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 a Saks Fifth Avenue men's store. The is one vacant anchor formerly occupied by Neiman Marcus.
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.
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.
Neiman Marcus closed in April 2026. Simon plans to replace it with multiple restaurants and shops.
Development
Site
The structure was the first major project designed by Howard Elkus, then of The Architects' Collaborative. At the time, it was Boston's largest urban mixed-use development project, Later, as a principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, Elkus would lead several major renovations of the mall, and a proposed expansion.
Proposed residential tower
In 2011, plans for a addition of retail space to the facility and a expansion of its Neiman Marcus anchor were approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. By February 2013, the project was awaiting final design plans. 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.
Complex
Structures
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of Copley Place buildings
! Name
! Floor area
|-
| Tower 1
|
|-
| Tower 2
|
|-
| Tower 3
|
|-
| Tower 4
|
|-
|}
Shopping mall
thumb|left|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 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) and Williams Sonoma (kitchenware and food ingredients). , almost all of the stores sell fashionable clothing, shoes, or accessories.
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.
Upon its opening, the indoor mall featured as its centerpiece a 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. , the fountain had been completely removed, and the location and status of its sculptural components were unknown to the general public.
Major tenants
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Name
! Type
! Location
! Size
! Year<br />opened
! Year<br />closed
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| Barneys New York
| Department store
| Mall concourse
|
| 2006
| 2020
| Replaced Loews
|-
|
| Office
| Tower 2
|
|
|
| Headquarters
|-
| Canada Consulates-General
| Office
| Tower 3
|
|
|
| Located in suite 400
|-
| Germany Consulates-General
| Office
| Tower 3
|
|
|
| Located in suite 500
|-
| Loews
| Movie theater
| Mall concourse
|
| 1983
| 2005
|
|-
| Marriott Copley Place
| Hotel
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| Neiman Marcus
| Department store
| Mall concourse
|
| 1983
| 2026
|
|-
|MINISO
|Department store
|Mall concourse
|166,900 sq ft
(15,510 m2)
|2026
|
|
|-
| Saks Fifth Avenue
| Department store
| Mall concourse
|
| 2020
|
| 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
|-
| Westin Copley Place Boston
| Hotel
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|}
Gallery
<gallery>
File: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
File:2009 CopleySquare Boston 3271041586.jpg|In this view centered on Copley Square, the Westin Copley Place hotel is the tower in the right foreground
File:2017 Prudential Skywalk - Westin Copley Place (NNE).jpg|The Westin Copley Place hotel connects via skybridge to the mall at the far right
File:2007-0925-Boston-JohnHancockTower.jpg|Copley Place mall is located at the lower right of this view
File:Neiman Marcus Boston.jpg|A Neiman Marcus store was the exterior visible anchor tenant at one end of the mall
File:Boston - buildings 71.JPG|The Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel anchors the other end of the enclosed mall
File:Downtown Boston at dusk.jpg|This skybridge connects Copley Place (at right) to the Prudential Center
File:Newly renovated Dartmouth Street tunnel, December 2017.JPG|This glassblock-lined underground corridor connects Copley Place to Back Bay station
</gallery>
References
External links
- Official website