SIDETRACK
Drop what you're doing and take a stroll through CambridgeSide — hold the Galleria. The mall, which has just finished undergoing $30 million in renovations, is now so cool, it doesn't even go by its old name.
“Everything inside has been touched. If it hasn't been fully replaced, it's been refurbished in some capacity,” explained Issie Shait, senior vice president of property management at New England Development.
And it shows. The 1.2 million square feet complex was previously the epitome of early 1990s style, complete with funky, dark tile patterns and brass-on-black accents. Since February, the space has been getting an extensive facelift to make its interior hip enough to fit in with its neighboring hubs of innovation.
“If you see everything that's going on around us — with Kendall Square, with Cambridge Crossing — it's creeping our way,” Shait said. “We wanted to stay relevant with our area and the customers here.”
CambridgeSide certainly looks clean and shiny enough to serve as a lab at MIT. The space features glass galore, in addition to interior details like transparent railings, new lighting, a crisp white paint job and contemporary furniture. There are intimate seating areas with dark wood accents, and shoppers can now tap into their top-tier Wi-Fi from its newly installed fiber optic cables. Basically, it's like the living room you'll never have.
Shait said the inside renovations are complete. In the spring, they'll kick off work on the outside, bringing the whole complex up to modern times.
Now, let's talk about that name. It purposefully leaves off the “Galleria” tag we've all come to know.
“It might take a while for customers to get used to the change,” Shait said. “But with all the money we've put into the renovations, it needed a new identity.”