Echelon Seaport | 133-135 Seaport Blvd | Seaport

awood91 said:
I am impressed that this was built all in one phase. Has anyone heard any sales figures?
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I'm not sure about figures, but I received this email from the sales team back in November with costs:

We have a significant mix of options for layouts ranging from studios to 3-bedroom homes.



Current Availability

  • Studio homes starting at $800K
  • 1 Bed homes range from $1.1M - $1.5M *including parking
  • 2 Bed homes range from $1.6M - $3M *including parking (Most over $2 Million have 2 Parking)
  • 2 Bed plus Den homes range from $2.2M to $3M *including parking
  • Private Terrace homes range from $3 Million to $5 Million *all include 2 Parking
  • Penthouse Homes range from $5 Million to $6 Million *all include 2 Parking (1 Self and 1 Valet)
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I couldn't find anything about location on the BPDA's website and the last comments were by the mayor at the topping off in September 2018. The BPDA sent out a press release with this data:

447 condominiums (2 towers, to be delivered this year 3rd & 4th quarters)
270 apartments (1 tower, to be delivered next year)

"Affordable housing" contributions:

28 onsite units (not disclosed on whether these will be apartments or condominiums)
62 offsite units (ditto)

$3.2 million contribution to the Neighborhood Housing Trust (city-run agency)
$1 million contribution to the Neighborhood Jobs Trust (ditto)
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90 / 717 units = 12.50% affordable units on and off site (city requires 13% IDP)

The city allows you to pay into its IDP fund, instead of building units on/off site.

$4.2 million / ~$380,000 BPDA "per unit not built" charge = ~ 11 units (there's a formula to calculate how much it charges per unit on the BPDA website but damned if I can figure out how to calculate - $380,000 is accurate, though)

So, the developer is, in effect, building or contributing to building 98 units out of 717 units total.

That's ~14% affordable, approximately.

HarvardP said:
This project really looks great. Question, though: Where are they locating the mandated more-affordable housing stemming from this project? I know they can move it off-site if they beef up the number of units, right?
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JohnAKeith said:
I couldn't find anything about location on the BPDA's website and the last comments were by the mayor at the topping off in September 2018. The BPDA sent out a press release with this data:

447 condominiums (2 towers, to be delivered this year 3rd & 4th quarters)
270 apartments (1 tower, to be delivered next year)



90 / 717 units = 12.50% affordable units on and off site (city requires 13% IDP)

The city allows you to pay into its IDP fund, instead of building units on/off site.

$4.2 million / ~$380,000 BPDA "per unit not built" charge = ~ 11 units (there's a formula to calculate how much it charges per unit on the BPDA website but damned if I can figure out how to calculate - $380,000 is accurate, though)

So, the developer is, in effect, building or contributing to building 98 units out of 717 units total.

That's ~14% affordable, approximately.
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Who follows the IDP fund to make sure all those units get built? We hear a lot about x units will be built off site then the money goes into a fund and you never hear about it again. Thats actually the exact reason why I made the tracking affordable housing thread, to follow it. The thing is the only affordable units I see going up are built on site. Ive seen no examples of them building up numbers of off site units then building entire buildings of all affordable units.

Is there any way to follow where all the units from all the different projects end up, because it feels like theyre just stocking up arbitrary #’s and money and it all goes into a system and the units arent getting built. Then in the rare cases something is proposed the community pushes back anyways... A bunch of iou’s for affordable housing units isnt doing anyone any good.
 
stick n move said:
Who follows the IDP fund to make sure all those units get built? We hear a lot about x units will be built off site then the money goes into a fund and you never hear about it again. Thats actually the exact reason why I made the tracking affordable housing thread, to follow it. The thing is the only affordable units I see going up are built on site. Ive seen no examples of them building up numbers of off site units then building entire buildings of all affordable units.

Is there any way to follow where all the units from all the different projects end up, because it feels like theyre just stocking up arbitrary #’s and money and it all goes into a system and the units arent getting built. Then in the rare cases something is proposed the community pushes back anyways... A bunch of iou’s for affordable housing units isnt doing anyone any good.
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Just FYI, 150 Seaport developers are building about 50 units of affordable housing in Southie and that is under construction, unusual because most projects don't start off site housing until they have a C/O.
 
1.1 million for a 1 bed, that's insane even by Boston standards. The seaport is wild and not necessarily in a good way. I'm a little biased but I'd rather buy a beautiful 1 bed in a brownstone in the south end for 900k before I lived in that fake neighborhood they call the seaport
 
The Seaport may never be a neighborhood in the traditional sense, but it's certainly not a fake neighborhood.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
1.1 million for a 1 bed, that's insane even by Boston standards. The seaport is wild and not necessarily in a good way. I'm a little biased but I'd rather buy a beautiful 1 bed in a brownstone in the south end for 900k before I lived in that fake neighborhood they call the seaport
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Come to my communal roof deck with four Wolf grills and say that to my face
 
^^^thats a great user name. I like the way you went full bore with the AIA.
The post is even funnier than the user name though.
well done

Suffolk 83 said:
The seaport is wild and not necessarily in a good way. I'm a little biased but I'd rather buy a beautiful 1 bed in a brownstone in the south end for 900k before I lived in that fake neighborhood they call the seaport
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some people think glass and steel is beautiful.
Some people would rather have amenities in the building than ornate details inside and out.
no brownstones were harmed in the making of this neighborhood.
Its not feasible or code compliant to do it the old way anymore.
why cant we be happy to have both?
 
I was at a concert last night in the Seaport and absolutely amazed with the overall level of construction there. I agree that the area itself is too upscale and expensive, but on the flip side it is honestly starting to feel like a real, connected neighborhood and not just a far-flung outpost of a few buildings. It's nice to finally see more construction in the "original" area of build-up out past the WTC.

Echelon looks great and I'll post some pictures soon. It, along with NEMA, really adds to the depth so the Seaport doesn't just feel like everything is along 1 street anymore. There's a ridiculous amount of simultaneous construction now happening along Summer Street and Echelon is the bridge that closes the gap between Seaport Boulevard and Summer.
 
BKNA said:
^^^thats a great user name. I like the way you went full bore with the AIA.
The post is even funnier than the user name though.
well done
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Thanks BKNA. I look forward to sharing the field of battle we call arch boston with you. I will defend my neighborhood with the same blind dedication that every millennial who stands in the hour long line outside of Cisco pop embodies.
 
Nothing had to be demolished for the seaport to be built, all our great neighborhoods are still here. I like the seaport, if someone doesnt you have plenty of other options. Thats whats great about it imo.
 
stick n move said:
Nothing had to be demolished for the seaport to be built, all our great neighborhoods are still here. I like the seaport, if someone doesnt you have plenty of other options. Thats whats great about it imo.
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yea, Seaport has taught me the importance of patience when it comes to these massive urban developments. I don't think there's one building I really like there but I was down there the other day and was really impressed with how it's all coming together. Of course, my instinct was to look for all the screw ups and think about what should be done differently but on a whole, they've done a really good job.
Now when I look with dread at the plans for Cambridge crossing I have to practice some of that patience.
Or even worse, union sq, where stuff will be torn down. A lot of patience for that one!
 
Ruairi said:
yea, Seaport has taught me the importance of patience when it comes to these massive urban developments. I don't think there's one building I really like there but I was down there the other day and was really impressed with how it's all coming together. Of course, my instinct was to look for all the screw ups and think about what should be done differently but on a whole, they've done a really good job.
Now when I look with dread at the plans for Cambridge crossing I have to practice some of that patience.
Or even worse, union sq, where stuff will be torn down. A lot of patience for that one!
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Yeah, though patience and activism/involvement don't have to be mutually exclusive...

(e.g., passive patience doesn't automatically lead to great things, however important patience itself is)
 
Suffolk 83 said:
1.1 million for a 1 bed, that's insane even by Boston standards. The seaport is wild and not necessarily in a good way. I'm a little biased but I'd rather buy a beautiful 1 bed in a brownstone in the south end for 900k before I lived in that fake neighborhood they call the seaport
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Call it overpriced if you'd like, but the statements (not just from you, personally) about fake neighborhood are pretty tired and, at best, unfair. It's still a big construction zone. It's like complaining that an airplane that is in the process of being built can't fly. Also, not all neighborhoods necessarily need the same ingredients to be considered a "neighborhood." Also also, the overall Seaport area has contributed to 300+ new on-site affordable housing units.
 
The one really nice thing about the Seaport is that they are building actual quality structures there... unlike most of the area where it's basically public housing at 700k/unit.
 
stick n move said:
Who follows the IDP fund to make sure all those units get built? We hear a lot about x units will be built off site then the money goes into a fund and you never hear about it again. Thats actually the exact reason why I made the tracking affordable housing thread, to follow it. The thing is the only affordable units I see going up are built on site. Ive seen no examples of them building up numbers of off site units then building entire buildings of all affordable units.

Is there any way to follow where all the units from all the different projects end up, because it feels like theyre just stocking up arbitrary #’s and money and it all goes into a system and the units arent getting built. Then in the rare cases something is proposed the community pushes back anyways... A bunch of iou’s for affordable housing units isnt doing anyone any good.
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It is usually up to community groups to keep track of the IDP funds, and commitments for affordable units. I know we do that pretty aggressively in Chinatown.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Yeah, though patience and activism/involvement don't have to be mutually exclusive...

(e.g., passive patience doesn't automatically lead to great things, however important patience itself is)
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good point. it's a tricky line!
 
I think the Seaport has objectively failed from a climate change/sea level rise aspect, and that should not be discounted in all of this.
 
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