The New Retail Thread

Coppersmith closing in January to make way for a new development (anyone know which development?). Not always my scene, but I did enjoy the space.

www.boston.com

South Boston's Coppersmith is closing in January, but not before throwing a handful of farewell events

As one rooftop bar opens in Southie, another is set to close: On Wednesday, Coppersmith announced that it will shutter its bar, restaurant, and rooftop lounge in January 2020, as plans for a new life sciences development are proposed to take over the building on West 3rd St. The popular...
www.boston.com
 
Any update on when the High Street Food Hall will open? Website still says Fall 2019. I guess its technically still fall for 2 more weeks!
 
Two major retailers closing: Forever 21 on Newbury St. + in DTX, and Modell's on Boylston St.

Both are history, leaving big gaps in their respective areas. The last block of Newbury has a TON of vacancy right now.
 
cjbski said:
Two major retailers closing: Forever 21 on Newbury St. + in DTX, and Modell's on Boylston St.

Both are history, leaving big gaps in their respective areas. The last block of Newbury has a TON of vacancy right now.
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Yikes. I know that's more of a testament to the brands (especially in the case of Forever 21) than the neighborhoods, but those are tough losses in both cases.

Swissbakers also abruptly closed all of their locations yesterday or today, Tony C's in Fenway closed, and Lumiere in Newton is closing in February. Hope this isn't a sign that we're likely to see more high profile closings than openings in the near future.
 
Landlords are asking for way too much money on Newbury and Boylston Streets. I've done research on retail/restaurant spaces in the city for a friend of mine looking to bring his restaurant to Boston, and it just is not financially viable with the asking rates for much of Back Bay and Downtown. It wouldn't be as problematic if the City's process for a Beer, Wine & Liquor license didn't cost $500k or more (about 100x the cost as other parts of the country).
 
Blue Bottle Coffee has opened a location on Newbury Street. (Right next door to the Starbucks that just closed!)
 
Flight Club is having a grand opening event in the Seaport tonight. Appear to be a fun activity/bar/restaurant-type spot where 75 Courthouse Square briefly lived - where STK was originally slated to come in, but backed out.
 
Forever 21 is closing a lot of stores, and they def targeted the higher rent locations as seen from this list.

www.usatoday.com

Forever 21 store closings: 100-plus stores will close as part of bankruptcy. See the list

More than 100 Forever 21 stores are slated to close as part of the fashion retailer's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection case, records show.
www.usatoday.com

Looks like they feel they can survive at lower rent spots, even if foot traffic is also less.
 
Lrfox said:
Coppersmith closing in January to make way for a new development (anyone know which development?). Not always my scene, but I did enjoy the space.

www.boston.com

South Boston's Coppersmith is closing in January, but not before throwing a handful of farewell events

As one rooftop bar opens in Southie, another is set to close: On Wednesday, Coppersmith announced that it will shutter its bar, restaurant, and rooftop lounge in January 2020, as plans for a new life sciences development are proposed to take over the building on West 3rd St. The popular...
www.boston.com
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Lr-fox

That would be of course more lab-space -- aka 99 A street
More details emerge about Southie lab building
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Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Anchor Line Partners have jointly proposed a 210,000-square-foot laboratory building at 99 A St. in South Boston, which could reach up to 133 feet in height. Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects is the project’s architect, and CRJA-IBI Group of Boston is the landscape architect.
VIEW SLIDESHOW
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By Catherine Carlock – Real Estate Editor, Boston Business Journal
Mar 25, 2019, 6:17am EDT

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. and Anchor Line Partners are moving forward with their proposed laboratory building in South Boston.

Alexandria (NYSE: ARE), a California-based life-sciences real-estate development firm, and Anchor Line, a Boston-based developer, have jointly proposed a 210,000-square-foot lab building reaching 133 feet in height on a 1.1-acre site at 99 A St. in South Boston. The Business Journal was first to report on the planned lab building in December. Alexandria and Anchor Line kicked off the development-review process the following month.

The facility will be built on a 1.1-acre parcel bound by A Street, West Second Street, the South Boston Bypass Road and West Third Street. The area currently houses a number of low-rise industrial/manufacturing buildings formerly owned by Gillette and the popular Coppersmith restaurant at 40 W. Third St.
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from the BPDA website

99 A Street

Neighborhood
South Boston

Address
99 A Street

Land Sq. Feet
47,874 sq ft

Gross Floor Area
210,000 sq ft

Project Manager
Aisling Kerr

Project Description
The proposed new life sciences building would have a height of approximately 6 stories and 95 feet to the top of its roof, with a floor area of approximately 210,000 square feet, a first-level loading dock, and basement-level parking for approximately 76 vehicles. There may be a small retail or similar space at the northwesterly facade of the building, along A Street.
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Lrfox said:
Coppersmith closing in January to make way for a new development (anyone know which development?). Not always my scene, but I did enjoy the space.

www.boston.com

South Boston's Coppersmith is closing in January, but not before throwing a handful of farewell events

As one rooftop bar opens in Southie, another is set to close: On Wednesday, Coppersmith announced that it will shutter its bar, restaurant, and rooftop lounge in January 2020, as plans for a new life sciences development are proposed to take over the building on West 3rd St. The popular...
www.boston.com
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I won't miss that bar, but I did like the building.
 
Not related to anything local just a sweet salute to Mom and Pop stores, in this case a long-time, generationally-run hardware store in a small town in Wales. Ad was made by the family themselves for almost nothing and stars the young son of the current proprietor.
 
Bye Bye Bfresh Allston.

I believe this use to be a Staples office supply store. This parcel and the Dunkin Donuts next to it would make a ripe spot for a 6-story, 200-unit condominium or apartment complex. It's serviced well-enough by transit, I even wonder if it could become a larger office/hotel complex.

Now that I think about it... $5 bet that Scape tries to buy the site to build one of their graduate student residence halls.
 
dshoost88 said:
Bye Bye Bfresh Allston.

I believe this use to be a Staples office supply store. This parcel and the Dunkin Donuts next to it would make a ripe spot for a 6-story, 200-unit condominium or apartment complex. It's serviced well-enough by transit, I even wonder if it could become a larger office/hotel complex.

Now that I think about it... $5 bet that Scape tries to buy the site to build one of their graduate student residence halls.
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Sorry to see it go -- it has been my local grocery store for over 2 years now. They always seemed to have some trouble stocking produce well, though. It was always feast or famine.

I thought Stop & Shop's advice for patrons to visit their other stores was kinda funny, especially since there is a huge Star Market about a ~10 minute walk from this bfresh. That's where I'll likely be shopping going forward...

1576611271847.png
 
dshoost88 said:
Bye Bye Bfresh Allston.
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That is a shame. I shop at the one in Davis all the time. It is not a great grocery store, but it gets you through the typical weekday meal. That is exactly what it is there for. I was hoping to see this format expand.

Related, the new "Brothers" market in Kendall is about the same size as a Bfresh. It is better is some ways, but missing key items too. However, it is soul-crushingly expensive (while Bfresh is not). I haven't done an item-by-item comparison, but I think its even more expensive than Whole Foods. You need a Kendall Square salary to buy pasta and sauce at Brothers.
 
fattony said:
That is a shame. I shop at the one in Davis all the time. It is not a great grocery store, but it gets you through the typical weekday meal. That is exactly what it is there for. I was hoping to see this format expand.

Related, the new "Brothers" market in Kendall is about the same size as a Bfresh. It is better is some ways, but missing key items too. However, it is soul-crushingly expensive (while Bfresh is not). I haven't done an item-by-item comparison, but I think its even more expensive than Whole Foods. You need a Kendall Square salary to buy pasta and sauce at Brothers.
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I've only been to the DTX RB and even compared to their normal stores the prices were :eek:

Inflation is pretty awful if you actually get exposed to it.
 
Bfresh is good for grab-and-go and certain produce. It fills a useful urban niche, but it's not a full service grocery (nor does it pretend to be).
 
Lrfox said:
Another one bites the dust. Seems early yet to be in preparation for the Scape project, but maybe the lease was up and it didn't make sense to renew?

www.bostonglobe.com

The Baseball Tavern in the Fenway is closing - The Boston Globe

Another massive Fenway-area sports bar is shutting its doors.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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kingofsheeba said:
Rumor has it on Facebook that they’re going to be going into the Scape. At least that’s what one of the bartenders say.
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Per Boston Magazine, the Baseball Tavern will indeed reopen in the new Scape building once it's finished:
Boston Magazine said:
Rooney, whose father opened the Baseball Tavern at a different Boylston Street location in 1963, has been involved with the business for 40 years. “It’s bittersweet,” he says, “but it’s exciting at the same time.” Rooney is excited about the new development, and promises “we’ll still have a Fenway vibe.” Rooney hopes to remove the baseball cap awnings and the Budweiser-branded sign and install them in the new bar, he says. The future Baseball Tavern won’t have a roof deck, he adds, but it will have a street-level patio.

[...]

So far, the developers been a good partner for the Baseball Tavern, Rooney says. “They’ve been great moving forward on this project for me. It’s bittersweet, but I’m going to be moving into a state-of-the-art place,” he says.
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Scape probably cut the guy a fat check and offered him a below-market future lease in order to keep him around. If only every developer could handle long-standing tenants that way. And if they're actually able to reintegrate the baseball cap awnings and Bud-branded sign in a aesthetically coherent manner, that'd be pretty sweet.
 
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