Portside at Pier One | 29 Marginal Street (Pier 1, Pier 5) | East Boston

Re: Portside at Pier One

el raval said:
A 4 story building doesn't overwhelm Maverick, it points to what the square was before and what it should become again. That is exactly the type of development needed in Eastie.
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This is what we should strive for in all of Boston's major squares. Roslindale Square also just got a four story building, too, and rather than looking out of place, it makes the one story buildings look overly minimalist.
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

My old neighborhood.

I agree. This is exactly the type of development that Maverick has needed for a while. As a matter of fact there are a few one story buildings but there are several three and four story ones also. Look around. There are a couple more plots that could use a similar (in size) building. There is an empty plot on the corner of Sumner in the sq that has sat empty for years now. I saw a proposal many years ago for a handsome building but that fizzled.

The potential in East Boston is amazing with the proximity to Boston, the highways and the airport. (not to mention the views)
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

HenryAlan said:
This is what we should strive for in all of Boston's major squares. Roslindale Square also just got a four story building, too, and rather than looking out of place, it makes the one story buildings look overly minimalist.
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Henry -- my sentiments exactly

Not that we want a Le Corbusier-style formulae for the squares (if you want to see one -- try Chandegarh in northern India) -- but something like the following is consistent with the Boston/Cambridge traditions:

1) Major squares (i.e. intersections of major streets) get major buildings housing important functions -- e.g. Copley Sq. -- BPL
2) leaving the major squares along the major streets you have height and density -- e.g. Huntington and Boylston
3) the smaller squares with one of the major streets and one / more lesser streets also are important
4) the rest is mostly residential with an occasional commercial structure with provisions for upper floor residences especially at the corners

obviously the scale of major less major and minor depends on where you are in the city thus everything is taller in the FinD, the 'High Spine" MGH-ie, Longwood-ie, Fenway-ie and the SPID than it would be in Southy or Rozzie or Eastiie or JP-ie
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

davem said:
Shh dont let the word get out on how beautiful Jeffries Point is. I for one hope it stays below the radar at least long enough to purchase one of the back-bay type townhouses that are there. The housing stock is really incredible; I suggest you all take a walk up Webster Street to Brophy Park,
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My friend lived right there for a number of years. I nearly cried when she moved to Walpole. Though, in her defence, their place would have been tight once their first child grew up, when they had the second it would have been unworkable. That said, it still makes the baby Jesus weep when you compare what they had with what they now have.

My only beef with the area is that most services were a bit of a hike so a car would be necessary. I would also have hesitations about moving to Eastie until there is a 24-hour T connection. Not that I'm a party animal in my old age (29), but it would be nice to know that I have the option of staying out on occasion without having to incur a $20-30 cab ride to get home.
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

Shepard said:
What do you mean "it points to what the square was before" ?
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He may be thinking of the 5 story Maverick Hotel which stood on this spot in 1900.
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

it was quite a big handsome building.

4a13530r.jpg
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

An interesting read on East Boston, with a focus on Maverick Square.

If I remember correctly, the hotel was destroyed in a spectacular fire during the Depression that claimed the lives of several firefighters.

^^ Edit -- possibly 1942, described as "Luongo's Restaurant Fire" on the Boston Fire Historical Society's chronology page.
 
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Re: Portside at Pier One

Beton Brut said:
An interesting read on East Boston, with a focus on Maverick Square.

If I remember correctly, the hotel was destroyed in a spectacular fire during the Depression that claimed the lives of several firefighters.

^^ Edit -- possibly 1942, described as "Luongo's Restaurant Fire" on the Boston Fire Historical Society's chronology page.
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The hotel was actually demolished in 1927. It was located on the next block north of where the Luongo's Restaurant Fire occured.
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

I stand corrected. My father recalls the Luongo fire. In 1942, our home was across the street from the Orient Heights "fire-barn" (it was moved in 1950 to its present location t make way for the T station).
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

philip said:
it was quite a big handsome building.

4a13530r.jpg
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Phil -- every square should have one of those -- they add definite character to a place

Since a lot of them are gone -- what we need to do is encourage developers to build a modern equivalent -- even if its only one part of a much larger project
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

There's no thread for East Boston's Clippership Wharf apparently, so I'm posting my thoughts here. See below for the official announcement of the BRA's approval for this project, back in 2003.

Nine years later, nothing. Late last month, developer Winn/Cassin / Winn Development / Winn Companies solicited "joint-venture /recapitalization proposals," according to a Zillow listing someone here linked to, earlier today.

This 11.95-acre site is fully approved for the development of 400 market-rate, residential units. The developer is in active discussions with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to modify the existing permits to accommodate 288 rental apartment units.
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Why was this one of the projects that never got completed (actually, started)? There was a (very) lengthy approval process due to its location on the water, was partially to blame, but how come nothing else on the East Boston waterfront got built, either? Hodge Boiler Works, Boston East, New Street?

I just spent 40 minutes reading through article after article talking about how East Boston was on the "verge" of change, some as far back as 1998 - strike that - 1980.

Here's a squib from the CBT website:

Our first designs for the Clippership Wharf site were in the 1980s, and they were followed by the CBT-designed Piers Park on Massport Piers 4 and 5. In 1997, Winn Development Co. obtained the rights to develop Clippership Wharf and invited CBT to design a combined proposal for Clippership and Massport Pier 1.
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The only thing that actually happens is politicians spout blather year after year after year. Actually, just one politician. Most recently, he announced ... well, I'm not sure what he announced ... something about doing something. It was in December when he promised he'd have a plan in place "within the next 90 days". Times up.

I don't blame Menino for the recession and I don't blame developers for not starting something they couldn't finish. But, somewhere something went terribly wrong, something that shouldn't have happened.

BRA approves East Boston project
By Chris Reidy, The Boston Globe, 11/19/03

The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved Clippership Wharf, a $190 million East Boston residential project. The four-building complex of 400 condos and a 670-space underground garage, proposed by Cassin/Winn Development, would sit on 12 acres of waterfront land and what are now dilapidated piers.

Because of its proximity to the Maverick Square MBTA station and suitability for water transit terminals and water taxi stops, the project is an example of transit-oriented development, the BRA said. The project still needs a license from the state under its Chapter 91 environmental rules, which guide waterfront development.

Clippership Wharf hopes for a construction start late next year or early 2005. The project proposes 50 affordable housing units, 30 of them offsite.
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Re: Portside at Pier One

I don't have any inside info, but I'd bet the issue is Winn/Cassin cash flow post Columbus Center disaster. I know at one point they were looking to get more or less completely out of East Boston in order to use the money on Columbus.
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

'Things are happening’ to launch 176-apartment waterfront project
By Greg Turner
Thursday, September 27, 2012


East Boston will get action on its underdeveloped waterfront this fall, as the Portside at East Pier project — in the works for more than a decade — appears poised to finally break ground.

New Jersey developer Roseland Property Co. recently requested a building permit, hired a new contractor and secured financing for the first phase, a 176-unit apartment complex at Marginal and Lewis streets.

“Things are happening,” said Roseland spokeswoman Nancy Sterling. “We’re very excited because we think we’re going to be the first new building on the East Boston waterfront, and that’s really going to transform the neighborhood.”

Portside is one of four key East Boston waterfront projects that have been stalled for years. The other three — WinnDevelopment’s Clippership Wharf, developer Philip DeNormandie’s Hodge Boiler Works, and a New Street industrial redevelopment — are inching forward after being downsized and in some cases switched from condos to apartments.

“I’d love to see it,” Bob Strelitz, an attorney and founding member of the East Boston Waterfront Development Advisory Committee, said of Roseland’s plan. “It would really be a shot in the arm for East Boston.”

Roseland has had a rough ride in Eastie since launching its plan for 500 residences, shops, restaurants and a marina in 2000. The firm won city approval in 2005, but halted work with luxury condo builder Lennar in 2007 when the real estate market went south.

Meanwhile, Roseland replaced its original contractor, Skanska USA, with Suffolk Construction — but the big Boston builder pulled out earlier this year amid reports of project cost-cutting. The builder on board now is Cranshaw Construction, a division of Newton’s National Development.

“The third time’s the charm,” said Jack O’Neil, Cranshaw’s founding partner. “We’re gearing up for an imminent ground-breaking.”

Cranshaw’s projects include Staples’ headquarters in Framingham, the Longwood Center lab building in Boston, and the upcoming Ink Block development at the former Boston Herald site in the South End.

Suffolk could not be reached for comment.

Sterling said, “it’s not unusual over this length of time and for this large a project” to change contractors twice.

Roseland, whose equity partner in the $275 million venture is Prudential Real Estate Investors, will start site preparation work as soon as a building permit is issued. The East Pier project will eventually cover 13 acres of Massport-owned land next to Piers Park.


Link
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

The articles refer to Portside at Peir One as including 176 units. The original proposal was for almost 500. Is this just phase one of a larger project or has the project been dramatically downsized?
 
Re: Portside at Pier One

That's just phase one.
 
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