Filene's Department Store is a former

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

building in the Downtown Crossing shopping district in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States. It was designed by

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the ''Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American archi ...

for Abraham Lincoln Filene and

Edward Filene Edward Albert Filene (September 3, 1860 – September 26, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for building the Filene's department store chain and for his decisive role in pioneering credit unions across the U ...

, and opened in 1912. It was the flagship store of the Filene's department store chain, was acquired by

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

in 2005, and closed in favor of the adjacent, Federated-owned

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

store in 2006. The building has since been incorporated into the base of the Millennium Tower residential skyscraper, and the original space has been renovated into offices for Arnold Worldwide and

Havas Havas NV () is a French multinational corporation, multinational advertising agency, advertising and public relations company, with its registered office and head office in Puteaux, France. Havas operates in more than 100 countries. The group ...

, and retail space for

Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...

and Roche Bros.

History

Development and use

The building was completed in 1912 as a new flagship location for William Filene and Sons' department store, better known as Filene's. By 1929 Filene's expanded the flagship building, converting the whole block around Washington, Summer, Hawley and Franklin streets into one department store. This was the last major project by legendary Chicago architect

and his only work in Boston. This building was widely regarded as one of the best examples of

Beaux Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and B ...

in Boston. In 1986, the Filene's Building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In 2006, Filene's stores were merged with

phasing out the Filene's name. In a normal store merger, the old stores are converted into the new stores. But this was a problem in Boston, because the Filene's building was located across the street from another Macy's store. When Filene's did close, the Boston Landmarks Commission unanimously voted to protect two of the historic buildings that housed Filene's in Boston. The two oldest buildings were protected including the main 1912 Filene's store building and a 1905 former glassware and china seller's building on the opposite corner. Two newer buildings, built in 1951 and 1973, were not protected, and were demolished in 2008.

Sale and refurbishment

After the store closed, the building was marketed and was eventually bought by

Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is an American real estate investment trust formed in Maryland in 1982, with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan. History Two Guys The origins of the ...

of New York. Vornado teamed up with Gale International for a $700 million redevelopment of the Filene's site. The project contained a 39-story tower including a 280-room hotel, 125-seat restaurant, of office space, 166 residential condos, of retail space, and an adjacent park. Although the Filene's Building was protected by the Landmarks Commission, it only protected the facade of the building. This allowed the developers of the site to rip out the building's interior, leaving the exterior to stand on its own. However, when the project ran out of money, the site was left completely gutted and missing walls from the razed 1951 and 1973 additions. The city of Boston eventually revoked the permit on the project. The site was taken over by another developer, Millennium Partners of New York. Plans include of retail on the lower floors and nearly office space on the upper floors, including a restoration of many original architectural details. The project also includes a glass tower next door, which will contain 450 luxury residences and another of retail space. Irish clothing company

opened its first U.S. store September 10, 2015, on the first four floors of the restored Burnham Building; Roche Bros. supermarket occupies the basement, with an additional grab-and-go shop at street level on Summer Street.

and Arnold Worldwide occupy floors 5-8.

Notes

References

External links

*
Skyscraperpage.com forum on One Franklin Street
* City of Boston
Landmarks CommissionFilene's Complex Study Report
2006
Article from ''The Brickbuilder'' (1912) with floor plans
{{Authority control Commercial buildings completed in 1911 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places Retail buildings in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Boston 1911 establishments in Massachusetts Skyscraper office buildings in Boston Skyscraper hotels in Boston Residential skyscrapers in Boston