AvalonBay Tower (Jacob Wirth's) | 45 Stuart Street | Downtown

[kz1000ps]

The BRA did encourage the developer to put a large mechanicals "topper" on the central portion. They were trying to break up the "buzz cut" effect

I would be lauding this if I weren't so shocked that the BRA suddenly cares about skyline plateau-ing...?

Instead I'm laughing at them, throwing my hands in the air exclaiming "who knew!" It's this kind of stuff that makes people question what the hell is going on down there at the BRA.

 

[mass88]

I am liking these towers that are nice and bright and have lighting at the top. Makes the skyline pop a little.

 

[stick n move]

I really hope this tower is built with good materials, its extremely hard to tell from that nighttime rendering, but if this is done right it will help to mitigate a lot of the damage the kensington did to the skyline here.

 

[DZH22]

It's taking off!

 

[itchy]

I really hope this tower is built with good materials, its extremely hard to tell from that nighttime rendering, but if this is done right it will help to mitigate a lot of the damage the kensington did to the skyline here.

Chances of this seem to be about nil. First you have "neighborhood groups" that don't give a whang about architecture but do care about "shadows," "wind," "Manhattanization (height)," and "affordable housing." Trying to mitigate those concerns hits the developer's bottom line, and the architecture - always intended to be bare-bones and cheap - takes a hit.

Then you have a city planning agency that, again, doesn't care about architecture. And finally you have an owner that owns tens of thousands of structures around the country, typically fairly ugly ones at that, and doesn't have any pride in this particular structure - or fear that an ugly building wouldn't sell, given both the lack of concern on buyers' part about the exterior of their building, as well as the bubbly Boston market that means a painted cardboard box would probably sell if in the right neighborhood.

 

[jdrinboston]

And finally you have an owner that owns tens of thousands of structures around the country, typically fairly ugly ones at that, and doesn't have any pride in this particular structure - or fear that an ugly building wouldn't sell, given both the lack of concern on buyers' part about the exterior of their building, as well as the bubbly Boston market that means a painted cardboard box would probably sell if in the right neighborhood.

AvalonBay is finishing up the Avalon Exeter project, which has been fairly well received by the folks on this board. If what goes on this site is of at least the same quality, I think it could work real well. Don't get me wrong, it won't be the John Hancock Tower, but it shoudn't be anything that takes away from the neighborhood.

 

[JeffDowntown]

Floors that can be occupied will add to the zoning height of 289'. MEP/the crown is not included in the measurements. It's a nimby-mitigation/trickery tactic for adding height.

You can go to a meeting and say this building is only 289' and then add a 30' crown to boost its height, compared to going to a meeting saying I have a 320' building and have everyone freak the f out because it's over 300'.

This is exactly what happened. The BRA would actually have liked this building to be 10 stories higher, but they knew the NIMBY's would freak out at anything over 300 ft. zoning height. And the developer was savvy enough to not open up that issue, knowing they would lose in the end.

 

[393b40]

This is exactly what happened. The BRA would actually have liked this building to be 10 stories higher, but they knew the NIMBY's would freak out at anything over 300 ft. zoning height. And the developer was savvy enough to not open up that issue, knowing they would lose in the end.

I don't understand. Doesn't the BRA control zoning? Doesn't the BRA control approvals? Isn't the BRA essentially unaccountable to the neighbors...? Not sure why they even bother listening to complaints.

 

[JeffDowntown]

I don't understand. Doesn't the BRA control zoning? Doesn't the BRA control approvals? Isn't the BRA essentially unaccountable to the neighbors...? Not sure why they even bother listening to complaints.

Because serious complaints can really slow things down. Avalon Bay was self-financing, meaning shovels in the ground very quickly -- if you kept the approvals simple.

 

[Czervik.Construction]

Yikes, I like the looks of this. That said, as posted by others, this is a night shot and I guess we will see how much VE-ing will go on and ruin the thing.

 

[fattony]

Yikes, I like the looks of this. That said, as posted by others, this is a night shot and I guess we will see how much VE-ing will go on and ruin the thing.

I don't know, there isn't all that much here to remove. Compare with waterside place which had every single feature of visual interest cut. I'm sure WP will look better once it's occupied - it won't look so monolithic - but this looks good with almost no features to start with. The crown is nice, but even if it remains it could go the way of Liberty Mutual and have 2-3 lights out from day 1.

I really hope the balconies survive. And I also hope I can afford the rent because I think this is possibly the very best location in all of downtown. It's enough removed from the tourist track to make it livable, but walkable or T-able to absolutely everything (sans Blue Line, but really... Who cares?)

 

[stick n move]

Render Mashup:

Glass Curtain entrance "literally"

Original Design

New Design

2nd Design (Looks about the same as the new minus the new taller crown)

 

[stick n move]

That entrance is going to add a whole new level of class to stuart st. The old vs new contrast is going to be incredible.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

I really hope the balconies survive. And I also hope I can afford the rent because I think this is possibly the very best location in all of downtown. It's enough removed from the tourist track to make it livable, but walkable or T-able to absolutely everything (sans Blue Line, but really... Who cares?)

Add to that, a pretty sweet bar on the first floor.

 

[choo]

It really all depends on the quality of the materials with this one. We could easily have a Kensington or (god-forbid) waterside place on one end, or a surprisingly nice Avalon Exeter or Clarendon. I don't think we will know until frames starts climbing. I like the change to heighten the vertical, but that rendering gives nothing away.

 

[BeeLine]

45 Stuart St 12/27 (Looking WSW)


45 Stuart St 12/27 (looking N)

 

[kz1000ps]

Last but not least, I believe this on-site rendering is new?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I like the verticality of the design but the back part with the horizontal dark and white bands might clash a bit with it. I'll wait and see as it might work from other angles.

 

[atlantaden]

Whoa!!! Me like!

 

[type001]

Classy!

I officially want to live in it. Someone here said on here a page back s/he thought this was the nest neighborhood in town to live. I agree. I always loved being right down there.