DOT Parcels | 25-28 Kneeland Street | Chinatown

^My takeaways from the guidelines: they'd like whoever develops the sites to break them up into smaller parcels, possibly with new streets between them. And they've got a hard cap on height here, set at 150' on the downtown side of things and 300' on the highway ramps side, which is around the FAA limit. For you height people out there, I'm guessing a developer could get away with 325'–350' in some spots here, as per the FAA/Massport map. But what's important is building a clean, green, new neighborhood. Maybe with affordable housing-- seems like a good spot for it.
 
Nice. There were people in the Globe and Curbed talking about new tallest etc.

But we knew we'd get maybe a couple w/ Kensingtonish height but not more.
 
Nice. There were people in the Globe and Curbed talking about new tallest etc.

But we knew we'd get maybe a couple w/ Kensingtonish height but not more.

Did a quick massing mock-up for these standards.

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https://www.mbtarealty.com/bid-docs/

An official invitation to bid put out for this project.

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MassDOT has put its' 5.5-acre Kneeland Street property, SouthGate Boston, up for sale with a minimum bid of $167 million for the property's core parcel (comprised of MassDOT Parcels 25 and 26). A third 2-acre parcel (MassDOT Parcel 27A) surrounded by highway access roads and connected to the core parcel via an access road is now also being offered for an additional minimum bid of $5 million. All bids must include the core parcel; bidders are not required to bid on Parcel 27A. A locus map of the parcels can be found above.

http://www.bldup.com/projects/185-kneeland-street
 
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So it seems to me that this structure means you'd have to be crazy to not include 27a (the ramp parcel) in a bid - because 5 mill for 2 acres is a pretty good deal. And it's not even close to useless - at a minimum it can host 'back of the house' functions ( a garage, inevitably), and if you were able to make the bus road the 'ground level ' on the north side you could do something pretty meaningful.

Real estate pros - do I have this right?
 
...and the canary in the coal mine just went tweet tweet tweet. Here is proof that the building cycle is over!

Haha the deadline for proposals isn't until March of next year. I don't know what this has to do with predicting the building cycle.
 
When government is trying to catch an economic cycle, it is like watching a surfer who can't paddle fast enough to catch a wave that is going by!

Anyway, the "T" is trying to dump all kinds of assets. Short term cure for not dumping costs/raising rates. Bargains will be had!
 
Shows what I know...can't remember the last time I was on the T. I still have a bunch of tokens, and stopped using it around when it went to cardboard.

Anyway, they probably didn't raise rates enough to cover costs! And won't as a social measure. Which isn't necessarily bad.
 
^The T should loose money. The majority of road expenses are paid for using the general fund therefore the majority of T expenses should be paid for using the general fund. Otherwise the state would be subsidizing environmentally friendly and congestion plagued driving versus an efficient public transportation system.

But I agree with you that they shouldn't sell assets as quickly as possible because they're loosing money. The T should create a sustainable budget rather then relying on these one off cash windfalls.

It would be nice if our resident T expert F-Line has anything to say about this.
 
^The T should loose money. The majority of road expenses are paid for using the general fund therefore the majority of T expenses should be paid for using the general fund. Otherwise the state would be subsidizing environmentally friendly and congestion plagued driving versus an efficient public transportation system.

But I agree with you that they shouldn't sell assets as quickly as possible because they're loosing money. The T should create a sustainable budget rather then relying on these one off cash windfalls.

It would be nice if our resident T expert F-Line has anything to say about this.

Not sure why everyone is saying the T here. These are MA DOT parcels, not related to the T directly at all.

This is at least the second cycle of bid requests on these parcels. This time, seems the Baker administration really has lit a fire under the DOT to get these unused assets sold off. There has been quite a process already in getting the request for proposal in place. It is not a trivial exercise with state owned property but serious city interest in what gets developed (and development rules that are at odds with each other).

27A is really problematic with lousy access -- it is going to take some very creative thinking to include it in the proposal. And neither the State nor the City want it to be "land banked".
 
^The T should loose money. The majority of road expenses are paid for using the general fund therefore the majority of T expenses should be paid for using the general fund. Otherwise the state would be subsidizing environmentally friendly and congestion plagued driving versus an efficient public transportation system.

MassDOT does not use any money from the "General Fund". See for yourself:

https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/0/docs/infoCenter/financials/FY_2015.pdf

"Commonwealth Transfers" refers to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund. Most generally, highways in MA are funded by five things: the gas tax, registration and license fees, the sales tax on cars, tolls, and aid from the Federal Government (mostly gas tax money). I assume that by "General Fund" you meant "taxpayer money" and not the literal "General Fund" that MassDOT doesn't have access to, but it's not true either way. MassDOT's revenue sources are all highway-related and are routed to them by law.

The MBTA, by contrast, receives a dedicated portion of the MA sales tax, in addition to fares, local assessments, parking revenue, etc.

I'm leaving some stuff out, but of highways and transit, only transit could be said to be "subsidized" in Massachusetts.
 
325-350, no Bromfield towers here.

One Financial is not more than a few blocks from these sites and that's obviously much bigger than 325-350. Are these sites that much more directly in the takeoff path than One Financial?
 
One Financial is not more than a few blocks from these sites and that's obviously much bigger than 325-350. Are these sites that much more directly in the takeoff path than One Financial?

It lies directly under a flight path. The dotted line is the flight path.

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One Financial is not more than a few blocks from these sites and that's obviously much bigger than 325-350. Are these sites that much more directly in the takeoff path than One Financial?

Yes, there is a hard boundary due to the flight path for runway 9 - 27

You can see the boundary in the airspace map:
https://www.massport.com/media/11778/BOS_COMPOSITE_Ver2pt0_dec201_small.pdf

Up near South Station you can go up to 700, 750. Move a few blocks south and it drops off like a rock.
 
^The T should loose money. The majority of road expenses are paid for using the general fund therefore the majority of T expenses should be paid for using the general fund. Otherwise the state would be subsidizing environmentally friendly and congestion plagued driving versus an efficient public transportation system.

But I agree with you that they shouldn't sell assets as quickly as possible because they're loosing money. The T should create a sustainable budget rather then relying on these one off cash windfalls.

It would be nice if our resident T expert F-Line has anything to say about this.

TySmith -- we've been around this bend numerous times -- the funding for all of the DOT activities is complex -- with an ever-changing and expanding range of acronyms representing all manner of Federal Programs -- many of these spawn related state programs

Most of these go for construction / reconstruction of Interstate and similar highways and closely integrated roads -- few of them relate to actual operational expenses for the Highways

The following Mass DOT webpage is devoted to the funding issue
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/planning/Main/PlanningProcess/FundingConsiderations.aspx

As an example of how things change -- in 1922 a young officer was given the task of taking a military convoy coast to coast -- that young officer was Dwight Eisenhower -- that experience coupled with his WWII use of Hitler's Autobahn to defeat Hitler -- led to today's Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. Originally funded 90% Federal because of its importance to National Defense.

Fast Forward to 2016 -- and the the multi-year transportation funding laws.
On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law P.L. 112-141, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)......MAP-21 is expected to provide Massachusetts with a level of federal funding comparable to that provided in recent years under the previous transportation funding authorization, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)..... MAP-21 consolidates existing transportation funding programs as established in SAFETEA-LU. Most highway funding will be distributed through four core programs, while MAP-21 eliminates or consolidates a number of transit programs, and converts a significant amount of program funding that is currently discretionary to formula funding. The FY2014-FY2017 STIP and its underlying TIPs represent the first implementation of the MAP-21 funding categories for the full TIP/STIP development process (the FY2013-2016 TIPs and STIP were revised after their completion to reflect new MAP-21 funding categories).

The following is a summary of the various federal funding categories under MAP-21, including descriptions of the funding programs, eligible expenditures, eligible project proponents, and required non-federal match.

Federal Highway Administration
MassDOT divides the federal highway funding that it receives between “regional target funding,” which is allocated at the discretion of the MPOs for regional priority projects on the federal aid transportation system, and funding that is allocated at MassDOT’s discretion for use principally on the state-owned transportation system.

National Highway Performance Program (NHPP)
Program Description

The new NHPP provides support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS), for the construction of new facilities on the NHS, and for investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction that support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in a State's asset management plan for the NHS.
The NHPP replaces programs with dedicated funding for repair by consolidating the Interstate Maintenance, National Highway System, and Highway Bridge Repair programs. Under MAP-21, the NHS has been expanded to comprise approximately 220,000 miles of rural and urban roads serving major population centers, international border crossings, intermodal transportation facilities, and major travel destinations. It includes:
  • The Interstate System.
  • All principal arterials (including those not previously designated as part of the NHS) and border crossings on those routes.
  • Intermodal connectors -- highways that provide motor vehicle access between the NHS and major intermodal transportation facilities.
  • STRAHNET -- the network of highways important to U.S. strategic defense.
  • STRAHNET connectors to major military installations.
......
Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)
Program Description

The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) is a competitive grant program created by the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). TAP provides funding for a variety of transportation projects types, including projects that would previously have been eligible for funding under separate programs: the Transportation Enhancements, Recreational Trails, and Safe Routes to School programs.....

Eligible activities

In accordance with MAP-21, Massachusetts TAP funds may be used for the following types of projects:
  • Construction, planning, and design of on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-motorized forms of transportation (including sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety-related infrastructure, and transportation related projects to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990)
  • Construction, planning and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that provide safe routes for non-drivers (including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities) to access daily needs
  • Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, or other non-motorized transportation users
  • Construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas
  • .....
Ineligible activities

In accordance with MAP-21, the Transportation Alternatives Program does not include eligibility for certain activities that were previously eligible as transportation enhancements:
  • Safety and educational activities for pedestrians and bicycles. Exception: Activities targeting children in Kindergarten through 8th grade are eligible under SRTS (an eligible activity under the TAP funding). Note: Some of these activities may be eligible under HSIP. Non-construction projects for bicycle safety remain broadly eligible for STP funds.
  • Acquisition of scenic easements and scenic or historic sites.
    Scenic or historic highway programs (including visitor and welcome centers). Note: A few specific activities under this category (construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas) remain eligible.
  • Historic preservation as an independent activity unrelated to historic transportation facilities. Note: Historic preservation and rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities are permitted as one type of community improvement activity.
  • Operation of historic transportation facilities.
  • Archaeological planning and research undertaken for proactive planning. This category now must be used only as mitigation for highway projects.
  • Transportation museums.
......
and that's just a few excepts from the summary -- you need to dig through thousands of pages of other documents to actually find the obscure formulas and permitted and n
ot permitted actions and exemptions to non-permitted, etc., etc. .. .ad infinitum :mad:

I suspect Ike is spinning at high revs
 

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