← All work
CategoryReal Estate

Quincy Center Revitalization

Once known as Shopperstown USA, historic Quincy Center is the downtown of Boston's South Shore and in the midst of an exciting renaissance.

01 Caption for figure 2.
02 Caption for figure 3.
03 With a nod towards the building's history, the former Kincaide Department Store building was repositioned as an anchor of redevelopment and activity on Hancock Street. The restaurant incubator space spawned Rewild Vegan Kitchen, which would go on to become PlantPub, a vegan beer hall chain that expanded throughout Boston before being shuttered by Covid-19.

Note: this information is dated from my departure in 2019, this project has evolved to become SwitchPoint Quincy.

In conjunction with the acquisition of the former Quincy Medical Center property at 114 Whitwell Street, the City of Quincy named FoxRock Properties as the designated developer of the former Ross Parking Garage parcel– an 8-acre redevelopment site in downtown Quincy between Hancock Street, Burgin Parkway, and Hannon Parkway.

The highways and shopping malls of the mid/late 20th century hit Quincy Center as hard as most downtown districts. Formerly Shopperstown USA, the once-vibrant department store district of Quincy had struggled to reinvent itself as storefronts stayed stagnant and attempted revitalization fell victim to a failed master planner, land-banking, and deferred maintenance. 

Working from the Quincy Center Urban Revitalization District Plan created by the City and approved by the City Council, FoxRock worked with CBT Architects with the mission of creating "a modern addition to the downtown of the South Shore."

Starting at the street level, the plan called for a new pedestrian-oriented street to reactivate the back-side of Hancock street's retail corridor, with modern mixed-use development meeting a revitalized block of historic buildings.

The resultant plan blended up to 1 Million SF of new commercial, life-science, retail, residential, and hospitality space within the existing context of Hancock Street– Quincy's historic main street.

****


The ground floor is being divided into two restaurant spaces, the upstairs spaces re-tenanted, the facade is being updated with new signage, and the once dark and dirty alleyway has been re-lit with string lights and is home to an evolving art installation by local artists Brandalizm and Merkaveli.

Behind the 1980s art deco facade is a 4-story brick building that was originally home to the Kincaide Department Store (slogan: Big Selection, Small Prices), founded by Quincy military, business, and civic leader Henry L. Kincaide.


Originally slated for demolition by master planners to provide access to the Ross Parking Parcel redevelopment site, 1495 Hancock Street was purchased by FoxRock to further the larger downtown redevelopment effort. Instead, the 34,000 SF building is being creatively re-positioned as a case study of how to reactivate and re-tenant Hancock Street.

Related Projects — Real Estate