Filenes Tower - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 21.338 W 071° 03.565
19T E 330393 N 4691317
The area in the Downtown Crossing section of Boston will combine remnants of the old Filene's Department Store into a 30+ floor high rise mult-use complex.
Waymark Code: WM5YV7
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 03/02/2009
Views: 13
03/02/2009 - It is the hope of Gale International and Vornado Realty Trust to build a 30 plus floor building, incorporating the old buildings in the design and have it ready by 2010. But, today, the company struggles to obtain the needed loans to continue construction. It is now a construction site in suspension. Several buildings are partially demolished and a great open space spans between them.
The block is bounded by Summer Street, Washington Street, Franklin Street, and Hawley Street. This area is part of the Downtown Crossing section of Boston, which has many stores and historic theatres and other structures located in the area, as well. It is well served by the Orange, Blue, and Red Line subway lines. The Downtown Crossing Station has entrance ways in this block.
Most of the block used to be the old flagship store of the Filene's Department Store chain. This department store was once a well-recognized name in Boston and New England. However, when Filene's parent company was merged with Macy's and stores were consolidated, since Macy's was already located across the street (from a previous purchase of Jordan's Department Store), the Filene's store was surplus. In October 2006, Gale International and Vornado Realty Trust announced a deal to build a new building on that location intending to have space for office, retail, condominium apartments and a hotel. In 2007 stores like Filene's Basement were closed and portions of the old department store were demolished. A rendition of the proposed building can be found on the bostoncondogroup.com web site. One (slightly different - likely an older version) can also be found on site along Washington Street.
Funding was sought for the next stage in September, 2008. Unfortunately, this was the time when the credit market froze up when the mortgage crisis hit. Construction was halted in November, 2008, and had not continued since. So far, the building height was reduced from 38 to 32 stories and eliminated 166 condominium units. If financing is still not obtained, then further changes to the building may be needed.
For now, we will have to wait.
Current Status:
04/03/2009: Boston.com reported that the mayor wants the developers to better protect the remaining old building walls while the developer tries to secure funding. The link is here:
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03/24/2010: While there has been coverage on the media, the message is still the same: The project is delayed and no one knows when it will start up again. An article in Boston.com recently could reveal something about developer tactics, though.
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