Photo courtesy of Boston Landmarks Commission image collection, Collection 5210.004, City of Boston Archives, Boston

What: Faneuil Hall Marketplace Redevelopment
When: March 22, 1973
Where: Boston

• The Rouse Co. of Maryland was chosen as tentative redeveloper of Quincy Market 49 years ago this month, with plans to transform the food wholesalers’ hub into an urban marketplace and tourist magnet.
• Three years later, the city signed a 99-year lease with The Rouse Co. to accelerate construction and leasing to retail tenants. During an era in which suburban shopping malls proliferated, the redevelopment became one of the nation’s first festival-style retail properties.
• Following the marketplace’s opening in 1976, the surrounding neighborhood saw an uptick of new developments including the Bostonian Hotel, Dock Square parking garage, Marriott Long Wharf hotel and renovations to the historic Blackstone Block buildings.

“I feel good about the way this one is going to turn out.” — Developer James W. Rouse to the Boston Globe, days before Quincy Market opened in August 1976