More changes for Boston’s Financial District, this time at 175 Federal Street

The 17-story office building at 175 Federal Street in Boston’s increasingly popular Financial District is getting a bit of a makeover.

Deka Immobilien, the German real estate fund that owns the 227,360-square-foot property, has filed initial plans with the city to add a street-level glass enclosure around the lobby. That enclosure would create roughly 12,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, and reorient the building’s frontage toward the Dewey Square-South Station area.

The enclosure—which CBT Architects is designing—would be canted and encompass 175 Federal’s first three floors. Along with the retail and restaurant space, it’s due to include a raised platform accessible to the public, with views of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Speaking of the Greenway, the new front, at the corner of Purchase and Summer streets, is also due to provide direct access to the ribbon park.

“The objective of this project is to better integrate this iconic building with downtown Boston and to upgrade the quality for the tenants and retail customers,” Gabriele Gottschalk, senior project manager of construction and development at Deka Immobilien, said in a statement. “Boston, and the Financial District in particular, have gone through tremendous growth and change since 175 Federal’s initial construction.”

Indeed, the building went up in 1977. Other buildings have popped up since, and still others have gone or are undergoing major renovations themselves. The owner of One Post Office Square, for instance, is spending around $300 million to basically sheath the 41-story skyscraper in glass and make other changes. And, at 225 Franklin Street, the owner has converted much of the basement to event and amenity space, including a golf simulator.