BU Development Thread

The current one is actually a hazard to people biking through the area. When will the new one start construction?

That drawing also shows what looks like a new ped/bike bridge across Storrow -- much needed here.
 
that rendering is from the esplinad 20 year plan or whatever it was we were all fawning over about 6 months ago.
 
Buy a street, or two, or three.

8cfbfd_graf_06192012.jpg


http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061139880&srvc=business&position=3
 
^Seems like a win-win as long as the streets continue to be publicly accessible and emergency responders have easy access.
 
Will BU own and maintain the stairway from the foot of Blandford Street up to Beacon?

I'm curious how many (metered?) parking spaces will go away when these become pedestrian-only streets.
 
whighlander said:
Stel -- it seems that the main purpose is to be able to have new buildings such as the planned 11 story science building extend into the air rights over Cummington St.
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Can they sell BU the pike then?


If there was any chance of this area being anything other than BU ever again I might be upset at them buying up and privatizing these streets. But as it stands they are pretty much useless as transportation; crammed between the pike and comm ave, connecting to nothing, surrounded entirely by BU. This way money to maintain them can be better spent, and they can perhaps have some use put to them.

I would like to see the aforementioned sketchy stairs from Beacon St to Blandford St opened up as a more enticing walkway, which I would assume would be in BUs image favor. Imagine if they incrementally raised the ground level on Blandford and Cummington to the height of Beacon, establishing a real connection between the two streets.

Overall I think this is also good for BUs drive to have more of a "campus" feel. If they make the streets look like this stub where Cummington turns: http://goo.gl/maps/M8Av it will be quite nice.
 
Ron Newman said:
Will BU own and maintain the stairway from the foot of Blandford Street up to Beacon?

I'm curious how many (metered?) parking spaces will go away when these become pedestrian-only streets.
Click to expand...

Those metered spaces are out of service half the time to begin with. Every time BU hosts an event (conferences, athletics, etc.), the cardboard No Parking signs get hung around every meter on the back side of Cummington as reserved bus parking or a place to stage delivery trucks. Or a whole string of them will be taken out of service so BU can plop a construction dumpster down. Really, the city has let BU do whatever it wants on those streets for so long it's not like there's a lot of meter revenue at stake anymore.

I think the scary stairs are MassHighway's responsibility because it's attached to a Pike bridge. That's probably why they've been left unimproved for so long...neither city nor BU have final say on a Pike structure.
 
The continued construction makes biking southbound here a little dicey. I end up waving the cars around me, across the double yellow line, so they aren't hanging behind me.
 
Updated rendering for the new Admissions Reception Center u/c (former Hillel House):

admissions1.jpg
 
That is one post apocalyptic looking admissions center. Explains the zombies rambling around it.
 
If they let the ivy grow back up over it it won't be too bad. It makes the current structure passable.
 
One of my favorite buildings along the BU campus -- happy it is getting a faithful renovation.
 
^ I'll second that notion. It also makes for a sexy landmark when coming in on Storrow.
 
Hmm, I wonder if they'll be cutting down the mature trees that sit right in front of the rear addition, or for that matter if they'll be removing the vines. One of the things I've always liked about this building is how it took the look-at-me, gleaming white Streamline style and adapted itself to Boston's more muted character so seamlessly. Without the greenery it'll be more prominent (probably a good thing), but also less Boston-y.

screenshot20120703at616.jpg
 
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