Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Just one word... emoticons.
Cambridge Crossing (NorthPoint) | East Cambridge/Charlestown | Cambridge/Boston
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kennedy
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
These three pictures make me ridiculously optimistic. Imagine a nice streetcar on the top photo, and people sitting on those stoops. I absolutely love how close those doors are to the street. I stick with what I've said before, I adore these buildings. Give it five years, and I promise the developer I will be buying one of these condos.
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These three pictures make me ridiculously optimistic. Imagine a nice streetcar on the top photo, and people sitting on those stoops. I absolutely love how close those doors are to the street. I stick with what I've said before, I adore these buildings. Give it five years, and I promise the developer I will be buying one of these condos.
kennedy
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Ablarc, I know you and I disagree on this project. You really don't see the potential here? I guess I'm foolishly optimistic, but this seems like a glimpse into the future of residential urban architecture. Front doors at street level, rather than a lobby with an elevator.
Ablarc, I know you and I disagree on this project. You really don't see the potential here? I guess I'm foolishly optimistic, but this seems like a glimpse into the future of residential urban architecture. Front doors at street level, rather than a lobby with an elevator.
Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
As usual, your heart's in the right place, but streetcar or no, what happens above the fourth floor?
And what are [all those] folks doing on their stoops on the Kalahari's edge?
Now hold on, I didn't say I disagreed with you; I just said we needed to conjure you up a nice street car.
As usual, your heart's in the right place, but streetcar or no, what happens above the fourth floor?
And what are [all those] folks doing on their stoops on the Kalahari's edge?
kennedy
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Well, your posts concerning this project have been fairly skeptical and unimpressed, if not entirely disapproving. Perhaps that's just been my perception, though. I would assume you are more cautious when giving praise, considering the project has been such a failure thus far.
Above the fourth floor is relatively unimportant unless you live there. Or perhaps it's the seventh floor, like you pointed out in the Jimmy's thread.
Right now it's no-man's land. But if this project got realized to the fullest, it would not be no-man's land any longer. Presumably, it would also attract investment for other projects in the vicinity, and encourage the MBTA to provide better service to the area.
Regarding the streetcar, there are my personal urban planning silver bullet.
Well, your posts concerning this project have been fairly skeptical and unimpressed, if not entirely disapproving. Perhaps that's just been my perception, though. I would assume you are more cautious when giving praise, considering the project has been such a failure thus far.
Above the fourth floor is relatively unimportant unless you live there. Or perhaps it's the seventh floor, like you pointed out in the Jimmy's thread.
Right now it's no-man's land. But if this project got realized to the fullest, it would not be no-man's land any longer. Presumably, it would also attract investment for other projects in the vicinity, and encourage the MBTA to provide better service to the area.
Regarding the streetcar, there are my personal urban planning silver bullet.
czsz
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
It might be okay if the buildings were actually broken up like townhouses, but because we get the uniform block look above the stoops, the streetscape fails to be enlivened by small plots.
It might be okay if the buildings were actually broken up like townhouses, but because we get the uniform block look above the stoops, the streetscape fails to be enlivened by small plots.
Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
As usual, Cz puts it better than I could.
kennedy
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
I would imagine that individual owners would have some discretion regarding how their front door is decorated. Be it through changing the garden, or patio furniture, or something as simple as curtains behind the windows.
I think we're dreadfully close to an era where the single-developer, small footprint townhouse will be economically unfeasible. Of course, in the specific situation, maybe not. Perhaps zoning laws could change this, but wouldn't that essentially be market manipulation? If it's more profitable to build a large block, what right does the government have to adjust the paradigm so that it is less profitable? I'd rather see medium-to-medium large sized footprints that have an effective street relationship praised, and somehow work ordinances in that encourage architecture like this.
I would imagine that individual owners would have some discretion regarding how their front door is decorated. Be it through changing the garden, or patio furniture, or something as simple as curtains behind the windows.
I think we're dreadfully close to an era where the single-developer, small footprint townhouse will be economically unfeasible. Of course, in the specific situation, maybe not. Perhaps zoning laws could change this, but wouldn't that essentially be market manipulation? If it's more profitable to build a large block, what right does the government have to adjust the paradigm so that it is less profitable? I'd rather see medium-to-medium large sized footprints that have an effective street relationship praised, and somehow work ordinances in that encourage architecture like this.
JohnAKeith
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Kennedy, what ever would give you the idea that individual owners have discretion over how the external of their units look like?
Many condo associations restrict what you can and can't do. At Court Square Press in South Boston, for example, all windows must be covered with white-only curtains.
In the South End, you can't put up a metal-framed door, you can only replace existing doors with other doors of the same type and style that existed here during the 1870's, unless grandfathered-in.
BTW, those photos are in wrong thread, no? Those are of the condos not the apartments, no?
Kennedy, what ever would give you the idea that individual owners have discretion over how the external of their units look like?
Many condo associations restrict what you can and can't do. At Court Square Press in South Boston, for example, all windows must be covered with white-only curtains.
In the South End, you can't put up a metal-framed door, you can only replace existing doors with other doors of the same type and style that existed here during the 1870's, unless grandfathered-in.
BTW, those photos are in wrong thread, no? Those are of the condos not the apartments, no?
kennedy
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Aren't they part of North Point either way?
I guess that was rather foolish, considering there are even restrictions on minor details out here in suburban dystopia. Regardless, I think that this is far better than the current urban condo complex. Townhouses like those in the South End seem to be very rare, outside of established when townhouse development was common. Outside of the large footprint, I see no problem with this facade. It activates the streetscape in the best way residential can - by connecting the sidewalk with the people inside. I can imagine more developments on the same street with various retail and service locations to further enliven the urban atmosphere.
Aren't they part of North Point either way?
I guess that was rather foolish, considering there are even restrictions on minor details out here in suburban dystopia. Regardless, I think that this is far better than the current urban condo complex. Townhouses like those in the South End seem to be very rare, outside of established when townhouse development was common. Outside of the large footprint, I see no problem with this facade. It activates the streetscape in the best way residential can - by connecting the sidewalk with the people inside. I can imagine more developments on the same street with various retail and service locations to further enliven the urban atmosphere.
HenryAlan
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
I do think it looks nice, and agree that we shouldn't be able to mandate lower profits for the developer. So perhaps we are at the end of the era of small scale development. But does that necessarily require a condominium association? Couldn't each unit be sold as the unit + occupied land? Wouldn't it therefore be possible to avoid altogether the complexities of an association? I realize some of the underlying engineering might have to change to avoid shared ownership of partition walls, etc. Or alternatively, there could be a legal framework for a minimalist association agreement covering just the shared walls and nothing else.
There is a tendency to view problems as solvable only through better architecture, but that isn't always possible. Should we therefore despair of solving the problem?
I do think it looks nice, and agree that we shouldn't be able to mandate lower profits for the developer. So perhaps we are at the end of the era of small scale development. But does that necessarily require a condominium association? Couldn't each unit be sold as the unit + occupied land? Wouldn't it therefore be possible to avoid altogether the complexities of an association? I realize some of the underlying engineering might have to change to avoid shared ownership of partition walls, etc. Or alternatively, there could be a legal framework for a minimalist association agreement covering just the shared walls and nothing else.
There is a tendency to view problems as solvable only through better architecture, but that isn't always possible. Should we therefore despair of solving the problem?
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Re: Archstone North Point (The one that looks like the Landmark Center)
Heh even I didn't catch that.
Heh even I didn't catch that.
GW2500
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Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)
Globe, Cambridge
http://www.cambridgeday.com/2010/06...ion-in-north-point-and-order-for-areas-roads/
Fast-track approval for construction in North Point, and order for area?s roads
By Marc Levy
Published: June 7, 2010
EF Education First, at left, plans to build additional offices across the intersection in Cambridge?s stagnant North Point neighborhood.
The North Point neighborhood may yet be tamed. The City Council gave preliminary blessing Monday to a 300,000-square-foot project to house the growing EF Education First, a language and travel company, and essentially took over several roads so it could impose traffic and parking rules.
The building project has many steps to go through even before returning to the city for approval, warned Dean F. Stratouly, president of developer The Congress Group, but he hopes also to get fast-track approval at the state level that will allow construction to start next year. The building could open for business as soon as the spring of 2012. The project is self-funded, which should help speed its progress.
It would be a companion building to the Education First offices already in North Point, mirroring it from across Education Street.
?They are out of space,? Stratouly told the council during the meeting?s public comment period. ?They approached me six months ago and said, ?We would like to stay in Cambridge, but we need a new building.??
Plans for the project may change as The Congress Group goes through the approval process. Included now is a 75,000-square-foot parking lot and 10-story building with a private auditorium and public Lingo Bar & Restaurant ? another mirror image, since there is a Lingo in the current Education First building that would stay open. The Congress Group would work with the state to build several public tennis courts and a skate park nearby, Stratouly said.
?North Point is kind of stagnant, so this is a very positive sign,? said councillor Tim Toomey, describing the expansion as something that can ?bring economic vitality and life to that area.?
Education First would add an estimated 400 jobs to staff the new building, councillors said, and Stratouly said there might be 200 construction workers needed over the life of the $30 million project. (Education First would spend additional money on the new building?s interior, he said.)
They would be union workers, assured Joe Power, business representative for Cambridge-based Carpenters Local 40.
The councillors embraced the project as progress for the overall North Point project ? pitched as transforming 45 acres of wasteland into 19 city blocks with 2.2 million square feet of commercial and office space, 150,000 square feet of retail and 2,700 residential units. But in the words of The Boston Globe?s Paul McMorrow:
Development at North Point stopped soon after it started, in 2005. Pan Am Railways, which had inherited the development site from the old Boston and Maine Railroad, tried dumping its local real estate development partners. The railroad?s minority partners (execs from the former Hub brokerage Spaulding & Slye) balked. The two sides would up suing each other in Boston. Because that wasn?t enough, they slugged it out in a Delaware courtroom, too. The two sides only managed to agree on two things: They both wanted to quit the project, and they wanted a big payday to do so.
Five years later, the neighborhood has 500 to 600 residents and a handful of businesses in addition to Education First and Lingo, including a convenience store and Cambridge College branch, councillor Denise Simmons said.
There are also 30 or 40 mystery cars parked under the bridge headed into Charlestown, at fire hydrants and in lanes not made for parking, which threaten collisions between cars squeezed into one and a half lanes as they try to pass, councillors said. And there has been no ticketing or towing because there has been no rules or punishment imposed on what has not been city land. The few roads in North Point so far, although built to city specifications, have thus far not been city owned, leaving them, in the words of councillor Tim Toomey, a ?no-man?s land.?
The council voted unanimously Monday to take possession of the roads and bring order to them ? and extract tickets and parking fees from them, if only to pay for snow plowing the city has done there ? as soon as meters and signs can be installed.
City Manager Robert W. Healy said that should be done within 60 days, although ?I hope it?ll be done in 20 days.?
This post has been updated to clarify the size of the project and to add its cost and the responsibility of The Congress Group for nearby tennis courts.
Globe, Cambridge
http://www.cambridgeday.com/2010/06...ion-in-north-point-and-order-for-areas-roads/
Fast-track approval for construction in North Point, and order for area?s roads
By Marc Levy
Published: June 7, 2010
EF Education First, at left, plans to build additional offices across the intersection in Cambridge?s stagnant North Point neighborhood.
The North Point neighborhood may yet be tamed. The City Council gave preliminary blessing Monday to a 300,000-square-foot project to house the growing EF Education First, a language and travel company, and essentially took over several roads so it could impose traffic and parking rules.
The building project has many steps to go through even before returning to the city for approval, warned Dean F. Stratouly, president of developer The Congress Group, but he hopes also to get fast-track approval at the state level that will allow construction to start next year. The building could open for business as soon as the spring of 2012. The project is self-funded, which should help speed its progress.
It would be a companion building to the Education First offices already in North Point, mirroring it from across Education Street.
?They are out of space,? Stratouly told the council during the meeting?s public comment period. ?They approached me six months ago and said, ?We would like to stay in Cambridge, but we need a new building.??
Plans for the project may change as The Congress Group goes through the approval process. Included now is a 75,000-square-foot parking lot and 10-story building with a private auditorium and public Lingo Bar & Restaurant ? another mirror image, since there is a Lingo in the current Education First building that would stay open. The Congress Group would work with the state to build several public tennis courts and a skate park nearby, Stratouly said.
?North Point is kind of stagnant, so this is a very positive sign,? said councillor Tim Toomey, describing the expansion as something that can ?bring economic vitality and life to that area.?
Education First would add an estimated 400 jobs to staff the new building, councillors said, and Stratouly said there might be 200 construction workers needed over the life of the $30 million project. (Education First would spend additional money on the new building?s interior, he said.)
They would be union workers, assured Joe Power, business representative for Cambridge-based Carpenters Local 40.
The councillors embraced the project as progress for the overall North Point project ? pitched as transforming 45 acres of wasteland into 19 city blocks with 2.2 million square feet of commercial and office space, 150,000 square feet of retail and 2,700 residential units. But in the words of The Boston Globe?s Paul McMorrow:
Development at North Point stopped soon after it started, in 2005. Pan Am Railways, which had inherited the development site from the old Boston and Maine Railroad, tried dumping its local real estate development partners. The railroad?s minority partners (execs from the former Hub brokerage Spaulding & Slye) balked. The two sides would up suing each other in Boston. Because that wasn?t enough, they slugged it out in a Delaware courtroom, too. The two sides only managed to agree on two things: They both wanted to quit the project, and they wanted a big payday to do so.
Five years later, the neighborhood has 500 to 600 residents and a handful of businesses in addition to Education First and Lingo, including a convenience store and Cambridge College branch, councillor Denise Simmons said.
There are also 30 or 40 mystery cars parked under the bridge headed into Charlestown, at fire hydrants and in lanes not made for parking, which threaten collisions between cars squeezed into one and a half lanes as they try to pass, councillors said. And there has been no ticketing or towing because there has been no rules or punishment imposed on what has not been city land. The few roads in North Point so far, although built to city specifications, have thus far not been city owned, leaving them, in the words of councillor Tim Toomey, a ?no-man?s land.?
The council voted unanimously Monday to take possession of the roads and bring order to them ? and extract tickets and parking fees from them, if only to pay for snow plowing the city has done there ? as soon as meters and signs can be installed.
City Manager Robert W. Healy said that should be done within 60 days, although ?I hope it?ll be done in 20 days.?
This post has been updated to clarify the size of the project and to add its cost and the responsibility of The Congress Group for nearby tennis courts.
Ron Newman
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Re: NorthPoint Cambridge (The one that was train yards, the big plan.)
Again, that is from Cambridge Day, not the Globe.
Again, that is from Cambridge Day, not the Globe.
