News
FAN PIER: IT'S TIME
April 28, 2010
| Hours ago, NAIOP hosted a panel at ONE Marina Park Drive on the growth of retail on Fan Pier and last week?s opening of a new Louis here on Boston's Waterfront. Even after decades of predicting this as the next hot mixed-use location, its offices, hotels, and housing have led to little shopping. Today?s buzz: retail is ready. |
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| We snapped Louis? Debi Greenberg, The Fallon Company?s Joseph Fallon, MassChallenge?s John Harthorne, consultant Tom Palmer,and NAIOP's David Begelfer. Joe developed the 500k SF ONE Marina Park Drive office building, where construction was completed in January and the interior fit up is underway for 125k SF anchor Fish & Richardson. A longtime believer in the Seaport District, he's already built hotels and housing there. On Fan Pier, he plans a 3M SF mixed use neighborhood of offices, luxury hotel and residential, retail, a marina, and park. Despite economic vagaries, he figures he has the best address in town. ?Our front door is the water.? At ONE Marina, other retail slated to open soon includes two restaurants by Nick Verano—Strega and Caf Di Marina. |
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| Debi, here with Joseph, was willing to move luxury retailer Louis from the tried and true Back Bay because the Big Dig now links a once remote area to downtown and surrounding suburbs. Debi says her female customers would have followed her to shop ?on top of a ceiling? but the males are a tougher sell. ?You need special attractions: boats, cars, water.? Debi says her entrepreneurial customers are looking for an experience, so Louis? new 20k SF building has clothing, a salon by Mario Russo, roving music stations, and a restaurant. Already, she says she'sgetting a lot of traffic, especially on sunny days. Louis is open 7 days, 11 to 7. |
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| Joe says he had to compete with other landlords to sign up MassChallenge for two years of rent free space. Johnexpects to fill the 14th floor, 30k SF, with lots of youthful activity. As of April 14, he has $1M in multiple grants plus office space to give away to 100 teams of innovative entrepreneurs from around the world to be chosen by June 11. After the panel, CBRE/Grossman Retail Advisors? Howard Grossman agreed that from the Financial District to the suburbs, people will gravitate to the new Waterfront for a fresh, new shopping experience. ?Its time is coming faster than anyone anticipated.? |
