Long the home of highly sought-after boutiques and one-of-a-kind mom and pop shops, Beacon Hill’s exclusive Charles Street is at risk of losing its unique retail appeal as high rents leave storefronts empty and more banks seek access to the Hill’s upscale clientele.
Vacant storefronts dot Charles Street and its more urban counterpart, Cambridge Street – some for months or even a year. And there are more to come, according to local real estate brokers.
So, does the fault lie with landlords demanding exorbitant rents – even for Beacon Hill shopkeepers – putting the vacant space on the market for well-heeled bank tenants to scoop up? Or is Charles Street maybe not as user-friendly as it could be, quaint but for the four lanes of one-way traffic bisecting it?
Resoundingly, if not unanimously, the answers to both questions are ‘yes.’
Charles & Cambridge
On Charles Street, five storefronts are empty, with another soon to follow. On Cambridge Street, at least two storefronts on the Beacon Hill side of the thoroughfare are vacant, one for roughly a year and counting, and another for several months.
To be fair, local ice cream vendor JP Licks is planning to move into one of the Charles Street spaces by springtime.
DeLuca’s Market was destroyed in a fire about a year ago, and the owner was having issues with neighbors regarding a proposed renovation for longer than that. Both issues are keeping the neighborhood grocer from re-opening. And another retailer is slated to fill the void left by the closure of Koo De Kir at 65 Chestnut St. in the spring.
But that still leaves space to fill at 75 Charles St., once Hammond Residential leaves its real estate office for cheaper digs above Starbucks at the corner of Charles and Beacon streets. No tenants have been identified to occupy 125 Charles St., which sits above a tanning parlor and next door to a psychic. And at least one of the pop-up shops in the old meeting house will be vacated after the holidays.
On Cambridge Street, no one has stepped-up to fill the old Spotted Apron, formerly a Parisian-themed bakery, at 326 Cambridge St. since the Apron moved out about a year ago. And the old White Hen Pantry at 250 Cambridge St. has been empty for months.
“The recession for the first time is even hitting our tony little neighborhood here, especially the boutique shops,” John Ford, head of Charles Street-based Ford Realty, told Banker & Tradesman. “They’re just not making the numbers to justify the rents. Up to recently there hasn’t been much turnover on Charles Street, but this is the most turnover I’ve seen on Charles Street in the 11 years I’ve been on the Hill.”
‘Overrun By Banks’
There’s one thing neighborhood leaders and city officials alike fear could alter the character of the neighborhood: The bank branch.
Until recently, there was only a Sovereign Bank at the corner of Beacon and Charles streets, just across Charles from Cambridge Trust Co. Then over the summer People’s United moved into 218 Cambridge St., and later Hingham Savings opened at 80 Charles St., replacing a large antiques shop.
Now, Capital One is slated to move into the corner of Charles Street and Mount Vernon streets, formerly a 7-Eleven, displacing the Charles Street Market – which was really just a placeholder until the landlord could find someone to pay higher rents, according to neighborhood sources. TD Bank is looking for a branch location on Cambridge Street, and will likely take the old White Hen space, sources said.
“I would say the neighborhood feels like it’s being overrun by banks,” Besser told Banker & Tradesman. “We really feel it would serve the neighborhood better to have some smaller boutique shops to attract more retail activity to the area. But rents don’t matter to a bank because it’s just looking for market share.”
Banks aren’t bad on the surface, of course. They’re often model corporate citizens, and are generally inoffensive to private and quiet-seeking residents. But as tenants, banks often give neighborhood advocates pause precisely because they do and will pay more than other tenants for square footage, according to Beacon Hill Civic Association president Steve Young.
“We’re looking for a character of business that best fits the community … and not one that is just there for the short-term and for the [public relations] value that comes from being seen in the space,” Young said.
Adapt & Overcome
Still, let’s be clear: The Beacon Hill shopping district isn’t doomed. Improving its fundamentals will just take compromise by residents, business owners and City Hall. For one thing, the four-lane-wide Charles Street itself is the problem, said Ted Furst, a project analyst with New York-based Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, a firm that works to upgrade business districts and public spaces, and a former Beacon Hill resident. And the city and neighbors need to be flexible in allowing cafes and restaurants to establish outdoor seating on sidewalks.
“Charles Street is way too wide,” Furst asserted. “And the stores need to complement each other. When you start bringing in too many banks and real estate offices, or anything with bad storefronts, you don’t help you neighbor next door because you’re not activating the sidewalk.”
And while there have been major upgrades through a new median strip and plantings along Cambridge Street, someone needs to make strategic decisions about what kinds of businesses to encourage there – and to limit the number of convenience stores, banks and pharmacies.
“We have a CVS at one end by Charles Street, then we have a Walgreens at the other end in Government Center,” Furst said.
For its part, City Hall officials admit the rents on the Hill can be daunting for small businesspeople looking to open a shop – even the deep-pocketed types that can actually afford to open there.
“A lot of these are flipping over to soft retail use, like bank branches,” said Kristin Keefe, retail business sector senior manager for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. “At the end of the day it’s up to the property owner to decide who to lease to. It’s … really not adding to the vitality of the street. They don’t have to perform at the branch. It’s more that they’re being seen. But overall, Boston is faring very well in the retail market.”
