Columbus Center: RIP | Back Bay

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Re: Columbus Center

One of the proposals for San Francisco's Transbay Center. I think it's the winning design, but chances are, it will get dumbed down. I can't remember which architect it was. SOM or Libeskind maybe?
 
Re: Columbus Center

Several of the cheerleaders are still getting it all wrong.

czsz said:
. . . whining ("the neighbors have been in limbo") is driving the nail in the coffin of this project . . .
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No. It isn?t. The proposal died because the owners never really had the $340 million in cash and $510 million in loans that they claimed to have, and they couldn?t buy the insurance that state officials wisely required. The lead owner was the California pension plan, looking to invest $245 billion when it decided to buy Columbus Center back in 2005, but even that deep-pocketed organization always refused to release the funds needed to proceed. The proposal didn?t die because some neighbors complained about debris. It died because the current owners chose, 2006 ? 2009, to let it die.

kz1000ps said:
. . . just lock this thread . . . there's nothing more to be said.
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Columbus Center is Boston?s longest running urban planning failure, so this thread is far more informative and educational than most others. It?s well worth keeping, especially for the years of potential litigation that will finally inform all those who never knew what was going on. Visitors who only want to read about issue-free proposals and to cheerlead will never be satisfied by this thread, but rather than keep crying ?stop the posts!? and ?lock the thread!? they should just seek their Happy Meals elsewhere, and let those who can learn from reading here continue in peace.

pelhamhall said:
There is a lot more to be said . . . This failure is the proof that only taller, bigger and denser can work on a site like this.
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No, this failure doesn?t prove anything of the sort. The proposal died because the owners either never had the cash they claimed to have, or else had it but refused to risk it. Either way, they never met commercial lending criteria, and never obtained all the approvals required to start. Adding more square feet would do nothing to fix that. The proposal didn?t die because it wasn?t big enough; it died because the business plan ? ?claim to have the cash, then get it from the government later when no one?s looking? ? got unmasked.

The proposal died not because of local debris, or too much review, or inadequate size. It died because what the owners proposed to do was the opposite of what they intended to do, and was the opposite of what they did.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Congratulations Ned! You totally kicked everybody's ass! But I need to warn you that the Scientologists are coming to town and you're going to have to deal with them when they want to erect Hubbard Place in the Back Bay/South End area. Their army of lawyers will crush you!
 
Re: Columbus Center

I chose the SOM proposal because the design stands on four huge super-columns (like a modern interpretation of the Eiffel Tower or this unbuilt Paul Rudolph project). I think it could be adapted to span the Pike without the construction of an expensive deck.
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I like it... here's to something new getting approved in 5 years, bigger and even less to Ned's liking.
 
Re: Columbus Center

I've locked this thread. CC is dead and it's grave is being danced upon. No doubt someday another project will come along, or maybe even CC will become a zombie. But no matter, this thread has been a slime pit for long enough. This thread is closed. If there is any other NEWS about the CC then go here: News ONLY CC Thread.

This thread will, fortunately or unfortunately, be around as an archive.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Well the project is officially dead now. The NIMBYs got the open space they wanted. I hope they enjoy that canyon size "open space" because that's the only thing they will get for the next decade.
 
Re: Columbus Center

I'm having the last word, your thread-closing didn't work!

Defeated Columbus Center is an orphan with a thousand fathers
by John Keith South End News Contributor
Thursday Aug 14, 2008

An opportunity to stitch back together a deep tear in the urban fabric was lost with the failed Columbus Center project, the proposed $800 million, mixed-use complex to be built on decks constructed over the Massachusetts Turnpike. After 11 years of fits and starts, it appears to have fallen victim to its own lethargy, as much as anything else. It seems unlikely the development will ever be built.

How could this possibly happen? How could a project that was so far along in the process unravel at the last minute, after construction had already started?

There is plenty of blame to spread around, beginning with the company that first proposed the development.

It looks as though Arthur Winn and his WinnDevelopment never secured the money needed to complete the project. According to published reports, the developer missed two deadlines earlier this year by which it was supposed to have proved to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority that it had raised $500 million (it did prove it had at least half that). But, trouble was brewing long before then.

Back in 1996, the developer proposed a subsidy-free project, but soon after it received its first approvals, it began reaching out for taxpayer money. Meanwhile, its financing began to fall apart. Major investor Anglo-Irish Bank withdrew more than $500 million in commitments as early as 2006. The next year, the real estate subsidiary run by investment partner CalPERS (now "owner of record" on the project and "leasee" of the Turnpike air rights lease) threatened to pull out unless the state guaranteed public assistance. In early 2007, the developers came to the state asking for help; but by April 2008, they hit a brick wall, failing to make it to round two in their quest for a $10 million MORE (Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation and Expansion) grant. Not long after, MassHousing, the state?s affordable housing agency, withdrew its promise of another $20 million. When asked, the city of Boston, which had already committed $14 million in incentives and tax credits, said, "No more."

Meanwhile, at the same time it was knocking on doors in search of funds, the developer faced a rapidly increasing budget, due to rising labor and material costs. The project had an estimated cost of $300 million when it was proposed in 1996, but that has ballooned to the now estimated $800 million. It sure didn?t help things when the credit crisis hit the commercial markets and residential real estate sales imploded.

If Mr. Winn had been able to pull things together, it would have been possible to ignore the constant drone of complaints from a small but vocal group of residents, neighbors and politicians, and we wouldn?t be having this conversation. But, he didn?t, it wasn?t, and we are.

The Columbus Center was more than just "luxury condos." It would have included a grocery store, daycare center, parking, and new parks - the result of promises extorted from the developer during the more than 130 public meetings held throughout the neighborhood over the past 10 years. In the final analysis, our friends and neighbors asked for too much - their constant meddling unnecessarily prolonged the approval process to the point it became economically unfeasible to build.

Blame also lies at the feet of our local elected officials. House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, South End State Representative Byron Rushing and Back Bay State Representative Marty Walz each spoke out against public financing for Columbus Center, in effect dooming its chances to move forward.

Ironically, at the same time they were expressing astonishment at the very idea of public funds going to a private company, they were supporting legislation that handed out millions (actually, billions) of dollars in subsidies to other projects across the Commonwealth.

For example, Reps. DiMasi and Walz approved $60 million in state spending and incentives to help "persuade" drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb to move to Massachusetts. They?ve both heaped praise on the Massachusetts film-credit incentive program, which the Department of Revenue estimates has cost the state $120 million over the past three years. And just this spring, all three voted in favor of the $1 billion life sciences bill, which authorizes $500 million in borrowed capital spending, an additional $250 million in grants, and another $250 million in tax incentives.

Yet, when it came to helping out someone in their own backyard, our representatives defied logic and suddenly clammed up and clamped down. It?s all well and good to argue against public subsidies on principle, but don?t pull it out as an excuse only when it?s politically expedient or personally beneficial.

What have residents lost, as a result of the project?s failure? Property tax revenues (eventually; the city had promised forgiveness of much of it during the first years), jobs, homes, parks, parking spaces and the conveniences of local shops, for starters. In addition, WinnDevelopment would have been required to include affordable-housing units as part of any new construction or make a significant financial payment into the city?s low-cost housing fund. These community benefits are all gone.

But, this is all water under the bridge, or decks, as it were. I, for one, have given up on the project. One small request, though. Mr. Winn, don?t feel any rush to clean up your construction site; please leave it as is - an enduring testament to the lost chances and broken dreams that define the development process in Boston in the 21st century.
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Re: Columbus Center

There was a commenter on boston.com saying that the construction of CC will increase car traffic and FOOT TRAFFIC. He then continues by saying that it is out of scale. Comments like these make me lose faith in Boston. Foot traffic! This guy wants Boston to be a deserted wasteland. And how is it out of scale? The projects sits within the Green and Orange Line, the commuter rails, and bus 39.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Article in the Globe. No quote from Ned.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/03/11/columbus_center_developer_pulls_the_plug/

Globe picture, one of the better ones of the site.
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Herald article.
http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...00m_columbus_center_plan/srvc=home&position=5
 
Re: Columbus Center

State Representative Martha Walz, whose legislative district borders the site, said any new plans should comport with a planning document devised by the community in the 1990s that calls for parks and low to midrise buildings.
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Marty Walz is an economic dynamo. Columbus Center's economics didn't work (CC was to be less dense than Copley btw). Marty's solution: Strip it down. Add some parks. Take out the lucrative office portion. There. That should pay for itself.
 
Re: Columbus Center

13 years and all we have is a chain link fence surrounding an open pit over a highway. What the heck is wrong with the building process in this town? (rheotrical question, we all know the answers)
 
Re: Columbus Center

We'll I think we can forgive Dianne Wilkerson for stuffing her Bra for the bribes on this development. Every man or woman jumping off the Titantic. Filenes, Columbus are toast. Fan Pier is looking like a bust. IMHO Russia Wharf will be the only successful one of these four. Can't wait to see what's in the pipeline for future developments

Congress St? Doubt it.
Aquarim Garage? Too many Shadows

Boston development is looking very GRIM these days.
 
Re: Columbus Center

Which is a shame considering the boom time the rest of the world's cities are enjoying.
 
Re: Columbus Center

statler said:
Which is a shame considering the boom time the rest of the world's cities are enjoying.
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Boston is defintely going Backwards. It depends how bad this recession gets but if we end up in a depression we might see some colleges start going bankrupt which could make Boston less desirable. We are living in some very interesting times.
 
Re: Columbus Center

I will say this. Boston didn't take full advantage of the good times while they were here.

Perhaps lessons will be learned?
 
Re: Columbus Center

How many NIMBYs does it take to change a lightbulb?
 
Re: Columbus Center

It doesn't matter how much it's going to cost. Open space is better in the dark anyway (less riff-raff).
 
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