Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

Sorry, I didn't think this necessitated an entirely new thread, but here's more proof that broke this morning that Cambridge/Boston's economic gravitational pull is growing stronger and stronger:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...bacher-moves-to-u-s-for-personal-reasons.html

Sanofi Says Viehbacher Moves to U.S. for Personal Reasons
By Simeon Bennett and Albertina Torsoli

"Sanofi (SAN) Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher has relocated to the Boston area for personal reasons, emphasizing the French drugmaker’s growing presence in the U.S.

“This is a personal family decision made by Chris Viehbacher which will have no effect on the operation of the company,” Jack Cox, a spokesman for Paris-based Sanofi, said by phone today.

The move reflects a shift in focus by Sanofi, France’s second-largest company by market value, away from its home country. Viehbacher’s signature acquisition since becoming CEO was the purchase of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme Corp. for $20.1 billion in 2011. The company has cut research jobs in France and four of the 12 members of its executive committee now live in the U.S........"
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Looks like 2 reasons (1 Cambridge/1 Boston):
1) Genzyme
2) His child started at Northeastern last fall.

For reasons clearly stated by the spokespersons of Sanofi, this does NOT look to be the "Project Tiger" corporation that is rumored to be relocating (and scouting for over 400K sq ft of office space) to Cambridge. Still, the French seem to be in an uproar over this development.

Couple that with the story in the Globe this morning about Sarepta's (a company that relocated to Cambridge from Seattle last year bringing 90 employees and plans to double that next year) new Duchenne muscular Dystrophy treatment http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...ug-approval/lW2VHirWrwjqUqj5jeB6rL/story.html and one can only rub one's eyes at what is taking place in Cambridge.

Fascinating times.
 
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Edit: was suggesting Sanofi may be the ones behind "Project Tiger" but hadn't fully read Shmessy's post.

However there's no doubt that it's truly amazing what's going on in Cambridge. The Boston area is often thought of as the life sciences center of the US and with what we've seen happen in just the last year or two alone in the private sector, it looks like it's going to widen that gap even further.

I wonder what sort of difference this could make when it comes to things like venture capital. All of these big companies have arms which invest in startup companies, so having the additional presence of the CEO of Sanofi, potentially the new US HQ of a major company, along with the new research centers for companies like Pfizer could potentially mean a boost in local VC.

Boston's not going to catch up to Silicon Valley anytime soon, but perhaps it could space between it and New York, who's on a warpath to catch up with Boston in this area.
 
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tmac9wr said:
Boston's not going to catch up to Silicon Valley anytime soon, but perhaps it could space between it and New York, who's on a warpath to catch up with Boston in this area.
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Biotech is a different industry from Silicon Valley tech. The Bay Area does have a couple of major firms in this arena (Genentech being the big one) but really, the industry centers are Cambridge and Raleigh, NC. I suspect that one reason might be flight time - Boston is closer to Europe than SF, and the big international firms are based there (as opposed to the digital technology firms based in China, Korea and Japan).

The only sad part about Project Tiger is that if it is Bayer, their US HQ is currently in Pittsburgh, which one assumes needs it more than Cambridge does.
 
Equilibria said:
Biotech is a different industry from Silicon Valley tech. The Bay Area does have a couple of major firms in this arena (Genentech being the big one) but really, the industry centers are Cambridge and Raleigh, NC. I suspect that one reason might be flight time - Boston is closer to Europe than SF, and the big international firms are based there (as opposed to the digital technology firms based in China, Korea and Japan).

The only sad part about Project Tiger is that if it is Bayer, their US HQ is currently in Pittsburgh, which one assumes needs it more than Cambridge does.
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I was actually referring to venture capital funding--sorry if I wasn't clear on that. Last year the Bay Area received $12.26 billion in VC, while the Greater Boston area got about $3.36 billion. New York City was third with $3.11B.

If they are in fact moving out of the Pittsburgh area, it wouldn't be great for the region but Pittsburgh's unemployment rate is quite good--lower than Boston's even (http://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laulrgma.htm). Hopefully they'd be able to bounce back without trouble. It looks like Bayer has been pulling out of that region recently though.

They recently opened up a new HQ in New Jersey for BayerHealthcare, taking many jobs from the region, including the top executive in the US. There was even chatter that they could move the US HQ there:

In the year since Bayer announced its top U.S. executive would be based in New Jersey for the first time, the Robinson campus appears to be shifting from the conglomerate's North American headquarters to simply the North American headquarters for the Bayer MaterialScience unit.

Bayer said it is still evaluating how many corporate headquarters jobs may eventually wind up in New Jersey and whether the U.S. headquarters could officially move there.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...rgh-region/stories/201308110209#ixzz33aiVtPio
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So it looks like Project Tiger could very well be Bayer. I wonder if the executives in New Jersey would then move up to the Boston area if everything were to go through as planned.
 
From the Post-Gazette article, it would seem if it is Bayer, it is Bayer Healthcare, which is centered in New Jersey.

And whether it is the HQ moving, or several divisions, is only speculative. Only about 2,500 employees total in the U.S.

Looking further, it may be this unit, which is just ramping up.

"In a related transaction, Bayer and Merck & Co., Inc. also agreed to enter into a strategic pharma collaboration in the area of cardiovascular diseases with a focus on sGC modulation. Cardiovascular diseases represent one of the most significant therapeutic areas. Despite previous achievements there remains high medical need, for example, in various diseases such as certain forms of pulmonary hypertension or heart failure. Novel modulators of the sGC pathway may have the potential to address this need. However, major development efforts and clinical programs are required to fully explore the benefits of these novel compounds. This collaboration brings together two leading companies in this field."

Isn't Merck cardio in Boston?
 
The only thing that would be strange about Bayer Healthcare leaving New Jersey is that they just cut the ribbon on the HQ in October of 2013...it seems unlikely they'd move so quickly. The HQ was built for Bayer and is over 650,000 square feet.

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/10/bayer_healthcare_opens_new_hq.html

I think we're going to have to just wait and see with this one. These major pharma companies have so many giant divisions that it could be one or several parts of the company, or a totally different company altogether. It may not even be Bayer.
 
The waterfall definitely would have been a more successful gesture in the middle of a public plaza or something where it would really activate the negative space. The same goes for the detailed facade material. You have to experience it up close to get the full effect and for most people that will never happen. This building is just flung out in the middle of nowhere and from a distance lacks distinguishing character. I wonder if they recycled this design from a proposal they lost... It just doesn't seem right for this site.
 
I think this may be client driven. I seem to recall that way back when, EF wanted a literal waterfall to run down the side of the building. This "waterfall" was probably the architect's attempt to deliver a more practical and less costly alternative to an actual water element running down the side of the building.
 
I'm imagining the client meeting: Architect/Engineer: "Bore testing shows significant ground water. Apparently, it's the Millers River, long since filled." Client: "Fascinating! Can you work it into the design?" Architect/Engineer: "You mean, can we effectively seal the basement?" Client: "No! Can you make it go up and over?!" Arch/Eng.: "Uh ... yeah. We'll get back to you on that."
 
dirtywater said:
I think this may be client driven. I seem to recall that way back when, EF wanted a literal waterfall to run down the side of the building. This "waterfall" was probably the architect's attempt to deliver a more practical and less costly alternative to an actual water element running down the side of the building.
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No. The architect built virtually the exact same building in Europe (I think) a few years ago.
 
That reminds me of the running gag in the Brady Bunch Movie in which every design that Mike Brady submits to his clients, regardless of what it is (gas station, a restaurant, etc.) is a modified version of the Brady House.
 
159 First St this evening:





Looks like this one is getting a hand-laid stone and brick facade. Not exactly the Chevron quality, though.
 
Is the plan to move Helmand and Boco Loco into the new building, and then knock down the current locations? The party walls above look like placeholders until the rest of the building is completed. Also, isn't that stonework going up in panels?
 
This is not stone. It is precast concrete that is marketed as cast-stone. (Yes the irrigate is stone ... but so is very concrete in the world).

cca
 
It's also bothering me that the door lintel is not the same dimension and does not align with the lintels above the windows.
 
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