88 Black Falcon Avenue | Seaport

When the Edison plant and this are built it would make sense to build a launch for high speed ferry service if that's not already in the works. If traffic returns to anything like what it was prior to the pandemic...and presumably it will be modestly better but nothing like it was in say 2005, then the poor lab and office workers who make the mistake of working in these buildings will be absolutely miserable with their commute. All the congestion will bottleneck onto Summer Street. People will be clamoring for gondolas, monorails or teleports. I don't know how anyone who experienced Boston traffic prior to the pandemic doesn't see this issue as a calamity.
 
sidewalks said:
When the Edison plant and this are built it would make sense to build a launch for high speed ferry service if that's not already in the works. If traffic returns to anything like what it was prior to the pandemic...and presumably it will be modestly better but nothing like it was in say 2005, then the poor lab and office workers who make the mistake of working in these buildings will be absolutely miserable with their commute. All the congestion will bottleneck onto Summer Street. People will be clamoring for gondolas, monorails or teleports. I don't know how anyone who experienced Boston traffic prior to the pandemic doesn't see this issue as a calamity.
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There are entire threads on this, but the most practical and effective way to address Seaport transportation is through BRT lanes and fixing the Silver Line. There's no need to reinvent the wheel here.
 
I've visited an architecture firm that used to have their Boston headquarters in this building. It was a very "suburban feeling" building, but the views were totally killer! I know they are keeping things open for the cruise ship berths, but the 90 degree parking all around this building in the plans bothers me. Can't we have a nice harbor walk WITHOUT cars that also preserves the ability for cruise ships to dock? A restaurant or cafe would be nice, but it's very "end of the world" kind of location.
 
I'll add to my post above. A nice viewing platform for the cruise ships and cargo port across the channel would be a welcome addition. The park on the other side of this building has some really awesome viewing structures, but I don't think they are used much. They aren't really high enough to see much.

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Java King said:
I'll add to my post above. A nice viewing platform for the cruise ships and cargo port across the channel would be a welcome addition. The park on the other side of this building has some really awesome viewing structures, but I don't think they are used much. They aren't really high enough to see much.

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I think the particular platform you posted a picture of above is meant for viewing ships in Drydock #4. That drydock is still actively used for ship repair.
 
Java King said:
I've visited an architecture firm that used to have their Boston headquarters in this building. It was a very "suburban feeling" building, but the views were totally killer! I know they are keeping things open for the cruise ship berths, but the 90 degree parking all around this building in the plans bothers me. Can't we have a nice harbor walk WITHOUT cars that also preserves the ability for cruise ships to dock? A restaurant or cafe would be nice, but it's very "end of the world" kind of location.
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JavaKing -- I recommend the previously referenced Ray Flynn Boston Marine Industrial Park Revised Master Plan document [or some such combination of words] -- all of these issues are addressed at length either by the BPDA staff or the consultants who wrote the underlying reports which are referenced in the doc
Note as mentioned previously -- the Massport property is not within the BPDA jurisdiction -- but most of the same restrictions due to the Commonwealth Tidelands Legislation and Designated Port stuff still applies
 
bigpicture7 said:
I think the particular platform you posted a picture of above is meant for viewing ships in Drydock #4. That drydock is still actively used for ship repair.
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BigPicture -- not to pick nits but:
The drydock in question is #3 and it is under long-term lease to Boston Ship Repair

Drydock #4 is the essentially abandoned site next to the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
 
whighlander said:
BigPicture -- not to pick nits but:
The drydock in question is #3 and it is under long-term lease to Boston Ship Repair

Drydock #4 is the essentially abandoned site next to the Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
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Yes, my bad. In any case, it's a nice feature to be able to see over the containers and equipment to check out the ship in drydock.
 
To inform the conversation with respect to suggestions for possible other uses of the existing building, and the vehicular apron that surrounds the building, from the PNF:

"The Project Site contains an [existing] three‐story building which comprises approximately 353,950 sf of Gross Floor Area (“GFA”), as such term is defined in the Zoning Code, as well as 243 surface parking spaces and 312 open deck parking spaces which accommodate a total of 555 vehicles. The open deck parking area is accessed by a two‐way vehicular ramp on the western edge of the building. On the north side of the building there exist approximately 83 loading bays. The existing building currently houses a roster of tenants that includes water‐dependent industrial uses and supporting DPA uses, such as office and accessory uses thereto. The Project Site also includes a public viewing area on its eastern end, as well as a fish cleaning station and public pathway which is part of the Harborwalk. These public amenities along the Reserved Channel, including a public restroom that is provided inside the building, are provided pursuant to an existing Chapter 91 license for the Project Site. The north apron is in continuous use by the building’s water‐dependent‐industrial and other tenants, primarily for truck access to the 83 loading bays on the north side of the building. The north apron is also used for materials lay‐down and staging. Because of such loading, staging and vehicular access activities, the rail tracks on the north apron have not been used for decades.

"Although the watersheet seaward of the pier aprons is not part of the Project Site, the watersheet accommodates five ship berths, two along the north apron and three along the south apron. The three berths on the south apron are most commonly utilized by cruise ships. The two berths along the north apron are frequently used by Coastal Cement for the docking of cement barges making deliveries to that facility. Those barges typically dock once per week, most often at the western‐most berth immediately adjacent to the Coastal Cement facility. When there is high demand for dockage in the port, the north apron berths may accommodate cruise ships and other vessels.
.......
"The Proponent proposes the construction of a vertical addition containing four new floors and approximately 327,600 sf of GFA directly atop the existing three-story building. The addition is proposed to accommodate laboratory, research and development and office uses, and uses accessory thereto.
…... [most notable modifications to the existing building are] the demolition of the existing parking ramp and its reconstruction adjacent to the existing building, and additional decking for parking (approximately 53,900 sf) to accommodate up to 174 new parking spaces."
________________________
Existing tenants of the building will continue to operate during and after construction of the four new floors. The projected number of new permanent employees is over 800. The number of parking spaces is reduced substantially when a cruise ship(s) is docked at this pier. This reduction is required by Federal port security regulations. The developer will pay $500,000 for a feasibility study for a water taxi service.
 
Stellar -- the keys are two seemingly innocuous terms:
DPA -- Designated Port Area -- which restricts the usage of the site to a minimum percentage of activities which:​
directly utilize the harbor either to:​
ship goods or people [e.g. cruise ships, cement barges]​
pump large amounts of water [e.g. seafood processing]​
utilize the edge of the harbor to perform maritime-related industrial tasks [e.g. fixing ships in a drydock]​
support the above types of activities​
might be a temporary activity such as the music pavilion [18 years as temporary use] or intermittently parking trucks or buses​
Chapter 91 -- relates to filled land once under water and what you can do with the land now​
​
somehow R&D seems to have made it through the bureaucratic sieve -- but a restaurant to provide lunch for people waking in any of the officially sanctioned jobs is not acceptable​
​
and then while it doesn't apply to this project since this Massport property 88 Black Falcon] is outside of the Ray Flynn Boston Harbor Maritime Industrial Park -- there are additional criteria which must be met for properties within RFBMIP whether those properties are inside the DPA and/or Chapter 91 lands​
​
As an aside many of the regulations are pertinent to another era entirely​
As another aside -- none of these regulations were in existence when the vast majority of the existing structures in the vicinity of Black Falcon and Dry Dock Ave's were built​
​
​
 
Hello Stellarfun. I actually did read the paragraphs you posted earlier. I just don't see why there couldn't be a small elevated viewing platform at the end of the pier such as I showed for the other park. I think it's almost laughable they list the public restrooms as a public amenity. Nobody walking around that building would know they are available for use. :) I can certainly understand why retail or a restaurant would not work based on the restrictions. I just mentioned it was a killer view! I "get" the need for the concrete and parking, but I just wish they could jazz it up a bit with artwork or a viewing platform. Really.......... ANYTHING would be an improvement. I'm looking at you Mr. Wooden Bench.
 
bigpicture7 said:
I think the particular platform you posted a picture of above is meant for viewing ships in Drydock #4. That drydock is still actively used for ship repair.
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Yes. Maybe I wasn't clear. I was just suggesting something similar to this structure for the end of the 88 Black Falcon pier. It could be very informative with panels describing the container port across the channel.
 
Java King said:
Yes. Maybe I wasn't clear. I was just suggesting something similar to this structure for the end of the 88 Black Falcon pier. It could be very informative with panels describing the container port across the channel.
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Java

Here's the existing and future from the NPC filing

You can see that the existing public viewing area and fish cleaning station has been preserved -- but that seems to be all

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RandomWalk said:
The steel frameworks make it look like a creature taking a nap on top of the bottom floors.
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I'd guess it is seismic? That's the only reason I can think of why they'd have it napping on the outermost section (where there's nothing on top), leading me to hypothesize that it is designed to keep the masonry walls from spreading and the floors from pancaking?
 
This is also where we need a bus lane on Washington St from North Station through the FiDi and out to the Seaport that'd host "SL9" from NOrth Station past Haymarket and SS, out to the hairpin at the end of Dry Dock that SL2 currently does.
 
DwnTwnr said:
This is such a missed opportunity. There are so many great examples of fabulous vertical additions on historic buildings and this is clearly just an exercise in packing in as much square footage as possible.
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That's pretty obviously the intention. There's only really so much you can do given how close it is to Logan plus the cruise disruptions while still making the project viable.
 
Arlington said:
I'd guess it is seismic? That's the only reason I can think of why they'd have it napping on the outermost section (where there's nothing on top), leading me to hypothesize that it is designed to keep the masonry walls from spreading and the floors from pancaking?
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From the renderings, the roadway appears to be on pilings. Assuming that the building itself is on filled land with bulkheads constructed decades ago (circa 1918), the structural engineering to offload added weight must be fairly intense.

Also, with respect to dwntwnr's comment, IIRC, the present maritime-use tenants remain during construction and will continue to use the building post-construction. That would certainly constrain the scope of any re-development as well. If those tenants were to leave, Chapter 91 comes into play, and there is no expansion for a bioscience tenant.
 
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