David Chilinski
Title: President, Prellwitz Chilinski Assoc.
Age: 58
Experience: 35 years
David Chilinski’s architectural firm has worked on some of the most notable retail projects in the region, including MarketStreet Lynnfield, the Mashpee Commons, Legacy Place in Dedham and The Street in Chestnut Hill. Now, the team has been selected to work on the redesign of the Arsenal Mall in Watertown, which Chilinski said Boylston Properties, the owner, envisions redeveloping as more of an open-air shopping center.
Q: What insight can you offer for the plan as it now stands for the Arsenal Mall?
A: They’re going to think a lot about what is the intervention that’s needed. It’s a mixed-use thing. Right now it looks a bit like a mall, with a big parking lot. [Boylston Properties] is going to kind of turn it inside out. There will be shops and things that will be outdoors and face the parking lot. They’ll [demolish] part of the mall and regenerate it as a more walkable place. We’ve talked to them about maybe having a restaurant area that might have views to the river. They’re thinking of it as both a regional retail center … and being more like a local neighborhood place, where people living nearby can walk or have a short drive to. There’s going to be some residential that’s a component of it. It will take some time to sort it out. Also, they’re buying the project with tenants that have agreements to stay in the spaces they’re in. The mall’s not empty.
Q: Several new and successful retail centers have incorporated entertainment venues, like a Kings bowling. Is something like that in the plans for the Arsenal site?
A: Not yet. But I’ll tell you, that’ll be the kind of thing that gets talked about, is how far do we want to go in those kinds of categories. This is about transforming it into a place.
Q: What kinds of projects or clients really get you excited for the job, for devising a plan?
A: We love being embedded in our town. The types of projects we really have a skill set for are things that involve cities or communities. We [designed the South Station retail concourse] years ago. We’ve done work in the Longwood Medical Area. We’re doing work in multifamily over in Allston for the Mount Vernon Co. They’re building energy efficient buildings and trying to build a green neighborhood within a neighborhood that is good for his neighbors … so that the identity of the whole area changes, and people’s consciousness about sustainability changes, as opposed to preaching to them. They’re writing leases for people that encourage them to recycle, to compost. to save energy.
Q: What was it about Boston that initially attracted you?
A: I grew up in Syracuse and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We worked on projects here in college. I moved to Boston because I knew the neighborhoods and the city. It was a very exciting time in Boston, because this was 1977 and Faneuil Hall had just opened in 1976, so things were just beginning to percolate. I worked for Benjamin Thompson Assoc., who had redesigned Faneuil Hall. Wendy Prellwitz also worked at BTA, and we left there within six months of each other. Wendy was picking up work so I started helping her. In 1982, Prellwitz Chilinski was started. Now there are 44 people working here. It took us 20 years to become 25 people. We had very incremental growth.
Five Favorite Public Spaces In Boston:
- The Public Garden
- Harvard Square
- The Park at Post Office Square
- Newbury Street
- South Station Concourse
