Another 1,000' tower plan may be in the works

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Hub developer eyes super-skyscraper idea
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Thursday, September 28, 2006


In a move that could dramatically reshape Boston?s skyline, a top Hub developer is eyeing a bold concept for what could be the city?s tallest skyscraper in the heart of the Financial District.

Young Park, head of Boston-based Berkeley Investments, is exploring a deal to buy an older office building near the corner of Congress and High streets, real estate executives told the Herald.

And one idea Berkeley is exploring would be to build a tower that could reach 1,000 feet, or 80 stories, sources said. It would equal or possibly even top plans now being pushed by City Hall for a similar-sized megatower at the site of a nearby city-owned parking garage.

The move may be just the start of a wave of New York-sized skyscrapers in Boston.

?We could use some variety in our building heights,? said David Begelfer, head of the local chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

Park told the Herald that, while he has had discussions related to the older, Financial District building, he does not have an agreement to buy it. Park also hinted that any development plan would be complicated, requiring other buildings on the block.

While acknowledging the block?s development potential, Park also declined to discuss any plans he may be considering for the site.

?I really don?t want to talk about it,? he said when pressed on the potential height of a possible project on the site. ?We have obviously an interest in downtown Boston.?

Park and his Berkeley Investments, once known as a surburban market player, are fast becoming a major force in Boston development. The company recently unveiled plans for a hip new development amid a tract of Victorian-era warehouses it acquired in South Boston?s industrial Fort Point district.

Talk of a new wave of megatowers is also drawing some concerns. With major companies like Fidelity Investments pulling jobs out of Boston, there are real questions about where thousands of workers needed to fill megatowers would come from, executives said.



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The building at Congress and High just completed a long (maybe 2 or 3 year) exterior renovation. It's got some pleasing deco gee gaws that have all been freshly polished. Though it's nothing too remarkable.
 
VanVoorhis' new buzz word: megatower.

His vocabulary is soaring.
 
chumbolly said:
The building at Congress and High just completed a long (maybe 2 or 3 year) exterior renovation. It's got some pleasing deco gee gaws that have all been freshly polished. Though it's nothing too remarkable.
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All things considered, I'd rather see the white tower across the street razed before the little art deco building. But judging by the picture in the dead tree version of the Herald they are talking about the brick building behind the art deco building. The one on the corner of Congress and the Surface Rd. Why the article says High St I have no idea. That building has some really nice brickwork though.
I'm too sentimental about these old buildings. I don't want to see any of them go. But thankfully I'm not in charge.
 
that's great news....between that and tommy's tower i'll be a happy man
 
castevens said:
Yeah, see you in 2030...
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You are actually right in some ways. It will probably take 10 to 20 years for a new generation of Bostonians to get into office and for the people to accept large projects. The NIMBY's today are products of the architecture AND people power movements of the 60s and 70s. By 2030 they will be too old or dead.
 
DarkFenX,

Do you still have that Pano of the skyline where you added buildings that were proposed/under construction. I'm salivating over the thought of adding these proposals to the skyline. Though these are so damn preliminary, I dont want to get my hopes up, but it would still look cool!
 
^^^^
View it as developer agitprop to soften the beach for a future wave of 700ft buildings. I wouldn't mind the nice art deco building going if the developer was building a 1000ft version of it with appropriate deco massing. Won't happen, though.
 
Disappointing to see this thread pop up again only to see that it was only someone asking if there is any new news.
 
Has anyone actually been to the Berkeley Investments website? Not only is there NO news of any such project, but the only project they did in Boston was the revitalization of 368 Congress St (a 6 story building). So this is the company that is going to give us a 1000 footer? BI is a small real estate investment company trying to get their name out there, conveniently located at 121 High St across the street from the site in question.
 
this isn't the same thread as Tommy's tower, this was a new story.... er... new pipedream story.
 
Not that this will ever get built, but if it was, I believe it would go right next to this project (if it ever gets built, that is.)
 
Oh to see the forest through the trees...

Talk of a new wave of megatowers is also drawing some concerns. With major companies like Fidelity Investments pulling jobs out of Boston, there are real questions about where thousands of workers needed to fill megatowers would come from, executives said.
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Who are these mystery executives? If they had any desire to be in Boston and invest in the city, they should be happy. Maybe some of these companies would not be looking elsewhere if the cost of living (real estate) wasn't so friggin overpriced. Build the towers, and watch Boston's office prices become more competitive.
 
^good point. build it and they will come... cheaper rents will seduce other major companies to have sattelite offices here, maybe.
 
^There is a group of executives/power brokers who meet regularly in Boston (they have some kind of weird name like the vault or something) who possess such influence. They talk about/decide a lot of things such as philanthropy, economics of Boston, employment and to some extent the built environment. I wonder if that is what is meant by "mystery executives"
 
My understanding is that "The Vault" (I think you may be right about that name) has not really been meeting like they did in the 70's and 80's. They were local old money guys (Chad Gifford, for example) whose power and influence have been displaced by that of real estate speculators, nightclub impresarios, out of town corporate parents and 128-dot-commers.
 
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