Copley Place

Copley Place is a mixed-use complex of four office buildings, two hotels, and a shopping mall in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Construction began in 1980, which required air rights over the Massachusetts Turnpike, and was completed in 1984. It is owned and managed by Simon Property Group. It also connects to several nearby destinations managed separately from the center, including the Prudential Center complex, the Sheraton Boston Hotel, and multi-modal Back Bay station. The shopping mall is anchored by Neiman Marcus and a Saks Fifth Avenue men's store.

In November 2019, the online business news website MassLive rated Copley Place as fourth, and the immediately adjacent Prudential Center as fifth best among 40 malls and shopping centers in Massachusetts.<ref name="LaFratta">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Description

The bi-level indoors mall is noted for its upscale fashion stores, including Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, John Varvatos, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Victorinox Swiss Army, Porsche Design, Tiffany & Co., Jimmy Choo, David Yurman, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Saint Laurent, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry, Furla, and Gucci.<ref name="Simon"/> Above, the third level provides access to a lobby, reception desk, and the bases of the four office towers.

The mall is connected directly to the Prudential Center shopping mall via a skybridge over Huntington Avenue. Another skybridge connects to the Westin at Copley Place hotel (and a few small shops), by crossing Huntington Avenue at a different location. A Marriott hotel anchors one end of Copley Place, and the Neiman Marcus department store anchors the other end. The mall is also connected to the Back Bay MBTA/Amtrak station via a pedestrian tunnel crossing beneath Dartmouth Street.

The property is managed by Simon Property Group,<ref name="Simon"/> which acquired it in the 2002 breakup of the then Dutch-owned Urban Shopping Centers, Inc.<ref>https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2017/08/10/what-new-copley-place/Wd1jMrJshDxJWyRyj6oGYP/story.html, opening</ref>Template:Failed verification

Development

Site

The structure was the first major project designed by Howard Elkus, then of The Architects' Collaborative.<ref name="Elkus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, it was Boston's largest urban mixed-use development project,<ref name="Elkus"/> financed by the Pritzker family of Chicago.<ref name="Weigel"/> It was built in 1983 directly above the Massachusetts Turnpike and Huntington Avenue highway interchange ramps, which had been constructed in 1964 on the site of the former South End Armory. The Armory building had been completed in 1890, and was razed to make room for the Mass Pike right-of-way.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Later, as a principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, Elkus would lead several major renovations of the mall, and a proposed expansion.<ref name=ElkusObit>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Proposed residential tower

In 2011, plans for a Template:Convert addition of retail space to the facility and a Template:Convert expansion of its Neiman Marcus anchor were approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By February 2013, the project was awaiting final design plans.<ref name="bplans">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="seekingalpha">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2016, Simon Properties announced indefinite postponement of its $500-million project to build a 52-story luxury residential tower, and drastic scaling back of plans to expand the Copley Place mall, citing concerns about rising costs and competition from other Boston luxury towers already under construction.<ref name="Graham">Template:Cite news</ref>

Complex

Structures

List of Copley Place buildings

Name	Floor area
Tower 1	Template:Convert
Tower 2	Template:Convert
Tower 3	Template:Convert
Tower 4	Template:Convert

Shopping mall

File:BostonMA CopleyPlaceWaterfall.jpg

Centerpiece sculptural fountain (Dimitri Hadzi, 1984). The waterfall had been shut off (2012), and the artwork was demolished a few years later.

From its opening, the mall has been marketed as a high-end luxury retail location. Over time, the mix of stores changed in response to sweeping changes affecting the US retailing market. For example, a sizable Rizzoli Bookstore<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was located opposite the elevators behind the central water feature, but it had closed by the year 2000. Other stores which have moved out include Stoddard's (fine cutlery and personal care tools)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Williams Sonoma (kitchenware and food ingredients). Template:As of, almost all of the stores sell fashionable clothing, shoes, or accessories.<ref name="Simon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The mall had also housed one of the few major-chain-owned movie theaters within Boston city limits, but the Loews Copley Place Cinemas was closed in January 2005. It was replaced by Barneys New York men's clothing, which closed in 2019. Barney's became a new Saks Fifth Avenue Men's Store, on August 14, 2020.<ref name=globe>Template:Cite news</ref>

Upon its opening, the indoor mall featured as its centerpiece a Template:Convert high sculptural fountain designed by Boston artist Dimitri Hadzi. The artwork was composed of multiple abstract granite and travertine marble shapes, with a waterfall cascading down it into a shallow pool at the bottom, surrounded by marble benches. A proposed renovation which would eliminate the water feature prompted commentary opposing its demolition in 2013.<ref name="Weigel">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of, the fountain had been completely removed, and the location and status of its sculptural components were unknown to the general public.

Major tenants

Name	Type	Location	Size	Year opened	Year closed	Notes
Barneys New York	Department store	Mall concourse	Template:Convert	2006	2020	Replaced Loews
Template:Sort	Office	Tower 2				Headquarters
Canada Consulates-General	Office	Tower 3				Located in suite 400<ref>"Canadian Consulate-General: Boston."</ref>
Germany Consulates-General	Office	Tower 3				Located in suite 500<ref>"German Consulate-General: Boston Template:Webarchive."</ref>
Loews	Movie theater	Mall concourse		1983	2005
Marriott Copley Place	Hotel
Neiman Marcus	Department store	Mall concourse	Template:Convert	1983	Template:N/A
Saks Fifth Avenue	Department store	Mall concourse	Template:Convert	2020	Template:N/A	Men's store; replaced Barneys New York
Wayfair	Office	Tower 4				Headquarters
US Census Bureau	Office	Tower 4				Boston regional office located in suite 301<ref>"The Boston Region." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-01-17.</ref>
Westin Copley Place Boston	Hotel

Gallery

• Copley Place aerial view, December 2018.JPG

  The four Copley Place office towers are the irregular shapes in the upper left of this aerial view

• 2009 CopleySquare Boston 3271041586.jpg

  In this view centered on Copley Square, the Westin Copley Place hotel is the tower in the right foreground

• 2017 Prudential Skywalk - Westin Copley Place (NNE).jpg

  The Westin Copley Place hotel connects via skybridge to the mall at the far right

• 2007-0925-Boston-JohnHancockTower.jpg

  Copley Place mall is located at the lower right of this view

• Neiman Marcus Boston.jpg

  A Neiman Marcus store is the exterior visible anchor tenant at one end of the mall

• Boston - buildings 71.JPG

  The Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel anchors the other end of the enclosed mall

• Downtown Boston at dusk.jpg

  This skybridge connects Copley Place (at right) to the Prudential Center

• Dartmouth Street Underpass.jpg

  This glassblock-lined underground corridor connects Copley Place to Back Bay station

External links

• Official website