BCEC expansion | Seaport

I'm getting so jaded in my old age. All these ideas like a movie studio, library, and arboretum sound very cool. However, they seem to be the first things cut or value-engineered within these projects. The Fort Pointer on X/Twitter does a really good job of pointing out all the promised "community benefits" that get quietly removed during planning and construction. If you read the posts, you get quite upset with the planning and development process.

 
Java King said:
The Fort Pointer on X/Twitter does a really good job of pointing out all the promised "community benefits" that get quietly removed during planning and construction.
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Agreed. He also routinely posts his (her?) thoughts in the Globe comment sections of articles on Boston development, especially Seaport/Fort Point development.
 
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Apologies for reviving this thread with a only tangentially related development but it appears that BCEC has built a park along the edge of its parking lot bordering new D Street. I have seen exactly no press releases about it so I have no idea who has built it/who funded it/why. Was built over the last 3 months.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
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Apologies for reviving this thread with a only tangentially related development but it appears that BCEC has built a park along the edge of its parking lot bordering new D Street. I have seen exactly no press releases about it so I have no idea who has built it/who funded it/why. Was built over the last 3 months.
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this is Cypher St. Its a MassDOT/Massport redesign (and extension from D St to E St). Its meant to create a more direct truck route connection between Conley Terminal and the Bypass Rd instead of using the Haul Rd, which takes you into Marine Industrial Park.

this presentation provides a good overview:
 
Thanks for sharing the slides.

Looking at them, I would think if they building "future connection" from E Street to Summer Street (which would be completely logical) then the Fargo ROW could be abandoned and not create the funky triangle parcel that would be difficult to develop down the road.
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real_EthanHunt said:
this is Cypher St. Its a MassDOT/Massport redesign (and extension from D St to E St). Its meant to create a more direct truck route connection between Conley Terminal and the Bypass Rd instead of using the Haul Rd, which takes you into Marine Industrial Park.

this presentation provides a good overview:
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No this is unrelated to that project, that project includes the road and the cycle track on the south side of the road and was completed last year, this has been built on what was formerly a row of the parking lot on the north side of the street and is solidly within BCEC property. Notice how it doesn't appear in any of those slides.

I found the project, it's the BCEC Cypher Street Beautification Project. $6.7M, I'm a little surprised I've heard exactly zero news about it. No press releases either, just hidden away in the board minutes of a subcommittee. https://s3.amazonaws.com/massconvention/pdf/meeting_resources/2024/DC_Meeting_Materials_10-10-24.pdf

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At some point in 2024 it was apparently presented to FPNA as well: https://fortpointneighborhood.org/w...0/BCEC-Beautification-FPNA-September-2024.pdf
 
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Yeah interesting. Google maps right now has the cypher redesign and cycle track shown as complete but that park is not yet created. Don’t know the story behind it, but it’s definitely new. Here’s the intermediate state. Cypher is done but no park.
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HelloBostonHi said:
HelloBostonHi said:
No this is unrelated to that project, that project includes the road and the cycle track on the south side of the road and was completed last year, this has been built on what was formerly a row of the parking lot on the north side of the street and is solidly within BCEC property. Notice how it doesn't appear in any of those slides.

I found the project, it's the BCEC Cypher Street Beautification Project. $6.7M, I'm a little surprised I've heard exactly zero news about it. No press releases either, just hidden away in the board minutes of a subcommittee. https://s3.amazonaws.com/massconvention/pdf/meeting_resources/2024/DC_Meeting_Materials_10-10-24.pdf

At some point in 2024 it was apparently presented to FPNA as well: https://fortpointneighborhood.org/w...0/BCEC-Beautification-FPNA-September-2024.pdf
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Apologies for reviving this thread with a only tangentially related development but it appears that BCEC has built a park along the edge of its parking lot bordering new D Street. I have seen exactly no press releases about it so I have no idea who has built it/who funded it/why. Was built over the last 3 months.
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I think your tone is interesting after learning about this project, and lends to the question "what is the level of outreach required"? It seems like you feel that you deserve to have known about this project from the getgo and are frustrated that you cannot find more information about it, even after the fact. Is this just based on a general interest in the outcome, a desire to have been part of the process, or are you a nearby impacted abutter that likely should have known but there was some sort of outreach failure?

I ask because I had a realization recently when I heard that an abutting neighborhood association to mine reviewed (and killed) a small redevelopment proposal. No materials posted anywhere as it was not a city-sponsored event and I'm not on email lists for neighborhoods I don't live in. I'm saddened because maybe I wanted to show some support since it's literally right around the corner and I walk by this lot daily. Should I have known or am I just interested? I think it's a similar sentiment and I don't know if our frustration for these sorts of things is warranted.
 
sm89 said:
I think your tone is interesting after learning about this project, and lends to the question "what is the level of outreach required"? It seems like you feel that you deserve to have known about this project from the getgo and are frustrated that you cannot find more information about it, even after the fact. Is this just based on a general interest in the outcome, a desire to have been part of the process, or are you a nearby impacted abutter that likely should have known but there was some sort of outreach failure?

I ask because I had a realization recently when I heard that an abutting neighborhood association to mine reviewed (and killed) a small redevelopment proposal. No materials posted anywhere as it was not a city-sponsored event and I'm not on email lists for neighborhoods I don't live in. I'm saddened because maybe I wanted to show some support since it's literally right around the corner and I walk by this lot daily. Should I have known or am I just interested? I think it's a similar sentiment and I don't know if our frustration for these sorts of things is warranted.
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I think in this specific scenario I'm mostly surprised that a public agency has built a $6M park and not bragged about it once. I'm sure there will eventually be a ribbon cutting but usually agencies are excited to brag about how they're spending public money on improvements like parks. Not even having a page on their website for it or a press release is surprising to me.

In general I do understand one can't possibly keep track of every development in a big city, I can't even keep track of the projects that I'm working on nevermind the hundreds of other ones. I do think best practice is to have a project page that someone who is seeking out information can find at least basics about a project on (timeline, funding, basic plan view)
 
HelloBostonHi said:
I think in this specific scenario I'm mostly surprised that a public agency has built a $6M park and not bragged about it once. I'm sure there will eventually be a ribbon cutting but usually agencies are excited to brag about how they're spending public money on improvements like parks. Not even having a page on their website for it or a press release is surprising to me.

In general I do understand one can't possibly keep track of every development in a big city, I can't even keep track of the projects that I'm working on nevermind the hundreds of other ones. I do think best practice is to have a project page that someone who is seeking out information can find at least basics about a project on (timeline, funding, basic plan view)
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... I think that's called humility.

Working for a different state agency (MassDOT), I can offer anecdotally that the list of projects/investments we make annually is far greater than the press or fanfare for which we receive. And I mean projects that affect everyday citizens of the Commonwealth for the better, across all modes. Like if we complete 80 to 100 federal aid highway projects in a year, I think only a fraction of them make a headline. And that's okay.

If you're pleased with the project--if the project fulfilled a need in the transportation network--then we've done our job. No need to gloat. ;)

You can learn more about projects the State is investing in by checking out the MassDOT Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and MassDOT STIP; or check out our Regional Planning webpage to learn more about the planning process/entities for many of these projects.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
No this is unrelated to that project, that project includes the road and the cycle track on the south side of the road and was completed last year, this has been built on what was formerly a row of the parking lot on the north side of the street and is solidly within BCEC property. Notice how it doesn't appear in any of those slides.
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thanks for the clarification. I thought they were 1 project since they were under construction back to back. I wouldnt say they are unrelated though, the MCCA seems like they responded to the roadway improvements by creating a nicer edge on their parcel to match. There is no way design wasnt at least started before construction of the roadway started.

Justbuildit said:
Yeah interesting. Google maps right now has the cypher redesign and cycle track shown as complete but that park is not yet created. Don’t know the story behind it, but it’s definitely new. Here’s the intermediate state. Cypher is done but no park.
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looking at nearmap aerials looks like the Cypher roadway work started in Q1 of 2024 finishing up in Q3 and the park started in Q4 or early 2025.
 
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