type001
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 1,730
- Reaction score
- 231
Atlantic Wharf (née Russia Wharf) | Atlantic Ave | Waterfront
Suffolk 83
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,975
- Reaction score
- 2,300
Re: Russia Wharf
i was thinking about other buildings that could have a new tower portion added... what about the Park Square building (31 St. James). the old JHT has a wide bottom diagonally across the street. i guess a drawback would be it could hide that building at certain views. That area seems like a good place.
i was thinking about other buildings that could have a new tower portion added... what about the Park Square building (31 St. James). the old JHT has a wide bottom diagonally across the street. i guess a drawback would be it could hide that building at certain views. That area seems like a good place.
tobyjug
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2007
- Messages
- 3,401
- Reaction score
- 446
Re: Russia Wharf
It is a complicated story involving City Hall, Thomas Finneran, Harold Brown, Billy Bulger, FBI Agent Zip Connolly, Whitey Bulger, and others. The only NIMBY aspect of which I am aware was a lawsuit threatened by a large law firm located on the upper floors of 60 State St concerning "view easements".
The players in this drama were a little more, shall we say, serious minded than the Walzes and Kressels of the world.
It is a complicated story involving City Hall, Thomas Finneran, Harold Brown, Billy Bulger, FBI Agent Zip Connolly, Whitey Bulger, and others. The only NIMBY aspect of which I am aware was a lawsuit threatened by a large law firm located on the upper floors of 60 State St concerning "view easements".
The players in this drama were a little more, shall we say, serious minded than the Walzes and Kressels of the world.
JimboJones
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2007
- Messages
- 935
- Reaction score
- 1
Re: Russia Wharf
Can someone who is talented do a mock-up of St James St with a tower? That would be awesome.
Can someone who is talented do a mock-up of St James St with a tower? That would be awesome.
C
ChunkyMonkey
Guest
Re: Russia Wharf
Russia Wharf condo plan may be altered
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman Journal staff
For the second time in three years, the owner of Russia Wharf is selling the residential portion of the development.
The current owner, Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP), is in the process of selecting a buyer for the residential slice of the mixed-use development that could sell for about $65 million. Boston Properties bought Russia Wharf from The Blackstone Group last March for about $100 million.
One of the bidders in the final three, according to sources, is Avalon Bay Communities Inc., which owns the luxury apartment complex Avalon at the Prudential Center. Avalon Bay and Boston Properties are partnering on a development at 888 Boylston St. where BXP plans to build a 19-story office building and Avalon intends to build a 30-story residential building. Both buildings are subject to approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Real estate sources say Avalon isn't necessarily the assumed winning buyer and that the decision will be based on which bidder has the best development plan. Other finalists may include developers who are interested in building either condominiums or a hotel.
"We have a mix (of bidders)," said Michael Smith, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, which was hired to sell the property. "The (condo) market today is soft. The markets change. The question is 'how bullish are you and what's your horizon?' "
In 2005, Equity Office Properties Trust attempted to sell the residential portion of the project, but a deal was never consummated. Equity originally planned to build a hotel at the site but switched to residential when the hotel market slowed. Now Boston Properties is facing the same dilemma -- trying to sell a residential development during a unsteady market.
Smith said there are bidders who are considering the site for a hotel. Others would like to convert it into an office development, but that change would require new permits, which take money and time.
Both hotel and rental properties are currently in demand in Boston with supply keeping rates and occupancy high. The condo market, on the other hand, is harder to predict. While sales of luxury units have remained strong, real estate executives question whether developers can forecast three years in advance. However, the luxury rental market today is strong, said Richard Robinson, president of Apartment Realty Advisors-New England in Burlington.
"There's a great rental demand and specifically you're seeing that in the lease-up of several projects that are downtown, specifically Archstone Boston Common and Trilogy," said Robinson.
Rents at both Archstone Boston Common and Trilogy -- in the Chinatown and Fenway neighborhoods respectively -- are between $3.20 per square foot and $3.40 per square foot per month, said Robinson. The fundamentals have "never been better" for luxury apartments, said Robinson, noting that supply is low and rents are rising.
It's anyone's best guess what use the market will support in 2010 when the building is slated to open.
"There're very few people who are looking at beginning new condo construction projects," said Thomas O'Brien, executive vice president of JPI. "From today's vantage point you have to look into the crystal ball and say 'where do you think we'll be in 2011?' "
In December, the asking price was reportedly more than $80 million. The price ultimately will depend on what will be built on the site that also includes 550,000 square feet of office space Boston Properties plans to develop.
One drawback to hotel development at Russia Wharf is that direct competition -- the Intercontinental Boston hotel -- is right next door and several other hotels are under development or about to open around the city such as the W Hotel and the Renaissance Boston Waterfront hotel.
"I would be very surprised if someone built a hotel there, frankly," said Jeffrey Nolan, managing director of O'Connell Hospitality Group LLC. "You've got so much supply coming online."
Michelle Hillman can be reached at mhillman@bizjournals.com.
Article URL:
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/02/04/story4.html?b=1202101200^1584962
Russia Wharf condo plan may be altered
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman Journal staff
For the second time in three years, the owner of Russia Wharf is selling the residential portion of the development.
The current owner, Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP), is in the process of selecting a buyer for the residential slice of the mixed-use development that could sell for about $65 million. Boston Properties bought Russia Wharf from The Blackstone Group last March for about $100 million.
One of the bidders in the final three, according to sources, is Avalon Bay Communities Inc., which owns the luxury apartment complex Avalon at the Prudential Center. Avalon Bay and Boston Properties are partnering on a development at 888 Boylston St. where BXP plans to build a 19-story office building and Avalon intends to build a 30-story residential building. Both buildings are subject to approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Real estate sources say Avalon isn't necessarily the assumed winning buyer and that the decision will be based on which bidder has the best development plan. Other finalists may include developers who are interested in building either condominiums or a hotel.
"We have a mix (of bidders)," said Michael Smith, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, which was hired to sell the property. "The (condo) market today is soft. The markets change. The question is 'how bullish are you and what's your horizon?' "
In 2005, Equity Office Properties Trust attempted to sell the residential portion of the project, but a deal was never consummated. Equity originally planned to build a hotel at the site but switched to residential when the hotel market slowed. Now Boston Properties is facing the same dilemma -- trying to sell a residential development during a unsteady market.
Smith said there are bidders who are considering the site for a hotel. Others would like to convert it into an office development, but that change would require new permits, which take money and time.
Both hotel and rental properties are currently in demand in Boston with supply keeping rates and occupancy high. The condo market, on the other hand, is harder to predict. While sales of luxury units have remained strong, real estate executives question whether developers can forecast three years in advance. However, the luxury rental market today is strong, said Richard Robinson, president of Apartment Realty Advisors-New England in Burlington.
"There's a great rental demand and specifically you're seeing that in the lease-up of several projects that are downtown, specifically Archstone Boston Common and Trilogy," said Robinson.
Rents at both Archstone Boston Common and Trilogy -- in the Chinatown and Fenway neighborhoods respectively -- are between $3.20 per square foot and $3.40 per square foot per month, said Robinson. The fundamentals have "never been better" for luxury apartments, said Robinson, noting that supply is low and rents are rising.
It's anyone's best guess what use the market will support in 2010 when the building is slated to open.
"There're very few people who are looking at beginning new condo construction projects," said Thomas O'Brien, executive vice president of JPI. "From today's vantage point you have to look into the crystal ball and say 'where do you think we'll be in 2011?' "
In December, the asking price was reportedly more than $80 million. The price ultimately will depend on what will be built on the site that also includes 550,000 square feet of office space Boston Properties plans to develop.
One drawback to hotel development at Russia Wharf is that direct competition -- the Intercontinental Boston hotel -- is right next door and several other hotels are under development or about to open around the city such as the W Hotel and the Renaissance Boston Waterfront hotel.
"I would be very surprised if someone built a hotel there, frankly," said Jeffrey Nolan, managing director of O'Connell Hospitality Group LLC. "You've got so much supply coming online."
Michelle Hillman can be reached at mhillman@bizjournals.com.
Article URL:
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/02/04/story4.html?b=1202101200^1584962
Re: Russia Wharf
rendering from Boston Business Journal:
http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/109622-400-0.jpg?rev=2
rendering from Boston Business Journal:
http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/109622-400-0.jpg?rev=2
Re: Russia Wharf
Despite what seems to be a large number of naysayers, I really dig this project. I agree with many in thinking a taller building could have made for a more dramatic entrance into the "FiDi," but the facadectomy (as depicted in the renderings) gets high marks.
The old Russia Wharf buildings help create a more interesting streetscape than we would've had if the glass and steel part continued all the way down to the ground, while the glass tower is a refreshing addition to the skyline.
Leave to the separate parts what they're good at: 19th-century warehouse architecture, sadly, is better at creating a likable streetscape than what today's architect's seem capable of, while International Style scrapers can accommodate people's work and living needs better.
Although it's characterized by some as lazy or fake, I think the "facadectomy" method is a fine, if imperfect, solution to preserving history (in Boston's case as a seafaring port) while recognizing the city's new role as home and financial center for the posh. (As an aside, I'd take the Hearst Building in New York over most of the planned buildings for the WTC site any day.)
Despite what seems to be a large number of naysayers, I really dig this project. I agree with many in thinking a taller building could have made for a more dramatic entrance into the "FiDi," but the facadectomy (as depicted in the renderings) gets high marks.
The old Russia Wharf buildings help create a more interesting streetscape than we would've had if the glass and steel part continued all the way down to the ground, while the glass tower is a refreshing addition to the skyline.
Leave to the separate parts what they're good at: 19th-century warehouse architecture, sadly, is better at creating a likable streetscape than what today's architect's seem capable of, while International Style scrapers can accommodate people's work and living needs better.
Although it's characterized by some as lazy or fake, I think the "facadectomy" method is a fine, if imperfect, solution to preserving history (in Boston's case as a seafaring port) while recognizing the city's new role as home and financial center for the posh. (As an aside, I'd take the Hearst Building in New York over most of the planned buildings for the WTC site any day.)
Bos77
Active Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2006
- Messages
- 482
- Reaction score
- 295
Re: Russia Wharf
Here's what I like- the design is cleaned up a lot from previous incarnations. The use of the beams externally to create the effect of buttressing near the roof is interesting. If the roof is lit like this at night, it will add another splash of color to the skyline (especially if lit with color changing LED's). The roof, while flat, is angled a bit. The corner spire, which seems to be the architectural gimmic du jour of the last decade, adds more interest to the Greenway corner to complement the roof which angles up and outward from the same corner.
Here's what I don't- the waterside facade between the old and new is still awkward or not even developed at all. Could they do nothing to breath new life into the brickwork; some element that ties the two pieces of the old and new architecture together, or even play a bit with Intercontinental next door? What is the pedestrian flow to the new activites on the site? If it's just a building plopped down to the previous entries and exits, how does it improve anything? Also the previously mentioned corner spire- it's a decade plus gimmic on tons of new high rises that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever. Still CBT seems prenially behind the times with anything in Boston, so what can you expect. I guess I wish it was still 20 floors higher and thinner. It's on the edge of the currently dull, but emerging seaport, and downtown. It could have been a great gateway piece of architecture between the two.
Here's what I like- the design is cleaned up a lot from previous incarnations. The use of the beams externally to create the effect of buttressing near the roof is interesting. If the roof is lit like this at night, it will add another splash of color to the skyline (especially if lit with color changing LED's). The roof, while flat, is angled a bit. The corner spire, which seems to be the architectural gimmic du jour of the last decade, adds more interest to the Greenway corner to complement the roof which angles up and outward from the same corner.
Here's what I don't- the waterside facade between the old and new is still awkward or not even developed at all. Could they do nothing to breath new life into the brickwork; some element that ties the two pieces of the old and new architecture together, or even play a bit with Intercontinental next door? What is the pedestrian flow to the new activites on the site? If it's just a building plopped down to the previous entries and exits, how does it improve anything? Also the previously mentioned corner spire- it's a decade plus gimmic on tons of new high rises that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever. Still CBT seems prenially behind the times with anything in Boston, so what can you expect. I guess I wish it was still 20 floors higher and thinner. It's on the edge of the currently dull, but emerging seaport, and downtown. It could have been a great gateway piece of architecture between the two.
saltbox
New member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2007
- Messages
- 41
- Reaction score
- 0
Re: Russia Wharf
Glad to have an ally in this line of thinking, Bos77!
Though I might hedge; either incarnation of Russia Wharf, old or new, is a charming work of architecture. Agreed? If so, it's just a matter of whether to blend or contrast.
Glad to have an ally in this line of thinking, Bos77!
Though I might hedge; either incarnation of Russia Wharf, old or new, is a charming work of architecture. Agreed? If so, it's just a matter of whether to blend or contrast.
tocoto
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 385
- Reaction score
- 82
Re: Russia Wharf
Of all the renderings I've seen this is the best IMO. The top still doesn't really mesh with the bottom - maybe if they had integrated the vertical elements on the side all the way from the roof to the ground somehow. I agree that slimmer, taller and a bit further away from the IC would have been better.
Of all the renderings I've seen this is the best IMO. The top still doesn't really mesh with the bottom - maybe if they had integrated the vertical elements on the side all the way from the roof to the ground somehow. I agree that slimmer, taller and a bit further away from the IC would have been better.