Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property Entries Online
next / previous / back to contents / HBI homepage / feedback

HBI should explore the possibility of carrying out a feasibility study with the owners of this building aimed at studying ways fill the upper floors with people, activity, life, and economic productivity. Given how long the same family has owned the building, it would appear that the rehabilitation costs could exceed the family's basis, thus making it eligible for the incentives the Federal Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credits offers.

The Adams House Annex, with its stark but elegant stone façade and handsome arched windows, is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the Theater District. The name of the building derives from its use in the 1860s as an annex to the former Adams House Hotel, yet its real significance comes from its association with Boston’s lively entertainment industry. At one time, the building held a 900-seat auditorium on the second floor, where B. F. Keith, America’s legendary vaudeville impresario, opened the Bijou Theater in 1885, the first in his empire of more than 400 vaudeville houses across the nation. In 1908, Keith converted the theater into the Bijou Dream, one of Boston’s first cinemas. In 1992, the owners re-boarded the windows and re-constructed the central entrance.

The upper floors of the Adams House Annex have been vacant for decades and typify the under-utilization of upper floors of many historic commercial buildings in the Central Business District. There are common problems with these buildings. Small footprints make it economically questionable to 1) take away ground floor retail space for an office entry, 2) install an elevator, 3) construct a second means of egress. Furthermore, the upper floors of this building are about half the size of the first floor. On the other hand, the Adams House Annex occupies a commanding site on Washington Street at the intersection with Avenue de Lafayette. Its stone façade is a defining element of this streetscape. In 1993, the Boston Landmarks Commission accepted a petition to designate this a Landmark, but it has not acted upon it. For many years, the owners, a multi-generational family, have held this and several other historic buildings in the Central Business District for speculative purposes. Although the owners' property manager attended the Boston Preservation Alliance's 1996 Theater District Charrette, their family does not have a prominent history in undertaking challenging preservation development projects.

The Adams House Annex is adjacent to Millennium Place, a major new office/retail/hotel/cinema complex. The Millennium Project is committed to stabilizing the exterior of the adjacent Paramount Theater, which abuts the Adams House Annex to the south, and to restoring the Paramount's art deco façade. Plans to rehabilitate the Opera House, which abuts the Adams House Annex to the north, are also closer to fruition, with the permitting process underway. Across Washington Street, Lafayette Place recently reopened as office space for financial service firms. Washington Street also is the heart of the downtown retail district, with three major department stores within three blocks of the Adams House Annex. Nearly all street-level commercial space is occupied on Washington Street, although many commercial buildings have vacant or underused upper floors.

Washington Street Theater District National Register Historic District nomination form

Entry Completed: 06/23/1999