0 Expanded Downtown Crossing Public Plaza Contemplated

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

More “me space” and “we space” is what the city is looking to do in DTX. Space to gather with colleagues or sit alone and update your profile is the aim of the pilot public plaza along Franklin Street and Arch Street.

From the Boston Business Journal:

The Boston Transportation Department on Tuesday morning will temporarily widen sidewalks at Franklin and Arch streets, the first step in a pilot program that will study creating permanent public plaza at the intersection.

“With the T station at Franklin and Washington reopening soon, we know foot traffic will pick up on this street,” said Chris Osgood, the city’s chief of streets, in a statement. “We’re taking a tactical approach to improving this area for pedestrians. In the future we can imagine a whole network of parks and plazas from Shopper’s Plaza to Post Office Square and on to the Greenway.”

0 Godfrey Hotel in Boston Set to Open its Doors

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Travel Weekly

DTX is getting its newest amenity online next week, The Godfrey Hotel opening at 505 Washington Street.

“The 242-room Godfrey Hotel Boston was redeveloped out of the adjoining Armory and Blake buildings in the city’s Downtown Crossing district, about a block east of Boston Common…This spring, the property will open a street-level cafe by George Howell Coffee, a local roaster. A 4,600-square-foot restaurant i scheduled to open this summer, but the Godfrey hasn’t announced the restaurateur yet,” according to TravelWeekly.

You can read more on Travel Weekly.

0 Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing Gets Unique New Restaurant

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Millinnium tower restaurant downtown crossing Boston

Credit: Bizjournals.com

What’s for dinner at you new condo in the Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing? The BBJ had this to say on Millennium Tower’s new restaurant:

The developers of the luxury Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing have settled on a restaurant to serve the kind of residents who buy units selling for the millions and tens of millions of dollars — the first New England venture by San Francisco chef Michael Mina and sushi chef Ken Tominaga…Mina’s company also will operate the residents-only club in the 685-foot tower…PABU will be an izakaya, which is a casual bar for professionals, essentially, and sushi bar. The opening of the restaurant on the first two floors at the corner of Franklin and Washington streets is set for fall 2016; residents are set to being moving in during the summer of 2016.

0 Sonos Joins other Boston Tech Companies in Move to Downtown Crossing

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: LafayetteCCboston.com

Where are hip technology companies signing new leases? DTX, Downtown Crossing! Why? It is a great value option with T access from Green, Orange, Red and Blue lines.

From the Boston Globe:

Instead of expanding in Kendall Square with the Googles and Amazons of the world, Sonos recently signed a lease to move into 170,000 square feet in Lafayette City Center, a downtown Boston office complex that long served as back-office space for State Street Corp.

“Once we saw Lafayette, it was clear to me that it was the best place for us,” said Andrew Schulert, vice president of quality at Sonos, which employs 375 people.

What Schulert saw was a resurgent real estate market in Downtown Crossing, where hip technology companies are joining new retail shops, restaurants, and upscale residential buildings. The interest among tech firms has benefited downtown landlords who are trying to replace dated department stores and other tenants that have left the area.

0 Burnham Building in Downtown Crossing: AOL First to Move In

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Wil Catlin

AOL employees wait to go into the Burnham building in downtown crossing

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The former Filene’s building in downtown Boston has welcomed it first tenant, AOL. AOL moves into the rejuvenated downtown crossing area of Boston and becomes the new building’s flagship name for now.

The Boston Business Journal indicates, “AOL officially became the first tenant to move in to the renovated Burnham Building in Boston’s Downtown Crossing this morning…The New York-based media and tech company moved about 50 employees into sixth floor office space…Next Monday, 600 employees from advertising firm Arnold Worldwide and its sister agency Havas Media will move into about 125,000 square feet of the building, at the corner of Washington and Summer streets.

More information on the Burnham Building’s prospective tenants are available on the BBJ’s website.

0 Downtown Crossing Transformation Nears Completion

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Wil Catlin

construction in Boston's downtown crossing

Credit: NY Times

Live, work & play. Downtown crossing is in the final phase of its transformation. 23 years ago I moved back to Boston from California and took the T to Park Street and walked to Milk Street daily. At that time you could still buy a suit at Filene’s Basement. Over those years we have seen retailers come and go and some shuttered buildings evolve to residential buildings. Now, we are seeing the area become a destination location for office workers priced out of E. Cambridge, but wish to maintain Red Line access. 1,000 new housing units are coming online and the repurposing of the Daniel H. Burnham building into offices for Arnold Communications.

A national voice on Downtown Crossing, the NY Times, describes “some $4 billion in private investment over the last decade is finally stoking the long-neglected district with both a new attitude and fresh appeal. Developers are rapidly reinventing Downtown Crossing as an upscale residential neighborhood filled with stores, restaurants and cafes catering to students and young professionals.”

The NYT article is available online: New Energy Rouses Boston’s Downtown Crossing