Parcel BB (Surface Road between Broad Street and India Street)

Before every one on this forum gets into Boston cry baby mode, no you woke up again this morning and Boston still is not New York, look at google maps and look at how the street wall lines up. Unless they wanted to zig-zag the road then it is impossible not to have wide sidewalks in some places.
 
I'm sure the lines match up nicely, but in my opinion its just a waste of space and adds to the already way too open greenway.
 
briv said:
Don't get your hopes up. I looked it up and the site's current zoning caps the height at 80'-100' with a FAR of 7.
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That means, to max out the FAR within the height cap: seven stories at 12-14 feet floor-to-floor.

Might be just fine (though taller would be even better).
 
PaulC said:
...Boston still is not New York...
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Indeed.

With a Pavlovian certainty, any time you post a picture of New York on this forum as a model to follow, you can count on this nugget of wisdom to be trotted out by somebody.
 
Why does it matter that Boston is not New York?

"Oh, that building would look good if it were taller!"
"Are you nuts? This is Boston not New York!"

Are we really so pessimistic here?
 
kennedy said:
Why does it matter that Boston is not New York?

"Oh, that building would look good if it were taller!"
"Are you nuts? This is Boston not New York!"

Are we really so pessimistic here?
Click to expand...

It seems to matter a lot to many people here.
 
Riverworks said:
I'm sure the lines match up nicely, but in my opinion its just a waste of space and adds to the already way too open greenway.
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If you were laying out the road here what would you have done it differently for this block. Don't say put in a sidewalk cafe , that's up to the owners of the building. I believe that building is owned by the Beals and they seem to be good Boston developers so there is always the chance for something like the Exeter St Theater building.
 
ablarc said:
That means, to max out the FAR within the height cap: seven stories at 12-14 feet floor-to-floor.
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Just what the BRA/Menino was aiming for: zoning that forces the developer to ask for a variance, thus necesitating a lengthy neighborhood review process that they can use to completely redisign whatever gets proposed until it fits their personal tastes.
 
For reference 177 Milk Street, aka the former Boston Chamber of Commerce Building or Boston Flour & Grain Exchange, is at some point going to receive an ADA compatible ramp/pavilion for a restaurant onto it's large swath of sidewalk. Whenever the market is favorable again it'll happen. The backs of all of the old buildings, at least those not partially demolished for the expressway, along the stretch once faced alleys or exceptionally narrow streets. As originally designed they weren't meant to be highly visible or interactive with the public in any manner.

When parcel BB is built out, and the older buildings are reconfigured to interact with the Greenway, those overgenerous sidewalks might not seem as frivolous as they do now.
 
So, the parcel for sale isn't what's shown in the Google map above; the parcel is the one outside the Times restaurant where people eat and drink during the summer.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=102+b...code_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB4Q8gEwAA

The space where people sit out and eat is made up of three separate parcels, including the one that the Mass Pike was selling off, above.

The other two parcels, along with the Times parcel and the Littlest Bar parcel are all owned by the same guy. In 2009 that guy bought the Mass Pike parcel, basically making it a contiguous lot of land.

Then, in 2011, David Goldman proposed putting up 54 condos on that lot. Goldman, through his New Boston Ventures, is acting as developer on the project.

Here's the archboston.org thread on that project.

http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?t=3889&highlight=david+goldman
 
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