Blackstone buildings in line for ground floor rehabs.

You know that is kinda most of the reasoning behind all this right? We gotta get more people down there so people can't see all the homeless.
 
The Herald said:
Landlord looks to renovate lobbies in high-rises
By Scott Van Voorhis | Wednesday, October 31, 2007 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets

A New York investment firm that bought a large swath of Boston?s office district is rolling out plans for sweeping upgrades to several prominent downtown towers, starting with One Post Office Square.

Blackstone Group earlier this year became Boston?s largest office landlord after acquiring Equity Office Properties Trust. Now the New York firm, through its new Equity Office subsidiary, has filed plans with City Hall to build a three-story, all-glass lobby at the entrance to One Post Office Square, headquarters to Putnam Investments.

Equity has also submitted proposals for similar lobby revamps and upgrades for other downtown properties, including 225 Franklin, 150 Federal and 60 State streets.

The company will spend north of $75 million on the projects, said Gregory Shay, president of the firm?s Boston operations.

Competition is driving the improvement plan, he said. Developers have unveiled plans for a number of new towers across the city, offering the latest in amenities in a bid to draw tenants.

?The lobby upgrades we are doing are really intended to reposition the building to be what we call front-line competitive,? Shay said.

Equity is responding with plans to make its buildings more visually striking to potential tenants, with One Post Office Square offering a taste of what the company has planned.

At One Post Office, the three-story glass atrium would take shape in front of the building, looking out toward Post Office Square park. The glass structure will appear especially striking because it will be self-supporting, Shay said. Inside, the atrium will feature stone and artwork.

?I think anytime you make the public space and identity of your building more appealing, you help your own cause,? said Jay Driscoll, a downtown leasing executive at Cushman & Wakefield.
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Link
 
I'd be interested to see what this is gonna look like. I'm one of the few people who doesn't hate this building.
 
I assume you're talking about 1 PO Square, and though I hate its exterior, I love the lobby. Hopefully they won't be replacing that rich Italian marble.
 
I don't mind the building. Look at it for what it is: a background building. Like nearby Exchange Place, it's derivative of Paul Rudolph's widely published work from the early 80's. I prefer it to Philip Johnson's tarted-up towers.
 
Maybe on the skyline it's a background building, but it sure as hell isn't when you're in Post Office Square. From there it sticks out amidst a row of roughly 10-story buildings, and IMO its mediocrity is definitely felt.
 
Re: One Post Office Square

An obnoxious and incompetent pile that ruins many views with its pointless cantilevers. Its resemblance to Rudolph's work is exactly skin deep.
 
Makeovers are set for five lobbies

Blackstone to spend $60m to compete with new buildings

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | December 21, 2007


Blackstone, the largest owner of office space in Boston, will spend millions of dollars redesigning and modernizing the lobbies of five prominent towers - even adding commissioned artwork - to better compete with newer buildings and towers opening over the next few years.


Buildings that will get new, friendlier looks on their ground floors and at entrances over the next 18 months include:
One Post Office Square, 60 State St., the Center Plaza offices across from City Hall, 225 Franklin St., and 150 Federal St.


Yesterday, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the plan for One Post Office Square.


The company will spend an estimated $60 million on renovations, said Gregory P. Shay, president of Equity Office, the Blackstone unit that owns 22 buildings in the Boston area. The improvements will give the company a leg up in a competitive office market.
The vacancy rate is 5 to 7 percent in top-quality office buildings downtown, Shay said yesterday.


"A lot of our competition is now coming from new buildings, and it's hard for 30- to 40-year-old buildings to compete," he said.


At the BRA meeting yesterday, Blackstone's architect, Robert Brown of the Boston firm CBT, showed the plan for a significant expansion of the three-story lobby of One Post Office Square. It would consolidate three security desks into one, extend the exterior glass walls toward the curb, and add 2,000 square feet of coffee shop or other retail space.


"It will be a good place for repose," Brown said, "and at the same time invigorate the sidewalk," where new trees will be planted. "It's a great opportunity to take an existing piece of the city and put a fresh new face on it."


The changes at the five buildings would be instantly noticeable to anyone who has gotten used to narrow entrances, lobbies crowded with security desks, and sidewalks that need new paving or additional lighting.


"They are trying to open it up and make more accessible the entire public realm of the ground floor of these buildings," said Kairos Shen, the city's director of planning, who has been working with Blackstone planners for several months.


In many cases, the lobbies are difficult for tenants and visitors to maneuver in because of the increased security restrictions that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.


State-of-the-technology turnstiles and security systems will be installed in some buildings.


"We have been against having a security desk in a very prominent location," Shen said. "It's like doormen - people are discouraged to go through."


Shen said that in several cases, Blackstone's plans are to expand the lobbies out onto sidewalk areas, making the entrances more visible, and giving lackluster openings character and style.


"They're doing the sidewalks in a much more organized way," including planting trees, Shen said.


Some buildings will also get new lighting up to their rooftops, giving them more prominence at night and enhancing the nighttime skyline.


Blackstone's plan for 150 Federal includes moving the main entrance around the corner to High Street, which now has a secondary entrance, and renaming the building to reflect new, modern space on High Street. Most of the plans require further city approvals.


Blackstone executives and city officials said that as part of the improvements to the plazas or sidewalks, the company has agreed to pay for public art. The art would be permanent, typically some sort of sculpture on the sidewalk. The process of selecting the type of art and specific artists is just beginning, Shen said.


Other Boston building owners have made similar moves recently. One Washington Square, managed by Jones Lang LaSalle, recently unveiled a new lobby and entrance near Court Street. And, nearby, the owners of One Boston Place are undertaking improvements.


Blackstone, a private equity firm, paid $39 billion early this year for the entire portfolio of Chicago-based Equity Office Properties Trust, including about 11 million square feet in 22 buildings in the Boston area, 17 of them downtown.


Though it has since resold some buildings elsewhere, the company still has almost all of its Boston holdings. Its executives view the office market here as rapidly recovering and have determined they could profit from rising rents.


In fact, the firm quickly began asking for higher rents, leading to what executives in the industry have called "the Blackstone effect" - upward pressure on rents in the overall Boston market, which in some cases have gone above $80 per square foot.
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http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/12/21/makeovers_are_set_for_five_lobbies/
 
Check out its picture on google maps. I guess they didn't want anybody to get a good look at it...might need sunglasses.
 
You know, it's pretty exciting times in Boston right now. We have lot's of investment in real estate, both new and exsisting, infrastructure investments and foreign investers coming in. I am not a big fan of the idea, but at least the casino's are attracting industry big wigs, not small time, shady groups. I truly feel we are on the verge of a pretty big boom over the next 10-15 years. I know the market is a little unstable, but things are looking good in Boston!
 
New lighting for the tops of buildings - nice. New street art - also nice. But I thought Blackstone was planning to integrate more retail into these buildings to enliven the streets? New lobbies will be aesthetically pleasing, but won't do much for the downtown street scene otherwise.
 
Everyone's getting into the act.

99HighSt_20071224-087.jpg


99HighSt_20071224-094.jpg


99HighSt_20071224-090.jpg


It only they were getting rid of the loading dock...but that seems unlikely.

99HighSt_20071229-020.jpg
 
Damn.. the list of major buildings downtown that are getting new ground floors is becoming quite lengthy..
 
The lengthier the better. I keep waiting for Cioffaro to announce something about IP.
 
xec said:
The lengthier the better. I keep waiting for Cioffaro to announce something about IP.
Click to expand...

IP has one of the best ground floors in the city, how much more do you think he should do?
 
Not facing the Greenway. It's glitzy on the inside but a fortress from the outside. Cioffaro has made vague comments about adding entraces, putting in a restaurant, etc.
 
High Style Comes to High Street

not sure if this has been posted. If it has been please delete it.

thanks ! !

The renowned firm of Elkus/Manfredi Architects is transforming the appearance of 99 High. Over the course of the next two years, this distinguished office tower will undergo renovations that will mark it as one of modern corporate elegance.

An exciting new, monumental portal will set 99 High apart as a building of importance. Large?more in keeping with the scale of the building?and innovative, it will feature a ?jewel box? of mirrored glass highlighting the address and entry.
Beautiful Colonial Gold granite imported from India will replace the travertine fa?ade and reclad the entry columns, bringing new warmth and vibrancy to the two lower floors of the building?s exterior.
At street level, the area surrounding the building will be completely reworked with awnings, weathered steel planters and new paving to welcome pedestrians.
Dramatic new lighting in the main lobby will create an ambience of prestige and elegance.
Infrastructure systems will be updated for operational efficiency.

Linky

http://www.99high.com/news.html
 
Re: High Style Comes to High Street

Dude, seriously. This was posted in the newest post in the next thread down. You couldn't have taken 1 second to search?
 
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