Given Boston’s highly touted knowledge-based economy, the Hub would seem to be a perfect place for a store that caters to the “educated consumer.” When it comes to Syms Clothing, however, that apparently is not the case.

Developer Rosalind Gorin confirmed last week that the New Jersey based clothier has asked to be unshackled from its 15-year lease at 55 Summer St. in the Downtown Crossing shopping district. After struggling for two years at the multilevel location, the company has apparently decided to cut its losses and move elsewhere.

“It’s something that no one could have foreseen,” Gorin told Banker & Tradesman last week. “We thought it was a great location for them, and they thought it was a great location, but it’s just not good for what they are selling.”

Calls to Syms officials were not returned by press deadline, but the firm has previously cited Boston as one of the worst performing of its estimated 45 stores, most of which are located in the Northeast. Gorin said it may be that such an operation does better in the suburbs, unless the store is located in an area with the density of New York City or Chicago.

While it may be a difficult scenario for New Jersey-based Syms, the Boston real estate market is so hot at present that Gorin will likely fare well no matter what happens. The firm has hired Browne Realty Advisors to find tenants to occupy the 65,000 square feet of space that Symms occupies, and apparently will only let Syms out of its lease if a replacement can be found.

“I think we’ll be able to solve the problem,” Gorin said. “It might take a little time, but I think it will sort itself out eventually.”

Vertical Retailing
Indeed, the situation may be finalized sooner rather than later. Although the marketing effort has just begun, broker Mark Browne said last week there has been considerable interest in the property. Although he declined to discuss the specifics, sources said a retail tenant already has signed a letter of intent to take 15,000 square feet on the lower levels, while office and telecommunications tenants are said to be eyeing the rare 50,000-square-foot block of contiguous space that would be freed up in the rest of the building.

“We have a very prominent, very sexy opportunity for somebody,” said Browne. “We can deliver 50,000 square feet by this fall, and there aren’t too many people who can offer that in the downtown Financial District.”

One company said to be taking a hard look is Global Crossing, a burgeoning Internet firm that reportedly would want the space for use as a data center. Browne would not discuss that issue, but one potential roadblock for such a user would be a need to gain city approvals first, something which could place them at a disadvantage when competing against an office tenant. With Boston office rents averaging $50 per square foot and exceeding $70 per square foot in some cases, such a use would appear to work well for Gorin.

Despite the difficulties encountered by Syms, Gorin also defended 55 Summer St. as a retail destination. “It is a prime retail spot,” she said, predicting that whichever company takes over the first floor will fare well there. Gorin also cited confidence in Syms as a solid company, adding that she has been impressed with how the firm has handled the situation locally.

“They are a really stand-up company,” she said. “They have been straight with us since day one, and we are going to do what we can to help them get through this.”

Browne, who specializes in retail brokerage, also insisted that 55 Summer St. would work for a retail-based tenant, a notion seconded by other retail brokers familiar with the site. “It’s one of the best spots on Summer St.,” said one broker, who blamed the multilevel nature of the store, the clothing concept, and a supposedly poor layout designed by the company’s architects.

“It has been a dog since they started,” said the broker, who requested anonymity. “Everyone knew they were going to have trouble.”

Gorin disputed the idea that vertical retailing was the reason for Syms’ demise, noting that the nearby Macy’s and Filene’s department stores have thrived for decades in a multilevel format.

While primarily a shopping district, Downtown Crossing is fast becoming a strong alternative for office space, as witnessed by the conversion of the former Lafayette Place Mall into a more than 300,000 square feet of office space for State Street Bank and MFS Financial Services. There is also the 27-story 99 Summer St. office tower built in the mid-1980s, while work has recently begun on a new, one million-square-foot office tower on the abutting One Lincoln St. site.

“We’ll do this fast,” Browne predicted. “We’re just positioning the leasing for the right tenant, one who makes it work for themselves, the building and the landlord, and we are getting close on that.”