy crap, that is a lot of retail slots to fill. I count at least 11 of them in the above marketing materials, not including the food hall and not including The Engine down the street. I really hope they're aggressive with this and in it for the long game in getting this filled.
 
bigpicture7 said:
I feel the same, and honestly don't know why leasing seems to be so tough. In fairness, I have seen Graffito do an admirable job with filling ground floor retail in certain places. For instance, I think 300 Mass Ave (Takeda) was done by them, and that came together pretty quickly with Roxy's, A4 Arcade, the running store, University Stationery, Pagu. Most of those are small/local business, and with a couple of them having somewhat of a bar/nightlife component (A4 Arcade, Pagu). Meanwhile, I truly can't explain the infamous 6-year-vacant corner slot next to Aveda on Main St.

At the end of the day it could really come down to retail rents being unrealistically high.

The thing I'll say about the Kendall Gateway retail though is, holy crap, that is a lot of retail slots to fill. I count at least 11 of them in the above marketing materials, not including the food hall and not including The Engine down the street. I really hope they're aggressive with this and in it for the long game in getting this filled.
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I agree with all of this. The one thing I don't get is - why is rent for that spot unreasonably high? After six years the market has spoken. Half a loaf is better than none.
 
Gameguy326 said:
...I don't know if it's the area, or if MIT or Graffito just suck at it, but that retail spot next to Sulmona/Cafe Luna/Aveda has been unfilled for six years straight. They're marketing, but will they fill? I just don't understand.
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@Gameguy326 , couldn't help but think back to this when I (finally) learned the news of what tenant is going to that corner spot at 610 Main St: *sigh* a Citizens Bank. I'll forgive a bank on this stretch only because there's already two restaurants, etc, and the spot has been vacant 6+ years. In any case, it's the Citizens that's currently at Broadway/Portland. There's now a poster there announcing that the particular branch will be moving to 610 Main. Which, in turn, leads me to believe that the large brick building Citizen's is in is ripe for a lab conversion to join its neighbors. Oh our current times.

(PS, sorry for extending the off-topic posting in this thread, but I couldn't figure out a good way to branch off above)
 
bigpicture7 said:
@Gameguy326 , couldn't help but think back to this when I (finally) learned the news of what tenant is going to that corner spot at 610 Main St: *sigh* a Citizens Bank. I'll forgive a bank on this stretch only because there's already two restaurants, etc, and the spot has been vacant 6+ years. In any case, it's the Citizens that's currently at Broadway/Portland. There's now a poster there announcing that the particular branch will be moving to 610 Main. Which, in turn, leads me to believe that the large brick building Citizen's is in is ripe for a lab conversion to join its neighbors. Oh our current times.

(PS, sorry for extending the off-topic posting in this thread, but I couldn't figure out a good way to branch off above)
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Thanks for the update. I guess...it's better than a vacant storefront u_u. Hopefully the other Citizen's becomes something else.
 
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This is my fav building in Kendall! Also had to visit the MIT museum. Wow! Hadn’t a clue what most exhibits (with the exception of the robots) were about (and I taught 6th grade science for 30 years so I had the interest) but sure glad MIT scientists invented them!! Literally would take a day or more to digest even a portion!
 
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