Will Lower Rents and Government Grants Fill Those Empty Boston Storefronts?

An April 2023 article by Diti Kohli in the Boston Globe detailed various approaches being considered to fill empty storefronts in Boston. The residential areas of the city, such as Back Bay and Hyde Park, have a booming storefront retail market right now. But the office-centric areas of Downtown Crossing and the Financial District are struggling to find both office and storefront tenants.Kholi details a variety of approaches being considered: lower rents, grants from the city to relocate businesses impacted by COVID, to name two.Katie Grissom, head of retail at Nuveen Real Estate, interviewed in the article, says that big box and national chains were already doing poorly in 2019 and she thinks this is a great time to reimagine downtown. More independent retailers and experiences such as the WNDR Museum are what pedestrians want, she says.             Michael Nichols, the president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, said that downtown has 10% more places to eat today than it did in 2019. However, it's unclear how long those restaurants and cafes will last, because in 2022 Boston only saw about half the foot traffic it had pre-pandemic and is projected to hit only about 60% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023. With offices clearing out due to layoffs and the preponderance of remote workers, something different definitely needs to happen on the streets of Boston.