Boston Mayor Thomas Menino led prospective tenants on a tour of available retail space in the city’s Back Bay and Fenway neighborhoods on a soggy afternoon today, offering tour-takers a variety of exclusive incentives to relocate to the neighborhoods as he tries to grow Boston’s retail base.
Approximately 70 retailers, brokers and developers joined the Mayor on the tour, which was held as a prelude to the International Conference of Shopping Center’s New England Idea Exchange at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on July 8 and 9th, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
Menino personally walked the district with the group, starting at the corner of Dartmouth & Newbury Street, in order to point out available retail spaces. The tour then progressed down Newbury Street, through Kenmore Square into the Fenway to Boylston Street and back down Boylston to the Back Bay.
Menino announced that if any retailers sign a lease for any of the spaces showcased on the tour within 6 months, Wall Decaux Inc. will donate two outdoor advertising displays in downtown Boston for one month, a value of $5,000. Additionally, the City will provide its green business consultant to the retailer to help them save money and learn ways that they can be more environmentally friendly – including access to Boston Buying Power, an innovative energy-buying group designed to allow small businesses to purchase energy as a large group at long-term fixed rates.
In the Back Bay, Mayor Menino highlighted the retailers that have recently opened on Newbury Street and those that are coming soon to the retail district. With more than a million people in downtown Boston every day and 10 million tourists and conventioneers every year, the Back Bay is a prime spot for retailers. The Mandarin Oriental hotel and residences recently opened on Boylston Street and Boston Properties recently won approval to begin construction on 888 Boylston Street – an office and retail development that will fulfill the Prudential Center complex – further underscoring the desirability of the neighborhood, Menino said.
In Fenway, Mayor Menino explained how the neighborhood is becoming a 24-hour district in which people can live, work and have fun. And thanks to new zoning that encourages more mixed-use development, the Fenway is ready for additional retail growth. Thus far, two new mixed-use projects on Boylston Street – Trilogy and 1330 Boylston Street – are "prime examples" of what the community set out to create with the new zoning, according to the statement.
"Nobody is a better salesperson for Boston than Mayor Menino," said John F. Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. "Working to grow the number of retail businesses in our city is about increasing Boston’s job base. Already our retail sector employs more than 83,000 people, which represents 12.7% of our workforce."
