Fort Point shop folds as projects stall
By Thomas Grillo | Monday, August 3, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Michael Krupp shut down his Achilles Project, a funky restaurant-boutique in Boston’s Fort Point Channel, over the weekend, blaming in part stalled development projects.
Krupp - whose business combined a designer clothes shop with a cafe called Persephone - criticized what he called “local politics and a lack of congruency among developers” for the failure of the Seaport District to take off.
“Fort Point was heralded as the next up-and-coming neighborhood, but nothing has happened,” he said. “There’s a half million square feet of vacant space with no one living in it for no apparent reason. We’ve lost lots of jobs in the area and that’s had an impact on our business.”
Steven Hollinger of the Seaport Alliance for Neighborhood Design, and a longtime Fort Point resident, said developers can’t be blamed for an economy that has stymied demand for office and residential space.
“It’s hard to make an argument that developers should be doing more when the economy is preventing them from doing anything,” he said.
Lincoln Property Co.’s $32 million redevelopment of two vacant warehouses at 316-322 Summer Street - into 140,100 square feet of office space with ground floor retail - is on hold until a large tenant can be found, according to John Miller, Lincoln’s senior vice president.
Last fall, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the first residential building within the proposed Seaport Square project on the South Boston waterfront. The project is expected to include 34 one- and two-bedroom units in a six-story building with ground-floor retail. But Gale International, the developer, has been caught in the credit crunch and the project has stalled.
Some work has moved forward. The Channel Center, a mixed-use property, recently completed renovations with about 100,000 square feet of space still available for rent.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1188726
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