Prospects for a supermarket in Boston’s Seaport District took another hit.
Boston-based Drew Co. said it wants to build 278 apartments in a 21-story tower in the next phase of its Waterside Place development at 505 Congress St. after failing to attract interest from supermarkets for 55,000 square feet of previously-approved retail space.
“People are very upset about the grocery store going away,” CEO John Drew said. “I understand the need for a grocer down here, but we tried.”
Grocers aren’t sold on the Seaport’s ability to support a store until the residential population increases, Drew said. Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. expressed an interest in the parcel for its new small-footprint bfresh urban concept store, Drew said, but ultimately chose a site on Harvard Avenue in Allston.
Drew Co. notified the Boston Redevelopment Authority this week that it will submit a notice of project change for the next phase, which would be built on a 26,681-square-foot parcel currently used for parking next to the 20-story, 236-unit Waterside Place apartment tower that opened in January 2014. Units will range from 511-square-foot studios to 1,357-square-foot three-bedrooms. The complex also would contain 2,000 square feet of retail, 78 parking spaces on the second floor and access to a Massport parking garage planned for an adjacent site on D Street. Drew Co. is negotiating with Massport on use of the garage for tenant spaces.
The completed Waterside Place tower contains 10,000 square feet of ground-floor restaurant space that is vacant, but Drew said Watertown-based restaurant La Casa De Pedro is expected to sign a lease within a week and plans an April 2016 opening. Another 7,000 square feet of innovation space is still being marketed.
Grocers have been reluctant to sign leases in the booming Seaport until the residential population rises substantially in the next wave of development. The Benjamin and Via apartment complexes at One Seaport Square will contain over 800 units, and that complex will be anchored by three stories of retail including a Kings nightclub, Equinox fitness club and Kerasotes Showplace Theatre. Other tenants in the 250,000-square-foot retail podium are expected to be announced closer to the 2017 opening.
Seaport Square parcels M1 and M2, which are expected to break ground next spring at Congress and B Streets, will contain 125,000 square feet of retail beneath 750 condos and apartments. W/S Development of Newton will own the retail space. Principal Dick Marks said this week it’s too soon to say what type of tenants will occupy the storefronts, with completion not expected “for several years.”
