285 Columbus Lofts on the border of the Back Bay and South End opened to much success, and despite the development recently selling out, the ground floor commercial space has remained vacant since the inception of the building. According to inside sources, the space remained empty as a suitable high-end restaurant was found. Adding such a restaurant to the ground floor of the development would put it on par with such developments as Trinity Place, the Albert A. Pope Building, Folio, and Allele. The residents of the building, and the local neighborhood are surprised to see that the pending restaurant signs have come down to make way for a CVS Pharmacy.
With the arrival of a new CVS Pharmacy, gone is the potential amenity of on demand gourmet meals for residents that accompanies condos with an onsite restaurant. However, there are some condo owners who would prefer not to have food, and everything that comes with having a restaurant below you, in the building. Certain condo developers purposefully construct buildings with the intention of not having food on the ground floor commercial space, take the Lofts at 36 A for instance, which intentionally limits the types of tenants that can occupy its ground floor commercial space.
Keith Munsell 
