🔹 What's Happening With Project X?

Or, rather, its the City, State, and BPDA pushing the risk and reputational cost of dealing with wealthy NIMBYs over parking and and eyesore onto a developer rather than themselves
 
617 said:
Article is spot on...in order to save Boston exodus there is 1 answer that is so easy yet never happen: neighborhood schools.

Increased density/less red tape to build would go a long way too but nothing would do more for the city than ending bussing.
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Boston has turned into a mini cosmopolitan--NYC--
Middleclass -RIP-

What made Boston Boston is long gone.
Hardworking Blue collared families
Unions
Celtics (Larry Bird) Mentality
Calton Fisk

Don't get me wrong their are jobs up here but its extremely difficult to raise a family if you do not start off with sometype of foundation. Like a family home or serious ambition that you will continue your education or start a company.

I just don't see why the middle class would live in or around Boston anymore and never get ahead.
Work to Live vs Live to work.

Cambridge MASS (liberal world is one of the most expensive places in the country to live)
 
Please reopen the Aquarium Garage Tower thread. It is moving on to the next stage.
 
tobyjug said:
Even as a simpleton dog, I can still sniff a govno zabarchi process. (Apologies for Romanization, my 70's era Russian is fading.)
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poddel'nyye novosti!!

As, IIRC, the saying goes, 'there is no izvestia in pravda, and no pravda in izvestia.'

The $185 million cost for replacing the garage is Chiofaro's number, last repeated in 2014. Originally, the number was first voiced by the late Ted Oatis, eight or nine years ago, when Chiofaro was trying to figure out a way to solve the problem of HT residents having easements for parking spaces in the garage, and how does one reconstruct a garage with those easements in place? (I think these easements expire in two or three years, so guaranteed , nothing happens before those easements expire. The easement for the HT mechanicals 'utilities infrastructure' is in perpetuity.)

I do not know if the $185 million is a good number or not. I have suspected that, because HT and the HT garage were concurrently designed to replace a very large BRA surface parking lot, there is a provision somewhere that requires the continued existence of a large garage with x number of spaces. My suspicion is reinforced by Chiofaro agreeing to indemnify the Aquarium for loss of admission revenue while the garage is being rebuilt. Certainly, it would be a lot cheaper to have little or no garage.

The purchase cost and the reconstruction cost of the garage come to about $340 million, or nearly $400 a square foot. That is the starting point for the cost of a new building(s) built atop the garage. To show the absurdity of that cost, if I were to pay $400 a square foot for an empty, one acre house lot on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket, the cost for the land alone would be $17 million.
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On 666 Fifth Avenue, the luxury condos that would replace the current office building would need to sell for about $9,000 a sq ft to cover the construction cost, given what the Kushners had/have in mind. Mujeller is apparently looking into this property.
 
Why is this number so high? They’re building underground garages all over the seaport...have to imagine the water table/construction costs should be similar.
 
it's closer to $300M. higher construction costs and the lost income for 3 years.
 
617 said:
Why is this number so high? They’re building underground garages all over the seaport...have to imagine the water table/construction costs should be similar.
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Isn't part of the cost including the $150+ million paid for the garage in the first place? Isn't that what he paid? It's been such a long, disappointing journey that who remembers anymore.
 
617 said:
Why is this number so high? They’re building underground garages all over the seaport...have to imagine the water table/construction costs should be similar.
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At one point early on, they talked about doing half the garage at a time. That would be expensive. Plus the likelihood of expensive insurance premiums to cover potential liability for those who would still be parking in the garage.

If one assumes 400 square feet per parking space -- higher than average, but the garage is now supporting a building of significant weight -- Chiofaro might get 100 spaces per level. Ten levels for a thousand spaces, or roughly 100 feet down. And who knows where bedrock is, and what it would take to support both the garage and building, -- there is already one leaning building in San Francisco. And because its at the edge of the harbor, one has to factor in hydrostatic pressure, and make allowance for that.

Complicating all this is that the west wall of the underground garage butts up against the Central Artery. The Artery may run under the sidewalk of Atlantic Ave. Great care and conservative construction will be needed to avoid impacting the Artery.

And while $185 million seems high, it may not be unreasonable.

And IIRC, Chiofaro was going for more than 1,000 spaces.

For all the above, I've always believed that in the end, Chiofaro, or whoever finally develops the site, will leave the above ground garage, and use it as a podium for what goes on top. And I believe he gets full lot occupancy and would not be subject to the 50 percent open space requirement of Chapter 91.
 
That garage is going below grade.

...that is, if the Chiofaro team can design a revenue tower that brings enough revenue.

A repeat of the SST/ 115 Winthrop formula hopefully, that can pay the ransom.
 
stellarfun said:
For all the above, I've always believed that in the end, Chiofaro, or whoever finally develops the site, will leave the above ground garage, and use it as a podium for what goes on top. And I believe he gets full lot occupancy and would not be subject to the 50 percent open space requirement of Chapter 91.
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That would be horrible decision for the overall public to leave that garage and develop ontop especially in that area for the untapped potential for creating a connection from the Greenway to the Waterfront with a very active ground floor.

If any development deserves a tax break to make sure the garage got buried this would be the one for this specific parcel.

This development will be huge for the overall public:
Instant MBTA Access (Actually real Bostonians are welcome to this area)
Aquarium/Greenway/Blueway
The surrounding Park and water access.
Bars/Restaurants.

Chiofaro/Pru will completely change the entire area in a very positive way with that development to becoming the most active in the city.
 
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long time coming/long time gone

350 Boylston

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104 Canal

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Alexandra Hotel Rehab

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No thanks on 350 Boylston. I'd rather see the landlord invest in the quality existing buildings and selectively replace the crap ones than bulldoze the whole block.
 
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386 Market St. proposed almost 3 years ago. Still brighton beer garden empty retail.
 
Reviving the old "Worst Empty Parcel" thread rather than bump a 2012 poll. Here's a rundown of what AB voted for worst empty parcel from 2009 to 2012, both winners and nominees. Note how many are now filled/filling. My perennial nomination is Sargent's Wharf.

Previous nominees and winners where stuff’s happening:
2009 winner: Former Filene’s
2010 winner: Former Boston Garden Site
Seaport Square parcels
East Boston Wharves
Fenway Center Pike parcels
Landmark Center parking lot

Previous nominees where not much is happening right now:
2011 winner: North End Municipal Lot
2012 winner: Kenmore Square parking lot
Sargent's wharf
Lot at the intersection of Columbus & Berkeley
Lot at Dartmouth and Newbury
Park Plaza Castle on Arlington Street
 
palindrome said:
386 Market St. proposed almost 3 years ago. Still brighton beer garden empty retail.
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Does anyone with a legal background know where we can search for whether lawsuits are holding up projects? I've heard rumors of issues related to the neighboring burial ground, but have no idea how to dig for that info.

They got a permit for demolition and construction on October 4, 2017 and that expires on April 4, 2018; so at least they were still planning on doing the project 5 months ago.
 
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