Pret a Manger, the British sandwich shop moving into the former Borders bookstore on Boylston Street in Boston, is hunting for another potential home in Beantown, but this time the company is considering Downtown Crossing.
The sandwich maker has agreed to occupy 2,700 square feet of the old Borders store in the city’s Back Bay, one of the tightest commercial real estate submarkets in the northeast. Local restaurant industry sources have confirmed the company is considering opening a similar shop in the city’s Downtown Crossing area.
The news of the international retailer looking to lay claim to a Downtown Crossing location is indicative of the sea change that is occurring in what was once the city’s chief retail destination, but has lost that title to the Back Bay and its posh Newbury Street shops, said one retail industry expert that asked not to be named due to a conflict of interest.
"It really shows that the city is committed to rehabilitating the Downtown Crossing area," the source told Banker & Tradesman. "It’s certainly becoming a place that restaurateurs are looking to plant a flag."
In addition, the Abbey Group is planning to reposition its 618,000-square-foot Lafayette Corporate Center at 2 Avenue de Lafayette, which the Boston-based real estate firm has rebranded City Center. State Street occupies more than 400,000 square feet of space at City Center that the firm is planning to vacate when it moves into new space at Channel Center in Boston’s Fort Point district.
David Epstein, president of the Abbey Group, said the firm could turn as much as 240,000 square feet of space at City Center into new retail space and try to attract big box stores to the area. City Center currently holds 35,000 square feet of retail space and the remainder is offices.
It’s no coincidence that more and more restaurants and shops are opening in the area. Mayor Thomas Menino yesterday announced that more than $13 million in public and private funds are being invested in area infrastructure projects. That includes money developers have committed as mitigation for major projects, as well as from City Hall, that will go to creating new sidewalks, bike racks, rehabbing an MBTA head house and elevator and new water and sewer lines.
Now, major apartment and mixed-use projects are planned or underway in the area, local and national investors are scooping up properties, and retailers and restaurants now occupy more than 250,000 square feet of retail space that lay vacant four years ago.
"When you walk around this neighborhood, you’re struck by the investment that’s been made here," Menino said. "You invest in something that you believe in, that you think has a bright future. We’re going to keep improving this community."
