Plans for a boutique hotel in Boston's Downtown Crossing have garnered widespread support — but not from the owner of a longtime shoe store who must permanently check out from the building that will be gutted for guest rooms and new ground-floor retail.
"It's hard for me to look at it positively," said Foot Paths owner Steve Rollins. "I'm not saying I don't agree with the (hotel) concept, but it impacts me so severely it's hard to get up and be so rah-rah about it."
Rollins, who opened his store in a building at the corner of Washington Street and Temple Place more than 15 years ago, was excited by recent signs of a resurgence in the shopping district, including a skyscraper project to fill the gaping hole on the Filene's block.
But in August, shortly after he signed a five-year lease extension, Chicago developer Oxford Capital Group stepped in and bought the building and unveiled its 240-room hotel.
A clause in the lease allows for evictions in the case of a building demolition — even an interior renovation — so Foot Paths now has until next August to vacate the premises. The hotel project also will force out a package store and jewelry business, and office tenants from the upper floors.
At first Rollins figured he'd go kicking and screaming, but he found an adequate alternative up the street, renting the former Aldo shoe store space at 415 Washington for a second store that opened this weekend. The original will eventually close.
The downside there is the lack of display windows wrapping around a corner.
"The (shopper) traffic is a little bit better, but we're going to give up a lot of visual impact," he said.
To make matters worse, Oxford Capital recently wrapped 59 Temple Place in scaffolding to start repairs to the 11-story facade, obscuring Foot Paths' signs and shelves as it enters the crucial holiday shopping stretch.
"We're certainly sympathetic and providing whatever assistance we can," said Brad Mulvihill, a senior director at Oxford Capital, who will be in Boston for Wednesday's public meeting on the hotel project.
Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said he dispatched community planner Randi Lathrop to help the affected businesses.
"Hopefully this ends up being a win for them as well as for the people building the hotel," he said.
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