Boston's New City Center Triangles

[maxdatabook]

I'm trying to make sense of all the development I see. When I was spending time looking at Cambridge Crossing I kept thinking, because of the shape of the land, that it should be called "Cambridge Triangle"

Comments, ideas, would be greatly appreciated! Be forewarned, any great insight you have I'll add to the article

Bostonâs New City Center Triangles

The Future of New England Is A conglomeration of Self-Contained Mini-Tech Cities

maxrottersman.medium.com

 

[JeffDowntown]

I'm trying to make sense of all the development I see. When I was spending time looking at Cambridge Crossing I kept thinking, because of the shape of the land, that it should be called "Cambridge Triangle"

Comments, ideas, would be greatly appreciated! Be forewarned, any great insight you have I'll add to the article

Bostonâs New City Center Triangles

The Future of New England Is A conglomeration of Self-Contained Mini-Tech Cities

maxrottersman.medium.com

I was going to comment on the historical MIT/Biotech I and BU/Northeastern Triangles, but you captured those toward the end. Interesting work.

 

[dshoost88]

I've written about this on a couple other threads, so it's worthy of mention here: Everett Commercial Triangle (officially Commercial Triangle Economic Development (CTED) Zoning District). It hasn't gotten the ink that Seaport, Suffolk Downs, Assembly Row, or Cambridge Crossing have, but it's no less impressive. The 100- to 200-acre area skirting the Everett-Chelsea municipal border is in the midst of 1000's of new multi-family residential units. Between the relocation of the Chelsea commuter rail station to this area and the Silver Line Extension project being studied/planned for this area currently, the next decade will present millions of square feet of new development from multiple developers transforming a swatch of mostly dirty industrial and scrap metal yards. Group this with prospective growth of the Encore Boston Harbor footprint (as indicated by the swaths of land adjacent to resort they've already purchased) and the retirement of the Exelon Mystic Generating Plant in a few years, and we're looking at nearly 1 square mile of land area undergoing rapid transformation.

Another area to consider: South Bay/Newmarket and JFK/UMass. The timing of the redevelopment here is pointing to some significant life sciences real estate growth potential the next 15 years... like 20-30+ million square feet of new development. I'll let other posters link to relevant threads if they think it's warranted.

I think 'biotech triangle' in Cambridge Crossing/Charlestown area is a little random. There's emerging bio-tech space across the entire region. I do, however, think this particular neighborhood is on track for specializing agricultural innovation... keep an eye on IndigoAg and whomever moves into Hood Business Park redevelopment.

Lastly, I think 'Logistics Triangle' is a misnomer for the Seaport, particularly if you're basing the nickname off of Amazon's investment in the neighborhood. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the offices they're concentrating in Boston's Seaport are to focus on AI (i.e. Alexa) and maybe cloud storage. Most of their logistics and fulfillment growth is relegated outside of the city (Revere, North Andover/Lawrence, Fall River, et al). I don't have have an alternative nickname suggestion for the neighborhood (it has enough nicknames ), but maybe keeping it close to 'Innovation District' is most simple.

 

[Massachoicetts]

I'm trying to make sense of all the development I see. When I was spending time looking at Cambridge Crossing I kept thinking, because of the shape of the land, that it should be called "Cambridge Triangle"

Comments, ideas, would be greatly appreciated! Be forewarned, any great insight you have I'll add to the article

Bostonâs New City Center Triangles

The Future of New England Is A conglomeration of Self-Contained Mini-Tech Cities

maxrottersman.medium.com

Extremely interesting take on the powerhouse centers of Boston's economy. I like it. A lot. Interesting and informative read.

Although Id recenter the Finance Triangle a little lower as some of it is covering the North End and Beacon Hill, and missing about 1/3 of the Financial District.

 

[maxdatabook]

Extremely interesting take on the powerhouse centers of Boston's economy. I like it. A lot. Interesting and informative read.

Although Id recenter the Finance Triangle a little lower as some of it is covering the North End and Beacon Hill, and missing about 1/3 of the Financial District.

Thanks! Fixed (I hope)!

 

[maxdatabook]

I've written about this on a couple other threads...

Thanks for all the great information! I look forward to checking it out. I'm going to rename to "A.I. Triangle." I know people who do exactly that for Amazon in the area. I knew I was forcing "logistics" in there but couldn't think of another name (I wrote the article while a bit ... um ... whatever on vodka). I'm also going to put a link to your thoughts in the article.

 

[SuffolkHeights11]

This is a great thread - very insightful take on the area's economy. The Boston 2030 master plan was similarly focused on these triangles/clusters as a driver of growth. I think the biggest challenge going forward is not only further developing these clusters but getting to and from each one quickly and efficiently...

 

[erom]

Speaking of AI/Logistics in the seaport, there are a bunch of small self-driving car companies there. I work at one - massport likes us because we're "transportation" industry so we fit into the port ecosystem. We like being in a place that's close enough the city to hire techies, but with facilities like a vehicle depot and a test track. If we weren't in an old shipping warehouse on port land I'm not sure where we'd find that kind of space so close to the city. I don't think too many tech companies need what massport is selling in terms of facilities, but we do.

 

[SuffolkHeights11]

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2021/07/02/bragging-rights-for-boston-more-commercial-invest.html

Bragging rights for Boston: City records more commercial investment than New York
In the unending rivalry with New York, Boston just got a new bragging right.

Investment in commercial real estate in Boston has surpassed Manhattan to lead the country as the most liquid market, according to a report by the real estate data firm Real Capital Analytics.

Investment volume in Boston saw little more than a hiccup during the pandemic, the report said — and that's backed up by what residents and workers see in the city each day: Construction cranes across much of the horizon, particularly in neighborhoods like the Seaport and Kendall Square.


Thought I would throw this in this thread as this article in Boston Biz mentions several of these clusters. COVID has significantly closed the gap between SF/Boston and NYC strictly in terms of commercial investment.