Columbus Center: RIP | Back Bay

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BarbaricManchurian said:
Now I'd really say Boston is booming. Steve Bailey jumped the guns a few months ago with his Boom Town article but now Boston is building 6 skyscrapers: Two Financial Center, 45 Province, Filene's Tower, The Claredon, Russia Wharf, and now Columbus Center, I'd say this is quite impressive for a city of only 600K with the slowest bureaucracy and longest public review process in the nation. Though it's only 5% of Las Vegas' 110 skyscrapers under construction, all started 2005 or later.
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So, although it will be a while, it's safe to say these will all rise at the same time? The look of all all the cranes along the skyline will be a pretty cool sight. :D
 
You can probably include the W Hotel as under construction.
 
What is the height requirement to be considered a skyscraper?
 
Drill?

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nico said:
^?
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LOL, sorry I was a bit drunk. I believe a "skyscraper" starts around 12 stories or 150 feet, but I've never seen any super definitive number thrown around..
 
Historically a skyscraper is any building of five stories or more with an elevator. By code basically 1-4 stories is low-rise, 5-11 is mid-rise, 11 is hi-rise.
 
I have no idea of how and where the contractor is going to stage equipment and materials to construct this deck over the Turnpike. Two pictures of the two small parcels where construction equipment is presently on-site. (Taken Oct 14)

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The parcel with the picture of the drilling rig has a high rise building of 35 stories. All the other buildings are much shorter, from four to 11 stories.
 
The CC is supposed to be 420'. Seems a little high for a 35 story residential building. The Clarendon is supposed to be 336'.
 
Latest Courant--

Contractors Dig In to Columbus Center

Contractors working on the Columbus Center air rights project met with abutting residents for the first time last week, although preliminary work on the support structure for a deck over the Mass Pike began weeks ago.

The construction committee meetings were the first in a series meant to keep residents and business owners abreast of work on the three-and-a-half year project. A letter dated October 5 went to neighborhood associations outlining 30 days of pre-construction activity.

The meetings are called for in the Construction Management Plan (CMP) approved in 2006 for the residential complex and hotel that will span four blocks between Clarendon and Arlington streets.

Ned Flaherty, a longtime opponent and direct abutter of the project, said that he became acutely aware that work had begun on September 26, when he felt vibrations from drilling at his apartment. He has since sent a letter to the Boston Transportation Department (BTD), which oversees the CMP, outlining a list of 22 "broken promises" on the part of the developers in complying with the approved plan.

"Despite 12 years of planning, this project is already out of control," the letter states.

Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) spokesperson Jessica Shumaker said the notification procedures are being implemented now that construction is "ramping up."

"From our point of view, full construction has not yet begun," said Shumaker, who was also speaking on behalf of BTD.

In addition to the weekly meetings with the BRA-appointed six-member construction committee, which are to be open to all abutters according to the CMP, the developers will set up a website, post large-scale signs onsite with project and contractor information, and have quarterly meetings with the neighborhood associations, Shumaker said.

Roger Cassin, the head of the project's development team, described the work that has taken place so far as "preparing the site."

The early stages of work, much of which has been concentrated in a staging area off Stanhope Street, include test drilling in preparation for setting the piles that will serve as support columns for the deck. Crews will also be relocating fiber optic lines, work that will involve the partial closure of Pike lanes late at night.

The total projected construction time for the deck is two and a half years. Construction of the buildings on the deck will take at least another year.

According to the lease agreement with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the developers are liable for any damage to the Pike, and public infrastructure that results from construction, in addition to damage caused to nearby properties. The project has been insured for $500 million, a figure that only covers the first stages of construction, Cassin said.

The construction firm building the deck is J.F. White, which did repair work on the Big Dig tunnel following the collapse of ceiling panels last year.

John Shope, a Bay Village resident and member of the construction committee, said all those who spent years reviewing the project knew this time was coming. "it's a complicated project," he said. "We're all going to have to work together to minimize the inconvenience caused by a project on this scale"

Cassin, for his part, vowed that going forward the community would be well informed of what is happening at the construction site.

He also expressed relief that after years of acrimonious debate over teh pfoject, work was finally beginning. "I love any problem which involves being on the site and getting dirt on my shoes," he said.
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Ned Flaherty, a longtime opponent and direct abutter of the project, said that he became acutely aware that work had begun on September 26, when he felt vibrations from drilling at his apartment. He has since sent a letter to the Boston Transportation Department (BTD), which oversees the CMP, outlining a list of 22 "broken promises" on the part of the developers in complying with the approved plan.

"Despite 12 years of planning, this project is already out of control," the letter states.
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Well look who it is! I had no idea he was an abutter, that explains his passion. It also makes him, literally, a NUMBY.
 
If it's an apartment, does that mean he is a renter? Does that mean he isn't, technically, an abutter?
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Ned Flaherty, a longtime opponent and direct abutter of the project, said that he became acutely aware that work had begun on September 26, when he felt vibrations from drilling at his apartment. He has since sent a letter to the Boston Transportation Department (BTD), which oversees the CMP, outlining a list of 22 "broken promises" on the part of the developers in complying with the approved plan.

"Despite 12 years of planning, this project is already out of control," the letter states.
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Well look who it is! I had no idea he was an abutter, that explains his passion. It also makes him, literally, a NUMBY.
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Well if you ignore the Massachusetts Turnpike which lies between his condo and the drilling site, he is a direct abuttor. (Once the deck is in place, he does become a direct abuttor.) I am rather skeptical that he is getting any vibration -- other than noise -- in his apartment at this point.
 
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