Winter Garden | 100 Federal St. | Financial District

Confirmed that the space is for Putnams version of fidelity investor center...wish they would add more 24/7 life downtown. Would even love to see housing surrounding P.O. sq park above Schwab...above Boston trust potentially.
 
617 said:
Confirmed that the space is for Putnams version of fidelity investor center....
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sigh. Does anyone actually use these things or are they purely advertising driven? I worked on Federal Street for years and rarely if ever saw anyone in the Fidelity one on the corner of Congress and Franklin.
 
BosDevelop said:
I worked on Federal Street for years and rarely if ever saw anyone in the Fidelity one on the corner of Congress and Franklin.
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Absolute nonsense. I go there monthly to conduct business, and I'm rarely, rarely in there alone. Most of the time there are at least 2-to-3 other customers, and a fair amount of times there's a line of 5-to-6 folks.

I mean, come on--they always have 2 or 3 full-time desk clerks. Do you think Fidelity would keep them there as hood ornaments?
 
617 said:
Confirmed that the space is for Putnams version of fidelity investor center...wish they would add more 24/7 life downtown. Would even love to see housing surrounding P.O. sq park above Schwab...above Boston trust potentially.
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Ahem, Datadyne. In the words of the immortal Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) "OK, so you owe me!"
 
DBM said:
Absolute nonsense. I go there monthly to conduct business, and I'm rarely, rarely in there alone. Most of the time there are at least 2-to-3 other customers, and a fair amount of times there's a line of 5-to-6 folks.

I mean, come on--they always have 2 or 3 full-time desk clerks. Do you think Fidelity would keep them there as hood ornaments?
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Wow, 2 to 3 customers!

Rarely alone!

What a stunning endorsement of how they will activate the street.
 
jass said:
Wow, 2 to 3 customers!

Rarely alone!

What a stunning endorsement of how they will activate the street.
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Who ever expects a financial institution to activate a street? I was merely responding to what I perceived to be a highly inaccurate statement regarding activity inside the Fidelity branch.

But since we're on the subject of "activating the street"--how many street-level occupants actually do that? Certainly not the vast majority of restaurants. To "activate the street," you need to have patio/sidewalk seating, or big windows that open in the summer so pedestrians can peer in, or big lines on the sidewalk. What percentage of all Boston restaurants (including fast food of course) have that? 2 or 3%?

The Pret A Manger in PO Square doesn't activate the street. But the coffee shop in PO Square park certainly does!
 
DBM said:
Do you think Fidelity would keep them there as hood ornaments?
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Yes, actually I do if you knew anything about how Fidelity wastes (sorry, spends) money. I worked right there when it opened and for a year or two after and it was always empty when I walked by. Glad to hear now at least a few people are using it.
 
"The Pret A Manger in PO Square doesn't activate the street."

Well there used to not be any ground floor retail in that building, so it was REALLY not activated them. And during the warm weather months, they put tables and chairs out in front, which people definitely use.
 
cden4 said:
"The Pret A Manger in PO Square doesn't activate the street."

Well there used to not be any ground floor retail in that building, so it was REALLY not activated them. And during the warm weather months, they put tables and chairs out in front, which people definitely use.
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Damn. I don't know how I'd missed those tables & chairs, all the times I'm traipsing thru PO Sq. in the summer. Thanks for pointing out what I'd overlooked.

Anyway, taking the moderately long view, for all the grumbling 'n' grievances about the Financial District's lack of evolution beyond, well, Financial District 9-to-5 ambiance/texture, it's worth remembering that PO Sq. itself is a stunning turnaround/success story over the past quarter-century.

At least in terms of how PO Sq. Park was transformed from grimy nightmarish shithole emission-spewing garage to a superlatively, spectacularly lovely, inviting, and amazingly activated--weddings! morning coffee-sippers! Lunchtime diners! Frisbee players! Summer afternoon towel-dozers! etc.--urban oasis.

Surely PO Sq. Park--and how it lifted up its adjacency/perimeter--ranks up there with the Highline, etc. as one of those "wins on every level, no matter how you qualify it", no?
 
DBM said:
But since we're on the subject of "activating the street"--how many street-level occupants actually do that? Certainly not the vast majority of restaurants. To "activate the street," you need to have patio/sidewalk seating, or big windows that open in the summer so pedestrians can peer in, or big lines on the sidewalk. What percentage of all Boston restaurants (including fast food of course) have that? 2 or 3%?

The Pret A Manger in PO Square doesn't activate the street. But the coffee shop in PO Square park certainly does!
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I consider people constantly walking in and out to activate the street. So a 7-11 is high activation, even if the facade is garbage.
 
How did this nuthing taco get its own thread?

aB overlords; please merge this with the retail thread.
 




Stopped in while waiting to take the Acela! Interior space is quite nice, but sterile, needs a more lived in look, definitely more color, lots of larger planters with trees would help. I feel over time this space will be quite nice.
 
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Walked through just before noon today. Decent number of people inside.
 
^its been pretty busy the few times I’ve been in there. Especially on the sunny-but-cold/windy days. It’s definitely a work in progress but it is a great space. A few thoughts:

1) the big screen has only been in screensaver mode when I’ve been in there though I heard they were playing the Masters. Would be great for a Sox day game.
2) there doesn’t seem to be much progress on Blue Bottle Coffee. I’ve been in 3 times mid day and no work is being done.
3) I’m sure they’re temporary, but the food pop-ups are usually pretty interesting - you can see who is there on any given day by registering at fooda.com
 
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