Bulfinch Triangle Infill & Small Projects

statler said:
Now, if you get an architect who can do high function with high style, there is your holy grail.
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All I'm sayin' is that this should have been a requirement development on these sites. Again, civic ambition. At least one of these sites deserved a "Steinway building" to use justin's term.
 
Pierce: I took a look at Borneo Sporenburg. Can't say I love it, but I see your point. I agree that a statement can occasionally be made in conjunction with good function, but I disagree that good functionality means that a building will age well.

It is true that many ugly buildings are also ineffective, but some perfectly functional buildings fail the style test. Just look at Logan for examples of this. Terminal B is ugly, but brutally effective. Narrow check-in areas and security lanes, but I can think of far crappier terminals functionwise. Didn't age well, though.

Skyscrapers, civic monuments and government buildings, museums, and the like are all charged with helping define a city's image (I still don't believe "civic ambition" has anything to do with it). Residential developments knitting neighborhoods back together are not. These buildings are meant not to be taken individually, but as the sum of their parts. Developments at BFT added to the North End create a whole that means far more than any one building alone. No building in the North End could individually be called an achievement, but the neighborhood means something nonetheless.

This corner has a defining arena, a signature bridge (a term I hate but which applies to the Zakim nonetheless), and potential for some handsome highrises. No need to overload it.
 
Equilibria said:
Skyscrapers, civic monuments and government buildings, museums, and the like are all charged with helping define a city's image ... Residential developments knitting neighborhoods back together are not. These buildings are meant not to be taken individually, but as the sum of their parts. Developments at BFT added to the North End create a whole that means far more than any one building alone. No building in the North End could individually be called an achievement, but the neighborhood means something nonetheless.
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Well put.
 
Equilibria said:
Skyscrapers, civic monuments and government buildings, museums, and the like are all charged with helping define a city's image (I still don't believe "civic ambition" has anything to do with it). Residential developments knitting neighborhoods back together are not. These buildings are meant not to be taken individually, but as the sum of their parts. Developments at BFT added to the North End create a whole that means far more than any one building alone. No building in the North End could individually be called an achievement, but the neighborhood means something nonetheless.
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I agree wholeheartedly, but would add that these "sums" then do much towards defining a city's image. The bowfront windows of the Back Bay do as much or more than Faneuil Hall or the Hancock, the blocks of Parisian townhouses hold up against the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. What I am getting at is Boston developers and planners are utilizing this generic "contextual" architecture that is no more truly contextual than a Walmart. They employ a mishmash of familar american traditional forms and hokey, token modernist lines into a jumbled mess that "pleases" all stakeholders. Look at Columbus, Ohio around the hockey arena and OSU campus and any of those buildings could be placed in this Bulfinch Triangle proposal, and vice versa. The Borneo Sporenburg example was saying here is a modern, 21st century, globally viable city giving form to its buildings as well as their collective urbanity in away that is evocative of their past, present, and future, yet wholly new. I would also say look at the urban design in Stoss's proposal for the Toronto Lower Don Lands competition: I'm not as familiar with that, but I remember it doing the same thing in a different way.

Edit: the "contextual" approach is usually more honest and appropriate in the city's existing fabric, but in wholesale rebuilds like the triangle or the south boston waterfront it is just ambivalence amplified (and brick-veneered)
 
Pierce said:
...the "contextual" approach is usually more honest and appropriate in the city's existing fabric, but in wholesale rebuilds like the triangle or the south boston waterfront it is just ambivalence amplified (and brick-veneered)
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The core of my complaint, sans veneer.
 
Group files Bulfinch complex plan
By Donna Goodison
Tuesday, July 1, 2008


Boston Development Group has filed plans with the city for The Merano, a 444,000-square-foot, mixed-use development in Boston?s Bulfinch Triangle near North Station.

The project would include 213,000 square feet of office space, two Marriott hotels and retail and restaurant tenants. The proposed location is Parcel 1B, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority land made available when the elevated Central Artery came down, and two adjacent parcels.

Boston Development has financing in place for the $160 million project, according to Richard Wakeman Jr., vice president of acquisitions and development. ?We would hope to be permitted this fall and break ground at the beginning of the year,? he said.

The planned hotels are a 153-room Courtyard by Marriott and a 121-room, extended-stay TownePlace Suites. Both are moderately priced brands. Their lobby would be on the third floor of the building, which would have 226 valet parking spaces on the second level. The ground floor would be dedicated to 36,000 square feet of stores and restaurants.

The Pike chose Boston Development as the site?s developer in 2006. The Newton company?s original proposal included housing units and the construction of three stories on top of its existing buildings at 239 Causeway St. and 98 North Washington St. But rental housing is difficult to finance right now, and a desire to preserve the views from the Strada234 condo building prompted the changes, Wakeman said.

The company named the project after the northern Italian city of Merano to tie it to the North End.

Community support for it is expected, said Robert O?Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association. Boston Development is a well-known property owner in the neighborhood. The community helped create the Bulfinch Triangle redevelopment guidelines and was involved in the competitive bidding process to select the developer, he said.


Link
 
Dumpy North Station Hotel to Become Holiday Inn After $2.2M Fix
By Thomas Grillo, Banker & Tradesman

A Boston hotel that was once described as a dump by a patron in an online review is getting a makeover.

The former Shawmut Inn near North Station will be transformed into a Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites. When completed later this year, the 5-story brick building will feature 72 rooms, a business center and a fitness facility.

?We were supportive of the property?s continued use as a hotel. We were very encouraged when there was interest from a significant hotel operator to do a Holiday Inn,? said Robert O?Brien, president of the Downtown North Association, a group of businesses, condominium associations and community organizations. ?The project is consistent with the upgrade of Causeway Street.?

In November, New York-based Gemini Real Estate bought the 54,000-square-foot building at the corner of Causeway and Friend streets in the city?s Bulfinch Triangle for $11.5 million. A $2.2 million renovation is under way to restore the 109-year-old building across from the TD Banknorth Garden.

And boy did it need it.

Atit Jariwala, Gemini?s managing director, said he stayed at the hotel before the company purchased it.

?Obviously, we were not buying it for what it was, but for what it could be,? he said. ?The hotel reflected a time when the area was not so nice. But as soon as the elevated Green Line came down, the Bulfinch Triangle began to change and we love what we?re seeing.?

While portions of the area remain gritty, Karla Lyon, the hotel?s general manager, said Gemini is bullish on the location.

?We see this as an up-and-coming neighborhood,? she said. ?We are in a great location across the street from the Garden and the Thomas P. O?Neill Federal Building.?

The Holiday Inn shares a portion of Friend Street with a handful of well-known Boston landmarks. Next door is Hilton?s Tent City, a purveyor of camping gear; the Greatest Bar, a city landmark that features artwork highlighting Boston?s great moments in sports history; and DJ?s at The Garden, one of the neighborhood?s favorite eateries.

The hotel project is the latest in a series of developments that are expected to revitalize a section of the city where several parcels have been created that once sat in the shadows of the elevated Green Line and Southeast Expressway.

First General Realty Corp., a division of Boston Development Group, is seeking approval for a 468,900-square-foot development overlooking the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The project, to be built at the corner of Causeway and Beverly streets, includes a pair of Marriott hotels, 209,500 square feet of office space and ground-floor retail.

Simpson Housing, a Denver-based developer, has been approved for 283 apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail and a restaurant at Valenti Way and Causeway, Beverly and Haverhill streets.

Raymond Properties Co. and Hines are moving ahead on Greenway Center, a 488,000-square-foot development at Valenti Way, North Washington, Canal and New Chardon streets. The transit-oriented development will include 295,000 square feet of commercial office or research and development space, a Stop & Shop Supermarket and 200 parking spaces.

Under construction on former Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority land is Avenir, a project by Boston-based Trinity Financial that will consist of 248 apartments and retail shops.

?There?s no question that developers realize that the Bulfinch Triangle is at the epicenter of a tremendous wave of development following the demolition of the highway,? O?Brien said. ?Clearly the revitalized hotel will make a substantial contribution to the area.?
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Shawmut Inn isn't that old. They opened around the same time as the New Garden. They expected to capitalize on the New Garden being named the Shawmut Center. Oops!
 
I think they chose the name to insure that they get a Mappin!

Merano is fairly close in spellin to Menino

in fact if you make the r kinda hang down over the a and don't look to closely -- voila

Very clever marketing strategy -- marketing to the only customer in the HUB that matters -- A guarantee that this one will be built and it might even feature a Jumbletron on the ground floor

Westy
 
Herald
Financing woes delay grocery at Bulfinch Triangle
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, December 17, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo

The wait for a supermarket at the Bulfinch Triangle in downtown Boston just got longer.

Construction was expected to start on a Stop & Shop next spring at the Greenway Center, a 433,000-square-foot mixed-use development planned for Valenti Way, and North Washington, Canal and New Chardon streets. But with the financial markets in turmoil, the developer is uncertain about a groundbreaking.

?We?re still committed to the supermarket and the project, but the financing markets are not cooperating,? said Michael Francis, vice president at Hines, a co-developer.

The mixed-use project in collaboration with the Raymond Property Co. is to be built on parcels that became available with the demolition of the Central Artery near the TD Banknorth Garden. It is expected to include a 10-story office building with 295,000 square feet of space, ground-floor retail and a supermarket.

Greenway Center is one of a handful of projects under construction or in the pipeline at the Bulfinch Triangle. Earlier this year, First General Realty Corp. filed plans for Merano. The project includes a pair of Marriott hotels, office space and ground-floor retail.

Simpson Housing has plans for a 360,000-square-foot, mixed-use development that would include apartments, retail and restaurant space.

Nearing completion is Avenir, a project by Boston-based Trinity Financial that will consist of apartments and retail shops.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1139578
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That's unfortunate, as people in the surrounding neighborhoods really want that supermarket. There will be no shortage of customers. It will be packed from opening day.

If you live in the North End now, your supermarket options are limited to Whole Foods on Cambridge Street, Shaw's at the Pru, or Johnny's Foodmaster in Charlestown.
 
I think this is a case of suburban businessmen not having a clue about life in the city. As Ron said (and speaking as a NE Resident) this place will be packed from day one. The Whole Foods is expensive (at least people imagine it is), and the Shaw's in the Pru and the Foodmaster in Charlestown are really inconvenient unless you're already traveling that way. The only other options in the NE are small and expensive (ie. do you really want to buy all your groceries at a 7-11 or White Hen?).
 
The supermarket will be 30,000-50,000 SF of a 500,000 SF project. The supermarket may be packed, but the offices upstairs would be empty.
 
Pierce said:
What I am getting at is Boston developers and planners are utilizing this generic "contextual" architecture that is no more truly contextual than a Walmart. They employ a mishmash of familar american traditional forms and hokey, token modernist lines into a jumbled mess that "pleases" all stakeholders. Look at Columbus, Ohio around the hockey arena and OSU campus and any of those buildings could be placed in this Bulfinch Triangle proposal, and vice versa.

Edit: the "contextual" approach is usually more honest and appropriate in the city's existing fabric, but in wholesale rebuilds like the triangle or the south boston waterfront it is just ambivalence amplified (and brick-veneered)
Click to expand...

Before my mind had been shaped by what is right and wrong in architecture, before I knew anything about urbanism, probably when I was about 7 years old, I made a comment about this to my dad:

Me- "Dad, how come all Walgreens look the same?"
My dad- "Well, I don't know, but I guess it's probably cheaper. And people will know that it's a Walgreens."

They build conservatively to keep it on the cheap, and not offend anyone. By building something that would fit anywhere, American architecture is standardized and no person will feel alienated by the design. It is safer. They don't care about the identity of a city.
 
Standardization doesn't have to mean bad or boring architecture, though. Most people, dropped into a town center, can probably easily identify the post office and the library without help from any signage.
 
I'm a NE resident as well, and while I agree that a new grocery store would be great at that location, you can still get pretty much everything you need at the Golden Goose on Commercial, so you can do it by walking. Otherwise, in order to get a lot of groceries, you'll have to drive (Zipcar, your own car, or cab) to one of the other grocery stores, which isn't the end of the world. There is also a Super Stop & Shop right near the Home Depot and Circuit City in Somerville that is really good, but you'll need a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love the new supermarket in the Bulfinch Triangle, but unless there is parking for free I'm still going to Super Stop & Shop.
 
The neighbors, or at least, the vocal ones, have not all been on-board. All I remember is people whining that if a supermarket went in anywhere near the neighborhood, all the local grocery stores would be out of business.
 
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