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Filene's

By adamg - 4/12/13 - 11:24 am

The Globe reports that ad agency Arnold Worldwide will "occupy a large chunk" of the skyscraper expected to rise above The Hole.

By adamg - 8/16/12 - 4:05 pm

The Boston Business Journal reports on a presentation on the new residential tower that will allegedly fill the Filene's Memorial Hole. And while the developers aren't saying how much it'll cost to live 50 stories above Washington Street, the Journal finds one apartment expert who predicts "a 350-square-foot studio will cost $3,000 or more per month."

By adamg - 6/11/12 - 8:33 pm

The Herald reports Millennium Partners is doubling down on the original Vornado project with a building that would be taller and bigger.

By adamg - 6/8/12 - 7:36 am

Just the Way You Are and the theme to Hill Street Blues. Also, the theme to the Godfather. What else does it play? And will it survive the inversion of the Hole into a building?

Note: Name of the thing changed in the headline thanks to people who know their mechanical musical devices way better than I.

By adamg - 4/27/12 - 2:14 pm

Bluewashing in Downtown Crossing

Workers this morning were busy bluewashing over the old murals showing the fabled One Franklin project that was supposed to rise like a phoenix from the giant hole its developers dug where Filene's used to be.

Note the red-and-white placard above the painter. It's a warning to firefighters of possible dangers inside the building.

The people who built the Ritz down Washington Street recently signed a deal with the hole's main owner to try to actually build something there.

By adamg - 2/3/12 - 6:37 am

The lights were on but nobody was home the other night, CKP reports.

The Globe reports Millennium Partners has struck a deal with the owner of the Hole to actually build a tower on the negative space on Washington Street.

Millennium Partners built the Ritz and is currently building a new residential tower on the other side of Washington Street. Vornado Realty Trust of New York tore down most of Filene's - it will remain a "passive" partner in the new project.

By adamg - 1/25/12 - 5:33 pm

The Globe reports Suffolk University is looking at possibly becoming even more of a presence in Downtown Crossing - where it already butts up against Emerson College - by selling off four Beacon Hill buildings and doing something interesting with either the abandoned Border's building, the Filene's Hole or both.

By adamg - 1/3/12 - 8:55 am

The Herald reports the City Council has formed a special committee on gambling. Part of its role will be to figure out if everybody in Boston should vote on allowing a casino at Suffolk Downs, but it may also attempt to leverage Vornado Realty Trust's 20% ownership of Suffolk Downs into getting it to do something about the Hole, of which it is the majority owner.

By adamg - 10/6/11 - 7:54 am

A puckish citizen complains about a large hole off Washington Street in Downtown Crossing that has gone unfilled despite numerous past complaints.

By adamg - 9/19/11 - 1:01 pm

Could the BRA's sudden kissie-kissie with evil Hole overlord Vornado have anything to do with Vornado's part ownership of the group that wants to build a casino at Suffolk Downs - the one the mayor is betting on? Jason Schwartz assumes 2+2=4.

By adamg - 9/8/11 - 7:50 am

The Herald reports the chain is now eying part of what's left of the old Filene's building. Of course, the question is whether Tornado, um, Vornado would want to sell.

By adamg - 9/7/11 - 8:33 pm
Welcome to Filene's Hole

Look what showed up at Downtown Crossing's best known negative space today. Who's the wise guy?

Copyright BostonUrbEx. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

By adamg - 8/31/11 - 9:23 am

Jeremy Marin notes that an ugly, vacant construction site in Manhattan is now an urban farm:

The farm is comprised of roughly 6,000 plants growing in easily transportable black milk crates. There's eggplant in shades of white and purple, an array of squash, tomatoes, salad greens - even okra, a southern crop rarely seen on farms in the Northeast. The produce regularly sells out in the Riverpark restaurant.

By adamg - 8/25/11 - 9:45 am

Just in case somebody at City Hall didn't already know about it, an alert citizen used Citizens Connect to report there are now holes in the canvas covering what's left of the old Filene's building.

By adamg - 4/14/11 - 7:21 am

The Herald seems to have captured Menino saying the Hole can stay a hole until those goddamn New Yorkers learn Boston means business. Or something:

People say to me: 'Oh, you've got a hole there - so what! The hole is going to be there until those folks from New York understand we in Boston know how to do development. And just because they can't get development done, that's not my fault.

By adamg - 12/1/10 - 7:21 am

Brian McGrory reports this morning that Don Chiofaro's latest plans for the Aquarium garage would keep the garage in place (no word on the stupid red ribbon) and stick 12 stories of condos and apartments on top of it. That would keep the thing at the 200-foot level Mayor Menino insists is the tallest anybody can build along the Greenway (and a far cry from the 48-story complex Chiofaro proposed a couple months back).

But here's an idea:

By adamg - 11/17/10 - 8:50 pm

The city's lost $20 million in tax revenue from the negative space and enough is enough, the BRA says in a letter sent today.

By adamg - 10/17/10 - 10:07 am

The Globe tells us which developers are interested in buying the Filene's Negative Space - at a discount, of course.

By adamg - 9/25/10 - 10:47 am

The Outraged Liberal gets outraged about clueless comments from some New York real-estate agent on why the Filene's Hole project finally collapsed, something about the lead developer not shmoozing local pols enough and the mayor needing a Xanax and failing to let Vornado be Vornado.

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