[ARCHIVED] Harbor Garage Redevelopment | 70 East India Row | Waterfront | Downtown

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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

^^I like.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

A nice idea (I'm overlooking the fact that you displaced the Harpoon Brewery).
Thos empty parking lots out on the harbor (where BostonUrbEx has the Safare Ride) always kill me!
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

City doesn't pay anything toward museums.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

AmericanFolkLegend said:
(I'm overlooking the fact that you displaced the Harpoon Brewery).
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I'm under 21 and don't drink, but I still recognize this tremendous sacrifice. I didn't want to eliminate Dry Dock #3 or the reproposed container terminal so this is how it ended up.

We will erect a statue in memory of Harpoon in the Prarie Dog pen and perhaps move them to where the aquarium is now or something.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

JohnAKeith said:
City doesn't pay anything toward museums.
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No but the city takes. Under Flynn the Museum of Fine Arts had to pay linkage when it built the garage and the Symphony had to hire a lawer to protect itself from Flynn
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

The MFA did demolish a church and an apartment building to build that awful garage. The 'community' did have some part in that extortion, although Flynn benefited more than whatever non-existent 'linkage' was given to the 'community' in that deal.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Regarding the shadows on the Greenway, I don't necessarily agree that everyone agrees that "nothing" can be built there. The recently-released draft guidelines from the BRA show buildings of some height. The James Hook site can hold a mid-rise as can the space across the street, buildings near Chinatown, etc.

The BRA wants to keep buildings on the city-side, I guess, which is how they can keep the Greenway from becoming a "canyon".

But, that's not say some don't want anything, especially if it blocks their view. Also, MA Reps. Walz and Rushing have presented legislation that would outlaw any building at all that would cast shadows for more than 20 mins (or so) in the middle of winter.

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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Chiofaro's 'problem' with his 'open to the sea' design -- the one before the latest one -- was less about shadows and more that he intended to build out to the property line (the current garage is apparently set back a wee bit from the line on Atlantic Ave.) so that pedestrians walking along the east side of Atlantic Ave. would be dwarfed by a 600+ foot tower looming above, broken only by a view into a glass-fronted lobby/indoor mall.

The shadow effect on the Greenway itself is minimal; the wind effect would be mid-winter Siberian, the Hancock tower redux. The Hancock tries to hide its massing through glass, Chiofaro's Arch would not.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Study: Greenway tower would not be shadow problem
By Thomas Grillo
Monday, June 14, 2010 - Updated 2m ago


E-mail Print (1) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!The Chiofaro Co. contends that a pair of waterfront skyscrapers will not ?significantly? cast greater shadows and generate more wind on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway than more modest-sized buildings.

In a filing that is expected to be received by City Hall today to address environmental issues raised by replacing the Harbor Garage with a 40-story office tower and a 59-story condominium and hotel skyscraper, Chiofaro said a proposed tower as high as 600 feet will not ?canyonize? the Greenway much more than a 200-foot building - the height recommended by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

?This review should thankfully put the shadow issue to rest once and for all,? said Donald Chiofaro, president of the Chiofaro Co., in a statement. ?This exhaustive study proves beyond a shadow of doubt, if you will, that a building of any height casts no new significant shadows on the Greenway.?


Chiofaro said all shadows associated by a building of any size disappear from the Greenway by noon daily and almost entirely by 11 a.m. Furthermore, he noted that any new shadows on the Greenway from a building above the allowed height of 155 feet lasting longer than an hour are ?minimal.?

A BRA spokeswoman said the agency has not received the document and could not comment.

Chiofaro, who filed plans last year to transform the concrete seven-story garage into a mix of offices and residences, has faced criticism from abutters and Mayor Thomas M. Menino who say they would like to see the garage replaced with a much smaller-scaled development.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1261508
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

hmm definitely interesting to see how this will play out.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

It's worth pointing out that the "shadow study" submitted by Chiofaro only looks at two months out of the year (March/September, during which months the sun is at a similar angle so they're basically the same). What about the other 10 months out of the year? An inconvenient truth?

Also anyone check out the 5-story floating garage/barge he is proposing to occupy the entire area between Harbor Towers and the Aquarium for 4 years? That ought to liven up the waterfront....
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

There are many reasons to be critical of this project. Shadows ain't one of 'em.

People who complain about shadows are doing everything in their power to suburbanize urban spaces.

America already has enough suburbans spaces. We need more urban spaces. Please stop trying to turn our cities into suburbs.

Thank you.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

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Chiofaro denies shadow claims

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | June 15, 2010
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Developer Donald J. Chiofaro said his proposed two-skyscraper development on the site of the current Harbor Garage in Boston will not cast significant shadows on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.[/FONT]
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Chiofaro made the claim in a lengthy environmental study he presented yesterday to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is reviewing plans for his proposed office and residential complex near the New England Aquarium. The study asserted that shadows from any new buildings constructed on the site would be off the Greenway by noon, and that his 625-foot complex would not substantially increase their duration or effect on the park system.[/FONT]
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Chiofaro also indicated he is investigating the feasibility of building a floating parking garage on Boston Harbor to accommodate parking for neighboring residents during construction.[/FONT]
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In a statement yesterday, BRA officials said Chiofaro?s study does not fully address issues the authority asked him to review in an initial response to his proposal last July. Chiofaro must file a more thorough response if he wants the project to move forward, the statement said.
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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/06/15/chiofaro_denies_shadow_claims/

He is probably right about the shadows on the Greenway. His towers would keep the plaza in front of the Aquarium in shadow from mid-day on for much of the year-round, and that would be the major shadow impact.

I would be interested to read his analysis of no significant wind effect.

And I bet the analysis doesn't address the FAA's issue.


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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

I have never seen a development go through the process Chiofaro has been facing. Just reading the headlines they are a JOKE.
Study: Greenway tower would not be shadow problem
WIND? This is a city were you build skyscrapers.

In Chiofaro's letter to Menino on the Boston Herald site he claims Massport and the FAA both support 600ft.

So it's really up to the BRA or the Mayor to give him the height.
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

The rendering in the Banker and Tradesman article covering his environmental submission to the BRA is for the new concept, the one with the glass pavilion facing 'Fidelity' park.

In his letter to Menino, Chiofaro concedes the towers would add new shadows to Christopher Columbus park in the winter.

This is a Boston Globe article about the FAA's preliminary finding that the project would be a significant hazard.
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/10/faa_finds_propo.html

Chiofaro in his letter to Menino did not claim that Massport or the FAA had 'approved' his reduced height. A height a bit above 600' would be within the Massport limits for the site, but not within the FAA's, unless Chiofaro finds a way to mitigate; e.g., he could build a new radar tower.

On p. 12 of Chiofaro's initial PNF, there is a photo showing shadows during a summer month. I'd guess it was taken around 9-10AM, but without the day and month, you can't be more exact. Interesting that the shadow from one of the Harbor Towers reaches the Greenway.

http://www.newra.org/ZLC/HarborTowers_PNF_041609_partial.pdf
 
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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

The Greenway looks like a scar right between the city and waterfront.

The city should be embarrased at this point. North Station has NO CHARACTER. If the Celtics are not playing that area is DEAD. The only benefit from the Greenway was probably the North End because that was actually a real neighborhood of people.

Harbor Tower residents are just being selfish and don't want change. (who could blame them.) But these buildings look like shit on the waterfront. Plus the area is completly dead on a Friday and Saturday night.

But to say this area is going to be okay with another 200ft building your out of your mind. We need some height and a great public area so we can attract some out of town companies maybe even an international.

What the BRA is doing is becoming almost laughable.
The other night watching the Celtics & Lakes game they must have showed IP 5 times during the night on TV. It actually looked awesome.

I'm not sure where Kraft was going to build the Pat Stadium but it would have been perfect in the Seaport District. Talk about a missed opportunity.
 
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Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

Idea: Would Chiafaro lose too much if he just took his project and went to Fan Pier or one of the lots along the Fort Point Channel?
 
Re: The Boston Arch (Aquarium parking garage)

BostonUrbEx said:
Idea: Would Chiafaro lose too much if he just took his project and went to Fan Pier or one of the lots along the Fort Point Channel?
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The height restrictions there are far too restrictive for that. For more practical reasons than around the median strip area.
 
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