Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

[pel_north]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

How is it nicer?

Usually they are in some run down building that smells of urine and other various foul odors.

 

[palindrome]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

And today's seaport related news:

State Street weighing move to Seaport
State Street Corp. is pursuing a deal to build a 500,000-square-foot office building in Boston’s Seaport District, a move that would bring another major company to the city’s rapidly growing waterfront, according to a source briefed on the deal.

The financial services giant would build the new offices at Channel Center, a 7-acre office and retail complex off Congress Street in the Fort Point neighborhood. The owner of the property, Commonwealth Ventures, has rights to develop 751,000 square feet of additional office and residential space on three unoccupied parcels in the complex.

...

Although it is not known what shape and height the State Street building would be, by comparison, the first office building at Fan Pier, One Marina Park Drive, is also 500,000 square feet and is more than 18 stories.

State Street currently occupies office space in prominent commercial buildings across Boston and has several leases expiring in 2014. The company has offices at Copley Place, the Prudential Building, and the John Hancock Tower in the Back Bay; it also has offices at Lafayette Corporate Center in the Financial District.

Its lease at its namesake headquarters building at One Lincoln Street expires in 2023.

full article, click link.

http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-...g-beacon-capital-partners-prudential-building

 

[whighlander]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Pal -- that would be a major boost to the SPID

However as I presume that the structure would be mostly function and not show -- i.e. a lot of computers, networking and storage -- they would want a fairly big floor plate for at least a few stories and so a 500,000 sq. ft. building could be as short as 10 stories

i suppose it could be built as mixed use with a 5 or 6 floor technical space and then a a slimmer 20 story tower -- something such as modern version of the old Shawmut/Fleet Bank aka One Federal St.

 

[Sicilian]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

I think the approval under Channel Center PDA #53 maxes out at 150' so you are correct that they would need a large, squat floor plate for that amount of space.

 

[PaulC]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

One of the things holding up the South Station Tower or the Tommy Tower is the need to secure a large tenant before construction can begin. I would think these and other such as the 2 garages would be pursuing State Street.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Does anyone know how large the offices are for Thomson Reuters in Fort Point? Also, does anyone know if they own the plots (seeing as they're all located on a street called Thomson Place, I think they do)? If so, would there ever be a chance they would move their offices into a place like Fan Pier, and sell or convert those buildings into residences with ground floor retail? That's really the perfect place for it, and it could become the new hub of activity for the area. As more Fan Pier and Seaport Square offices come onto the market, they would naturally gravitate towards this area I would think.

A small, pedestrian-focused street like that would be great for a neighborhood that is dominated by big parking lots and hulking mega-blocks.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

One of the things holding up the South Station Tower or the Tommy Tower is the need to secure a large tenant before construction can begin. I would think these and other such as the 2 garages would be pursuing State Street.

Paul -- if you read the story you'll see State Street is looking to consolidate back-office / support and technical space -- those don't fit well into tall thin towers

State Street already has a fairly big, quite new building with their name atop -- lease runs for another 10 years

 

[SeamusMcFly]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Does anyone know how large the offices are for Thomson Reuters in Fort Point? Also, does anyone know if they own the plots (seeing as they're all located on a street called Thomson Place, I think they do)? If so, would there ever be a chance they would move their offices into a place like Fan Pier, and sell or convert those buildings into residences with ground floor retail? That's really the perfect place for it, and it could become the new hub of activity for the area. As more Fan Pier and Seaport Square offices come onto the market, they would naturally gravitate towards this area I would think.

A small, pedestrian-focused street like that would be great for a neighborhood that is dominated by big parking lots and hulking mega-blocks.

I agree with this. I've worked across from this little under used potential neighborhood. Whenever I find myself walking through the small cluster of buildings and side streets I can't help but question how there has been no push for a swank little neighborhood here. It seems to have everything yuppy urbanites could hope for with nearby access to everything. Maxing out first floor retail and filling the upper 4 - 7 floors above witrh residences seems like such a no brainer. Which based on the lack of brains in Boston development would mean it should have happened already.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

I agree with this. I've worked across from this little under used potential neighborhood. Whenever I find myself walking through the small cluster of buildings and side streets I can't help but question how there has been no push for a swank little neighborhood here. It seems to have everything yuppy urbanites could hope for with nearby access to everything. Maxing out first floor retail and filling the upper 4 - 7 floors above witrh residences seems like such a no brainer. Which based on the lack of brains in Boston development would mean it should have happened already.

Maybe we can write Reuters a letter? Haha

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

^^^
Whigh,

Felt like you really didn't answer this question.
Oakley was on the money with his statement up above since Facebook and MSFT founders were building visions & ideas for their companies at Harvard. Why would they not stay in MA or BOSTON? They couldn't leave fast enough.

Zuckerberg has publicly stated that if he were creating Facebook today, he'd have stayed here.

Besides Cambridge leading the growth in the Biotech Sector what is BOSTON actually doing?

Bars, Casinos, Relocating biotech companies from one city to Boston on the taxpayers dime?

Most of us are looking at Boston and Cambridge as one place. The proper way to view Vertex is that it stayed in the city, rather than leaving for the suburbs or another state. But if you insist on focusing only on Boston the municipality, then take a look at Longwood, which is a huge and quickly growing economic center,not at all based on bars and gimmicks. With time, the SPID might come to resemble Longwood/Fenway. That would be a good thing.

 

[blade_bltz]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

^ the boosterish Boston media really spun that one all out of proportion.

Um, it’s not the only place to be. Honestly, if I were starting now, I would have just stayed in Boston.

Easy way to please a local crowd. But I don't buy the idea that Zuck actually wishes that he had stayed in Boston, or harbors any regrets about his decision (why should he?). Rather, as the world's youngest billionaire, he surely has a biased estimation of his own ability (in opposition to external factors such as luck and environment), so it's not exactly remarkable that he believes Facebook would have succeeded without the Valley.

To give it more context, here's a quote from a talk at Stanford:

"I knew nothing, so I had to be out here. Facebook would not have worked had I stayed in Boston," Zuckerberg said Saturday during an onstage conversation at Stanford University with Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston at an event called Startup School. "But I think that now, knowing more of what I know, I think I might have been able to pull it off."

Nothing whatsoever to suggest that Boston's startup scene has any intrinsic edge over the Valley.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

^ the boosterish Boston media really spun that one all out of proportion.



Easy way to please a local crowd. But I don't buy the idea that Zuck actually wishes that he had stayed in Boston, or harbors any regrets about his decision (why should he?). Rather, as the world's youngest billionaire, he surely has a biased estimation of his own ability (in opposition to external factors such as luck and environment), so it's not exactly remarkable that he believes Facebook would have succeeded without the Valley.

To give it more context, here's a quote from a talk at Stanford:



Nothing whatsoever to suggest that Boston's startup scene has any intrinsic edge over the Valley.

Here's another quote made by Zuckerberg while at Stanford, being reported by a non-Boston publication...so there's no pro-Boston spin, and no reason to please the local crowd. In fact, it might be something that would frustrate a few people in the crowd:

"If I were starting now I would do things very differently. I didn’t know anything. In Silicon Valley, you get this feeling that you have to be out here. But it’s not the only place to be. If I were starting now, I would have stayed in Boston. [Silicon Valley] is a little short-term focused and that bothers me."

(Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/30/fa...-a-company-now-i-would-have-stayed-in-boston/)

 

[blade_bltz]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Ok so I got a little confused. Both of the quotes I posted were from the same talk...given at Stanford. The one you posted is the same as the one I mistakenly attributed to a (nonexistent) talk in Boston. I mistook this article to mean he was speaking in Boston (given the dateline).

Anyway, I still wouldn't make much of this. He doesn't explicitly compare Boston's startup scene favorably to Silicon Valley, other than to make the unremarkable point that *he* might have been able to succeed had he stayed put. His criticism of the Valley's short term focus was surprising...but it emerged from a discussion with Jeff Bezos about Seattle.

The real proof of whether Boston is a legitimate contender to the Valley is in the pudding: that Facebook went and announced its new engineering office in NYC just weeks after the Stanford talk. Sigh.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

The real proof of whether Boston is a legitimate contender to the Valley is in the pudding: that Facebook went and announced its new engineering office in NYC just weeks after the Stanford talk. Sigh.

True. That's really too bad.

 

[TheRifleman]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Zuckerberg has publicly stated that if he were creating Facebook today, he'd have stayed here.

The Winklevoss twins also claim that Zuckerberg stole their idea of Facebook. Zuckerberg's comment to them if your idea was Facebook then why didn't you create Facebook? So my point is Zuckerberg did not stay in Boston to actually create Facebook the company. The idea was thought in Boston and he left for the Valley to help create his company. It doesn't matter what he says it's what he did.

Shoulda Coulda Woulda.

Gates sametype of situation.

MSFT and Facebook basically reinvented their industries and the idea started in Boston. But these billion dollar industries setup their home bases elsewhere. The question is WHY?

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

I think what Zuckerberg is saying regards the why, answer being that people don't realize the environment is suitable, even though it is. The challenge, then,is for our leaders to make the case and sell Boston as the premier start-up environment that it is, and keep doing so until we achieve a critical mass and the story tells itself.

 

[Tombstoner]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

With time, the SPID might come to resemble Longwood/Fenway. That would be a good thing.

Longwood is a desert after 5:30pm and Fenway is not quite the 24/7 kind of place I think SPID should be aiming for.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

From yesterday

 

[whighlander]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

^ the boosterish Boston media really spun that one all out of proportion.



Easy way to please a local crowd. But I don't buy the idea that Zuck actually wishes that he had stayed in Boston, or harbors any regrets about his decision (why should he?). Rather, as the world's youngest billionaire, he surely has a biased estimation of his own ability (in opposition to external factors such as luck and environment), so it's not exactly remarkable that he believes Facebook would have succeeded without the Valley.

To give it more context, here's a quote from a talk at Stanford:



Nothing whatsoever to suggest that Boston's startup scene has any intrinsic edge over the Valley.

Blade -- Depends on the nature of a start-up

I can't quite put my finger on the ref at this instant (perhaps it was ... ) -- but a a few years ago the two coasts were asked to rate themselves and each other

The gist of it:

by slightly different margins oth though Rt-128 possessed superior technology and technologists

SV overwhelmingly and Rt-128 slightly thought SV had superior marketing, market savy and business talent

Which is consistent with mature companies moving into the Hub for R&D and some local start-ups moving west for marketing and "fluff"


Anyway -- here's something which corroborates the above (not real familiar with the source)
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/sma...ds-world-in-2010-paris-amsterdam-follow/10605

Top 10 innovative cities: Boston leads world in 2010; Paris, Amsterdam follow
By Andrew Nusca | September 10, 2010, 9:08 AM PDT

None other than Boston is the “top city of the global innovation economy” in 2010, according to a new study.

In its latest index, Australian analyst firm 2thinknow says Beantown leads the world in relative performance in the global innovation economy. That means the city’s actions to facilitate the growth of new industries are opening up a better economic opportunity for talent.

The index, which was published on Wednesday and first introduced in 2007, looks at innovation at the individual (creative), business (startups) and city levels.

Rounding out the global top three? Paris and Amsterdam.

Here’s a look at the firm’s Top 30 around the world:

Boston (USA)
Paris (France)
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Vienna (Austria)
New York (USA)
Frankfurt (Germany)
San Francisco (USA)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Lyon (France)
Hamburg (Germany)

 

[whighlander]

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

True. That's really too bad.

Tmac -- don't despair -- Facebooks wouldn't know real engineering if it posted on the wall

None of the social networking stuff is ground breaking from a technology perspective -- its all just slightly fancier form of stuff that existed in the 1980's when it was called a "Board" rather than a wall and people posted to it in various forms

The rest is just the power of the w3 to disseminate and the power of modern database searching to find things -- even the vaunted Google didn't do anything better than Lycos (origin with Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh) or any number of other search engines in the early days