Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ron Newman said:
what is the 'b parcel'? If you mean the Big Dig parcel, I think that's just a hypothetical building put into the model to fill space, not any actual proposal.
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Ron, The B Parcel is being built by the same developer, Raymond Property Group....


Parcel 2A, 2B and 2C Development
Bulfinch Triangle, Boston

"RPC has joint ventured with Hines Interests to develop the Bulfinch Triangle Parcel 2A/2B/2C, a $210 million project The project features ground floor retail, a second floor full-service supermarket, premier office space above, all to be built on air rights over the subsurface green and orange MBTA transit lines and the southbound Central Artery tunnel.

To date, Hines Raymond LLC has successfully achieved designation from the MBTA and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for the land parcels, and is in the process of securing the necessary ground leases with these agencies. Permitting has successfully completed with the City of Boston, and is pending with MEPA, expected shortly. Construction is expected to begin in 2009, with completion in 2011."
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Thanks. Whatever's built there has to accommodate the existing busy busway in some form.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

the results from the competition should be released soon eh?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

In 10 or 11 days I think...I'm getting pretty excited.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

This is such a great spot. It can be seen from so many places and could really be an iconic tower, IMO. It is spaced far enough from the financial district to stand alone. I hope it isn't just and all glass flat top which seem to be all the rage.

And also, since the developers put the approval as an ultimatum, does anyone have any insight on financing? What are the odds in this market of them just re-leasing the building and waiting 5-10 when they can get easier money?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

i didnt know they had a design competition for this spot! maybe well get the same kind of results san fran got with their competition for that spot...that i forget what its called. trans something or other.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

SOM did have the best entry. But as time goes on and more and more towers are SOM, they all seem to blend into one big glassy shard.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Not to get off topic too much, but that Forrest (red) design was hideous although I admire their boldness. The Peli is decent but a little too safe and generic. The other one with the open base easily should have won, looks like SF has some of the same cowardice that Boston has.

On the Congress garage, I'm sure people are going to argue against shadows and I was curious about a brainstorm I had and figured I bounce it off you intellectuals. What's the feasibility of creating a tall slim building on one side that rotates with the sun to create the smallest shadow possible? I've seen the supposed shadowless building in Paris (its just a triangle, pretty weak design) and I've seen these towers in Dubai that turn slowly throughout the day, so why not do that, but for actual practical purposes? Just a thought.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

This project has some deep pockets behind it (if you believe their website)... so that could be good. Also, Raymond has a history of getting largely out of scale projects pushed through such as Flagship Wharf and Trinity Place. Those are all good signs for this project, and a reason to be optimistic.

But, most importantly, this all comes down to how much money Ted Raymond has given Boss Menino lately. That, and that alone, will determine how long this approval/disapproval process will take. It all boils down to a line item "$X.XX" on a political campaign ledger. The more "noise" I hear from the backrooms of this corrupt city, the more I truly and actually believe this.

My uneducated guess is they can't get this done in today's market without the strong support of Boss Menino and his henchmen at the BRA - which it sounds to me like they do not yet have. Silence from Boss Menino usually is not a good sign, unless he's playing coy and can come out after the design competition and announce he's been "convinced".

Enjoy the really awesome renderings to come... because it's going to be hard to lose that garage for five years at least, and more likely ten years.

Remember, in Boss Menino's world, the term "World-class Greenway" is not a slogan, it's just a a punchline.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Skidmore, Owings, Merrill is typically pretty hit or miss imo....

With Rem Koolhaas' firm you would probably get something out in left field...which means they would probably have no chance of winning a Boston design competition.

Foster co. has some nice buildings...very sleek and elegant...

the other two...dunno too much
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

is SOM doing a proposal for this (congress st) site?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

yes they are one of 5 firms submitting designs...they should be revealed hopefully later this month
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I wonder if this project will put more pressure on Menino & Co. to move forward with their City Hall changes. When you look at this rendering, the only thing preventing this project from being apart of the financial district is Government Center. If only they would just sell that hideous City Hall Plaza...

Mike said:
539w.jpg
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Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

This rendering is curious. The Saltonstall Building looks wrong. The "new" courthouse (the 30's-40's art deco highrise building, new only compared to the Adams (ex-Suffolk County) courthouse) is sitting in the middle of Pemberton Square. The Adams Courthouse has gone missing. How accurate is this?
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

That rendering was probably generated from the BRA's official 3d cad files, which at least in my experience years ago, were horribly constructed. Something was probably catastrophically wrong with the Adams courthouse in the files, and some render specialist decided to just tweak that area to make it work.

You'll also notice several of the towers in the background are improperly skinned. 60 State Street, Harbor Towers, etc.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I think the best thing about anything being built here is that it will block the views of 1 Beacon from the NW. To me, 1 Beacon is an abominition and clearly does not deserve the privelige of having that address.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I always find it clever how these renderings usually have a perspective of looking down towards the new buildings. In this one, it makes the new towers look shorter than the existing towers around it. Most people will be looking from ground level or from another building, yet we rarely see this perspective.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

i believe they do the view from the top so you can see more of the building.

was this one of the proposals? if so, i like it.
 
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