The New Retail Thread

So Echelon Seaport has been "completed" for a while now with no visible signs of retailers moving in - any thoughts?
 
That look was pretty much started by Quincy Market, yeah? Unless something else pre-dates it.
 
stefal said:
So Echelon Seaport has been "completed" for a while now with no visible signs of retailers moving in - any thoughts?
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When I was in graduate school, one of our professors was talking to us about what indicators to look for in a gentrifying neighborhood. One student said, “The neighborhood gentrifies when Whole Foods moved in.” The professor quickly responded, “No, that is incorrect. The neighborhood has already gentrified bu the time the Whole Foods opened.” The moral to his lesson: when a neighborhood experiences rapid housing transformation, the last thing to come in is the retail.

I walked by Echelon Seaport recently and wondered the same initial thought, @stefal, but then remembered the professor’s lesson. The Seaport is continuing to experience rapid transformation. Something like 10,000-20,000 more new jobs will be flooding into the under-construction parcels abutting Echelon, never mind the new housing units continuing to flow in. The dust has not quite settled, still, but we’re inching closer, and I think 12-18 months from now it’ll be mostly filled. Anyway, those are my thoughts.
 
Definitely true amazon is just finishing now next door and parcel N and P are just hitting their strides. Then you have st regis across the st.

Speaking of Echelon not being filled yet, what about 121 seaport? That ones been finished now for what 3-4 years? I feel like its almost been forgotten about at this point but it also has a retail podium. I suspect here as well will benefit from the upcoming seaport sq developments as its located right at the gateway. In time these areas will fill out, I just hope in the mean time other developers dont get spooked and leave out ground floor retail from the upcoming developments.
 
I'd love to see inclusionary zoning for local retail built into these projects, the same way it's included in residential developments.

Require x% of ground floor retail space to be rented out to small local retailers at set below-market rates, and fine the building owner/management if the space isn't filled.
 
JumboBuc said:
I'd love to see inclusionary zoning for local retail built into these projects, the same way it's included in residential developments.

Require x% of ground floor retail space to be rented out to small local retailers at set below-market rates, and fine the building owner/management if the space isn't filled.
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This x1000. The present system is clearly one where developers can keep rents high and leave storefronts vacant and still somehow feel that's in their (and their bank's) best interest. Something is broken about a system like that. At minimum, hand out some discounted short-term leases to arts organizations (in Cambridge I've seen a pop-up dance studio in vacant ground floor space). Take on small local retailers and given them a "special offer" so the rent of record stays at market rate but their effective rate is lower; lease for 4 years at a time instead of 8 to reduce risk. And have the city levy fines or taxes if such objectives are not acheived. Whatever it takes. But what a tragic waste when premium floorspace just sits idle in a city like ours.
 
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bigpicture7 said:
This x1000. The present system is clearly one where developers can keep rents high and leave storefronts vacant and still somehow feel that's in their (and their bank's) best interest. Something is broken about a system like that. At minimum, hand out some short-term leases to arts organizations (in Cambridge I've seen a pop-up dance studio in vacant ground floor space). But what a tragic waste for premium floorspace to just sit idle in a city like ours.
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I'm actually not a fan of the short-term leases to pop-ups. They always seem like gimmicky PR box-checking to me, and in my experience they get very little actual use. A rotating churn of charity-case tenants does not make a neighborhood. And fully-subsidized space turned over to community organizations is only as good as the spaces' programming is, and that is often not good.

I want to see spaces for viable local businesses and organizations (think: "mom-and-pops" and upstart restaurateurs and neighborhood services), the kinds of place that would sustainably flourish if rents were a bit more affordable but get pushed over the edge by $100+ / sf leases. These are the sort of retail tenants that truly "make" neighborhoods.
 
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JumboBuc said:
I'm actually not a fan of the short-term leases to pop-ups. They always seem like gimmicky PR box-checking to me, and in my experience they get very little actual use. And fully-subsidized space turned over to community organizations is only as good as the spaces' programming is, and that is often not good.

I want to see spaces for viable local businesses and organizations (think: "mom-and-pops" and upstart restaurateurs and neighborhood services), the kinds of place that would sustainably flourish if rents were a bit more affordable but get pushed over the edge by $100+ / sf leases.
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That was my gut reaction a couple of years ago too, but let me clarify. There are two key distinctions I'm now making based on observations: 1) I am not referring to pop-up retailers, and 2) I am not referring to pop-ups as a single solution - they need to be part of a solution that also includes exactly what you're asking for (space for permanent tenants that are small/local businesses).

Regarding number 1: community organizations, arts classes, dance/music studios, poetry slams, etc. draw diverse people into a retail area who otherwise might not have gone to that area of the city. The people then buy some food and hang out, etc. It adds vitality to an area and brings people together (i.e., bridging class divides, etc). These applications are almost totally turn-key: these unfinished spaces are like black-boxes that would be expensive to fit-out for other purposes (and these community groups often have little money)...so it's a win-win. There are few other uses that are so cheap; fit-outs are expensive, but all a poetry slam needs are some folding chairs and a portable PA system.

Regarding number 2: I wholeheartedly agree with you that you cannot only have number 1. You must mix it with what you're saying also. The whole point is to bring more people into the neighborhood, then give them local retail once they get there.

But I agree with you about the gimmicky/underutilized nature of retail pop-ups.
 
bigpicture7 said:
But I agree with you about the gimmicky/underutilized nature of retail pop-ups.
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Most heinous in this genre being the annual Halloween pop-up stores, I feel. There's a very large (10,000+ sq. ft. or so) retail vacancy in a Stop & Shop-anchored commercial plaza near where I live. Every early August, the "Halloween Store Coming Soon! Apply To Work Here!" posters go up on the windows of the vacant storefront. Every Labor Day, the Halloween pop-up store is fully built-out, with its rows and rows of cheap mass produced rubber 'n' plastic East Asian-manufactured costumes that will immediately go in the trash/landfill come Nov. 1st, thereby contributing to the ongoing geocide. The depressing nature of the store's incredibly tacky, cheap appearance is only matched by the realization of its net impact on the environment.

For a holiday that should be the most magical--pumpkin-carving, kids trick or treating, Simpsons "Tree House of Horror" re-runs, perhaps starting a new horror novel (I just launched into this)--Halloween has been horribly afflicted by the worst aspects of our hyperconsumeristic, disposable culture.
 
stefal said:
So Echelon Seaport has been "completed" for a while now with no visible signs of retailers moving in - any thoughts?
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I’m not sure if this is just cleaning up or building out but activity is happening at this prime corner location
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That spot would be perfect for a Crate & Barrel...which just happened to recently close it's only Boston location a couple of months ago. No inside information, just wishful thinking.
 
Now, if Tags could be the next transplant from Porter Sq here - that would be awesome.
 
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