150 Kneeland Street | Chinatown

reverend_paco said:
said folds:

U54qCWEh.jpg

...
RAbhVZih.jpg
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So... they're keeping the smokestack views but blocking the downtown city skyline views? That seems... suboptimal.
 
That is the lot line so they either pay for fire rated glass or it gets a blank wall. I would guess they aren't going ultra luxury here so blank wall it is. At least they are doing something with it I guess unlike some other recent projects in Boston.
 
Their misspelling of "aerial" as "arial" in the rendering is pretty hilarious, in a Freudian slip kind of way. Of course all pretentious developers rhapsodize in their own minds about how their projects will sing like an aria to the surrounding streetscape and urban canyons.

P.S. Egregious spelling mistakes such as these are why these guys lost out to Millennium on 115 Winthrop Sq. proposal during the BPDA's selection phase. :p
 
What do you all think their decision to go all-glass curtain wall for this location and
breaking with the red, tuscan, terracotta, brown, grey, beige, brutalist hegemony?
 
Thats definitely one of the better blank walls Ive seen. Its nothing crazy, but these details separate the lazy architects from the good ones. Again its not about the materials but how you use them.
 
Equilibria said:
NPC to change from hotel to residential:

bpda.app.box.com

2021-02-17_Notice of Project Change (NPC)_150 Kneeland Street.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com bpda.app.box.com
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Screengrab from the NPC (no noteworthy changes to building design, just changing from 230 hotel rooms to 115 residences, removing mechanical mezzanine from 3rd floor... still a 22-story development on same footprint with mechanical penthouse). Chinese Economic Development Council supports the project change citing affordable housing addition.

Screen Shot 2021-02-18 at 9.59.16 AM.png
 
What I really like about this is it sets the stage for the development of the MassDOT parcels across the street. It further sets the height benchmark for this stretch of Kneeland (along with One Greenway).

Now if only MassDOT would come to the realization that they are going to have to pay for the remediation of the steam plant site before anyone bites on development there.....
 
JeffDowntown said:
Now if only MassDOT would come to the realization that they are going to have to pay for the remediation of the steam plant site before anyone bites on development there.....
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Or figure out how to allow considerably more height and density. If I recall the Baker Admin put pretty tight restrictions on the height and density of the site as part of the bid process which IMO is a stupid stupid move.
 
meddlepal said:
Or figure out how to allow considerably more height and density. If I recall the Baker Admin put pretty tight restrictions on the height and density of the site as part of the bid process which IMO is a stupid stupid move.
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FAA puts a pretty hard cap on height along Kneeland. I think you have a 325 max from FAA due to runway 9/27.
 
BronsonShore said:
was


Fantastic news.
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Perhaps -- from one standpoint
However -- the developer didn't chose to change -- change was forced upon them
as they said in the NPC
In light of the seismic shifts in the hospitality industry and the impact on capital markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, our current program includes the following changes from the Project as approved in the October 11, 2018

Change of Use
A residential use will be added to the Project, replacing the hotel portion.
The new program will include approximately 115 residential dwelling units, replacing the previously approved 230 hotel rooms.
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Then an obligatory -- euphemistic explanation

.The City of Boston and the Commonwealth have been in the throes of a housing crisis which predated the current pandemic and is likely to deepen in the coming years. The project will create new housing adjacent to South Station, Boston’s largest transit hub in the land constrained urban core, and provide a sorely needed affordable housing contribution.
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However the truth is in the "seismic shift" -- in other words in that location -- there was 0 chance of financing a hotel

This probably explains what has happened at Riverside as well
 
On the original renders, the rear side of the building was windowless similar to the Moxy Hotel. I wonder if this is altered in the change to resi. Renderings in the NPC don't seem to make it clear.
 
CTtoMA said:
On the original renders, the rear side of the building was windowless similar to the Moxy Hotel. I wonder if this is altered in the change to resi. Renderings in the NPC don't seem to make it clear.
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The Moxy has a small number of (I assume fire rated) windows on the checkerboard lot line wall.
 
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