Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

InTheHood said:
Much as I'd like to see development in smaller increments, ablarc, your economic shorthand is horsefeathers.

Fat floorplates maximize the ratio of rentable space to systems and mechanicals. You only get thin and narrow when 1) all of the nearby land has been built up and 2) psf values are Manhattanesque ... unless there is a regulatory body forcing something different, in which case, developers will adapt as you suggest.

... the best hope for smaller-scale development would be a planning/regulatory body that appreciates the wisdom ... Obviously that ain't the BRA. Indeed, because they have more power under "large project" review, and because there is more pull with bigger deals, they seem to loooove blocky elephants.
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Exactly correct. Regulatory changes are the best hope --though difficult to achieve for the reasons you give. Of course, if we on this board made as much noise as NIMBYs...

They listen to NIMBYs, don't they?




I'm not against regulation. I'm against misguided regulation.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Fair enough. One regulatory change that we've discussed before that would help a bunch would be to tax empty lots and underutilized buildings according to their commercial value. That would make land-banking less economic. Some developers spend years accumulating parcels for a big box, and they can do so because underutilized lots are taxed at a fraction of their true value. The tax bills on some of those empty lots are jaw-droppingly low.

The "InTheHood" tax rule would handle property taxation something like a thoroughbred claiming race ... under this rule, anyone could "claim" any property by paying a sum equal to three times the assessed value. (That is, the owner would be forced to sell at this amount ... or to accept a much higher assessment).
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^ Interesting in concept, but wouldn't this encourage big block development, especially in delicate places like Chinatown. A developer could "claim" several adjoining properties to create a nice big square building footprint. The landlords likely can't afford the property tax increase, withouth raising rents to levels that force out the independent shop owners.

I think a slight variation would be to apply this rule to properties where the value of the improvements is less than 10% of the land value, which would make it relavent to suface lots, and other severly underutilized parcels.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

But if you're trying to remain economically competitive with suburbs, why would you try to discourage land-banking? Indeed, most American cities have been trying to facilitate it for decades through their redevelopment agencies.
Secondly, even if you do get a traditional sized lot, the development you're talking about only works if the developer can play with a series of give-and-takes, for example, if a developer can go high enough in the first place to cover the cost of the parcel, if a maximum parking requirement offsets the cost of going high on a small lot (and the developer still thinks they can sell say 2-bedroom units with 1 or less parking spaces), the rent psf offsets the construction cost of going higher. ie manhattan. etc.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

a630 said:
...why would you try to discourage land-banking?
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To keep the city whole. Land-banking is urban amputation. Land-bank enough of the city and it will die. That is what has happened to all but about a dozen U.S. municipalities. A land-banked place like Charlotte doesn't function as a city. Boston still does, but with enough parking lots ...




(How much of you could I remove before you stopped functioning?)
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

"Land-banking" is fine if it means that you become a small commercial or residential landlord while waiting for an opportunity to replace that building with something larger. It's not fine if you tear the building down and leave it vacant while waiting.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I never understood the 'competing against suburbia' argument.

Boston shouldn't be competing against Norwood or Dedham.

It should be competing against San Fransisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, etc.

Suburbanizing Boston isn't going to draw in suburbanites but it will repel people who want to live in a city.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ron Newman said:
"Land-banking" is fine if it means that you become a small commercial or residential landlord while waiting for an opportunity to replace that building with something larger.
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Beg to differ on this one, Ron. The scenario you describe is exactly what Ron Druker is doing on Boylston Street. "Blight" on this block in manufactured. Same thing could be said about the Levin Family Trust and their stewardship of their properties in DTX.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I said be a landlord. Emptying a building out and leaving it vacant to deteriorate isn't being a landlord.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

You can also kill a city by not sustaining the economy. Where would NYC be without its aggressive disposition policies of the last 30 years? I'm not saying redevelopment authorities and other tools for land-banking are always in the right, especially for people who enjoy a particular aesthetic. But cities do need to compete, and you're right, not just with the suburbs, but with everywhere. Even if it is desirable on some levels, I just don't see discouraging land-banking as a reality in ANY city, anywhere. If you want to see little parcels getting developed at high densities, the answer is in other policies that reduce discretion, incentivize, etc.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I don't see any way in which leaving buildings or lots vacant sustains the urban economy. That property could be paying rent, and taxes, and supporting a small business or three, while waiting for development.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

a630 said:
If you want to see little parcels getting developed at high densities, the answer is in other policies that reduce discretion, incentivize, etc.
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I do, and I'm interested. Tell about them.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

from my post earlier today: allow the developer to play with a series of give-and-takes, for example, if a developer can go high enough in the first place to cover the cost of the parcel, if a maximum parking requirement offsets the cost of going high on a small lot (and the developer still thinks they can sell say 2-bedroom units with 1 or less parking spaces), the rent psf offsets the construction cost of going higher. ie manhattan. etc.
how to do this, some of these being more feasible than others:
reduce minimum parking requirements, establish maximum parking requirements, reduce minimum unit size, increase FAR in specific plan districts, reduce lot area required per unit, introduce residiential accessory services or mixed use where zoning is not cumulative, relax building codes for adaptive reuse projects, *re-evaluate building codes in general* ie ask if those hallways and fire lanes and stairways really need to be that large, reduce offsite improvement requirements, reduce open space requirements, reduce setbacks, and more!
basically, reduce costs.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

overturn ambler vs. euclid
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

The Other Block of Concrete
Tearing down the Government Center garage would transform the area - if the city didn?t stand in its own way.

By Tom Keane

When it comes to real estate development, Boston is a small-bore city. We like our change incremental, shying away from the big and splashy. And we have a process in place that ensures this - one that developer Ted Raymond calls "excruciating."

Perverse proof of this is the Apple Store in Back Bay, supposedly the most exciting new building to grace the city in years. Yeah, the building is all glass. But it is, after all, just a three-story retail space on a street jammed with three- and four-story retail spaces. Indeed, the Apple store is far less than it might have been. After being beaten up in the approval process, a once-innovative design became - glass excepted - something that looked an awful lot like everything else around it.
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the rest here: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/08/10/the_other_block_of_concrete/
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^^ Good piece, good post.

Anyone think Keane has stopped by here?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^ Send him an e-mail to find out.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

The Apple store may be watered down, but it still looks stunning. I don't know how you can say it looks "an awful lot like everything else around it", except for the height. He's just exaggerating to bolster his argument, maybe he should have used the 100 other watered down projects that actually ended up looking crappy.
 
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