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Uniqlo to open in long-vacant Downtown Crossing building
The retailer will move into a high-profile property that has sat empty since 2006, as new owners look to bring more life back into the recovering shopping district.
Fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo plans to open a new store in a long-vacant Downtown Crossing building, bringing new energy to a high-profile corner as the shopping district rebounds from the pandemic.
The Japanese-based global apparel retailer will occupy 25,000 square feet of the first and second floors of 399 Washington St., joining similar nearby retailers Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Old Navy, Gap, Primark, and Macy’s.
Unqilo announced the opening in Fast Company on Oct. 6. The store is one of 11 new stores opening nationwide in the spring and summer of 2026.
The company currently operates 78 stores in the U.S. and 2,500 worldwide, pursuing what it calls “strategically thoughtful growth.” Uniqlo already has a location on Newbury Street and formerly operated a store in Faneuil Hall.
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The new owners, Noam Ron, a partner at the Hudson Group, and Evan Papanastasiou, managing partner at Assembly Investments, bought the property for $13 million, which was 80% less than its prior sale in 2017.
The property is the first for the duo, who also happen to be brothers-in-law, in Downtown Crossing.
Assembly Investments, a New York-based real estate firm, holds investments there, while Hudson Group, a Boston boutique developer, owns other buildings in the area.
Papanastasiou has a unique connection to the property: He sold it in 2017 for about $63 million while working as a commercial broker before moving to New York and switching to the buying side.
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He noted that the building “always had potential.”
The last tenant to occupy the Washington Street storefront was Barnes and Noble, which closed in 2006. The store remained empty for years, but Papanastasiou said the vacancy wasn’t due to the neighborhood.
Previous owners were “uninspired” and failed to adapt to the modern market, Papanastasiou said, while the last owners struggled with the pandemic, which hurt their underwriting.
“It’s been vacant because of bad timing and maybe a disengaged ownership group,” Papanastasiou said. “From the minute Barnes and Noble left, there was always a roster of tenants who wanted to lease the space.”
Before the sale, the former owners completed an extensive restoration of the storefront and upper levels between 2018 and 2021.
“It’s exciting to see it come to life, and it’s exciting for me after all these years to be able to sell it at its peak and then buy it in today’s market,” Papanastasiou said.
Ron says they could lease the third, fourth, and fifth floors to standalone office tenants. Ron said the building is “basically plug and play,” thanks to upgrades to the HVAC, carpets, lighting, windows, and elevators. “Lighting up the ground floor is going to be instrumental,” Papanastasiou added.
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Both partners said the building’s return to retail will boost momentum in Downtown Crossing. They highlighted the mix of large retailers and smaller, independent operators, like Chef Jamie Bissonnette’s concepts on Temple Street, as key to revitalizing the neighborhood.
“We’re seeing young, independent operators fill in the voids around the big boxes,” said Ron. “I think that’s what creates a compelling neighborhood that has a mix of corporate and independent — live and work.”
He continued, “It sounds cliché, but it’s called Downtown Crossing for a reason, and it feels like it’s coming back to that vibrancy.”
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