Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

[Charlie_mta]

It looks like this might be the replacement.

View attachment 69419

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2023/09/22/massport-picks-community-builders-menkiti-seaport.html

Looks like a poor attempt at a Frank Gehry type style:

 

[stick n move]

It looks like this might be the replacement.

View attachment 69419

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2023/09/22/massport-picks-community-builders-menkiti-seaport.html

Hmm weird, that was the first render I had ever seen.

 

[atlantaden]

Wandered around the Seaport a few days before Christmas after landing at Logan but before heading south to B’water and the family

Gotta say, I was so happily surprised, yet again, by the changes, the much added retail and food spots, the activity (in spite of the 23 degrees), the everything that makes the Seaport an amazing section of the city!

 

[393b40]

https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/boston-luxury-condo-sales-11e356a7?st=PSKNgx

Sounds like all is not well in Seaportlandia.

 

[atlantaden]

 

[pel_north]

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Holy crap. This is not the city I grew up in and around. So freaking majestic.

 

[Vivanna]

Just noticed Massport put out an RFP for parcel D3, temporary use instead of the hotel that was originally being discussed.

 

[JumboBuc]

Just noticed Massport put out an RFP for parcel D3, temporary use instead of the hotel that was originally being discussed.

South Boston parking lot could become next tourist hotspot - The Boston Globe

The Port Authority has asked for bids that could draw visitors for a few years as it waits out the moribund development market.

www.bostonglobe.com

[Massport has] asked for bids to turn the site into an “activation” that could draw regional and national visitors, over a five- to 15-year period as they wait out the moribund development market. Proposals are due by the end of the business day on Friday.

 

[DZH22]

3/14 From Dorchester Heights Monument

IMG_0765 by David Z, on Flickr

 

[TC_zoid]

I've traveled to nearly all of the key cities in the country, and I don't think I've seen such a large grouping of buildings all stopped at about the same height as it does in the Seaport District. And that goes for D.C. too, though it used to be a limit of around 12-14 stories there.

 

[HenryAlan]

I've traveled to nearly all of the key cities in the country, and I don't think I've seen such a large grouping of buildings all stopped at about the same height as it does in the Seaport District. And that goes for D.C. too, though it used to be a limit of around 12-14 stories there.

Yeah, it is rather odd as a skyline element, though the FAA makes it impossible to achieve more varied height in that location. Fortunately, the street level is pretty good throughout most of the Seaport, which matters a lot more to me than how it looks from a distance.

 

[BronsonShore]

I've traveled to nearly all of the key cities in the country, and I don't think I've seen such a large grouping of buildings all stopped at about the same height as it does in the Seaport District. And that goes for D.C. too, though it used to be a limit of around 12-14 stories there.

Here:

And here:

And here:

And, oh yeah, here:

And it's not a coincidence that, from the standpoint of good urbanism, these are some the very best neighborhoods in the country. Height doesn't make a good city -- and when it comes with giant footprints, loading docks, less variety of uses, and dead streetwalls, it often ruins one.

 

[jdrinboston]

Here:

And here:

And here:

And, oh yeah, here:

And it's not a coincidence that, from the standpoint of good urbanism, these are some the very best neighborhoods in the country. Height doesn't make a good city -- and when it comes with giant footprints, loading docks, less variety of uses, and dead streetwalls, it often ruins one.

Okay....so the third pic is French quarter in New Orleans and the South End is obvious. At the risk of outing myself as a philistine, what are the first two. I'm thinking the second pic is San Francisco?

 

[RandomWalk]

First one is Brooklyn?

 

[stick n move]

DC definitely has equivalent parts.

The wharf

Link

Union station

Link

Navy yard

Plus like the whole downtown

Link

 

[JumboBuc]

Here:

And here:

And here:

And, oh yeah, here:

And it's not a coincidence that, from the standpoint of good urbanism, these are some the very best neighborhoods in the country. Height doesn't make a good city -- and when it comes with giant footprints, loading docks, less variety of uses, and dead streetwalls, it often ruins one.

These examples all have hills, church steeples, miscellaneous taller municipal buildings, newer apartment blocks. etc. scattered throughout.

The Seaport cap is measured by altitude/elevation above sea level (practically to the foot!) and not by height, so topography doesn't matter and you end up with a 100% flat plain of roofs. There's also a huge difference between "we only build most buildings to three stories because we haven't yet invented elevators or cranes" and "we build to 110'2" (or whatever...) Above Mean Sea Level, exactly." Here, areas like Downtown DC and the Navy Yard are maybe the closest comp, but even they have exceptions.

And yeah, of course height doesn't make a good city. But the Seaport's haircut still makes it quite remarkable globally, and a hypothetical alternative world where the post-GFC Seaport building boom happened without FAA height limitations is a very interesting one to ponder! The capital, demand, and technology were all aligned for serious height there, plus the area is far enough from the Public Garden / Common / etc. to take the shadow worries off the table. My guess is that it would have ended up more like Downtown Jersey City than what it does now.

 

[stick n move]

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project​

​

“After being selected in 2023 to develop Parcel U at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, Lincoln Property Company and Quaker Lane have now filed a Letter of Intent outlining plans for a new nine-story, 181,240-square-foot mixed-use building. The proposal calls for demolishing the existing on-site structure and replacing it with a modern facility designed to support office/lab users, alongside a dedicated, two-level, single-company station for the Boston Fire Department. The ground floor would feature the fire station with an accessory café/co-working space, positioning the development as a hybrid hub for industrial, civic, and innovation-focused uses.”

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

www.bldup.com

Parcel U – QuakerLane Capital

quakerlane.com

 

[Badusername]

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project​

​

“After being selected in 2023 to develop Parcel U at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, Lincoln Property Company and Quaker Lane have now filed a Letter of Intent outlining plans for a new nine-story, 181,240-square-foot mixed-use building. The proposal calls for demolishing the existing on-site structure and replacing it with a modern facility designed to support office/lab users, alongside a dedicated, two-level, single-company station for the Boston Fire Department. The ground floor would feature the fire station with an accessory café/co-working space, positioning the development as a hybrid hub for industrial, civic, and innovation-focused uses.”

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

www.bldup.com

View attachment 71988

Parcel U – QuakerLane Capital

quakerlane.com

Would the city own the fire station? I ask because the city of Somerville is currently trying to rectify its poor decision to rent a fire station in Assembly Row 5 years ago.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project​

​

“After being selected in 2023 to develop Parcel U at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, Lincoln Property Company and Quaker Lane have now filed a Letter of Intent outlining plans for a new nine-story, 181,240-square-foot mixed-use building. The proposal calls for demolishing the existing on-site structure and replacing it with a modern facility designed to support office/lab users, alongside a dedicated, two-level, single-company station for the Boston Fire Department. The ground floor would feature the fire station with an accessory café/co-working space, positioning the development as a hybrid hub for industrial, civic, and innovation-focused uses.”

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

Development Team Files LOI for RLFMP Parcel U Project

www.bldup.com

View attachment 71988

Parcel U – QuakerLane Capital

quakerlane.com

Surprised to see this moving forward since 2 Harbor still appears to be empty.