4-6 Newbury Street | Back Bay

Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

^^ Contrary to early American history, in which Boston played the part of the country's intellectual center as well as its cradle of revolution, today's Boss Tweed Boston can probably best be described overall as a "no-brainer."
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

This is what I hate about Boston.

Tom High, who sits on both the NABB architecture and licensing and building use committees, said the increase would be another step in the Back Bay?s ?death by a thousand cuts.?
?You?re going to end up with Newbury Street being a canyon,? said High.
Click to expand...

I have no words for this.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

vanshnookenraggen said:
This is what I hate about Boston.

Tom High, who sits on both the NABB architecture and licensing and building use committees, said the increase would be another step in the Back Bay?s ?death by a thousand cuts.?
?You?re going to end up with Newbury Street being a canyon,? said High.
Click to expand...

I have no words for this.
Click to expand...

I think that guy's middle name is "Is".
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

How is the concept of 'adding a floor' this difficult to these people?




Really... what seems to be the problem replacing an uninspired building with something much nicer?
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

There's an article in the Boston Courant about this building. A State Representative is speaking out against the proposed height. It makes no sense to me because in the rendering that accompanies the article, the proposed building appears to be the same height as the one to it's left and significantly shorter then the structure to it's right. The height looks completely appropriate in it's context.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

The State Rep is Marty Walz. She has extreme building height anxiety as well as shadow dystrophy. She needs to be retired. Will someone who lives in her district please run for her seat?
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

Yup, I posted the Filene's facade pics in the wrong thread. Pics moved to the SCL thread.
 
Last edited:
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

The Filene's building which you show is an example of a building being preserved rather than a facade being built upon. The new construction of the One Franklin Street project is structurally independent of the original Filene's Department Store building which is being saved in its entirety and renovated. However, the facade of the building at the corner of Franklin and Hawley Streets is being retained and built upon as part of the same project.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

Maybe not.

From the Filene's thread:

Tobyjug said:
Right after New Years, and for about the following 6 weeks, there was a non-stop parade of cement trucks in and out of the Franklin side of the site. Steady flow, cement trucks lined up to go. The workers had jackhammered out the floor of 1905, so at first I figured they were just doing new footings for the structure. Then it got weird... the cement was being poured via some sort of crane and pressure feed into the upper floors of 1905. And this went on for weeks. Not long ago, I saw some supervisory looking types clutching rolls of plans, so I asked "Why all the cement, and why up there?". They explained that not only were they putting in the foundation for a structure, but that they were building cement bracing to support the 1905 curtain walls for when the rest of the 1905 structure is removed.
It sounds like a facadectomy, with foundation and support work preceding any significant interior demolition. That might explain why debris crashing through the 1905 building doesn't matter, but your guess is as good as mine!
Click to expand...

Anyway, I think stellarfun's original post was referring to the SC&L thread rather than this one.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

The "1905 building" is not the Filene's building on Summer and Washington Streets. It is the other old building at Franklin and Hawley, which Filene's eventually expanded into.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

^^ True, but I wonder if they do a facadectomy to one, they may have to do it to both in order to keep the floor plates level.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

They are not doing a facadectomy to the original Filene's Department Store building. It is being retained in full and rehabilitated. In fact, the tower portion of the project will cantilever over the original Building so as to preserve its structural integrity. The floor plates do not and will not align with the 1905 building.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

^^ Cool. Good to know.
Do you know if any of the interior details are being preserved as well or just the original floor plan?
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

BTW, everyone's favorite State Senator, Marty Walz, has an op-ed piece in this week's Boston Courant. Not available online. She says she wants the new building the same height as the old, which is still above what zoning would allow.

In other news, the sun rose this morning.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

According to a brief tidbit on the front page of the Globe business section on April 4, the BRA has approved this at the originally proposed specs. I don't recall there being any specifics on a construction timeline or anything, just a cost estimate of $14m.
 
Compromise reached on 4-6 Newbury

From the Back Bay Sun:

Compromise reached on 4-6 Newbury; Walz and Ross help clear height hurdles by Dan Salerno


When developers from Centremark Properties first unveiled their proposal for a new seven story mixed use office and retail complex on the site of the garage at 4-6 Newbury Street earlier this year, residents and public official alike voiced their displeasure with the project.
The sticking point was the building?s height, which at about 85 feet would exceed the height of the current garage, which already exceeds the 65 feet permitted by zoning.
However, thanks to a last minute deal brokered in part by Councilor Mike Ross and State Representative Marty Walz, the developers have reached an accord with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay that will allow construction to commence.
The new plan, which was approved this week by the zoning board of appeal, will keep the building at the same height as the current garage.
?NABB opposed the project that was proposed initially at the public meeting in February because it violated the zoning for the area and was significantly larger than the existing garage structure. Representative Marty Walz, Will Onuoha and Jay Walsh of the Mayor?s office, and City Councilor Mike Ross worked hard with us to forge a resolution for the project,? said Jackie Yessian, president of the Neighorhood Association of the Back Bay. ?We are very pleased with the solution adopted by the developer and approved by the Board of Appeal that allows the building to go forward within the framework of the height and volume of the existing building. The proposal will be a good addition to the retail district without creating a dangerous precedent for future projects.?
The project will feature up to three floors of high end retail in the lower stories, topped by office space in the upper floors. It was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in March. The current garage had been owned by the Ritz until the Taj took over in 2006. The hotel no longer has any association with the garage.
The development team for the project consists of Nader Golestaneh, President of Centremark Properties, Inc.; Dennis Quilty of McDermott, Quilty, and Miller as the legal counsel; and Richard Bertman of CBT Architects, according to the BRA. The total project cost is estimated at between $13 million and $15 million, and construction is expected to take up to two years.
Click to expand...


http://www.backbaysun.com/archive/news_db/20080502/20080502.html
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

Well, I never saw that one coming.

How in the world did they get the developer to agree to it, seeing as the BRA had approved the 85 feet???
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

Even if BRA had approved, presumably they still needed zoning variances, which are very tough to get if there is political opposition. The BRA has much more clout to run roughshod over zoning in areas that were designated as "urban renewal" zones (a misnomer now for most of them, which have been thoroughly "renewed"). In practice, Back Bay and Beacon Hill can (and do) veto just about anything; most other neighborhoods don't have this clout.

Also: when this thing is built, pay attention to the mechanicals and the overall height. Often the approvals are written for a certain height, "plus mechanicals," and it wouldn't surprise me if the total building is notably higher than the current building - albeit with the same nominal floor count and perhaps the same cornice height.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

This got approval from the BBAC two weeks ago.
 
Re: New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

Down and out on Newbury Street
Spot across from Taj on the auction block
By Donna Goodison, The Boston Herald

A prime piece of Boston real estate on the swankiest end of Newbury Street is headed for the auction block.

The property at 4-6 Newbury St., which includes a 160-car garage and first-floor retail space across from the Taj Boston Hotel, faces foreclosure, because its owner defaulted on the mortgage, according to a legal notice published yesterday.

The building is owned by Newbury Garage Associates LLC, which state corporation papers indicate is headed by Nader Golestaneh. Golestaneh, president of Boston?s Centremark Properties Inc., did not return calls for comment.

Jack Polatin, a Boston attorney representing the property?s mortgage holder, declined comment yesterday.

In April 2008, Golestaneh won Boston Redevelopment Authority approval to redevelop 4-6 Newbury in what would have been the first new major retail and office building on the upscale shopping thoroughfare. The estimated $14 million project never proceeded, however.

Golestaneh planned to tear down the 1980s-era, 49,000-square-foot garage and replace it with a seven-story building with three floors of retail space topped with four floors dedicated to offices, and 15 underground parking spaces.

?It?s a phenomenal retail location, and I think that a long list of retailers would love to be on the first block of Newbury Street - recession or no recession,? said Andy LaGrega, a partner at Wilder Cos., a retail development firm in Boston. ?Prime properties, especially on Newbury Street, always are sought after.?

Retail rents for the property would fetch well over $100 per square foot and probably approach $200 per square foot for the first floor, LaGrega said.
Click to expand...

http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1301912
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top