Downtown Crossing/Financial District | Discussion

judielhb2 said:
I'm a DTX resident. My opinion: Bring it on.
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If you don't already, please come to BRA Board & BCDC meetings to speak in support of various projects in this area. The meetings tend to get hijacked by nimbys who live or work in DTX.
 
They are probably referring to the whispers/rumors about the Pi Alley Garage tower. Numerous nimbys at the meetings recently have mentioned it. The BRA has been silent about the validity of the claims.
 
datadyne007 said:
They are probably referring to the whispers/rumors about the Pi Alley Garage tower. Numerous nimbys at the meetings recently have mentioned it. The BRA has been silent about the validity of the claims.
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That would be one of the best imaginable locations IMO. I've always dreamt of that garage being turned into something awesome.
 
St Anthony shrine owns UDG? I always thought they were separate.

Another solid spot for a tower is the CVS across the street from UDG...or the 1 story Verizon store next to the arch st garage.
 
datadyne007 said:
They are probably referring to the whispers/rumors about the Pi Alley Garage tower. Numerous nimbys at the meetings recently have mentioned it. The BRA has been silent about the validity of the claims.
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tmac9wr said:
That would be one of the best imaginable locations IMO. I've always dreamt of that garage being turned into something awesome.
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I agree, it's a great spot for a significant mixed-use tower. And no, I'm not kidding.
 
617 said:
St Anthony shrine owns UDG? I always thought they were separate.
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I may be mistaken, but I thought UDG rents their space from St.A's Shrine.

Another solid spot for a tower is the CVS across the street from UDG...or the 1 story Verizon store next to the arch st garage.
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Yea, that Verizon would be perfect for development. I always thought about the 7-Eleven across the street from the aforementioned CVS would work as some sort of skinny tower.
 
tmac9wr said:
I may be mistaken, but I thought UDG rents their space from St.A's Shrine.
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Boy, the misinformation is just rampaging on this thread [although in this case understandable, I suppose, given the two parcels/properties are abutting].

City Assessing page reveals the UDG building is Ron Druker's:

https://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/?pid=0304607000

The St. Anthony Shrine building is totally separate parcel:

https://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/?
pid=0304608000

I feel like it's much easier to sleuth these things out these days, with the BRA and/or Assessing having collaborated on having enhanced the Assessing map such that when you click on any parcel outline, the property owner info immediately pops up. I don't think that was the case in years past, I think that was a relatively recent upgrade. This is the site I'm referring to:

http://app01.cityofboston.gov/parcelviewer/
 
JeffDowntown said:
Scary NIMBY article in the Boston Herald today, about Downtown Crossing residents fear that Downtown Crossing is being OVERBUILT.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/04/tower_proposals_raising_eyebrows

If you cannot build density in Downtown Crossing (epicenter of the T system), where can you build it? Do the NIMBYs really like boarded up storefronts (which they call historical charm)?
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I live in DTX and I say let them build. The higher, the better. Hell, I don't mind them building in every possible corner of the area. Maybe it's time to make downtown look like an actual downtown. I'd rather see a 600' tower than some crappy corner store (that might or might not have some historic value) that's been closed for 20 years.
 
carpet said:
I live in DTX and I say let them build. The higher, the better. Hell, I don't mind them building in every possible corner of the area. Maybe it's time to make downtown look like an actual downtown. I'd rather see a 600' tower than some crappy corner store (that might or might not have some historic value) that's been closed for 20 years.
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Personally, I'd rather see a non-crappy corner store that is open for business. Whatever building types encourage that, I'm all for.
 
I remember ideas were lofted about two 30 story towers over Lafayette Place back in 2006(?). Hopefully that's also one of the place that is under consideration for development.
 
KentXie said:
I remember ideas were lofted about two 30 story towers over Lafayette Place back in 2006(?). Hopefully that's also one of the place that is under consideration for development.
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That's the old Campeau project that was approved by the BRA Board in 1989, only to die (along with the Commonwealth Center project approved the same day) as a result of the recession that soon followed. One Lincoln Street was also approved at the same hearing. Unlike the other two major projects approved that day, One Lincoln rose from the dead many years later. The Commonwealth Center project later became the Ritz hotel and condominium project developed by Millenium. The grand vision of Boston Crossing was never realized - at least not yet. Here is a summary of the Boston Crossing project:

The Boston Crossing proposed project (the "Proposed Project") includes approximately 2,952,000 square feet of new and redeveloped space including approximately 1,450,000 gross square feet of office space, approximately 1,425,000 gross square feet of retail space, both on-and off-site childcare centers, an athletic club, an art gallery, and an addition of 700 to 900 net new below-grade parking spaces. While the existing 413,000 Lafayette Hotel is not part of the project, the hotel site is part of the overall project site and thus its square footage is included for purposes of calculating FAR.

Jordan Marsh is proposed to be renovated and a new office tower built above it at the Summer/Chauncy Street corner to a height of 478 feet. Lafayette Place will be stripped to its steel structure and reconfigured along a cross-axial plane from Washington to Chauncy Streets instead of its present circular orientation. It will be built up to not more than six levels instead of its present three.

On the vacant Hayward Place lot and a portion of discontinued Avenue de Lafayette, a new 258,000 square foot department store, currently proposed to be a Bloomingdale's, is proposed with an office tower above to an aggregate height of approximately 406 feet. The existing 1024-car below-grade parking facility at Lafayette Place will be maintained, connecting to the new parking facility to be located under Bloomingdale's. The Lafayette Hotel which is independently owned will remain substantially unchanged.
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dirtywater said:
That's the old Campeau project that was approved by the BRA Board in 1989, only to die (along with the Commonwealth Center project approved the same day) as a result of the recession that soon followed. One Lincoln Street was also approved at the same hearing. Unlike the other two major projects approved that day, One Lincoln rose from the dead many years later. The Commonwealth Center project later became the Ritz hotel and condominium project developed by Millenium. The grand vision of Boston Crossing was never realized - at least not yet. Here is a summary of the Boston Crossing project:
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Dirtywater -- a lot of things were done which make the above totally irrelevant:
  • the Hayward Place parking lot is now Millennium Place [condos]
  • Lafayette Place became Lafayette City Center [offices]
  • the top of the old Jordan Marsh became the major downtown Boston Telecom Point of Presence and Cloud Services site
    • AT&T
    • Broad Sky Networks
    • CenturyLink
    • Cogent
    • Comcast
    • Earthlink
    • Fairpoint Communications
    • Hibernia Atlantic
    • Internap
    • Intellifiber
    • inteliquent
    • Lightower
    • Mammoth Networks
    • Level 3
    • NTT Communications
    • Orange Business
    • Reliance Globalcom
    • Tata communications
    • Zayo
    • XO
    • Verizon
    • Abovenet
    • and the mega hosting firm Markley -- New England's largest multi-tenant mission-critical telecommunications and data center facility -- houses over 200 tenants including leading financial, healthcare, academic, government, entertainment, and science and technology firms. In addition to our reliable and secure data center, Markley offers cloud computing and global peering opportunities.


No room for any of the old project

One Summer St may be the most valuable real estate in DTX and certainly the best 24X7 busy place within Boston

roof.jpg


With connectivity to over 50 domestic and international network providers -- One Summer Street is the intersection of all major fiber routes in New England. Featuring eight points of entry, Markley is a centralized location to which any and all backbone networks can be delivered with unmatched performance and low latency. We house the only bandwidth exchange which allows clients the ability to choose and connect to multiple and diverse networks, while reducing costs and complexity.

This ideal hardened structure constructed from masonry block with a steel frame and poured concrete floors, features 15-foot clear ceiling heights and 25 ft x 36 ft column spacing. Large floor plates run up to 110,000 sq ft with a floor load capacity of greater than 150 lbs/sq ft, and two high capacity freight elevators travel up from secure underground loading facilities.

In addition, One Summer Street features:
  • 800,000 sf of interior space and 120,000 sf of mechanical space
  • More than 80 separate communication networks
  • 30 MW of live power with 50 MW masterplanned
  • Power densities of up to 500 watts per square foot with 38 KW per rack
  • Eight (8) fiber entry paths and power entries
  • Completely separate wet and dry riser systems
  • Two distinct water sources with nine (9) entrances
  • A 24-hour technical staff (electricians, HVAC, and telco technicians) with manned security, as well as 70+ motion-activated cameras, digital recording, and biometric access control
  • 26 generators on-site and approximately 90,000 gallons of fuel with the guarantee to procure more within 2 hours from two different suppliers

Sorry all you tower fetishists -- tall residential, office or even mixed use towers are not the only things that make a city successful and globally significant
 
carpet said:
I live in DTX and I say let them build. The higher, the better. Hell, I don't mind them building in every possible corner of the area. Maybe it's time to make downtown look like an actual downtown. I'd rather see a 600' tower than some crappy corner store (that might or might not have some historic value) that's been closed for 20 years.
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is it good if we get seven 30 story towers in 5 or 6 years as opposed to just doing 600-700 feet every 3 or 4 years?
 
whighlander said:
Dirtywater -- a lot of things were done which make the above totally irrelevant:
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Point taken. I meant to mention Millenium Place. Irrelevant though? As a history buff, I think that it is interesting and relevant even if the old plans are no longer possible.
 
Whig - I wasn't referring that the 30 story towers were going above One Summer Street; it would have went over Lafayette City Center. Given that the proposal was floated back again in 2006, when Lafayette City Center was already completed, it can be said that there is certainly room for old projects or a new project if a potential developer is to submit one. The whole spiel on One Summer Street is irrelevant to this proposal.
 
KentXie said:
Whig - I wasn't referring that the 30 story towers were going above One Summer Street; it would have went over Lafayette City Center. Given that the proposal was floated back again in 2006, when Lafayette City Center was already completed, it can be said that there is certainly room for old projects or a new project if a potential developer is to submit one. The whole spiel on One Summer Street is irrelevant to this proposal.
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Kent -- Not really

If the demand for more roof is there for Markley -- they will by necessity lease the adjacent roof

The corner of Summer and Washington St is an irreplaceable nexus for Markley's business -- I'm sure that they have some sort of agreement for Right of First Refusal for the adjacent contiguous building

For Markley's kind of business available roof for generators and cooling is as critical as is the floor space under the roof -- now in excess of 900,000 sq ft on several floors of the old Jordan Mash Buildings
 
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