100 Shawmut Avenue | South End

I dont understand why go thru the expense of a facadectomy and not go bigger in this location? I think the neighborhood wouldnt even push back much
 
I dont understand why go thru the expense of a facadectomy and not go bigger in this location? I think the neighborhood wouldnt even push back much

Look at Figure 1-12 on page 26 (that's the page # as pagination of the pdf is counted). It's got some massing illustrations that show only about 20% of the footprint of the old building being torn down, the rest of it remains. And the new building is then up above parts of it. That doesn't look like a pure facadectomy to me.

Having said that, I'm sure they have to seriously gut the old building to provide structural support for that portion of the new building rising up above it. So much of the old building that "remains" will indeed be gutted to the point that it does sort of approach a facadectomy.

Anyhow, this looks like something of a grey zone between extreme facadectomy at one end of the extreme, versus an adaptive reuse with an expansion tacked on.

And setting aside whether this is or isn't a facadectomy (I don't care so much), I like the overall proposed design. The design elements of the new building plays off the old facade's design elements pretty well, while still having their own modern flair. And while they're doing some of the now-popular thing of having arbitrarily differing patterns of materials / fenestration, they haven't gone completely bonkers with it like some architects do. It doesn't look so crazily over-designed and cluttered like some recent designs. I like it.

As for your point on going bigger? I'm one of the ones who sometimes complains about the height fetishists around aB, but ...... OK, I admit it: this is in a location where I agree it could have gone taller and I'd even argue should have, for the sake of getting more units in play within walking distance of downtown / Back Bay / multi-line T access.
 
Look at Figure 1-12 on page 26 (that's the page # as pagination of the pdf is counted). It's got some massing illustrations that show only about 20% of the footprint of the old building being torn down, the rest of it remains. And the new building is then up above parts of it. That doesn't look like a pure facadectomy to me.

From p.1-2:

The existing building on the Project Site will be partially demolished, with the exception of the street-facing facades which will be incorporated into the Project design (see Figure 1-12).
 
I dont understand why go thru the expense of a facadectomy and not go bigger in this location? I think the neighborhood wouldnt even push back much

This is being fit within the Harrison Albany Corridor zoning for the area -- heavily negotiated with the surrounding neighborhoods. It won't be allowed to go bigger -- this is exactly the height and massing allowed in a PDA in that zoning area (redone in 2013). (PDA has been created in conjunction with the Boston Chinatown Evangelical Church and CCBA who control abutting parcels.)
 
That is going to be one weird block now with this facadectomy and the Church.... thing... next door.
 
http://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/c9f73b81-c28c-47c1-8179-5565207fa2d9

150 feet, facadectomy and apartments (from what I can tell, the non-facade parts of this building aren't special anyway). Perspectives begin on p.158.

I'm digging it.

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So glad to hear the market is going away. A vestige (?) to another time. Plenty of options for those who shop there but bigger / better uses coming.
 
So glad to hear the market is going away. A vestige (?) to another time. Plenty of options for those who shop there but bigger / better uses coming.

This development does not touch the C-Mart. It fills in the parking lot behind 112 Shawmut.

The C-Mart (50 Herald Street) is controlled by CCBA. We are probably 4-5 years away from that being developed -- C-Mart has a lease through 2023. Word is that buy-out of that lease only starts looking attractive around 2021.
 
Jeff, thanks. I based my comments on this sliver of the B&T article.

"And a 9- to 14-story building with 302 housing units and 14,200 square feet of ground floor commercial space would be built on the CCBA property, which currently contains a single-story supermarket."

If it's not going away, those new tenants are gonna have to put up with one nasty stink!

This development does not touch the C-Mart. It fills in the parking lot behind 112 Shawmut.

The C-Mart (50 Herald Street) is controlled by CCBA. We are probably 4-5 years away from that being developed -- C-Mart has a lease through 2023. Word is that buy-out of that lease only starts looking attractive around 2021.
 
I'm hoping that someday the BRA will actually require street-level pedestrian renders of buildings so you can get some idea of what these things will look like if you're not a bird. This kind of looks okay, but you can't tell if the ground floor works without a proper streetscape render.
 
Jeff, thanks. I based my comments on this sliver of the B&T article.

"And a 9- to 14-story building with 302 housing units and 14,200 square feet of ground floor commercial space would be built on the CCBA property, which currently contains a single-story supermarket."

If it's not going away, those new tenants are gonna have to put up with one nasty stink!

50 Herald Street (C-Mart) and 112 Shawmut share a common PDA (with the former South Cove Manor building on Shawmut owned by the Boston Chinatown Evangelical Church), but the timing for each development portion will be very different. CCBA is no where close to getting started. And 50 Herald Street is supposed to be dominantly affordable housing, so that will be challenging to finance.
 
They've already started gutting the existing brick building and the parking lot behind it is closed.
 

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