Avalon Exeter | 77 Exeter Street | Back Bay
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
I too like the mandairn hotel. But, what make me mad about boston a developer builds a 13 story building. And two years later he wants to build antoher 13 story building. If you recall the developers of the Mandarin now is looking for another site to build on. Why not kill two birds with one stone and build the mardian taller and save the site for someone else to build on it.
I too like the mandairn hotel. But, what make me mad about boston a developer builds a 13 story building. And two years later he wants to build antoher 13 story building. If you recall the developers of the Mandarin now is looking for another site to build on. Why not kill two birds with one stone and build the mardian taller and save the site for someone else to build on it.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
As a very nearby property owner subject to the deadly (?) affects of solar glare, I just sent a letter stating my approval of the project.
As far as the streetwall goes, I like the way it steps up.....I do think the neighborhood would be overpowered if highrises went up on the north side of Boylston. That said, I think the Millenium Partners 59+ story proposal was fine, and would think something up tow perhaps 200' stories would be ok on the cap section between Hynes (old ICA) and Boylston.
As a very nearby property owner subject to the deadly (?) affects of solar glare, I just sent a letter stating my approval of the project.
As far as the streetwall goes, I like the way it steps up.....I do think the neighborhood would be overpowered if highrises went up on the north side of Boylston. That said, I think the Millenium Partners 59+ story proposal was fine, and would think something up tow perhaps 200' stories would be ok on the cap section between Hynes (old ICA) and Boylston.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Who said anything about high rises on the north side of Boylston Street? It's just that one and two stories on that side look a bit pathetic. This isn't Sioux Falls or Juarez, you know.
Who said anything about high rises on the north side of Boylston Street? It's just that one and two stories on that side look a bit pathetic. This isn't Sioux Falls or Juarez, you know.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Ok....let me say this differently.....the majority of the existing 2-3 story buildings are infintitely superior to the new midrises on the north side (Exeter Place comes to mind).
When people talk about wanting Boylston to be a canyon, I imagine buildings like that or 888 proposed....888 is better than an awkwardly stretching naked man, but I'll take Anthropologie and Crate & Barrelll anyday.
Ok....let me say this differently.....the majority of the existing 2-3 story buildings are infintitely superior to the new midrises on the north side (Exeter Place comes to mind).
When people talk about wanting Boylston to be a canyon, I imagine buildings like that or 888 proposed....888 is better than an awkwardly stretching naked man, but I'll take Anthropologie and Crate & Barrelll anyday.
JimboJones
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
I can understand concerns over density on Boylston Street. It has a nice selection of bars, restaurants and shops on one side. Putting up a monolithic building on the other side might have a detrimental effect. Might, I say.
The Exeter Street building, however, seems like a no-brainer. It's a great location for a building of that size.
The only ONLY people who would be adversely affected would be the people in the RENTAL building next door.
To whom I say, if you're unhappy about it, move, bitches.
I can understand concerns over density on Boylston Street. It has a nice selection of bars, restaurants and shops on one side. Putting up a monolithic building on the other side might have a detrimental effect. Might, I say.
The Exeter Street building, however, seems like a no-brainer. It's a great location for a building of that size.
The only ONLY people who would be adversely affected would be the people in the RENTAL building next door.
To whom I say, if you're unhappy about it, move, bitches.
Boston Needs A ShakeShack
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Shirley Kressel called for the destruction of the BRA!
hahah go Shirley!
Residents Voice Staunch Resistance To New Pru Towers
by Dan Salerno
Two new high rise buildings proposed by the owners of the Prudential Center provoked vocal disapproval from a number of neighbors at a BRA sponsored community meeting last week.
The ill feelings centered most viscerally on the height of 888 Boylston Street, envisioned as the new 11 story centerpiece of the Prudential center. At 242 feet, the building far exceeds what is permissible by zoning, and the developers would have to seek a variance from the zoning board of appeal. The project has the backing of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
?I think this is a travesty; I?m disappointed in the BRA,? said resident Rick Gleason, who criticized the height of the building and questioned the value of zoning codes that are not enforced.
Shirley Kressel, a local activist and landscape architect, also criticized both the buildings and the development process. ?We?re all led to believe that these buildings are a done deal and inevitable, but they?re not,? said Kressel, stating that the BRA had no power to change zoning and that the project could still be stopped by community involvement.
Kressel then called for the complete dissolution of the BRA, which she said is in the pocket of developers and not responsive to community needs. ?We don?t have a real planning authority [in Boston],? she said.
Several residents call on the developers to draft new plans that meet the requirements laid out in zoning and Boylston Street?s planned development area (PDA) guidelines,
?It?s very hard to discuss a plan that doesn?t respond to zoning,? said Jackie Yessian, president of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay.
Residents said they would support a building of 155 feet, but that there was no demonstrable hardship that would excuse the additional height. Back Bay resident Sue Pringle also pointed out that new shadows from the towers would extend all the way to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.
The developers, for their part, stressed the positive impact the buildings could have on the neighborhood, brining office and residential space?including affordable units mandated by law?as well as additional prime retail to the Prudential area, according to Michael Cantalupa of Boston Properties.
Still, not a single resident present at the meeting spoke in support of the project.
?This building is the exact opposite of what this city needs,? said Mary Sonnabend, who criticized ?the secretive process? of the development
The project, which could start construction as early as June if the necessary approvals are obtained, calls from two new towers: an office and retail complex at 888 Boylston Street, and a residential tower next to the Lenox Hotel on Exeter Street. The 888 Boylston building has been rumored to be courting Bloomingdale?s to take up residence in its proposed lower retail section. The building would also be fronted by an expansive new pedestrian plaza with elaborate plantings and fountains.
The Prudential Public Advisory Committee?made of local residents, business owners, and officials--has been working with the developers on the project for over a year.
Shirley Kressel called for the destruction of the BRA!
hahah go Shirley!
Residents Voice Staunch Resistance To New Pru Towers
by Dan Salerno
Two new high rise buildings proposed by the owners of the Prudential Center provoked vocal disapproval from a number of neighbors at a BRA sponsored community meeting last week.
The ill feelings centered most viscerally on the height of 888 Boylston Street, envisioned as the new 11 story centerpiece of the Prudential center. At 242 feet, the building far exceeds what is permissible by zoning, and the developers would have to seek a variance from the zoning board of appeal. The project has the backing of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
?I think this is a travesty; I?m disappointed in the BRA,? said resident Rick Gleason, who criticized the height of the building and questioned the value of zoning codes that are not enforced.
Shirley Kressel, a local activist and landscape architect, also criticized both the buildings and the development process. ?We?re all led to believe that these buildings are a done deal and inevitable, but they?re not,? said Kressel, stating that the BRA had no power to change zoning and that the project could still be stopped by community involvement.
Kressel then called for the complete dissolution of the BRA, which she said is in the pocket of developers and not responsive to community needs. ?We don?t have a real planning authority [in Boston],? she said.
Several residents call on the developers to draft new plans that meet the requirements laid out in zoning and Boylston Street?s planned development area (PDA) guidelines,
?It?s very hard to discuss a plan that doesn?t respond to zoning,? said Jackie Yessian, president of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay.
Residents said they would support a building of 155 feet, but that there was no demonstrable hardship that would excuse the additional height. Back Bay resident Sue Pringle also pointed out that new shadows from the towers would extend all the way to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.
The developers, for their part, stressed the positive impact the buildings could have on the neighborhood, brining office and residential space?including affordable units mandated by law?as well as additional prime retail to the Prudential area, according to Michael Cantalupa of Boston Properties.
Still, not a single resident present at the meeting spoke in support of the project.
?This building is the exact opposite of what this city needs,? said Mary Sonnabend, who criticized ?the secretive process? of the development
The project, which could start construction as early as June if the necessary approvals are obtained, calls from two new towers: an office and retail complex at 888 Boylston Street, and a residential tower next to the Lenox Hotel on Exeter Street. The 888 Boylston building has been rumored to be courting Bloomingdale?s to take up residence in its proposed lower retail section. The building would also be fronted by an expansive new pedestrian plaza with elaborate plantings and fountains.
The Prudential Public Advisory Committee?made of local residents, business owners, and officials--has been working with the developers on the project for over a year.
kz1000ps
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Pru advisory panel vows openness
By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent / October 5, 2008
As the fight over the height of two new towers continues, the embattled advisory board charged with overseeing Prudential Center expansions since 1988 is bowing to community pressure to be more transparent.
To the chagrin of many Back Bay residents, the Prudential Project Advisory Committee, or PruPAC, is poised to allow the towers at the already mammoth complex to exceed the 155-foot limit under current zoning.
But at a Sept. 25 meeting of PruPAC's subcommittee on community benefits, the group showed signs of a new openness. Democratic state Representative Marty Walz of Back Bay, a member of PruPAC for almost two years, called the subcommittee together to clarify how PruPAC doles out community benefits payments pledged by developers.
As with past Prudential Center developments, community benefits for the proposed 242-foot office building at 888 Boylston St. and a proposed 27-story residential tower on Exeter Street would be allocated to neighborhood organizations that PruPAC approves. PruPAC also recommends Pru projects for Boston Redevelopment Authority approval.
"In the past, PruPAC did not meet in public and does now, and that is a good thing in my view," said Walz, who was unable to attend the Sept. 25 meeting. "So it is a step in the right direction."
Walz said PruPAC members affiliated with an applicant for funds should disclose those connections in the future.
Disclosure is a sticking point for longtime Back Bay resident and neighborhood activist Shirley Kressel, who is trained as a landscape architect. At the Sept. 25 meeting she argued that money is motivating PruPAC's inclination to sign off on the taller towers.
"The more square feet that's approved, the more money you get," Kressel said, referring to the fact that PruPAC would control $1.25 in community benefits per square foot. "That's an incentive to approve it."
Boston Properties pledged a combined $471,999 in community benefits when the two towers were first proposed in 1990. That money remains on the table, although PruPAC members said they will eventually ask for an inflation adjustment. Then, PruPAC would accept grant applications from community groups.
In the interest of transparency, PruPAC members agreed to hold off on funding decisions.
"The initial consensus is we shouldn't have a meeting until after PruPAC puts in recommendations so it doesn't look like we're being bought off," PruPAC president Betsy Johnson said at the meeting.
Johnson pointed out the current conflict of interest of board vice president, Elliott Laffer, who was not at the meeting. Laffer is executive director of the Boston Ground Water Trust, which was allotted $50,000 in community benefits for the first four phases of Prudential construction. However, he was not employed by the city at that time.
Johnson also said the South End Land Trust, for which she volunteers, received $100,000 last time around, but said another PruPAC member nominated the group for funding.
On Sept. 25, Johnson suggested she'd be willing to forgo future money donated to the Land Trust, but during a phone interview the next day she was disappointed by the lack of trust in PruPAC.
"It's harming a neighborhood and 600 other people for what seems to be pettiness," she said.
In 1989, PruPAC handled $1,384,000 in community benefits tied to the complex's shopping arcade, the Prudential tower, the Belvedere apartments, Shaw's Supermarket, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which opens this week.
Responding to Kressel's claim that money is motivating PruPAC's support of height increases, both Johnson and BRA senior project manager John O'Brien said they made developers come down from 265 feet to 242 feet on the 888 Boylston building to minimize shadows.
"Your argument that the bigger the better, it's not true, it's not true," O'Brien told Kressel on Sept. 25. "We got it down in size."
Walz is also opposed to building above 155 feet, which Johnson says is allowed because the two towers are designated Special Project Development Areas. A similar exemption was given to the Mandarin hotel in 2002, according to Kressel, allowing it to increase in height from 120 feet to 150.
Johnson said she understands that neighbors who helped hash out the original Back Bay zoning code don't like the idea of overhauling it, but she said there's a bigger picture to consider in terms of discouraging sprawl.
"It's five stories on the back side of the Pru within a corridor of Back Bay's tallest buildings," Johnson said.
About 20 residents expressed their disapproval of the project during a BRA meeting at the Boston Public Library on Sept. 23. The BRA said the public comment period would end Oct. 31. Johnson, however, said PruPAC's vote was likely to come the week of Oct. 13 or 27.
Link
Pru advisory panel vows openness
By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent / October 5, 2008
As the fight over the height of two new towers continues, the embattled advisory board charged with overseeing Prudential Center expansions since 1988 is bowing to community pressure to be more transparent.
To the chagrin of many Back Bay residents, the Prudential Project Advisory Committee, or PruPAC, is poised to allow the towers at the already mammoth complex to exceed the 155-foot limit under current zoning.
But at a Sept. 25 meeting of PruPAC's subcommittee on community benefits, the group showed signs of a new openness. Democratic state Representative Marty Walz of Back Bay, a member of PruPAC for almost two years, called the subcommittee together to clarify how PruPAC doles out community benefits payments pledged by developers.
As with past Prudential Center developments, community benefits for the proposed 242-foot office building at 888 Boylston St. and a proposed 27-story residential tower on Exeter Street would be allocated to neighborhood organizations that PruPAC approves. PruPAC also recommends Pru projects for Boston Redevelopment Authority approval.
"In the past, PruPAC did not meet in public and does now, and that is a good thing in my view," said Walz, who was unable to attend the Sept. 25 meeting. "So it is a step in the right direction."
Walz said PruPAC members affiliated with an applicant for funds should disclose those connections in the future.
Disclosure is a sticking point for longtime Back Bay resident and neighborhood activist Shirley Kressel, who is trained as a landscape architect. At the Sept. 25 meeting she argued that money is motivating PruPAC's inclination to sign off on the taller towers.
"The more square feet that's approved, the more money you get," Kressel said, referring to the fact that PruPAC would control $1.25 in community benefits per square foot. "That's an incentive to approve it."
Boston Properties pledged a combined $471,999 in community benefits when the two towers were first proposed in 1990. That money remains on the table, although PruPAC members said they will eventually ask for an inflation adjustment. Then, PruPAC would accept grant applications from community groups.
In the interest of transparency, PruPAC members agreed to hold off on funding decisions.
"The initial consensus is we shouldn't have a meeting until after PruPAC puts in recommendations so it doesn't look like we're being bought off," PruPAC president Betsy Johnson said at the meeting.
Johnson pointed out the current conflict of interest of board vice president, Elliott Laffer, who was not at the meeting. Laffer is executive director of the Boston Ground Water Trust, which was allotted $50,000 in community benefits for the first four phases of Prudential construction. However, he was not employed by the city at that time.
Johnson also said the South End Land Trust, for which she volunteers, received $100,000 last time around, but said another PruPAC member nominated the group for funding.
On Sept. 25, Johnson suggested she'd be willing to forgo future money donated to the Land Trust, but during a phone interview the next day she was disappointed by the lack of trust in PruPAC.
"It's harming a neighborhood and 600 other people for what seems to be pettiness," she said.
In 1989, PruPAC handled $1,384,000 in community benefits tied to the complex's shopping arcade, the Prudential tower, the Belvedere apartments, Shaw's Supermarket, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which opens this week.
Responding to Kressel's claim that money is motivating PruPAC's support of height increases, both Johnson and BRA senior project manager John O'Brien said they made developers come down from 265 feet to 242 feet on the 888 Boylston building to minimize shadows.
"Your argument that the bigger the better, it's not true, it's not true," O'Brien told Kressel on Sept. 25. "We got it down in size."
Walz is also opposed to building above 155 feet, which Johnson says is allowed because the two towers are designated Special Project Development Areas. A similar exemption was given to the Mandarin hotel in 2002, according to Kressel, allowing it to increase in height from 120 feet to 150.
Johnson said she understands that neighbors who helped hash out the original Back Bay zoning code don't like the idea of overhauling it, but she said there's a bigger picture to consider in terms of discouraging sprawl.
"It's five stories on the back side of the Pru within a corridor of Back Bay's tallest buildings," Johnson said.
About 20 residents expressed their disapproval of the project during a BRA meeting at the Boston Public Library on Sept. 23. The BRA said the public comment period would end Oct. 31. Johnson, however, said PruPAC's vote was likely to come the week of Oct. 13 or 27.
Link
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Hacks.
Thank God they're out of the picture.
Hacks.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Plaza is really quite nice. Big improvement over the previous design. Maybe PruPAC is worth something after all.
Lurker
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Mercifully nothing of major importance within the city limits!
I honestly think there is nothing wrong with the current, or a taller version, of 888 Boylston in its current design. The proximity to the Prudential tower and that terrible Pomo building across the street leads me to believe there isn't anything dastardly about what shadows would be produced.
Mercifully nothing of major importance within the city limits!
I honestly think there is nothing wrong with the current, or a taller version, of 888 Boylston in its current design. The proximity to the Prudential tower and that terrible Pomo building across the street leads me to believe there isn't anything dastardly about what shadows would be produced.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Regarding the whole development, I could take it or leave it. It's not something I would get excited about but it's nothing I would oppose either. The redesign is much better in my opinion.
Regarding the whole development, I could take it or leave it. It's not something I would get excited about but it's nothing I would oppose either. The redesign is much better in my opinion.
Padre Mike
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
I hope they keep the sculpture in front of the Pru. It's was done by Donald DeLue, one of the leading bronze sculptors of the 20th century, now deceased. You can see many of his maquettes (small versions) of his work at Child's (sp?) Gallery on Newbury St. He designed a similar statue for the New York World's Fair (which I think is extant in the former fair grounds). He's known for his highly stylized nudes and ability to convey strength and motion.
I hope they keep the sculpture in front of the Pru. It's was done by Donald DeLue, one of the leading bronze sculptors of the 20th century, now deceased. You can see many of his maquettes (small versions) of his work at Child's (sp?) Gallery on Newbury St. He designed a similar statue for the New York World's Fair (which I think is extant in the former fair grounds). He's known for his highly stylized nudes and ability to convey strength and motion.
CDubs
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
I hope that wherever he ends up, it's more contextually appropriate than the previous location - it always looked to me as if he were inexplicably just floating there, or trying to glide up and over the Hynes. A beautiful statue, but it needs to have some relationship to its surroundings.
I hope that wherever he ends up, it's more contextually appropriate than the previous location - it always looked to me as if he were inexplicably just floating there, or trying to glide up and over the Hynes. A beautiful statue, but it needs to have some relationship to its surroundings.
Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
That was his relationship to his surroundings.
CDubs
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Re: New Tower(s) Planned For Prudential Center
Yes, IMO not a good relationship, but a chortle-inducing one. He wants to get out of that plaza, and so doesn't everyone else!
Yes, IMO not a good relationship, but a chortle-inducing one. He wants to get out of that plaza, and so doesn't everyone else!