Arnold Worldwide's announcement that it will relocate to the Millennium Tower/Burnham Building complex next year is expected to heighten interest in Downtown Crossing office and retail space in addition to jump-starting the project's construction.
The advertising agency's lease for 125,000 square feet in the former Filene's building will inject a 700-strong youthful, creative workforce that will help set the tone for the district's revitalization, observers say.
Arnold's move will prompt other "world-class" companies to look at the area, said Rosemarie Sansone, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. "They had been courted by property owners in many different locations across the city for many years," she said. "A tenant of this magnitude and this stature is very, very important and sets the tone for all of the other pieces falling into place."
Leaks of developer Millennium Partners/Boston's talks with Arnold — headquartered at 101 Huntington Ave. for 15 years — already had sparked interest in Downtown Crossing from companies seeking office space, said developer Ron Druker, a major Downtown Crossing property owner.
"It's a real boost to the area," he said. "We've been attracting interest from tenants priced out of the Innovation District because of its great success and Kendall Square. We've seen this in our buildings on Kingston Street, where we recently rented space. Some of (the tenants) are startups, some of them are established companies, architects, high-tech."
Arnold and sister agency Havas Media hope to move into the fifth through eighth floors of the 1912 Burnham building on Sept. 1, 2014.
"They do things that are really cutting-edge, and it sets the tone for a workplace that is not your father's office building," said Anthony Pangaro, principal at Millennium Partners, which took over the long-stalled project last year.
Restoration of the Burnham building, the only Boston building by legendary Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, likely will start within a month. Construction of the adjacent 625-foot Millennium Tower will overlap and begin once the Burnham building's missing outer wall is replaced, Pangaro said,
Millennium has yet to sign other leases for the project, which includes 75,000 more square feet of office space and 135,000 square feet of retail space in the Burnham building, and 95,500 square feet of retail space in Millennium Tower, which will include 450 luxury residences.
In addition to a grocer, Millennium is seeking innovative retail companies.
"The Apple store has told us we don't build stores that you can't see into anymore, so we are looking for companies that are visually interesting, that tell the story of what they do on the street, through the facade," Pangaro said. "There's a lot of interest."
Arnold Boston president Pam Hamlin would like to see businesses move in that cater to the tastes and interests of the company's young employee base.
"We're the first company that is really a creative organization that's able to move into the area to help shape what this part of Boston looks like," she said.
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