Bulfinch Crossing | Congress Street Garage | West End

[citylover94]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I think you are right this is a phased build by the time it is complete I don't think the garage will be visible and the res tower isn't that wide it has pretty good proportions. Yeah the office tower is very wide but tbh it reminds me of the fat side of the Hancock.

 

[Downburst]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I think you are right this is a phased build by the time it is complete I don't think the garage will be visible and the res tower isn't that wide it has pretty good proportions. Yeah the office tower is very wide but tbh it reminds me of the fat side of the Hancock.

Agreed. If anything, Boston is establishing a vernacular of towers that are thin from one side and wide from the other, and the office tower will contribute to that. Quite gracefully, I expect.

 

[lapradetom]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

The office tower will definitely improve the skyline, especially harborside. Just wish it were higher, it would be a signature tower if it were. With Boston land in such scarce supply, and construction costs so high, doesn't it make sense to maximize ROI by going higher? Once it's up, it's up. More sq. footage equals more revenue, doesn't it? Nimby's and FAA restrictions aside, why does Boston seem to have a self-imposed height cap? This tower, as well as TD Garden Towers' were approved for 600', so it makes no sense to go lower.

 

[fattony]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

The office tower will definitely improve the skyline, especially harborside. Just wish it were higher, it would be a signature tower if it were. With Boston land in such scarce supply, and construction costs so high, doesn't it make sense to maximize ROI by going higher? Once it's up, it's up. More sq. footage equals more revenue, doesn't it? Nimby's and FAA restrictions aside, why does Boston seem to have a self-imposed height cap? This tower, as well as TD Garden Towers' were approved for 600', so it makes no sense to go lower.

I would bet that demand is the biggest reason why we don't see bigger office towers going up. Obviously the residential market seems to have limitless demand, but the office space market in Boston is more normal. Vacancies are low and rents are high so office space is definitely getting built to the tune of many millions of square feet in the Seaport and Kendall Square. This 500+ footer is another 1 million square feet on its own and the Garden tower will be another million. We've built several World Trade Centers worth of office space in just the last 5 years or so, with more in the pipeline, all without going particularly tall.

Sure, the skyscraper junkie in me wants to see more drama added to the Boston skyline (which this building does in spades), but ultimately the buildings aren't taller because they don't need to be.

 

[George_Apley]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

So is the current incarnation of this project maintaining the straddling garage over Congress Street?

 

[ivyhedge]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

As a cyclist who bikes in via Rt 28 from Northpoint each day, I'm giddy that my inbound view is going to change so much! Woohoo!

 

[JumboBuc]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I wouldn't say that the issue is a lack of demand for office; as fattony says: rents are high and vacancy is low. I think it's more that office developers have shown incredible risk aversion since the recession (even though the true real estate crisis during the recession came in residential, not office). Just about all of the office space that has broken ground since 2008 has been either single-tenant (Liberty Mutual, PWC, Vertex, New Balance, Goodwin Proctor, Novartis, etc.) or had very large portions pre-leased (888 Boylston, smaller Kendall buildings, etc.). It's become typical that developers won't start a building until they have in hand signed leases for the majority of the space to be built. I believe that 121 Seaport Boulevard is the first major "spec" office project we've seen in almost a decade (maybe since Russia Wharf broke ground in 2006?). Developers and those that finance them just don't appear to be willing to chase the latent demand for offices in the same way they are going after latent demand for apartments. That may be a prudent decision for their investors but I'd argue that it hampers to overall Boston economy.

Growing up, at mealtime, my mother always used to say: "take what you want but eat what you take". I wish the city would treat developers the same way. If you ask for 600 feet, use 600 feet. If you're not going to use 600 feet, don't put everyone through the hassle of reviewing and approving it.

 

[Semass]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

So is the current incarnation of this project maintaining the straddling garage over Congress Street?

Nope. Its toast. That is a key element of the proposal. This is just the west side of the complex.

 

[FK4]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I'm a little peeved that they aren't doing any bike lanes along the project on this side.

Yeah - I dont know why Connect Historic Boston doesnt also plan for a cycle track along Congress - really, for the entire length of it, but at least as far as State Street - that windswept stretch from Merrimac to Congress to State is not a comfortable ride but makes much for sense for cutting across town then their other proposals. Maybe by the time construction gets going we can gets some more action here.

 

[393b40]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

The office tower will definitely improve the skyline, especially harborside. Just wish it were higher, it would be a signature tower if it were. With Boston land in such scarce supply, and construction costs so high, doesn't it make sense to maximize ROI by going higher? Once it's up, it's up. More sq. footage equals more revenue, doesn't it? Nimby's and FAA restrictions aside, why does Boston seem to have a self-imposed height cap? This tower, as well as TD Garden Towers' were approved for 600', so it makes no sense to go lower.

I'm increasingly convinced the days of the giant corporate office tower are over in the US except in NYC and Chicago. Companies needed massive amounts of space when offices weren't as heavily automated as they are today. Sure there are big companies out there, but they are few and far between. Most companies need a couple floors at most. Boston's commercial economy is also getting increasingly dominated by tech companies which favor smaller cheaper offices.

Tall construction will be increasingly dominated by residential or mixed use towers (commercial/hotel on lower floors).

 

[Bubbybu]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I'm increasingly convinced the days of the giant corporate office tower are over in the US except in NYC and Chicago. Companies needed massive amounts of space when offices weren't as heavily automated as they are today. Sure there are big companies out there, but they are few and far between. Most companies need a couple floors at most. Boston's commercial economy is also getting increasingly dominated by tech companies which favor smaller cheaper offices.

Tall construction will be increasingly dominated by residential or mixed use towers (commercial/hotel on lower floors).

I hope so. Mass construction of skyscrapers as some ideal of progress was an idiotic paradigm to begin with. And it's reached a saturation point in the most tall cities where they fail to elicit any emotional response.

Quality of life and human scale design is becoming much more important. Cities like Boston now already have that comparative advantage, where much of the city is already built and designed on that level. So people see jungles of towers in one city and then look at the pleasant streets and trees of ours, with a few nice towers sprinkled here and three, and that's a big plus in our books.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

For those of us that like 2D plans & sections:

Residential (WP-B1):

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Office (WP-B2):

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Both on the site:

 

[Equilibria]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I typically find it awkward when people anthropomorphize towers as women (happens more on SSP than it does here), but from the front, that tower's lifting a skirt to show its ankle.

EDIT: And I just realized how ironic that is, given the typical Pelli designs...

 

[DZH22]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

Based on an extremely rough calculation on one of the side by side diagrams (measured them in centimeters, was approximately 18.7 cm for Resi and 22.5 cm for Office) it looks like the office tower could be a solid 650' to the tip. Thanks Data for compiling this.

 

[Equilibria]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

Based on an extremely rough calculation on one of the side by side diagrams (measured them in centimeters, was approximately 18.7 cm for Resi and 22.5 cm for Office) it looks like the office tower could be a solid 650' to the tip. Thanks Data for compiling this.

I just did a relative height roof/tip by cropping the picture (we know it's 528' to the roof) and came out with 617' to the tip.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

Based on an extremely rough calculation on one of the side by side diagrams (measured them in centimeters, was approximately 18.7 cm for Resi and 22.5 cm for Office) it looks like the office tower could be a solid 650' to the tip. Thanks Data for compiling this.

If you want a more solid reference, the highest occupied floor on the Pelli tower is 528'.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I just did a relative height roof/tip by cropping the picture (we know it's 528' to the roof) and came out with 617' to the tip.

It's not 528' to the roof, it's 528' to the top of the highest occupiable floor. There are mech floor above that. Note that the shorter tower, at 547', is still below what you probably measured as the roof.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

Also note that the 480' appears to be the BOTTOM of the highest occupiable floor of the residential tower. (floor 45) That's pretty confusing.

 

[Equilibria]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

It's not 528' to the roof, it's 528' to the top of the highest occupiable floor. There are mech floor above that. Note that the shorter tower, at 547', is still below what you probably measured as the roof.

I took "Roof" on the diagram as the roof, the ceiling highest blue floor (plus a thin area above the ceiling). The mechanical stuff is in the box on the roof, surrounded by the sheath. At least, that's how I interpreted the diagram. If you argue that the bare ceiling of the 44th Floor is the 528', then it's about 620' to the tip.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Congress Street Garage Development | West End

I took "Roof" on the diagram as the roof, the ceiling highest blue floor (plus a thin area above the ceiling). The mechanical stuff is in the box on the roof, surrounded by the sheath. At least, that's how I interpreted the diagram. If you argue that the bare ceiling of the 44th Floor is the 528', then it's about 620' to the tip.

When I was talking about 45th floor I was talking about the Residential Tower, not the office. Edit: Why does it start at 27'?

These are the 2 diagrams I used. Note where the 480' is on the first one. Note where the shorter tower's 547' roof is on the second one, compared to the taller tower.

For those of us that like 2D plans & sections:

Residential (WP-B1):

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