Quaker Lane + Congress Square | Downtown

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It doesn't really look like anything is happening to the lane itself. To me, that was the most exciting part of this project.
 
BronsonShore said:
She's a beaut. But if we don't get the activated alley we were promised, I'm going to be pissed. That was easily the most important part of the project.
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The most important part of the project was not demolishing a city block of historical buildings. Everything else is gravy.
 
DZH22 said:
The most important part of the project was not demolishing a city block of historical buildings. Everything else is gravy.
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So the hostage survived.

I'm with Bronson on this.

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Amazing photo Odurandina! It gives Boston that big city vibe.
 
timsox6 said:
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Seriously, if this street level activation doesn't happen, this whole development will be a disappointment to me. I love what Related Beal accomplished here with the existing buildings, but the street level was where it brought it all together. Hopefully, this coming summer, we'll see this new Quaker Lane.
 
atlantaden said:
Seriously, if this street level activation doesn't happen, this whole development will be a disappointment to me. I love what Related Beal accomplished here with the existing buildings, but the street level was where it brought it all together. Hopefully, this coming summer, we'll see this new Quaker Lane.
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I totally agree. It seemed the whole point was to take a moribund, historical street into the 21st century with plenty of activity on ground level that could easily tie into State St. and the marketplace.
 
Life Coach Mike said:
I totally agree. It seemed the whole point was to take a moribund, historical street into the 21st century with plenty of activity on ground level that could easily tie into State St. and the marketplace.
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Mike -- I think a lot of folks on the ABforum have "Premature Erection Syndrome" 🙃 -- especially when it comes to some sort of project combining an existing old building and some new construction -=- such as the

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Just because you see the new glass and steel box atop the old Fidelity Buildings -- you immediately think that the project is fully ready to spring to life -- the reality is often that the re-fitting out of the interior of the older structure and its integration with the new addition is often the last part of the project to be finished. This is mostly due to the fact that for the older structure -- everything needed has to be custom to accommodate older materials, structural systems, and any remnants of the wiring, heating, etc.

"Activating the Street" might have to wait until all of the internal fit-outs are completed and tenants have moved in, etc. -- then of course there is the typical New England -- winter weather [just not so much this year]

Let's see how it looks about 4 months from now
 
whighlander said:
Let's see how it looks about 4 months from now
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Identical. The 40 Water St. component's been finished for a long time; the Globe ran stories on the big office tenants having moved in, some time ago. It's just a question of bringing in the retail user, but they've already had the "Coming Soon" signage up for that for a while too, I've noticed. Meanwhile, the boutique Hyatt on the other corner has been open for a long time as well now, with its restaurant.

So, 15-19 Congress remains the laggard here--as it has throughout the project. No news on it for a year now. I'm betting they're spinning their wheels, stuck with some very challenging issues about how to re-purpose it for this hotel concept. Or maybe they've dropped the hotel idea altogether and are in limbo trying to figure out what to do next. Either way, considering what a laggard this final component of the project has been throughout, the lack of headlines strikes me as quite ominous.

Without clarification/resolution on 15-19 Congress, this alley will look identical come summertime--that's an easy bet!
 
DBM said:
Identical. The 40 Water St. component's been finished for a long time; the Globe ran stories on the big office tenants having moved in, some time ago. It's just a question of bringing in the retail user, but they've already had the "Coming Soon" signage up for that for a while too, I've noticed. Meanwhile, the boutique Hyatt on the other corner has been open for a long time as well now, with its restaurant.

So, 15-19 Congress remains the laggard here--as it has throughout the project. No news on it for a year now. I'm betting they're spinning their wheels, stuck with some very challenging issues about how to re-purpose it for this hotel concept. Or maybe they've dropped the hotel idea altogether and are in limbo trying to figure out what to do next. Either way, considering what a laggard this final component of the project has been throughout, the lack of headlines strikes me as quite ominous.

Without clarification/resolution on 15-19 Congress, this alley will look identical come summertime--that's an easy bet!
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I'll never forget living downtown when Millennium Place (the Ritz towers) were built in the late 90s. They built a ton of retail space covering multiple floors in multiple buildings lining Avery street. Millennium promised dozens of retailers. ALL of the spaces sat vacant for at least 5 years after the development opened. They finally found a furniture store to take a space on the Washington St. side of Avery. But none of the ground floor space was ever filled. It's been 20 years now. I think they converted it to offices? At point, they had community art displayed there. Hopefully that doesn't happen on Quaker Lane but it has me concerned....
 
BosDevelop said:
I'll never forget living downtown when Millennium Place (the Ritz towers) were built in the late 90s. They built a ton of retail space covering multiple floors in multiple buildings lining Avery street. Millennium promised dozens of retailers. ALL of the spaces sat vacant for at least 5 years after the development opened. They finally found a furniture store to take a space on the Washington St. side of Avery. But none of the ground floor space was ever filled. It's been 20 years now. I think they converted it to offices? At point, they had community art displayed there. Hopefully that doesn't happen on Quaker Lane but it has me concerned....
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I don't think Quaker Lane will suffer the same fate.

My understanding is that a lot of the problem with filling the retail on Avery Street is the residents in the Ritz Towers objected to many of the applicants (usually restaurants that didn't want to close at 8 PM!). They blocked a lot of possible ground floor retail.
 
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