Back Bay Garage Tower | Dartmouth and Stuart | Back Bay

I'm gonna start by saying this is really bad. That said, it is the ground level that is way more important to me than some sort of weird stacking. There doesn't seem to be any renders of that. The current garages' interaction with Stuart St. is atrocious. With the new Raffles next door, that ridiculous circular parking entrance has to be blown up for starters. But it is the corner of Dartmouth and Stuart that will really make or break it for me. The elevation change is one difficult challenge, but the the overhang of the garage at the corner over the weird diagonal style staircase and how that all should go is almost even harder. I'm not sure about what is essential at that corner, but per the picture, I would advocate shaving the corner off to at least the first column. This corner is also a heavily used bus stop, with buses coming off the Pike from Waltham and Newton, and the corner should be designed to reflect that reality. We shall see, I suppose.
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Not defending this. It's terrible. But, aren't they pretty limited in height due to shadow laws?
 
KentXie said:
Boston needs to emulate how Toronto builds out TODs around train stations
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When Boston gets Toronto level subway frequency and capacity, maybe. I know it's a bit of a chicken/egg problem, but still, it's really hard to rely on the MBTA nowadays.

Also, I feel like Toronto TOD honestly is not the best example to follow. The zoning in Toronto is so wack, you get 1-2 blocks of supertall glass towers and then immediately transition to detached single family homes, with little to no missing middle.
 
#bancars said:
When Boston gets Toronto level subway frequency and capacity, maybe. I know it's a bit of a chicken/egg problem, but still, it's really hard to rely on the MBTA nowadays.

Also, I feel like Toronto TOD honestly is not the best example to follow. The zoning in Toronto is so wack, you get 1-2 blocks of supertall glass towers and then immediately transition to detached single family homes, with little to no missing middle.
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There's a video that I posted by B1M in the Other Cities development thread or whatever it is called that talked about this. They were intentionally trying to densify as much as possible around the train station which they should since it's a more efficient use of space and makes the most out of the convenience provided by the trains but they are starting to look into the areas further out as additional opportunity to add housing given the explosive growth that they have been experiencing.
 
KentXie said:
There's a video that I posted by B1M in the Other Cities development thread or whatever it is called that talked about this. They were intentionally trying to densify as much as possible around the train station which they should since it's a more efficient use of space and makes the most out of the convenience provided by the trains but they are starting to look into the areas further out as additional opportunity to add housing given the explosive growth that they have been experiencing.
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The TTC subway system is very efficient, but it is at capacity. They have been planning a "relief line" for two decades now. Relief Line (Toronto) - Wikipedia
 
I hope the fat blob office building doesn't get built. It's really going to mess up a lot of views of the Hancock. Subtraction by addition, kind of like another 888 Boylston, only arguably worse. A glass "tower" with these proportions in this area is absolutely criminal.
 
Noticed a modest expansion of the work zone yesterday; expanded to the south now, knocking out the small plant store.

Note that the expanded area carries into the interior of the station as well.
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cburns said:
Noticed a modest expansion of the work zone yesterday; expanded to the south now, knocking out the small plant store.

Note that the expanded area carries into the interior of the station as well.
View attachment 40472
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Is JUGOS still open?? That place makes killer smoothies.
 
I hope it fails and goes back to the drawing board. No need for more office space, and definitely no need to add one of the city's ugliest structures right next to one of our grandest. Cut the tower footprint, angle it away from the Hancock, add 50% to the height, and make it residential. There's no reason to have a "tower" take up the entire footprint of that cursed garage!
 
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