Back Bay Garage Tower | Dartmouth and Stuart | Back Bay

Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Since we know little, and aimless speculation is what most of this is about, Is this an opportunity for a new tallest? There are some tall luxury units going up so i don't know if Boston could support an 800'+ condo in addition to all the other ones going on (maybe i'm wrong, who knows). But the Back Bay has very low office vacancies and this is about as prime a location as you can get.

Think we could get a new mixed use, tallest building? Dare I say a spire would be great point to break the height too!
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Back Bay station needs some serious maintenance. The roof leaks like a sieve, but more pressing is the air quality issue. One many days the air inside the station is almost opaque with exhaust. It's been this way for years and it's astonishing that the MBTA hasn't been forced to address this. Repairs to the station's ventilation systems were supposed to be paid for by the developers of Columbus Center as part of their mitigation package. When that project fell apart I guess the MBTA didn't have a plan-B to pay for the required work to the station.

The desperate state of the station could help speed a new tower proposal through.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

briv said:
The desperate state of the station could help speed a new tower proposal through.
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Could it also provide some leverage to the developer to go really high? In other words, perhaps the developer could propose something along the lines of "We'll only upgrade the station if our tower can be X feet tall".
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

I'm fine with this, as long as they demolish the bathrooms, salt the earth beneath them, hire an exorcist to cleanse the site, and rebuild and maintain the restrooms to an acceptable standard. (I don't like walking in to see people pleasuring themselves in the middle of the room.)

Seriously, the men's room at Back Bay is like walking into a portal to another, particularly unpleasant dimension / Taxi Driver-era NYC.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Arborway said:
I'm fine with this, as long as they demolish the bathrooms, salt the earth beneath them, hire an exorcist to cleanse the site, and rebuild and maintain the restrooms to an acceptable standard. (I don't like walking in to see people pleasuring themselves in the middle of the room.)

Seriously, the men's room at Back Bay is like walking into a portal to another, particularly unpleasant dimension / Taxi Driver-era NYC.
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While the condition of the facility may be deplorable, it sounds like your concerns have more to do with operations than maintenance ;)...
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Call me a NIMBY if you want, but I'd hate to see the Hancock get overshadowed by a taller building right next door. I'd want it to remain the tallest building within at least a 1/2 mile radius. Imagine if we got something taller right next door, except it happened to be a lesser design or use lower quality materials? It would diminish the power/verticality of my favorite building, and murder the skyline forever.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

A guy next to me was literally jerking off at the stand up urinal one time.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

briv said:
Back Bay station needs some serious maintenance. The roof leaks like a sieve, but more pressing is the air quality issue. One many days the air inside the station is almost opaque with exhaust. It's been this way for years and it's astonishing that the MBTA hasn't been forced to address this. Repairs to the station's ventilation systems were supposed to be paid for by the developers of Columbus Center as part of their mitigation package. When that project fell apart I guess the MBTA didn't have a plan-B to pay for the required work to the station.
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I thought they finished putting a new roof on it so it doesn't leak anymore.
BB Station is a shit hole because it's not privately managed. Even without a tower on top this is a huge win.
I spoke to a friend at Boston Properties about this project earlier in the week. He said that the reason the exhaust is so bad is because the trains now stop in the station head first (or caboose first, I can't remember). But when the station was designed they expected the opposite (i.e., the diesel fumes would have been outside). Can anyone confirm this?
 
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Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

LMFAO! Thank you AFL I needed THAT!
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Well this is getting good...keep the stories coming!

wcur.jpg
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

^Post of the year, AFL.

I'm excited for this. I avoid BB as much as I can- the air in there murders my lungs (I have asthma) and it has so much potential that it's frustrating to see it as it is. I'm also excited to see what such a development could bring to the street level on Dartmouth and especially on the corner with Stuart.

If we get two or three towers out of this, this area will be pretty impressive. I'll have to add some speculative models in Google Earth once my computer gets fixed.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

DZH22 said:
Call me a NIMBY if you want, but I'd hate to see the Hancock get overshadowed by a taller building right next door. I'd want it to remain the tallest building within at least a 1/2 mile radius. Imagine if we got something taller right next door, except it happened to be a lesser design or use lower quality materials? It would diminish the power/verticality of my favorite building, and murder the skyline forever.
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I think if someone's going to build a new tallest, we're not going to have to worry about things like sub-par materials which usually come into a project as a result of value-engineering. I wouldn't have a problem with a building taller than the Hancock going next door though. I think it could look really cool actually.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

tmac9wr said:
I think if someone's going to build a new tallest, we're not going to have to worry about things like sub-par materials which usually come into a project as a result of value-engineering. I wouldn't have a problem with a building taller than the Hancock going next door though. I think it could look really cool actually.
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It would ruin the "lone large sculpture" effect that Hancock has now but I'd be fine with that. Cities change, knowing a bigger building might be going up next door would get us to appreciate the Hancock as is while we can. Not that it isn't appreciated now but nothing in life is permanent - great art, architecture and cityscape will always reflect this somehow.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

AFL, no worries. I understand. You were pretty tied up with shoving whatever that thing was up your ass.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Don't forget 40 Trinity (30+ floors) is going in between this project and the HT.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

BeeLine said:
Don't forget 40 Trinity (30+ floors) is going in between this project and the HT.
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Very true. Between the Trinity (400 ft) & Simon (625 ft) buildings alone, the "lone large sculpture" effect is going to be diminished greatly, if not ruined entirely...might as well go all-in with a 900+ footer here!
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

tmac9wr said:
Very true. Between the Trinity (400 ft) & Simon (625 ft) buildings alone, the "lone large sculpture" effect is going to be diminished greatly, if not ruined entirely...might as well go all-in with a 900+ footer here!
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AGREED! but why go small time? It's time for a 1,000'+ tower!

EDIT: actually, i'd be perfectly happy with a 900' tower, baby steps
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

bobthebuilder said:
AGREED! but why go small time? It's time for a 1,000'+ tower!

EDIT: actually, i'd be perfectly happy with a 900' tower, baby steps
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FWIW, the FAA height limit for that site is approx. 925-940'.
 
Re: Back Bay Garage Tower (Dartmouth and Stuart)

Equilibria said:
FWIW, the FAA height limit for that site is approx. 925-940'.
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Yea that's what I was going by. I checked the map and saw that as the limit.
 
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