O'Connor Capital Ptrs. begins 100 Westminster lobby renovations

O'Connor Capital Partners has begun a major revitalization of the lobby for its 100 Westminster office building. The 20-story rose-colored granite and emerald-green reflective-glass tower provides more than 360,000 s/f of office space and street-front retail stores in the city's financial district. An underground garage provides on-site parking for 120 cars, and there is access to other nearby parking facilities and public transportation. New York-based OCP purchased the property from Bank of America in November 2006. MPM Property Management has been selected to manage 100 Westminster. Cambridge Seven Associates has created the conceptual design. Vision 3 Architects is providing floor-to-floor design. Major tenants include Bank of America; Nortek; Hinckley, Allen & Snyder; Providence Equity Partners; Nautic Partners; Merrill Lynch; Wachovia; KPMG; Weil, Gotshal & Manges; and AON Risk Services. The lobby houses retail tenants such as FedEx and Au Bon Pain among others, and after a redesign will include additional street-front retail businesses. New Conceptual Design Cambridge Seven Associates Inc., Cambridge, Mass., has created a conceptual design that features a bold contemporary entry, which clearly establishes the "100 Westminster" identity. New exterior retail entrances will bring greater visibility from the street to business service retailers and restaurants. New ramps will update the building's accessibilty. Outdoor seating, plantings and lighting will enhance the welcoming arrival experience. Inside, the new design will transform the current mall-like interior into a more sophisticated office lobby environment with elimination of interior entrances and establishment of a more central front desk. New granite with wood paneling and marble columns will provide a fresh contemporary look, while a gallery-like interior will highlight the work of local artists and create a sophisticated corporate environment. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall. Additional Upgrades General floor upgrades and other improvements will follow the lobby upgrade, according to Macliver. Vision 3 Architects, a long-established Providence architectural firm, is creating a consistent floor-to-floor design for multi-tenanted areas and is providing space-planning services for lease proposals. The tower currently has 62,633 square feet of available space that can be configured to meet the demand of all size tenants and four available retail spaces totaling 7,372 square feet. MPM Property Management, a Providence company known for its Class A office and retail management and construction services, is coordinating additional improvements. The building soon will be equipped with security card access for its elevators as well as cab upgrades. Less visible to the public, but highly noticeable to tenants, is the maintenance protocol. Since the O'Connor acquisition, tenants no longer have had to request maintenance through an out-of-state call center. Instead, MPM coordinates tenant requests directly with people assigned exclusively to 100 Westminster. They are located in an MPM satellite office within the adjacent building that O'Connor purchased at the same time as 100 Westminster.