Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

12345 said:
John Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said the city must also study the effects of wind and shadows on the Greenway, as well as parking and traffic. "It's a robust development, so the question is whether the city could accommodate it," he said.
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Of course not. The city can only accomodate underwhelming proposals regardless of location or benefits. Robust is code for "outside the vanilla box thinking we like".
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ron Newman said:
There's no neighborhood here. The closest place where anyone lives is Endicott Street or Lynn Street in the North End.
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I've been reading this board for a while, and I've actually learned a thing or two from you guys. Clearly, many of you are in the business and I have hesitated to join in, as I am not. As a member of the "neighborhood" in question, though - practically the nearest thing to a residential abutter this project has - I thought I would join the discussion.

Personally, I cannot wait for this thing to be built and that horrible blight of a garage to be torn down. I would love nothing more than to look out my window and see gleaming glass and steel. I may not know about architecture, but I know what I like.

I attended the first 3 meetings (missed last night's) and my impression was that the developers know exactly what they're doing and have known exactly what they intended to build before they even bought the property. You don't spend that kind of money and then put it out to focus groups. I am pleasantly surprised that the project is as ambitious as it is, given the track record of this town. I do believe, though, that they will walk away and renew the 10 year lease if it comes to that. It did not seem like a bluff to me. They've got steady income from the garage.

I could've sworn that I saw a letter from the usual suspects from the West End in the North End Review recently that came out in *support* of the project, but I guess everything has a price.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ron Newman said:
There's no neighborhood here. The closest place where anyone lives is Endicott Street or Lynn Street in the North End.
Click to expand...

I've been reading this board for a while, and I've actually learned a thing or two from you guys. Clearly, many of you are in the business and I have hesitated to join in, as I am not. As a member of the "neighborhood" in question, though - practically the nearest thing to a residential abutter this project has - I thought I would join the discussion.

Personally, I cannot wait for this thing to be built and that horrible blight of a garage to be torn down. I would love nothing more than to look out my window and see gleaming glass and steel. I may not know about architecture, but I know what I like.

I attended the first 3 meetings (missed last night's) and my impression was that the developers know exactly what they're doing and have known exactly what they intended to build before they even bought the property. You don't spend that kind of money and then put it out to focus groups. I am pleasantly surprised that the project is as ambitious as it is, given the track record of this town. I do believe, though, that they will walk away and renew the 10 year lease if it comes to that. It did not seem like a bluff to me. They've got steady income from the garage.

I could've sworn that I saw a letter from the usual suspects from the WE in the North End Review recently that came out in *support* of the project, but I guess everything has a price.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I love the ambition, but i doubt it will get built...
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

*lurker finally making first post -

I just wanted to say, before everybody jumps the gun on the new buildings, lets start first with taking down the garage to begin with. Yes there are going to be problems with removing all that parking, but that eyesore will be gone. Determining what to do after is not the immediate priority at the moment.

Second, I parked my car in the garage last week for a concert and can I just say that the garages schematics are horriendous. The extremely tight exiting spiral down 7 flights honestly made me so nauseated that I was honestly dizzy still by the time I got to street level and paid 26 bucks to park a car for a couple hours. ugh. Any opinions on that?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^Let's not start crepe-hanging just yet. There are many facets involved with this proposal that could make for a very interesting and very good development.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Banker & Tradesman - October 24, 2008
Menino: Gov?t Center Garage Tower Height ?Remains A Question?

By Thomas Grillo
Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is withholding judgment on a proposed 52-story tower that would replace the Government Center Garage.

?I don?t want to prejudice the case yet,? Menino told Banker & Tradesman. ?I just want to say that height is good in certain locations, but whether this is the right place for it remains a question.?

Menino appeared surprised when told the tallest tower at the redeveloped site would potentially be the same height as the Prudential building at 800 Boylston St.

?Fifty-two stories?? Menino said. ?That seems like a lot of density for that proposal. We want to work with the developer. The community has some issues with the height of the structure, and we?re monitoring the situation.?

On Thursday night, Raymond Property Co. revealed its $2.3 billion proposal for One Congress Street to about 100 North and West End residents at a meeting in the garage offices. The 3.3 million-square-foot, mixed-use development includes a pair of office towers near Government Center. The tallest skyscraper would be 52-stories while the other would reach 42 floors.

On a parcel closer to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, four buildings are proposed for housing and retail, ranging from 8-14 stories. The buildings would be wrapped around a garage masked by the project.

Jane Forrestall, a West End resident and member of the Downtown North Association, a group of businesses, condominium associations and community organizations, said she was not surprised that Raymond proposed two buildings that were taller than the nearby 24-story John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building at City Hall Plaza.

?Developers always show the worst case scenario first,? she said. ?If at the end of the community process it?s still 52 stories, there will be an issue with the neighborhood.?

Posted on Friday, October 24, 2008 (Archive on Friday, November 28, 2008)
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Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

by the time financing is secured...Menino could possibly be voted out of office....it is a nice thought
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Hearing a modern West Ender complain about potential blight to her neighborhood is like listening to a nude leper worrying about poison ivy.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Menino is such a loser provincial mayor pandering to the nimbys. He should be mayor of Fargo, ND. I predict that once he is voted out of office the next mayor, if he/she has any sense of bringing economic growth/expansion of the city, will have no problems supporting projects like this!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Think again.

The mayor of Boston will always be as provincial as those who elect him/her.

In other words, very.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Too often I see a disdain for democracy among the participants in this forum.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^

Demanding a stronger mayor with an actual vision for the city and the will to get it done, as opposed to a panderer with developer friends and pet projects who is "surprised" to hear about a high-visibility proposal is not disdain for democracy. On the contrary, it's the definition of democracy. Disdain for democracy rears its ugly head when poorly-informed and tunnel-visioned 'neighborhood activists' hijack the city's corrupt development processes to hold back the future of the region.

That said, this project seems more robust than Trans National Place, to which it will often be compared. I get the impression this has more competent developers, and a more savvy proposal (not knowing Belkin personally or professionally, I refer only to TNP). It reminds me a little of the Columbus Center/One Kenmore (or whatever they're calling it this week) debate. When developers have the patience and wits to negotiate, they can make progress.

I'm eager to see Foster and SOM's designs. They do solid, iconic, contextual work.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

In the rendering, what's that thing covering Congress St., just to the left of the project? Is it one of those euro galleria things? Or just a new bus shed.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

That's not Congress Street, that's Blackstone Street, and I think it's a hypothetical building on the unbuilt Big Dig parcel between the vent building and the Greenway.

Whatever is built on the garage parcels still needs to accomodate the Haymarket busway in some form.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

tobyjug said:
In the rendering, what's that thing covering Congress St., just to the left of the project? Is it one of those euro galleria things? Or just a new bus shed.
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It's a pedestrian-only street, similar to what you describe, Toby.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

democracy is short-sighted and inefficient, and it's probably the best we can do.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ron Newman said:
Too often I see a disdain for democracy among the participants in this forum.
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Sometimes, democracy is not the best solution. However, for Boston, where preservation in most places is preferable to development, democracy is the best choice. However, if you want growth (like if you're a new city), a dictatorship is the best choice (developer's paradise enforced by the people is 2nd best, like Houston). I know many people will revolt at the notion, but it has been proven time and again. Of course, just bring up Boston's government to the quality of New York's and it will be surprising how much it then can do. In the democratic system, we'll need a technocrat, focusing on what is best for the city, rather than what is best politically. Bloomberg is one of the best examples, seriously one of the greatest mayors of any city in the last 50 years.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

With all these projects going on I very happy with the state of my city. Boston is really making a statement now.The northeast really kills the rest of the u.s in turns of skylines and economy.
 
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