Avenir

[AC]

 

[BarbaricManchurian]

Uh-oh.

 

[kz1000ps]

It was POURING at this point (around 7 PM), and I was on a bike four miles from home.. d'oh!

 

[ablarc]

^ Once again, from a purely visual standpoint: unfinished building with cheery insulation looks better than the final product?

 

[palindrome]

Archstone gets construction loan for Hub project


Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, or HFF, announced today that they arranged a $90 million construction loan for the development of Archstone Avenir, an apartment complex in Boston.

The project's developer, Archstone, is a national company specializing in apartment investment and operations. (The image above is a rendering that was supplied by HFF.)

HFF said in a press release: "Due for completion in Spring 2009, Archstone Avenir will have 241 luxury apartment units, approximately 28,000 square feet of street-level retail space and a 115-space structured parking garage. Intended uses for the retail space include a restaurant, full-service bank and coffee shop. Located at the corner of Canal and Causeway Streets, Avenir is adjacent to the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the Bulfinch Triangle area of downtown Boston. The property is situated above a newly-constructed MBTA subway super station offering access to the Orange and Green lines, and across Causeway Street from the North Station commuter rail station within the TD Banknorth Garden."

HFF, a provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services, said it worked on behalf of Archstone to secure a 36-month construction loan through the National Electrical Benefit Fund, a pension fund for those in the electrical industry.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

 

[Beton Brut]

^ Once again, from a purely visual standpoint: unfinished building with cheery insulation looks better than the final product?

ablarc -- Where you a big fan of the late work of Sir James Stirling?

 

[jass]

I was last in the area a year ago...last december

And now....

Needless to say, I was shocked.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Oh, I like that. I didn't even see it in the first few pictures.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Found these on the architect's website which I don't think have been posted here before.

 

[Boston02124]

11-04-08 driving as always!

 

[kennedy]

Bland and boring, but not bad. I think a strikingly beautiful building would have alienated the area, and we already have the 'concrete monster' side of the Garden. Then again, it could have been a subtly beautiful building...whatever, the area is better now than it was before.

 

[kz1000ps]

1/10:

more pedestrian crossing signs!

A curious image -- street sans structures:

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I like it. It fits in nicely. And that shot of the street with no buildings is reminiscent of when the Bulfinch Triangle was first filled in.

 

[czsz]

It looks like a brick cruise ship without context, but the Canal Street shot shows how it's improved its surrounds immensely.

 

[tobyjug]

 

[czsz]

The facade is broken up nicely. Subtly different patterns in each "thrust" toward the street. It gives the illusion of several different buildings and eases the landscraper monotony.

 

[tobyjug]

The reference line that runs from the terra cotta block to and through the new building facade is very pleasing, obvious only when coming up Canal from Haymarket. The back, which is foul, will presumably be obscured by whatever that is they are going to build on the Bulfinch Triangle parcel. The result will be a way rather like Providence St. in the Back Bay.

 

[kennedy]

You know, I really like this building. It didn't try to become a landmark. It didn't try to be an office park. It didn't overdo itself with the contextual brick, and provides a taste of variety with the gray sides. When the area is filled in more, it will add context to the area, and with any luck, make anything built around it look better. And Canal St. actually feels like a street rather than the edge of a strip mall parking lot.

 

[kz1000ps]

Even though it fits into the typical safe Boston style, it's got more zest and spunk than usual. This is pure conjecture, but perhaps ICON was trying to jab CBT's ribs a bit and get them to stop being so mediocre? (CBT's offices are directly across the street from Avenir).

 

[Ron Newman]

And this will be the first time ever that Canal Street has buildings on both sides. The east side was a canal, then a railroad, then the Green Line and Orange Line elevateds.