The new developments along Gottingen in the past few years have been pretty good, and a huge step up from the Theatre Lofts-type stuff built not long ago.
A lot of the new buildings seem to fly under the radar because they're small, but the street is all the better for that scale. Developers don't seem to be assembling big parcels for tear-downs and rebuilds, and the result is that the eclectic and varied nature of the street is being retained even as the density is being built up. e.g., the building that replaced the Forbes building, or the two under construction visible
here.
And yes, that Staples needs to go. A building that meets the corner really well would be a great
entree into the North End (I know, I know, not really the North End...).