BCEC expansion | Seaport

Arlington said:
I think it is silly to measure a convention center in square feet.

To me the question is: are the spaces we have conducive to the conventions we have, want, or will exist in the future?

I think these are going to be less about the "mass rally" and more about the "breakout session" (your pitch to the boss, as an attendee, is that you'll meet particular people of interest or learn specifically-useful skills...which results in smaller, targeted clusters)

How often are all 3 Halls filled. Or all 3 plus ballroom? compared to all breakout/meeting rooms being filled?

The huge "Inbound" conference (hosted by Cambridge-based HubSpot) only uses Hall A & B (and never C) because it is all about the breakout sessions (which have spilled across the Lawn on D food-truck court) to take the smaller spaces at the nearby hotels.

Hall A is the "exhibitor marketplace" and Hall B is for "the general session". The only time I've ever seen Hall C in use is for the Auto Show (and then the question is: do the breakout rooms get used at the Auto Show?)
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Arlington -- I was at a technical conference and expo at the BCEC last year -- we had a fairly good size exhibition floor in Hall C with some breakout rooms

Meanwhile Red Hat had some kind of customer event which took over most of the rest of the BCEC

A bit earlier a much bigger Tech event [ballpark 10,000 attendees] settled in the majority of the BCEC -- IEEE Microwave Symposium which comes to Boston about once per decade -- lots of major exhibitor / customer sessions happened in the suites in the Westin and most tech sessions were in breakout rooms or on the exhibition floor

It was clear that the IEEE event could have been more comfortable with a bigger BCEC and a second host Hotel [such as the Omni] easily accessible to the BCEC

One thing I'd like to see -- a moving walkway carrying participants the length of the building -- perhaps on top -- with a good view?
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stefal said:
The post office land deal has been years in the making between dozens of agencies, including (I'm probably forgetting some): US Army, Feds, MBTA, Massport, City of Boston

Last I heard the PO was to be rebuilt at 525 E Street, taking up a few acres of Army Corps of Engineers land and Massport owned land. In return a new maintenance facility would be built at Fort Devens for the army, and nothing has been sorted out for Massport. It's a good location, I'd say. Pretty easy access to Haul Road/S Boston Bypass
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BCEC should do a land swap with 525 E Street. Another waterfront post office to replace a slightly more valuable waterfront post office is not what the area needs. But a waterfront convention center adjacent to where the cruise ships come in with a vibrant mixed use development.

Just stick the post office in back of BCEC.
 
tangent said:
BCEC should do a land swap with 525 E Street. Another waterfront post office to replace a slightly more valuable waterfront post office is not what the area needs. But a waterfront convention center adjacent to where the cruise ships come in with a vibrant mixed use development.

Just stick the post office in back of BCEC.
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Tangent -- as this P.O. facility is all about large-scale about processing of mail and packages for delivery to other local postal facilities and long-distance shipment --- above all it needs direct access to:
  1. Logan
  2. I-93 N & S
  3. I-90 W
  4. I-95 N & S
The Army site over by the Reserve Chanel [525 E St.] is a good fit -- although I suspect later on in the next decade that area will be the final expansion of the Seaport / Innovation District in South Boston

Another good fit would be the warehouse district along Dorchester Ave between Broadway & Andrew T stops. This one becomes especially good with some rebuild of the roadways [A St. once Dorchester Ave is re-opened to general traffic over the Fort Point Chanel. It is situated near to the South Boston bypass and Massport Haul road offering excellent highway access.
 
whighlander said:
Tangent -- as this P.O. facility is all about large-scale about processing of mail and packages for delivery to other local postal facilities and long-distance shipment --- above all it needs direct access to:
  1. Logan
  2. I-93 N & S
  3. I-90 W
  4. I-95 N & S
The Army site over by the Reserve Chanel [525 E St.] is a good fit -- although I suspect later on in the next decade that area will be the final expansion of the Seaport / Innovation District in South Boston

Another good fit would be the warehouse district along Dorchester Ave between Broadway & Andrew T stops. This one becomes especially good with some rebuild of the roadways [A St. once Dorchester Ave is re-opened to general traffic over the Fort Point Chanel. It is situated near to the South Boston bypass and Massport Haul road offering excellent highway access.
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The area in back of BCEC has direct access to the South Boston Bypass rd which makes it a very good choice for the post office. A mail sorting facility doesn't need a waterfront location.

I understand there are some benefits to having one giant contiguous convention center. And I think those benefits are outweighed by the emergence of additional benefits from putting your people oriented facility in a people oriented location. And putting your mail and package distribution center in close proximity to your light industrial employment areas which will benefit from easy and quick access to distribution.

S Boston Bypass · Boston, MA 02210

Boston, MA 02210
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl
 
Maybe this is a bridge too far, but just put the post office underneath the convention center expansion. You build a big space on the first floor with the convention hall floor 30 or 40 feet above ground level. Line it with ground level streetscape spaces along the city streets. Innovation spaces, restaurant, retail etc.

Then you free up the Summer St parcel for something other than a post office
 
tangent said:
Maybe this is a bridge too far, but just put the post office underneath the convention center expansion. You build a big space on the first floor with the convention hall floor 30 or 40 feet above ground level. Line it with ground level streetscape spaces along the city streets. Innovation spaces, restaurant, retail etc.

Then you free up the Summer St parcel for something other than a post office
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The space along the streets of the post office are going to need to be truck access docks. I don't see a lot of room for other uses.

Also, the convention center also values ground level floor space, because of load-in-load-out access for all the exhibits. Moving exhibits up to a second level would be a royal pain (maybe not even practical).
 
Arlington said:
How often are all 3 Halls filled. Or all 3 plus ballroom? compared to all breakout/meeting rooms being filled?
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PAX uses the entire building: exhibition space, breakout rooms, informal spaces (next to the escalators on both sides), food courts and the Lawn on D (weather permitting). The last attendance numbers they've got are 69k back in 2011, and they've since expanded it to a 4 day event.

IIRC, they signed a 10 year deal back in 2023.
 
JeffDowntown said:
The space along the streets of the post office are going to need to be truck access docks. I don't see a lot of room for other uses.

Also, the convention center also values ground level floor space, because of load-in-load-out access for all the exhibits. Moving exhibits up to a second level would be a royal pain (maybe not even practical).
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Hynes has a lot of upper level spaces.
 
tangent said:
Hynes has a lot of upper level spaces.
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Hynes is a pretty small hall. I believe all the load-in-out there is by freight elevators (from freight docks below the exhibit floor levels). That works for smaller exhibits.

BCEC conventions tend to have larger exhibits. Many don't want to load-in-out by freight elevator. (Some really big exhibit material has to come in from a level dock.)
 
JeffDowntown said:
Hynes is a pretty small hall. I believe all the load-in-out there is by freight elevators (from freight docks below the exhibit floor levels). That works for smaller exhibits.

BCEC conventions tend to have larger exhibits. Many don't want to load-in-out by freight elevator. (Some really big exhibit material has to come in from a level dock.)
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Jeff -- the really big stuff -- drives onto the exhibition floor and sometimes it is the truck minus the front part with the driver - -such as Future Networks @ the IEEE Microwave Exhibition
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Expansion has always been the plan, definitely Cypher Street if not all the way to First Ave! Just a matter of funds. Here's the study from 01-2020.
 

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The bill the house approved in June is attached. This is what they're trying to push now and it has a lot more detail for those curious. It looks like they'll build a meeting area onto the empty pad on level 2 to expand out and add the bridge. Overall it seems like a reasonable stopgap to get something done while still leaving the rear able to be expanded in the future.

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king_vibe said:
They should be making the BCEC smaller.
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Why? To make it harder to attract events? (Not that it'd be unreasonable have an argument over whether that would be a good thing, it's clearly not what the powers that be are interested in.)
 
Are they really going to put solar on the roof this time? I thought it got nuked from the original build for various reasons.
 
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Globe caption: The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority still has about 30 acres to be developed around the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston. This photo shows the full extent of what's left to be developed. The MCCA has put the eastern portion, between D and E streets, out to bid for development.PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MCCA "

www.bostonglobe.com

More big development could soon land alongside the BCEC - The Boston Globe

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is seeking proposals to build on six acres along D Street where Southie meets the Seaport.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

The MCCA put these six-plus acres out to bid in late November, seeking developers to sign a 99-year ground lease to build on the three sites. The timeframe to assemble a bid, though, is unusually short, with proposals due Dec. 21, leaving just one month for developers to assemble teams and plans. The authority expects to pick a winner in the spring. The move also comes as Governor Charlie Baker, who appointed a majority of the MCCA board, prepares to leave office early next month.
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Those concerns were echoed by state Senator Nick Collins, a Democrat who also hails from South Boston. Collins, who co-chairs the legislature’s committee on bonding and state assets, said he’s against the sale at this time in part because he believes any decision on how to develop the land should be left to the incoming administration led by Governor-elect Maura Healey.

“What’s striking about this attempted fire sale by the [MCCA] executive director of the MCCA’s properties in South Boston is that it comes at a time when the convention center fund is at a significant surplus,” Collins said. “And par for the course, there’s been no community discussion.”
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Gibbons said he’s eager to get this bidding resolved quickly because Alexandria Real Estate Equities is preparing to redevelop the DHL shipping complex along E Street next door, and it makes sense for these surplus lots, now primarily used for parking, to be developed in a way that complements Alexandria’s proposed lab complex.
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The MCCA wants at least 50,000 square feet of offices there, so it can move out of its makeshift warren in the convention center basement, plus space for community-based uses such as a daycare center and as many as 800 parking spaces to support the convention center and the hotels. Gibbons said he also wants developers to add a noticeable amount of green space
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I really like the idea of developing the adjacent parking lots between D & E streeets (and east of E) as part of some integrated east-of-D plan.
I also like that they're working on related land uses (day care, office, hotel, park), and not currently pushing for more exhibition hall space (Given how Covid has re-made--and is still remaking--the role and conception of in-person events)
 
The Seaport needs small block granular development, no more of the soulless superblock, Omni Hotel style projects. It's totally anti urban and anti pedestrian. More residential condos and ground floor retail.
 
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