A major renovation planned for Faneuil Hall would give the Boston landmark’s three main buildings and cobblestone streets a makeover, allowing the site’s leaseholder to attract a new crop of high-end retail tenants. Among this new crop, Japan-based Uniqlo will open its flagship Boston store inside a renovated Quincy Market and Sephora, a French beauty-products retailer, is set to occupy a new structure planned for the northwest corner of the property.

Sephora, which has a store in the Prudential Center, is set to occupy a new, leaf-shaped glass structure Faneuil Hall’s New York-based leaseholder, Ashkenazy Acquisitions Corp., plans to build in place of the existing “Greenhouse,” next to the historic Faneuil Hall building from which the plaza takes its name, multiple sources tell BostInno.

The Greenhouse is occupied by Nantucket-based retailer Town Pool, which will exit Jan. 3 when its lease expires.

Sources told BostInno the Greenhouse will be bulldozed in February, making way for the leaf-shaped glass building, shown at bottom left in the rendering above. Two sources with knowledge of the deal said Ashkenazy and Sephora have agreed to a lease.

And Uniqlo, whose siege on Boston started last summer when it opened a pop-up location in Faneuil Hall’s South Market Building, is preparing to set up shop on the second level of Quincy Market, the general manager at Ashkenazy’s property management affiliate, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, told BostInno.

That move will close the doors for Al Mercatino, an Italian restaurant with a stall on the first level, Anthony Bistany, the son of Al Mercatino owner Johnny Bistany, said in a phone interview. The Uniqlo upstairs will be the Japanese clothing retailer’s flagship Boston store, and it’s at least one of the reasons Al Mercatino is being evicted from its Quincy Market location.

Testifying at a City Council public hearing on draft renovation plans for Faneuil, the younger Bistany said his father’s sandwich shop received the bad news on the day after Thanksgiving. The restaurant’s counter will make way for a new elevator, which is expected to serve Uniqlo customers.


Uniqlo’s flagship Boston location is set to occupy space on the second level of Quincy Market, currently home to LEGO exhibit “The Art of the Brick.”

Put on by Boston Exhibits LLC, the world’s largest display of traveling LEGO art has welcomed Quincy Market visitors daily since occupying the upper-level West wing Oct. 7. The exhibit’s lease is due to expire Jan. 11; Uniqlo is waiting to take its place.

“Uniqlo will occupy the second level of the West wing of Quincy Market Building,” Faneuil Hall Marketplace general manager Kristen Keefe told BostInno in an email. “The second floor space of the East wing is currently occupied by Ned Devine’s/Parris.”

This paves the way for Ashkenazy’s master plan, designed by architecture firm Elkus Manfredi, whose Faneuil Hall renovation renderings have drawn attention from Boston media and The New York Times.

Keefe declined our request for comment on Sephora.

Al Mercatino isn’t the only Quincy Market vendor impacted by Uniqlo’s plans. The Monkey Bar and Boston Chowda will leave their market stalls, with Ashkenazy planning to add a pair of staircases and elevators, Keefe said. These two, however, have been given lease-renewal offers at new locations in Faneuil Hall.

Al Mercatino is the only vendor officially given the axe to make way for Uniqlo. The owner of Al Mercatino, 58-year-old Johnny Bistany, who has operated inside Quincy Market for 30 years, told The Boston Globe, “It felt like they dropped a bomb on me” when he was served the eviction notice. His son, Anthony, says his father “has been sickened by it.”

Anthony told BostInno his father’s health had already been declining and the eviction has worsened the elder Bistany’s condition. Al Mercatino had never missed a payment, Anthony said, adding that if the situation was about money, the family would have been happy to pay higher rents.

Since the eviction notice, Anthony said he has met with Keefe. “I was told, ‘This is strictly a business decision,'” Anthony said, discussing a conversation he had with Keefe about the eviction.

Keefe didn’t immediately respond to request for further comment about her talks with Al Mercatino’s owners.

Al Mercatino will be combined with West End Strollers, another Bistany-owned business inside Quincy Market.

Watering hole The Salty Dog, a restaurant and bar located on the bottom level of the South Market side of Quincy Market, was reportedly facing eviction. Ashkenazy has denied this, stating there is no plan to evict The Salty Dog, which has been in its Faneuil Hall spot since the 1970s.

 

Plus, we've got details on Uniqlo's flagship Boston store
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