Copley Place Expansion and Tower | Back Bay

[George_Apley]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

I think they were trying to say the revised proposal is going to be taller than the original proposal which I believe was 625'.

Oh. Is that known, or just speculation?

 

[Czervik.Construction]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

I bet you are right on this one. The Westin and the Marriott have been spruced up, leaving the mall sitting there all frumpy. Heck, Simon has even fixed up the Chestnut Hill Mall, so I would image that a mall reset should be in the plans.

It's not just Neiman Marcus that will be expanded. The mall itself will gain a new winter garden and extension of the mallway. Because of this, they will essentially have to renovate the mall and bring it up to par with the addition. Otherwise, it would be ridiculously awkward interior design.

Simon has overhauled all of their area malls except Copley Place. I've suspected that they have been holding off on it in anticipation of this project. The Boston Marriott: Copley Place has been completely renovated with no trace of the pink marble and brass to be found (elevators are finally finished while the lobby was finished last year). It would be nice if they carried the contemporary theme into the mall.

 

[Equilibria]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Oh. Is that known, or just speculation?

No, I was referring to the 569' number. I simply recalled the project as originally being proposed in the high 500s, but I guess I was wrong. My bad, sorry.

 

[davem]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

I bet you are right on this one. The Westin and the Marriott have been spruced up, leaving the mall sitting there all frumpy. Heck, Simon has even fixed up the Chestnut Hill Mall, so I would image that a mall reset should be in the plans.

They painted and cleaned up the Arsenal Mall too. So yeah, I'm going to say there is some reason they are waiting on Copley Place

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

I'm going to the meeting tomorrow.

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Hopefully, Simon is going to update the mall as well. The Neiman Marcus is supposed expand as part of the project, but the mall with all of its salmon colored marble, brass railings and octagonal shapes just scream late 1980's - hardly an upscale mall look.

Really? Marble and brass shouts early '80s to me, whereas the late '80s makes me think of "festival marketplace" hoopla, white drywall and lots of neon: blue neon, pink neon, green neon...you name it.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Really? Marble and brass shouts early '80s to me, whereas the late '80s makes me think of "festival marketplace" hoopla, white drywall and lots of neon: blue neon, pink neon, green neon...you name it.

Copley Place was 1984, so you are correct.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Room is packed wall-to-wall.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Nice. A man on the inside with the updates.

 

[12345]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Executives with Simon Property Group of Indianapolis outlined a series of changes Wednesday to its $500 million Copley Place tower during a meeting with neighbors. The company now wants to build 433 apartments and 109 condominiums in a 52-story skyscraper that would rise above an expanded Neiman Marcus store.

Simon will need approval for the revisions from the Boston Redevelopment Authority,which approved a prior version of the project in November 2011 that included 318 residential units on 47 stories.

Executives said that while the building will have more residences and floors,it will not be taller than the original proposal. At 569 feet,the tower would be among the tallest residential buildings in the city.

http://mobile.boston.com/art/45/businessupdates/2013/06/19/copley/FWIWKS3BfuAQpBMUnDJm6J/story

 

[type001]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Copley Place – CAC Meeting #20
06/19/13

• New NPC will be filed
  • Amendment to PDA (meaning 45 day comment period – see Q&A section for the controversy this caused)

• Jack Hobbs – CRJA Development
  • Introduced new SIMON team and announced they will be active in the process from here on out

• Simon Rep
  • Project stretched out over a 4 year period (no word on order, phasing, timeline, etc)

• • Increased residential units significantly and altered type – mix!!
    • 433 Apartments, avg 760sf / 109 condos, avg 1200sf
      • Previously 318 condos in entire building, avg 1500sf
      • Penthouse is 4,000sf

• • This enabled design team to make the building more slender because units are smaller and structure could be tightened

• • Revised ground floor atrium (avoided the phrase "winter garden" like the plague after all the ridiculous controversy it has caused)
    • Glass is all spider glass – no mullions
    • No more steps, everything is at grade
      • Elevation changes are all achieved through 5% slopes in organic fashion
    • Opened up the corner completely with a revised structure
    • Emphasis on sidewalk engagement w/ seating and raised plant barriers along Dartmouth
    • "Multi-story atrium" is working title for what was previously called the winter garden (it is still by architectural definition a winter garden)
    • Retailers to design their own storefronts
    • Public art will be incorporated in the atrium w/ water feature that flows down underneath a glass floor

• • Pulling curb out to extend sidewalk space

• • Atrium will be closed from 2AM to 6AM

• • SIMON is fully funding all public art ($1,000,000 commitment)

• • 71 units are "affordable"
    • 18 studios / 30 1BR / 15 2BR / 3 3BR
    • Lots of controversy about the distribution of those units in the building – "will they all be on lower floors"
      • They will be spread about over the floors because some units can only exist at the lower portion where the floor plates are larger

• Principal from Elkus
  • FTF (floor to floor) height changed because program changed
    • 47 floors increased to 52 floors (NO CHANGE IN HEIGHT)
      • **HIGHEST OCCUPIED FLOOR IS STILL 569'**
      • **ROOF HEIGHT IS STILL 625'**
    • 10' FTC (floor to ceiling) height reduced to 9' because apartments can have lower ceilings

• • No more monolithic podium, tower meets the ground

• • 2 residential entries on Dartmouth because there are now 2 types

• • Entry vestibules to atrium will have automatic slide doors (ADA best practice) as well as a large auto revolving door (easily accommodate strollers and even wheelchairs) like they have at hotels

• • Wind study is in progress
    • Wind should actually be mitigated better because now that the giant podium is gone, they were able to bring the curves right down to the base

• • Stuart St now has a primary entrance to the atrium/mall
    • Previously it felt very tertiary and sloppy

• • Atrium is now larger – 8,000 sf
    • Previously 7,700

• • Atrium FTC height of 38'-40'

• • Shadow impacts are slightly reduced because the tower got slightly slimmer

• Chris Jones of Carol Johnson Landscape Architects (atrium design)
  • Atrium is one singular, organic experience

• • Granite slabs and concrete outside for max ADA compliance (some renders show brick but the ground plane textures were never changed in the new renders)

• • Street seating (bean shapes) act as bollards to prevent vehicles from smashing through the atrium

• Transportation lady (she took a beating from the committee)
  • No new parking from previous
  • Condos have dedicated/deeded spaces
    • Apartments do not

• • See photos of all of her slides for more info

• • Eugene Kelly made a big scene about how residents of the tower would not be eligible for Resident Parking stickers because Copley Place is not technically in the Back Bay or South End
    • All apartment residents would be forced to park in the garage
    • He wants Copley Place to have its own ZIP Code
    • This is an issue with the City of Boston – SIMON will have to coordinate with them if they want it changed

• • Everyone felt peak enter/exit of automobiles was underestimated
    • 80 vehicles leaving building during the "peak" morning is the estimate

• Next steps
  • NPC will be filed probably mid-July (could be late June)

• • Next CAC Meeting will address the Southwest Corridor
    • July 10 – 8AM, Copley Place Tower 4

• Public Q&A
  • CAC Committee comments
    • Eugene kept going on about the parking very rudely
    • Woman next to him spoke high praise of the project
      • Loved the switch to apartments
      • "Building will be animated all the time"
        • A lot of people buy condos and leave them dark when they go to their second homes
        • Apartments will always be lit/have life
      • Revised atrium/opened corner is fantastic
    • Byron Rushing and Eugene kept interrupting each other

• • Public comments
    • 45 day comment period is during the summer when everyone is "away" it should be extended or don't file the NPC until the fall
    • Tent City resident on a scooter asked to explain ADA improvements after they spent a bunch of time actually talking about it in the presentation and actually answered every question she asked in the presentation
      • Also chided the CAC board for not having small business representation on the panel
    • Affordable housing
      • See above
    • Impact on small businesses in the area
      • Barbershop owner was there
    • Dartmouth Street pedestrian experience
      • Is the canopy large enough to shield from wind?
      • Can retail be put there?
        • No, it is only residential lobbies
          • "Can't have café seating outside res lobbies"

• • NOTHING SAID ABOUT SHADOWS

PHOTOS

(Sorry about the quality on some. I only had my Galaxy S4 with me and it doesn't do well long-range with low-light. The BRA said this presentation will be available in PDF format soon)


DOWNLOAD PDF of My Notes

Sorry about the formatting on here. I pasted the text from word into Dreamweaver to get HTML formatting then converted HTML to BBCode because I didnt want to manually insert BBCode for all the formatting. The PDF download has a clean, organized version.

 

[palindrome]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Excellent write up!! Better than the globe article.

 

[DZH22]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

So is this supposed to be 569' or 625'? Were there new renders with the additional floors? I was really hoping they were going to try to add 30-50', but as long as the tower doesn't shrink in height I can live with it.

 

[armpitsOFmight]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

569 FEET!!!

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

Yes, new renders because the massing also changed very slightly with the new floorplates.

I will edit my notes to emphasize the height.

 

[statler]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

"Can't have café seating outside res lobbies"

We wouldn't want to remind people the live in a city. They may get confused and think they are in Europe or something.

 

[type001]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

FTC changed from 10 to 9 and 5 floors added = same height. I didn't know that FTC count changed prior to my initial surprise. However, I am equally as happy to know that the height did not change. I can't wait to see the updated rendering on this slender version.

 

[George_Apley]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

We wouldn't want to remind people the live in a city. They may get confused and think they are in Europe or something.

Overall this revision sounds A LOT more urban than the original no?

 

[choo]

Re: Copley Place plan calls for condo tower

A tower made slimmer... nice. Also like how they are keeping the curves, I was worried they would be taken out (with no basis other than recent VE). It sounds like all their changes are very positive and likely to be approved since the height is there. Looks like the development boom has only just begun.