Quincy Market Update/Renovation | Faneuil Hall Marketplace | Downtown

From the Globe:

The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s board approved a master plan to overhaul Faneuil Hall Marketplace Thursday, marking the first time the city has publicly endorsed the controversial project.

The operator of the city-owned property, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., proposed a sweeping plan last year to update the tired marketplace and make it a more appealing year-round destination for locals and tourists. The plans have drawn the ire of longtime merchants, who turned to City Hall to vent concerns about the future of their businesses and a perceived lack of transparency in the renovation process.

A BRA vote on the full plan was not mandatory for the renovation to take place, though the authority and the Boston Landmarks Commission must sign off on some aspects of the redesign.

But the city has intervened in recent months to propel conversations about the plan and establish a quasi-approval process for the overall concept.

The BRA recently held closed-door meetings between Ashkenazy and the Faneuil Hall Merchants Association to try to clear the air. The development authority also hosted a public meeting earlier this month to gather additional input on the plan, and the tenor of talks seemed to improve recently.

The BRA asked Ashkenazy to present its master plan to the authority’s board at a monthly meeting Thursday. By signing off on the concept with a unanimous vote, the board provided key political support and paved the way for it to move forward.

“I’m really happy about it,” said Barry Lustig, vice president at Ashkenazy. “We’ve been working really hard with the BRA and the [landmarks commission] to come up with a program that appeals to everyone in the city. I’m excited about it.”

Marilee Meyer, a spokeswoman for the Save Faneuil Hall Marketplace coalition, questioned why the BRA voted after just one public meeting. She said the vote was premature because the public still has not heard key details about the plan, including how the structure of the building will change.

“We can only hope that the public will confront the major issues in such a way that the BRA will have to look at the master plan a second time,” Meyer said. “It’s very hard to take back when it’s so far down the road.”

Jeff Allen, the owner of Boston Pewter Co., said he was happy the BRA approved the vision because the marketplace needs its infrastructure updated.

“Now whether they do their job and stop leasing to the national chains is the second part of it,” Allen said. “If we’re not unique there’s no need to come here.”

The BRA is following a similar process to weigh in on the overall concept as it did prior to the last major update to the marketplace, in 1988, according to spokesman Nicholas Martin. At that time, the authority cited concerns about the plan at an initial meeting but approved the project six months later, Martin said.

Ashkenazy intends to replace the food court in Quincy Market with a more modern assortment of restaurants, bars, and quick-service eateries. It also plans to add a boutique hotel in the South Market.

Martin said the BRA must approve the proposed hotel and other pieces of the plan for it to move forward. Separately, the Landmarks Commission must review changes to the historical nature of the property. Last month, the commission denied plans for two new glass structures and delayed demolition of a greenhouse near the front of the property.
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The small outdoor building (wood kiosk/did a florist used to be here?) where TownPool did a pop-up shop last year is now fenced off and appears to be getting torn up. Here we go!

Any other news on final designs/tenants for this part? Also wondering when the larger renovation of the Quincy Market building begins.
 
Hopefully plans got a major overhaul, but unfortunately I've haven't see/heard anything.
 
The boys and girls need to take a trip to Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia.

We can have a real market!!
 
dirtywater said:
From the Globe:
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People like the quirkiness of the place. I feel for the mom and pop eateries, because it looks like they are going to get the boot, or find it hard to stay. (did I hear someone say: rent increa$e?) "Ashkenazy intends to replace the Food Court with a more MODERN assortment of restaurants, bars, and quick service eateries. WTH does that mean? I enjoy corn dogs, kebabs, pizza, Pierogies, etc. I like old fashioned, mom and pop! If I want "modern", I'll go to a trendy restaurant, that's not what this place is! Unless they mean adding McDonalds, Burger King, etc. is that "modern"?
It's a popular tourist trap with all the borderline kitsch that may entail, which locals like to go to also to grab a quick bite to eat. It provides income for many citizens. They're going to go "upscale", and screw everything up for the little guy trying to eke out a living!
 
Relax, you'll still have the corner mall...
 
odurandina said:
The boys and girls need to take a trip to Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia.

We can have a real market!!
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Or Cross and Lexington Street Markets. Seriously, Baltimore has a cool market, and they have two of them. Surely, if Baltimore can do it, so can Boston.
 
underground said:
Or Cross and Lexington Street Markets. Seriously, Baltimore has a cool market, and they have two of them. Surely, if Baltimore can do it, so can Boston.
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We have one, finally.

https://bostonpublicmarket.org/

I've been to the public markets in Philly (Reading), Baltimore (Lexington), Seattle (Pike), Des Moines (Farmer's), Columbus (North), Montreal (Jean Talon) and Toronto (St. Lawrence), amongst others. I had incredible trepidation when they said Boston wanted to start one, felling that they'd totally eff it up.

But you know what? They did a tremendous job.

It's only been open less than a year, but it is flourishing.
 
North Shore said:
We have one, finally.

https://bostonpublicmarket.org/

I've been to the public markets in Philly (Reading), Baltimore (Lexington), Seattle (Pike), Des Moines (Farmer's), Columbus (North), Montreal (Jean Talon) and Toronto (St. Lawrence), amongst others. I had incredible trepidation when they said Boston wanted to start one, felling that they'd totally eff it up.

But you know what? They did a tremendous job.

It's only been open less than a year, but it is flourishing.
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I've been to many similar markets as well and I think Boston Public Market is pretty darn good. It complements the outdoor produce market nicely.
 
fattony said:
I've been to many similar markets as well and I think Boston Public Market is pretty darn good. It complements the outdoor produce market nicely.
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Fottony -- you might be interested in the following which I discovered accidentally on a unrelated search
http://www.bostoncolumn.com/2016/04/12/leslie-adam-goes-shopping/
Leslie Adam goes shopping
by Karen Cord Taylor

Downtown Boston residents have embraced the Boston Public Market. It arrived along the Greenway at the right time. Food-lovers were tired of the agriculture-industrial complex and wanted their food to be real, local, maybe organic. They were repelled by the whipped-petroleum products lining the shelves in traditional supermarkets.

I’ve been to the market many times. The smoked fish and the lettuce are favorites, but I had never shopped there seriously, thinking it wouldn’t be possible. Then I talked to Beacon Hill resident Leslie Adam, who said she and a Back Bay friend do almost all their grocery shopping for their families weekly at the Boston Public Market.

So I went with Leslie on a recent Wednesday to see how she does it. First, she drives. She usually goes first thing in the morning. This time, however, we left about 11 a.m. and the parking garage was full. After waiting in a short line for cars to leave, we drove in, parked and were off. Leslie said Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. is her favorite time to go. With few other shoppers, she has the run of the place. In the summer, she often bikes over.

Leslie has two children, a husband and sometimes friends to feed. We headed for the back of the market because she likes to buy her bread, located near the main entrance, as she leaves so it won’t be crushed at the bottom of the bags she carries with her.


.....We ended our shop with a Harbison cheese from Vermont’s Jasper Hill Farm, salad greens from Corner Stalk Farm in East Boston and two loaves of bread from Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery in Winchester.

Leslie had most of the food she will need for the week. She’ll have to stop elsewhere for such staples as bananas, avocados and oranges, but it takes only a short time, she said, to fill in the blanks.

Leslie admits it is usually more expensive to shop at the Boston Public Market, but she does not want her children eating produce sprayed with who-knows-what. She also likes her money going into the local economy.

We paid only a dollar for parking since we had been there less than an hour and had validated the ticket. A bike delivery service is available for those who don’t want to schlep bags home.
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AmericanFolkLegend said:
Leslie Adam lives in Beacon Hill and drives to the Public Market. That's annoying.
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On top of that she's one of those people who queues up in the travel lane waiting for the garage and gridlocks the area. If it's full, go to another garage if driving is so important.
 
sm89 said:
On top of that she's one of those people who queues up in the travel lane waiting for the garage and gridlocks the area. If it's full, go to another garage if driving is so important.
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Maybe this is the problem:

"We paid only a dollar for parking since we had been there less than an hour and had validated the ticket"
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If it weren't for $1 parking, it would probably be less trouble to just walk there and take an Uber or taxi home with groceries.

Then again, without $1 parking, would Ms. Adam choose to shop there? She clearly doesn't seem particularly price sensitive, but even some very well-off people can be surprisingly inflexible.
 
sm89 said:
On top of that she's one of those people who queues up in the travel lane waiting for the garage and gridlocks the area. If it's full, go to another garage if driving is so important.
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SM -- read the whole piece before launching into criticism mode

In the summer, she often bikes over.
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I read the whole piece and that criticism is pretty spot on. Yes she saw she could get in soon but even so it is still ridiculous to block traffic light that on top of driving from Beacon Hill.
 
Article in the Globe today on the Public Market's balancing act between vendors aimed mainly at the lunch crowd versus vendors that are actually selling produce or meats or what have you:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...blic-market/p7198pmJsxvwv6F6Ts8fOI/story.html

The headline has a bit of sensationalism to it, it's the Globe, but the upshot seems that Cheryl Cronin, the BPM's director, is doing her best to make the balance while keeping to the core value of, in her words,

“We’re very clear what we are and what we aren’t,” she said. “And we’re not a food hall, a food court.”
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I think she's got a difficult balancing act to make but that's the approach she should be taking. However much I enjoy the place as a food court (I enjoy it thusly a LOT), I've also been there to shop for food, and it needs to succeed first as a market, with the lunch biz being a backup function. A great backup function, but a backup nonetheless.

The article also notes that all of the original vendors, including those concerned about the possibility of it devolving to a food court, have been doing well since it opened. That's very good news.
 
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