Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Plan to redevelop the Government Center Garage is revived
E-mail| Print | Comments (0) June 22, 2011 11:01 AM
By Globe Staff

A developer is proposing to redevelop the 11-story Government Center Garage into a massive office, hotel, retail, and residential complex that would be the largest project in Downtown Boston to proceed in decades.

HYM Investment Group said it wants to move forward with a phased redevelopment plan for about 2.4 million square feet of space on a roughly 4-acre site near Congress Street and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. According to HYM, its proposal would “remove the unsightly barrier of the Government Center Garage” and “enliven the connections among the neighborhoods of the West End, the North End, Beacon Hill, and Government Center.”

HYM submitted its proposal to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, or the BRA, the city’s planning agency.

The project will require zoning relief under the Boston Zoning Code, HYM said.

HYM is headed by Thomas O’Brien, a former BRA director.

O’Brien took over as developer of the Government Center Garage project after the project’s previous manager, Ted Raymond, failed to move forward with a plan for two skyscrapers on the site.

In its filing with the city, HYM did not disclose a start date for construction, but said it will remove the garage in stages to ensure that parking remains available.
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http://www.boston.com/Boston/busine...age-revived/i2OUmt6adOXdYSzK23xyYJ/index.html
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Now we wait for a Ned Flaherty-type poster (aka Greenwayguy) to dictate what can and can't be built "in his backyard."
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

I actually thought O'Brien worked for the city?

Didn't the Greenway Study already ok for a 600ft tower in this location?
 
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Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Huzzah! But why bother mentioning a start date for construction was not stated? This still has to go through a number of hurdles, no? This is a completely new project drawn up from the sounds of it.

I can't wait to hear more about this. This spot seems ideal for Boston's tallest buildings to be located in. Hopefully something nice will emerge.


"but said it will remove the garage in stages to ensure that parking remains available."

Why? I sure hope this project results in a net decrease in parking.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

I am as excited about this project as anyone (though the excitement is tempered a bit because any towers on this site are still YEARS away... par for the course with this hobby though). However, I guess I am a little bit curious about the parking. Who are the primary users of this garage now? Is it usually full? Between this and the North Station garage possibly coming down, where are all of the displaced cars going to go? (don't give me some utopian bs answer either) Where are people supposed to park for Celtics/Bruins games? (again, don't just give the blanket statement that 20k people should just ride the T, I am actually curious for real answers here)

In no way am I advocating the preservation of these parking garages by asking these questions.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

The North Station garage was just leased out for 70 years or something by the MBTA. What do you mean it is coming down?

And I'm sure everyone who uses it now could find something somewhere. And the few remaining who are displaced can switch to the T. We need more park & rides, there should be garages out on 128.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

BostonUrbEx said:
Huzzah! But why bother mentioning a start date for construction was not stated? This still has to go through a number of hurdles, no? This is a completely new project drawn up from the sounds of it.

I can't wait to hear more about this. This spot seems ideal for Boston's tallest buildings to be located in. Hopefully something nice will emerge.


"but said it will remove the garage in stages to ensure that parking remains available."

Why? I sure hope this project results in a net decrease in parking.
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Because this garage is used often for Garden events. I hope there isn't any net decrease in parking.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

I think he meant the Basketball City garage coming down, not the one under North Station. If parking is removed in this area, more people will take public transportation instead. The Bruins and Celtics will still sell out.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

A Blogger from Boston Globe.........Interesting......

FredQuimby wrote:
"HYM is headed by Thomas O’Brien, a former BRA director."

Why is nobody talking about this? The revolving door between government and big business continues.

How better to get a project passed than to hire the guy that created the rules and knows how to bend them. With friends on the inside to boot.
6/22/2011 11:56 AM EDT
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

TheRifleman said:
A Blogger from Boston Globe.........Interesting......

FredQuimby wrote:
"HYM is headed by Thomas O’Brien, a former BRA director."

Why is nobody talking about this? The revolving door between government and big business continues.

How better to get a project passed than to hire the guy that created the rules and knows how to bend them. With friends on the inside to boot.
6/22/2011 11:56 AM EDT
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I was staring at International Place the other day and kept thinking how great it would be if Boston ever managed to undertake another project of that magnitude. At this point, I don't even care how it gets done. I just want something to happen. It's been too long.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

DZH22 said:
I was staring at International Place the other day and kept thinking how great it would be if Boston ever managed to undertake another project of that magnitude. At this point, I don't even care how it gets done. I just want something to happen. It's been too long.
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IP makes Boston's Skyline.......Like them or not but they are becoming Boston's Building symbol.... they seem to stand out more than Hancock & Pru these days.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Wouldn't the parking just be relocated and replaced beneath the garage(s)? And no, we cannot have 20k people riding the T. We just saw what happened with the Bruins parade.
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

TheRifleman said:
A Blogger from Boston Globe.........Interesting......

FredQuimby wrote:
"HYM is headed by Thomas O’Brien, a former BRA director."

Why is nobody talking about this? The revolving door between government and big business continues.

How better to get a project passed than to hire the guy that created the rules and knows how to bend them. With friends on the inside to boot.
6/22/2011 11:56 AM EDT
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I thought he left on bad terms?
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

wow. Feels like 2006 around here again. :D
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Mayor Menino's Crohn's said:
Wouldn't the parking just be relocated and replaced beneath the garage(s)?
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Not exactly. From a long time ago:

Beton Brut said:
Interestingly, you can only go down about 30' before you hit bedrock, so an underground garage even half of this scale would be impossible.
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But consider:

Beton Brut said:
If we need to replicate this capacity, assume 40% in the new developments. For the rest, look no further than North Station, over the tracks. It'll work for Garden game parking, and could be engineered to allow for future air-rights development.
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Re: Congress Street Garage Development

New garage plan unveiled as waterfront towers break ground
Suddenly, Boston’s booming
By Thomas Grillo
Thursday, June 23, 2011


Projects at Fan Pier and the Government Center Garage signal the floodgates may be opening for major developments that will dramatically change the city’s landscape, transforming empty lots and eyesores into office towers and luxury apartments.

“These projects are a sign that the city’s economy is strong and it sends a positive message to investors who are considering coming to Boston,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the Herald. “We have a city that continues to grow, and people see the potential for development.”

On the same day that the Fallon Co. broke ground at Fan Pier on two office towers totaling 1.1 million square feet, the Government Center Garage redevelopment project was revived after a two-year delay. Hym Investment Group LLC told the Boston Redevelopment Authority that it will seek approval for a 2.4-million-square-foot mixed-use project at the garage near the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Hym chief executive Thomas O’Brien said the scaled-down garage development would replace the concrete eyesore with office, residential, hotel and retail space.

The original plan called for two skyscrapers, 42 and 52 stories tall, and demolition of the District A-1 Police Headquarters and another city-owned property on New Sudbury Street to make way for a 3.4-million-square-foot complex. But the project faced opposition from the North End and West End neighborhoods and Menino — who said that the project was too tall and dense, with one proposed tower twice the height of the nearby John F. Kennedy Federal Building

O’Brien declined to provide many details about the revamped development, but he said the project will be 1 million square feet smaller and will not require demolition of any city property. Menino said the revised plan would still include twin towers, but they would be much shorter. He was optimistic that the details could be worked out to win neighborhood approval. “I hope they will move forward very quickly,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with them. This is not the project it was previously.”

In addition to the Fan Pier towers, several other long-stalled projects are expected to break ground this summer, including Hayward Place, a $200 million residential project in Downtown Crossing. The 15-story building will have 265 housing units and replace a parking lot on lower Washington Street.

In addition, the 27-story Kensington building at the corner of Washington and LaGrange streets, is set to break ground this summer and will include 385 apartments with 4,000 square feet of retail and office space.

David Begelfer, CEO of the commercial real estate trade group NAIOP Massachusetts, said while the economy is showing signs of improvement, he remains cautious. “Things are getting better,” he said. “(But) we are still at the early stages of the recovery.”


Link
 
Re: Congress Street Garage Development

Much shorter towers, fucking LAME. Even after a bullshit greenway report which was very stifling of height in the first place said this area could handel it. Might as well accept the coply sq condo won't be 47 stories either. Which really ain't any thing crazy either ( ya know 47 stories in 2011). Boston can be big time in some ways , but in others so god damn small minded Yankee quaint. And we have the audacity to think we can compare ourselves to NYC. Down there they build towers, not up here.
 
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