Representatives at Time Out Group and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, which owns the building, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Diners at Time Out Market when it opened in 2019.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
While the market has seen significant turnover since opening, it remains fully leased with 15 vendors including Cusser’s Roast Beef, Ms. Cluck’s Deluxe, anoush’ella, Union Square Donuts, gogo ya, Far Out Ice Cream, and Lulu Green, among others.
The first Time Out Market launched in Lisbon in 2014, branded as a real-world manifestation of Time Out Magazine, the global city media brand that curated restaurant recommendations and event listings in major metro areas around the world. The Lisbon site quickly became the largest tourist attraction in Portugal, and breathed new life into the 50-year-old Time Out Group.
The concept landed in Boston in 2019 to great fanfare and hype. The Boston site was Time Out’s third US location, after Miami and New York, and boasted a roster of the city’s top-tier restaurant talent, including Tim and Nancy Cushman, Tony Maws, and Michael Schlow. It was pitched as an opportunity for upscale restaurants to expand their footprint with limited labor and startup costs, while drawing in a new customer base that was increasingly looking for fast-casual fare.
Boston’s lineup of 15 food stalls, two bars, and a demo kitchen was pitched as a novel high-end alternative to the traditional mall food court, and Time Out’s Fenway digs helped cement the neighborhood as a culinary destination. It was also the first of many upscale food halls to arrive in Boston, as real estate developers looked for new ways to drive foot traffic around office buildings beyond the typical 9 to 5.
Then, of course, the pandemic hit, and suddenly the idea of eating (and breathing) in large crowds became anathema. It stalled the opening of other food halls in the pipeline, like High Street Market downtown and North Station’s Hub Hall. Today, food halls continue to crop up — Eastern Edge is scheduled to open in Kendall Square this month — and malls like CambridgeSide have even rebranded their food courts to meet the moment.
Customers at Time Out Market in Boston in 2019.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
401 Park, which opened in the 1920s as a Sears Roebuck mail order store, was redeveloped into office and retail space by Samuels and Associates, the local developer that has rebuilt much of the Fenway neighborhood. In addition to the market’s indoor footprint, it also had a 6,000-square-foot outdoor patio that opened during the warmer months.
Samuels sold 401 Park to life science developer Alexandria in 2021 for $1.5 billion.
Peter Sougarides, co-president and principal at Samuels, said that the neighborhood continues to be an “attractive and dynamic location for retailers and restauranteurs.”
Fenway has a strong residential and commercial base, excellent foot traffic, and easy access to multiple entertainment venues like the ballpark and MGM Music Hall, Sougarides said. He noted that Samuels, at its other buildings, has recently signed four new retail and restaurant leases and renewed agreements with five existing tenants, all of which is “a testament to the neighborhood’s strength as a destination for both local and national brands.”
Now though, the question is whether Alexandria can do the same, and find a new anchor tenant for 401 Park.
Janelle Nanos can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @janellenanos.
