How To Be Cool (For Retailers)
Retail plays a large part in creating the all-important “cool factor” for buildings and changing neighborhoods, says NGKF executive managing director Ted Chryssicas. Now, obviously, we don't need to be told what cool is. But if you're feeling like you need more info, joins us on July 29 for Bisnow's Boston Retail: The Impact of the Ground Floor and What Tenants Want, July 29, Westin Boston Waterfront, 7:30am. (Sign up today!)
At one time, downtown streets were filled with people in suits; now, they’re joined by parents pushing carriages and walking dogs. (Sometimes dogs in carriages.) It's a ready market for retailers like Roche Bros (below), which recently opened at Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing. This new urban store is smaller but offers more services than its traditional format, says Ted, an event panelist who worked with AEW and Bergmeyer on repositioning 699 Boylston St.
Since retailers are in demand, their TI allowance is growing. Although it’s tough to generalize, retailers who might have received an improvement allowance of $50/SF, on average, from a landlord pre-recession, may now be getting $100/SF, Ted tells us. But, landlords are also benefiting. Retail tenants who might have paid $175/SF for rent back in the day, may now be paying up to $275/SF.
Ted’s team is also working on repositioning retail at the 750k SF Center Plaza complex in the heart of Government Center for its newest landlord, San Francisco-based Shorenstein. With the most street frontage of any downtown building, it has great potential as a game changer for the neighborhood and the city as a whole. The project, undergoing design and permitting, sits across from City Hall and in front of court buildings and the statehouse.
But designing retail space is more than just creating beautiful interior displays, explains Bergmeyer senior principal Joe Nevin (also an event panelist) whose team redesigned and repositioned 699 Boylston St for owner AEW. It’s about synchronizing the entire customer experience into a coherent whole. That means from the moment a customer gets online at home or in the office, to what they experience as they approach the building, enter the store, browse the product, use a fitting room, pay and exit. Every detail of the customer experience is crucial and must be planned and coordinated, says Joe. The redesign of the building, which included improvements to the sidewalk and streetscape, breathed new life into a dormant block of Boylston Street.
For the new AT&T flagship store, Joe and his team designed the shell space while AT&T did its own interior. Bergmeyer captured unproductive lobby space, converting part of the second floor from office to retail. This gave the store a 20-foot-high ceiling and two-story front windows—creating a dramatic volume. For an innovative, customer-centric experience, they eliminated the barrier of a traditional cash desk by building the cash register into the furniture. Sales people have their iPads in stands so they can sit side-by-side at a table with customers to establish a close relationship that encourages consumers to stay longer and shop more.
The design solution created a new base for the building. The highly transparent 20 foot glass storefront sets a clear brand identity for 699 Boylston St and its tenants. The glass façade allows pedestrians to see into the sleek, contemporary interior with orange accents that’s open, clean, understandable and flooded with natural light. The towering, two-story presence is compelling and says to passers-by that something unique is being offered inside. Prior to the redesign the façade was understated; easy to walk past. Joe’s team also worked on the gorgeous, historically sensitive development of Restoration Hardware (RH), which has created a signature retail experience for Back Bay.
