88 Black Falcon Avenue | Seaport

Equilibria

Senior Member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Messages
6,806
Reaction score
7,585
PNF:


Pushing the lab/office trend to its logical extreme - you can't get farther from the action than this. It's a mile walk even to Silver Line Way.

1612659849611.png

1612659878450.png

1612659908675.png

1612659944521.png

1612659966171.png
 
Pushing the lab/office trend to its logical extreme - you can't get farther from the action than this. It's a mile walk even to Silver Line Way.

Surely that's why they want the parking garage.

Several MBTA public transportation options are located near the Project Site. The Silver Line 2
(SL2) had a stop at 88 Black Falcon Avenue but it is no longer used. The closest existing SL2 stop
is located at the intersection of Black Falcon Avenue/Drydock Avenue/Black Falcon Drive. The
closest bus stop on Route 4 is at Tide Street, approximately one-quarter mile from the Project
Site. Route SL1, Route SL3, and Route 7 have stops within approximately one mile of the Project
Site.

PDF says this is near the cruise ship ops. That could be annoying.
 
how do nearly all current (any from the past three/four years through to today) renders continually refuse to incorporate 1 dalton?
 
Just... why? Theres a million open lots in the seaport closer to.. everything. Maybe in 20 years with a green line extension or silver line rail conversion and extension, but now? The seaport is pretty much still defined by how many open lots there are to be developed.
 
The steel frameworks make it look like a creature taking a nap on top of the bottom floors.
 
Just... why? Theres a million open lots in the seaport closer to.. everything. Maybe in 20 years with a green line extension or silver line rail conversion and extension, but now? The seaport is pretty much still defined by how many open lots there are to be developed.

There are already bunch of labs in the IDB building right next door, which can be difficult to adapt and expand for labs. Maybe this is viewed as an expansion opportunity for that?

Lab space in Kendall and closer to the core is extremely expensive, even for semi-established biotechs. If this can be slightly cheaper for tenants who are already operating outside the core areas, then it serves a purpose and keeps the pressure off those super hot areas.
 
how do nearly all current (any from the past three/four years through to today) renders continually refuse to incorporate 1 dalton?
People are too cheap (or too lazy) to update their background image template.
 
This is a 900 foot long existing building that will be expanded vertically. My suspicion is that the building is intended for this company:

which is already on Drydock Ave.., and which probably needs space for bio-manufacturing, because that's what ginkgo does.

See also:

IMO, this is pretty exciting merde.

The PNF states that existing maritime-related uses in the building will be retained, and the site plan shows this end of the pier as having five berths. The cement silos will remain. In essence, this 'lab' building fits rather well in an industrial zone.
 
Stick asked: J
ust... why? Theres a million open lots in the seaport closer to.. everything.

The answer is of course the size of the footprint of the building -- there aren't many places close to the hub or Boston / Cambridge where you can get about 100,000 sq ft on a single floor

I think this is exactly for what the Massport and Boston landbank properties are best used
No one is going really to be building ships, nor is the fishing industry likely to need very much new infrastructure and the container business is all located on the other side of the Reserve Channel

However, a biomanufacturing operation such as Ginko's fits right in with the other truck-dependent uses

The design sitting on top of the existing structure in a wraparound fashion is a bit reminiscent of the Mass Eye and Ear of a few decades ago

Adding parking not occasionally compromised by the Cruise business is a good idea to make the site more year-round useable
 
Last edited:
Man, that top level of the parking garage is screaming for a brewery type place to pop up or take shop. I imagine the views must be pretty nice, both of the Harbor and the skyline, and you get a unique perspective of the planes taking off and landing. I don't know what the conditions are though, if it's too windy/unpleasant for an outdoor bar space like that (if it were to happen, it likely wouldn't be an exclusive/prohibitively expensive kind, I imagine) - I haven't been down this far, but I've been down to the Design Center a handful of times, and didn't really take note of the conditions.
 
This is fantastic and I agree with all the points upthread about Ginkgo, biomanufacturing, and lab/innovation/design space. The IDB has numerous high end clients (hence the design portion) who seem to enjoy the large floorplates, too. Another similar building is a really exciting thing for Boston.
 
That location will have a beautiful view...why not something like housing or a hotel that could capitalize on that?
 
That location will have a beautiful view...why not something like housing or a hotel that could capitalize on that?
Gameguy -- I think that you will find the answer -- the location's uses are inherently tied to industrial or marine apps -- its even a bit of stretch to go R&D / office unless those office type functions are explicitly tied to the marine / industrial primary
Hence, you can easily justify offices connected with seafood processing, with the cement facility or even cruise ship related things
A few years ago because of a lack of traditional marine related industry tenants -- they opened up the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park [formerly known as the Boston Marine Industrial Park] to:

Long range plans for the MIP call for a mixture of maritime industrial and related uses such as seafood processing, cruises, bulk cargo operations and waterborne cargo warehouses......
Other uses for backland parcels include general industrial, manufacturing, research and development and supporting commercial uses.

or see the 2017 update the masterplan for more details:

Now the building in question is actually controlled by Massport so there are some additional considerations as to how to use the facility

In any event -- no one is going to build a bunch of condos out there
 
Man, that top level of the parking garage is screaming for a brewery type place to pop up or take shop. I imagine the views must be pretty nice, both of the Harbor and the skyline, and you get a unique perspective of the planes taking off and landing. I don't know what the conditions are though, if it's too windy/unpleasant for an outdoor bar space like that (if it were to happen, it likely wouldn't be an exclusive/prohibitively expensive kind, I imagine) - I haven't been down this far, but I've been down to the Design Center a handful of times, and didn't really take note of the conditions.

I'd be cool to have some kind of glass-enclosed bar or restaurant. Call it "Restaurant at the End of the Universe". Be really cool to watch big storms roll in from the ocean.
 
There are already bunch of labs in the IDB building right next door, which can be difficult to adapt and expand for labs. Maybe this is viewed as an expansion opportunity for that?

Lab space in Kendall and closer to the core is extremely expensive, even for semi-established biotechs. If this can be slightly cheaper for tenants who are already operating outside the core areas, then it serves a purpose and keeps the pressure off those super hot areas.

There are also labs at the ISQ on Tide Street. So there is a cluster here. I do wonder what happens to these buildings if they aren't labs. Are they the future mill building?
 
Is any responsible person at the BPDA or in City Hall going to stand up and say "how are people going to get here?" It's beyond irresponsible to continue to approve these projects without an equal amount of attention to a holistic transportation plan. It's like sending out 400 invitations for a party at a banquet hall that accommodates 150 people.
 
Is any responsible person at the BPDA or in City Hall going to stand up and say "how are people going to get here?" It's beyond irresponsible to continue to approve these projects without an equal amount of attention to a holistic transportation plan. It's like sending out 400 invitations for a party at a banquet hall that accommodates 150 people.

I agree with your sentiment, but you know exactly how this is going to go down before the BPDA: folks are going to point to the SL2 stop that is literally at this building and tout that a "rapid transit" line already serves this facility. Heck, they'll probably call this a transit-oriented biotechnology/biomanufacturing development.

The transportation issue with the Seaport is not nearly as simple or benign as "the gov didn't sufficiently consider transit." It's more nuanced than that. It's that the sorry attempt that was the SL now actually holds us back from the bold transportation planning for the Seaport. It's a travesty and missed opportunity that all of these developers weren't chipping in (as part of a coordinated, holistic program) to convert that to a real transit line throughout the past 20 yrs in the Seaport. But, of course, that discussion will derail this thread.

To your original question: they're just going to point to the SL. That's how it's gone down throughout this whole area.
 
Last edited:
I agree with your sentiment, but you know exactly how this is going to go down before the BPDA: folks are going to point to the SL2 stop that is literally at this building and tout that a "rapid transit" line already serves this facility. Heck, they'll probably call this a transit-oriented biotechnology/biomanufacturing development.

The transportation issue with the Seaport is not nearly as simple or benign as "the gov didn't sufficiently consider transit." It's more nuanced than that. It's that the sorry attempt that was the SL now actually holds us back from the bold transportation planning for the Seaport. It's a travesty and missed opportunity that all of these developers weren't chipping in (as part of a coordinated, holistic program) to convert that to a real transit line throughout the past 20 yrs in the Seaport. But, of course, that discussion will derail this thread.

To your original question: they're just going to point to the SL. That's how it's gone down throughout this whole area.

BigPicture -- if you want to read what the BPDA planners and their consultants are thinking -- there is a 275 page report available on the BPDA website -- last night I spent an hour plus on reading through it
Buried in the massive bureaucratic tome:
Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park Master Plan Update
December 2017

It is replete with several retellings of the same strange wish list for never-to-be over the dock uses such as shipping grain, lumber and building materials

However -- there are some interesting observations about how the RFMIP could be better utilized if it wasn't burdened by some many contradictory and over-reaching regulations at both the Commonwealth and City levels -- might even be some Federal component to be accommodated

Anyway -- they talk a lot about cars, trucks, Transit {Silver Line as well as T bus lines #4 and #7) and a lot about the shortage of parking and then they pine for the days of the rail lines
They also admit that more people are transported by private shuttles operated by the big users of office space than by the T -- of course the report being prepared in 2016 / 2017 is already obsolete as it talks about John Hancock's shuttle to the soon to be reworked 600 Congress building

Interestingly -- while there is plenty of talk about new truck routes -- no mention is made of boosting Silver Line capacity by making it possible to run all-electric high frequency shuttle loops between South Station and Silver Line Way once a tunnel is dug under D St.
 

Back
Top