11-21 Bromfield Street | DTX | Downtown

Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

The 15 ft seems to have been done in response to the narrow sidewalk issue so I'm guessing street level.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

I wish the sidewalk setback could be done under a colonnade. The narrow feel of Bromfield could be preserved while providing a wider space in front of the proposed street level retail if this was done. I sincerely hope that the plinth is reconsidered. Attempting to be contextual with the former Woolworth's building is a horrendous error in judgement.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Lurker said:
I wish the sidewalk setback could be done under a colonnade.
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If folks pee under there, will the rain wash away the smell?

The narrow feel of Bromfield could be preserved while providing a wider space in front of the proposed street level retail if this was done.
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May be not too good for the retail --removes it from traffic mainstream?

Boston isn't Bologna or Milan either sociologically or climatically.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

The retail in Church Park (the long apartment building across from the Christian Science Center) always seems to me to be struggling, because it's set back and hidden under an overhang. If you're walking in the sun on the Mass. Ave. sidewalk, you can barely see the storefront signs.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

I had to shop there today while at the Hynes and the stores were packed with students,and the sidewalks were busy.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Boston02124 said:
I had to shop there today while at the Hynes and the stores were packed with students,and the sidewalks were busy.
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5 know when Im walking through there I always swerve under the roof instead of exposed on the sidewalk
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

ablarc said:
Boston isn't Bologna or Milan either sociologically or climatically.
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A fun fact: The colonades in Bologna were not originally designed as such. What happened was that the owners of the buildings, eager to rent rooms to students (Bologna being, I believe, the oldest continuous "college town" in Europe) in the late Middle Ages, simply jutted structures from their second floors over the streets. These eventualy became so popular that whole streets were lined with over-hangs, which, when connected up and supported by columns, became proto-colonades. Over time and rebuilding, they were rebuilt as permanent structures at street level, thus establishing Bologna's streetscape as it is today.

IMO, such colonnades in a city like Boston where the sun is so weak for so much of the year, would be superfluous and end up as depressing as 1,2,3 Center Plaza at Scollay Sq.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Given how dark Bromfield street already is on that North East facing side, I don't see how adding a colonnade, with a 14' or 22' ceiling height, would be a detractor. Either way those storefronts would be in near permanent shadow.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

There's an article in the Herald today on One Bromfield, and how the folks representing 45 Province are complaining that its (surprise surprise!) too tall. Maybe someone can post it...
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Tower owner hits rival?s proposal
Says it?s too tall for site
By Thomas Grillo
Monday, July 20, 2009 - Updated 15h ago

Owners of a new 32-story residential tower in Downtown Crossing oppose construction of a rival tower just a few feet away.

The Abbey Group, developer of 45 Province, a 137-unit luxury condominium building that has attracted few buyers, has told the Boston Redevelopment Authority that a proposed 28-story apartment building at nearby Bromfield and Washington streets should be shorter.

New York-based Midwood Management Corp. is planning a $200 million residential project dubbed One Bromfield St. If approved by the BRA, seven stores along Washington Street and Bromfield Street would be demolished and replaced with a 276-unit apartment complex, three floors of retail and three levels of parking.

In a letter to BRA director John Palmieri, attorneys for the Abbey Group said they are concerned that the 407,000-square-foot apartment building with 50,000 square feet of retail ?is more than the site can handle.?

David Epstein, president of the Abbey Group, was unavailable for comment.

George Coorssen, a Tremont on the Common resident, said the only reason the Abbey Group wants to scuttle Midland?s project is because Epstein fears the competition.

?The Abbey Group is not selling many condos and if a luxury apartment building is built next door it will really croak 45 Province,? he said.

So far, only 14 units at 45 Province have sold, according to the Suffolk Registry of Deeds. The property was completed as the luxury market tanked. Sales of condos priced at $700,000 or more in downtown Boston have fallen by 47 percent this year.

Still, the Abbey Group is not the only one to raise questions about One Bromfield.

Ronald Druker - who plans to construct a $120 million office building at 350 Boylston St., where the former Shreve, Crump & Low building stands - wrote to the BRA noting that he does not want to see ?a Manhattanization of our downtown retail district.?

In addition, the Old South Meeting House on Washington Street said shadows from the new tower would cast the National Historic Landmark into darkness.

Paul Davis, a Midwood Management senior vice president, did not return calls seeking comment.
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Link

Yeah this is all ridiculous.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Coorsen is the same guy quoted on the DTX thread about starting a neighborhood association that excludes renters. That guy is a real piece of work. I don't think the Abbey Group is at all concerned about competition from a rental building. I think they're concerned about it blocking the views of their high priced condos, mine included, most of which are not yet sold and will be far more difficult to sell without views.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

For the record, I don't mind the height at all. Its not the height that's going to block my view, its the width. That sai I'm not categorically opposed to the building, I'm in favor of almost anything that will cause a street sweeper to run down Bromfield Street occasionally.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Why this stuff never ceases to surprise me will always be a mystery.

Also, why would they ever quote Druker for this? Of course someone who builds landscrapers is going to fear any form of Manhattenization.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

^I agree. I'll tell you what, I would rather see a tower there than a long choade (wider than tall) building that stretches the lengths of that block of Washington Street.

The time it is going to take to get this tower built, is plenty for 45 Province to work on filling up.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

"Manhattanization of our downtown retail district."

Only in this city would consider 'Manhattanization' a negative thing. Manhattan is one of the richest and most successful urban areas on Earth. For a city which insists on calling itself world class, it sure is hellbent on avoiding the example of other world class cities.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

I guess people in Boston prefers Los Angelization. Urban sprawl ftw....sigh. Maybe if we use that word, Bostonians will look at things differently. Los Angelization!
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

"In a letter to BRA director John Palmieri, attorneys for the Abbey Group said they are concerned that the 407,000-square-foot apartment building with 50,000 square feet of retail ?is more than the site can handle.?"

Translation: "We fear that nearby competition may affect sales at 45 Province." Why not just come out and say it? Why pretend to give a sh*t about the sustainability of another development? They don't...they want a grassroots neighborhood effort to defeat the new tower so they don't have to do it themselves. How Boston does it get?
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

How much weight can a building that just got finished have in saying what else gets built in the area. That guy should do something about is blank wall, which is a visual insult, if he's so concerned about the neighborhood.
 
Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

In all fairness though it does not seem to be the best business move to build another 'luxury' condo high rise.....
especially one that will have to compete with Province St and the fantasy Filenes tower once the market picks up....

the city has reached its saturation point for this kind of crap....

time to build some affordable projects....
 
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Re: One Bromfield (28-story tower @ DTX)

Lurker said:
"Manhattanization of our downtown retail district."

Only in this city would consider 'Manhattanization' a negative thing.
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Given the Filenes hole I'd call it the Asshattanization of Boston.
 
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