Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

If the garage is torn down hopefully the new development will improve traffic and pedestrian flow in the 2 adjacent intersections
 
Developer purchases Congress St. garage
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | January 24, 2007
Developer Ted Raymond has agreed to buy the sprawling One Congress Street parking garage from its New York owner, according to a real estate executive involved in the pending sale.
Through a spokesman, Raymond declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement with the property's seller, Randy Kohana. But Rob Griffin, president of brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc., which marketed the building, said Raymond is buying One Congress Street along with some partners.
Kohana confirmed there is a signed contract for the 2,310-car garage, which has two floors of office space plus retail area, but declined to comment further because of the confidentiality agreement.
No price has been disclosed, but an executive briefed on the deal, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak, said it is about $240 million.
The stark concrete building, which straddles the street, is considered a likely site for another Boston office tower. It went on the market in September.
Kohana's RAK Group bought the property, formerly known as Government Center Garage, with a partner in 2000 for $118.5 million.
The building was constructed by the city in the late 1960s as part of a major urban renewal in Boston that rid downtown of colorful, but seedy, Scollay Square. Mayor Thomas M. Menino recently proposed reversing some of that 1960s change by moving City Hall out of a nearby concrete structure of a similar style as the garage to a waterfront building .
Alex Krieger, chairman of Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, recalled being involved in planning for a renovated City Hall Plaza in the late 1990s, and said replacing the garage was considered even then.
"Few would come forward to protest the demolition of the building," he said. "There is a major development opportunity there. You could permit several million square feet of space."
A livelier and more pedestrian-friendly Haymarket Square could take the place of the east end of the garage, Krieger said.
Raymond is one of the developers designated to help rebuild the nearby Bulfinch Triangle, an area destroyed in the 1950s during construction of the elevated Central Artery. He is selling Turner Hill in Ipswich, which he bought in 1997 and tried to redevelop into a golf-course community.
 
Bravo.

The city should require that whatever is built here NOT use air rights over Congress Street (or any other street).
 
...by moving City Hall out of a nearby concrete structure of a similar style as the garage to a waterfront building.
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Christ, I know 'Brutalist architecture' isn't exactly a household term, but the linguists hoops he just jumped through to avoid using it were painful. Since when does the Globe write at a third grade level?
 
Update on sale

One Congress St., a nine-story parking garage with two floors of office space on top and shops below, was sold for $243 million to Raymond Property Co. and the annuity plan National Electrical Benefit Fund.

They bought the property from RAK Group of New York and Stockbridge Real Estate Funds Inc., according to the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc., which represented the seller.

The building, a 40-year-old, formerly city-owned structure with 275,000 square feet of leasable office space, sits over the MBTA's Haymarket Station at the mouth of Congress Street, and is considered a prime site for redevelopment, possibly an office tower.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr., The Boston Globe
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Boston?s ?Berlin Wall? Could Face Wrecking Ball
By Thomas Grillo, Banker & Tradesman

The Government Center Garage could be replaced with the city?s latest mixed-use project overlooking the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

A controversial icon of Boston?s urban renewal of the 1960s could face the wrecking ball.

The owners of the Government Center Garage, previously mum on plans for the site?s future, said Monday they want to replace the concrete structure with a mix of hotel, office and retail space as well as condominiums.

Erasing the city?s largest parking lot would reconnect the North End and the Bulfinch Triangle neighborhoods with the downtown, Stephen G. Kasnet, chief executive officer of the Raymond Property Co., the building?s owners, told Banker & Tradesman.

?That building is like the Berlin Wall and we want it demolished to create a destination that fits into the fabric of the city,? Kasnet said.

Last year, Bulfinch Congress Holdings, a subsidiary of the Boston-based developer, paid $132.8 million for the 11-story facility adjacent to the Haymarket MBTA station. It includes 2,310 parking spaces, 275,000 square feet of office space and several retailers.

Kasnet said the timing could be right to demolish the building because the facility?s largest office tenant will end its lease in 2010.

?We have lots of ideas, but nothing is set in concrete,? he said. ?The question is what proportions of office, retail, hotel and residential makes the most sense. But if we cannot reach consensus on what is appropriate for the site, we could live happily with a new tenant in that building and reexamine the idea in 10 years.?

The developer has scheduled a community meeting June 18 for residents to share ideas on how the four-acre site should be redeveloped. The session will be held on the 10th floor of the garage at 6 p.m.
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Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Prepair yourself for a controversal opinion: I don't totally hate the Congress St. Garage. First, I'd rather that all parking be centralized in one huge location than scattered across the city in a thousand surface lots. Second, it at least has ground floor retail, which is more than you can say about a lot of buildings in that area (the Court House, State Services, etc.). And third, it is hardly a "Berlin Wall" between the North End and the Triangle. Take a look at a map!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Berlin Wall: hyperbole, but yes it is. It totally blocks the view between the Haymarket area and the adjoining Bulfinch Triangle. It creates a dark tunnel on Congress Street. If it didn't do these things, I wouldn't object that much to it.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

I always wondered how the heck that thing ever got approved. Such an eyesore.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

The western-most part of this site is ideal for something very tall. I can't imagine the FAA throwing a flag. Beacon Hill might not be too enthused, but the shadows won't fall on the most densely populated part of the Hill.

Let's hope the developers are prepared to be bold.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

This is nowhere near Beacon Hill.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

^ Closest residential neighborhood that will object (i.e. hire lawyers) to an 800-1000' building.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Good news! Tear this crap down!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Ha ha. Get it up before Bulfinch Triangle goes residential.

It would be great if they could build something grand - yes, it blocks the view from North Station to the Financial District, but so what?

Perhaps the architect will be inspired by the old Haymarket Square that existed there prior to the construction of the garage.

I'd even let the owners close off the underpass, if they are creative enough.

Maybe we can get a new Haymarket station, as part of it?

Twenty stories seems about right ... no?

I think I'll attend and pass on my ideas.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

Beton Brut said:
^ Closest residential neighborhood that will object (i.e. hire lawyers) to an 800-1000' building.
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Tell me again what it is that they have to lose, other than an unobstructed view of.....the stars? which clearly are hardly EVER visible!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

NIMBYs are NIMBYs, don't expect them to bitch less if they don't actually have a real reason.
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

BarbaricManchurian said:
NIMBYs are NIMBYs, don't expect them to bitch less if they don't actually have a real reason.
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Maybe someone should leak a story about a phantom highway project to the media with verified development documents so their efforts can be completely re-routed. Like I always say: A prison, a highway, halfway house, airport FINE but not a god damn skyscraper in the downtown area of a major U.S. city!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

but on another note, im extremely happy that this parcel is finally making its way to the chopping block for further development of the area. Walking home the other night, i looked to my left from north margin street and seeing the avenir so grand in scale compared to the flat terrain between the north end and west end was such an excitement. I can't wait for the whole area to fill in. Can we get something original in design though? Something MIND SHATTERING & BACK BREAKING!
 
Re: Congress St Garage is being sold.

caravaggiste said:
Maybe someone should leak a story about a phantom highway project to the media with verified development documents so their efforts can be completely re-routed. Like I always say: A prison, a highway, halfway house, airport FINE but not a god damn skyscraper in the downtown area of a major U.S. city!
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I sure hope so. But you know, they can bitch about multiple projects at once. Just look at Shirley Kressel, she's never met a project she likes.
 
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