Evolving use of Office and other Space

[chrisbrat]

I gotta agree with the pessimists here, downtown is really depressing lately. We've all heard about the decrease in foot traffic post pandemic but it almost seems worse than a year or two ago now. Lots of empty storefronts, almost no one walking around, its not in a good place in general right now. The city should aggressively be pushing for large residential towers downtown, its the perfect place for them with less angry boomers nearby to stop it. It really needs to be a marketing campaign though to change the mindset and highlight how a revitalization of the area is sorely needed

Between the tax cuts for office to residential conversion and green-lighting even the least imaginative developments like the one spotlighted in this very thread isn’t the city doing precisely that?

 

[Suffolk 83]

Between the tax cuts for office to residential conversion and green-lighting even the least imaginative developments like the one spotlighted in this very thread isn’t the city doing precisely that?

Not nearly as urgently or aggressively as it should be. Converting a couple 8 story buildings isnt going to do much

 

[chrisbrat]

The city can't *force* folks to either take part in the office-to-residential conversion program or propose new residential development. Nearly every residential proposal gets green-lit (unfortunately nearly all get VE'd to bland/ugliness, if there was any appealing aesthetic in the initial design to begin with, but that's a seperate topic).

What do you propose Boston "do" to "urgently and aggressively" push for more residential development?

 

[Stlin]

The city can't *force* folks to either take part in the office-to-residential conversion program or propose new residential development. Nearly every residential proposal gets green-lit (unfortunately nearly all get VE'd to bland/ugliness, if there was any appealing aesthetic in the initial design to begin with, but that's a seperate topic).

What do you propose Boston "do" to "urgently and aggressively" push for more residential development?

Strictly speaking the city has the ability to do that, via eminent domain, redevelopment agencies and urban renewal programs. This would have been one of the reasons to not disband the BDPA ... But the city has bad memories of having done so in the past.

As far as I'm aware, MA is one of 3 states that hasn't passed any amendments to its Eminent Domain statutes post Kelo v. New London - condemning a property, seizing it and transferring it to a private party who would, for example, "transform a blighted vacant office to housing in furtherance of the public policy objective of providing additional housing in the city of Boston" would be entirely legal even if it would potentially be expensive and politically unpalatable.

As an aside, If the city, for example wanted to redevelop the West End again, (as built I think it's one of the worst uses of space in the city) it probably would need to exercise these powers as individually owned condos in Charles River Park would likely render any chance of private developers getting sufficient control unlikely.

 

[shmessy]

Between the tax cuts for office to residential conversion and green-lighting even the least imaginative developments like the one spotlighted in this very thread isn’t the city doing precisely that?

The mayor can do more:

Particularly to drop the 20% affordable unit requirement just for the Downtown refits.

That could be a gamechanger and it doesn't take away at all from the requirement outside of that 1 mile square.

 

[chrisbrat]

Sounds like you have some ideas. Have you emailed Wu or attended any meetings or any outreach that might lead those ideas to be considered, if not enacted?

 

[shmessy]

Sounds like you have some ideas. Have you emailed Wu or attended any meetings or any outreach that might lead those ideas to be considered, if not enacted?

Unfortunately, not a Boston citizen currently. I hope to move back to Boston in a few years for retirement.

But yes, I will email her office with the (hopefully helpful) suggestion.

 

[Suffolk 83]

The city can't *force* folks to either take part in the office-to-residential conversion program or propose new residential development. Nearly every residential proposal gets green-lit (unfortunately nearly all get VE'd to bland/ugliness, if there was any appealing aesthetic in the initial design to begin with, but that's a seperate topic).

What do you propose Boston "do" to "urgently and aggressively" push for more residential development?

As far as I can tell, the BRA still largely exists as it has for years despite Wu saying that would be abolished. There is still a fairly low height ceiling making lots of projects not built as of right. The design/review/approval process needs to be streamlined and fast tracked. The city could create a new economic improvement district downtown to create its own rules distinct from the other neighborhoods. It could create a marketing campaign to highlight how far downtown has fallen and positive steps to create new housing there. Lots of possibilities. One thing I'm sure of is Wu will never oust affordable housing requirements and nor should she.

I voted for Wu the first go around but its very clear her priorities are not focused downtown, backbay, seaport, south end, fenway, south boston, north end etc etc. Last time I checked there's still an eyesore of a bridge waiting to fall in the channel in the heart of the city. There are early closing times, lack of happy hours, lack of affordable options downtown, lack of public bathrooms, park renovations that take years instead of months. The parks department has been terrible since covid, grass doesnt get cut for weeks. There's an ocean of issues that should be addressed in what should be the most important part of the city.

 

[JeffDowntown]

As far as I can tell, the BRA still largely exists as it has for years despite Wu saying that would be abolished. There is still a fairly low height ceiling making lots of projects not built as of right. The design/review/approval process needs to be streamlined and fast tracked. The city could create a new economic improvement district downtown to create its own rules distinct from the other neighborhoods. It could create a marketing campaign to highlight how far downtown has fallen and positive steps to create new housing there. Lots of possibilities. One thing I'm sure of is Wu will never oust affordable housing requirements and nor should she.

I voted for Wu the first go around but its very clear her priorities are not focused downtown, backbay, seaport, south end, fenway, south boston, north end etc etc. Last time I checked there's still an eyesore of a bridge waiting to fall in the channel in the heart of the city. There are early closing times, lack of happy hours, lack of affordable options downtown, lack of public bathrooms, park renovations that take years instead of months. The parks department has been terrible since covid, grass doesnt get cut for weeks. There's an ocean of issues that should be addressed in what should be the most important part of the city.

BPDA completed late last year the Plan Downtown, that dramatically increases the as-of-rights heights and FAR in the new Downtown Skyline Districts. (Big barrier now is the Shadow law, which is State controlled, and Logan Airspace which is Federal). Draft Zoning (still subject to amendment) was released in April.

Have you not seen this change?

https://www.bostonplans.org/planning-zoning/planning-initiatives/plan-downtown

 

[shmessy]

As far as I can tell, the BRA still largely exists as it has for years despite Wu saying that would be abolished. There is still a fairly low height ceiling making lots of projects not built as of right. The design/review/approval process needs to be streamlined and fast tracked. The city could create a new economic improvement district downtown to create its own rules distinct from the other neighborhoods. It could create a marketing campaign to highlight how far downtown has fallen and positive steps to create new housing there. Lots of possibilities. One thing I'm sure of is Wu will never oust affordable housing requirements and nor should she.

I voted for Wu the first go around but its very clear her priorities are not focused downtown, backbay, seaport, south end, fenway, south boston, north end etc etc. Last time I checked there's still an eyesore of a bridge waiting to fall in the channel in the heart of the city. There are early closing times, lack of happy hours, lack of affordable options downtown, lack of public bathrooms, park renovations that take years instead of months. The parks department has been terrible since covid, grass doesnt get cut for weeks. There's an ocean of issues that should be addressed in what should be the most important part of the city.

I sadly share your disappointing assessment of Mayor Wu. I too had high hopes. She, however, has proved herself to be a decidedly CONSERVATIVE (in the classic definition of the term) Mayor with no long-term urban vision. She is not an optimistic futurist. She is content to bunt.

 

[bigpicture7]

As far as I can tell, the BRA still largely exists as it has for years despite Wu saying that would be abolished. There is still a fairly low height ceiling making lots of projects not built as of right. The design/review/approval process needs to be streamlined and fast tracked. The city could create a new economic improvement district downtown to create its own rules distinct from the other neighborhoods. It could create a marketing campaign to highlight how far downtown has fallen and positive steps to create new housing there. Lots of possibilities. One thing I'm sure of is Wu will never oust affordable housing requirements and nor should she.

I voted for Wu the first go around but its very clear her priorities are not focused downtown, backbay, seaport, south end, fenway, south boston, north end etc etc. Last time I checked there's still an eyesore of a bridge waiting to fall in the channel in the heart of the city. There are early closing times, lack of happy hours, lack of affordable options downtown, lack of public bathrooms, park renovations that take years instead of months. The parks department has been terrible since covid, grass doesnt get cut for weeks. There's an ocean of issues that should be addressed in what should be the most important part of the city.

What I see here/from Wu is representative of a much larger trend in the U.S.: a refusal to see (either at present or aspirationally) the heart of large city downtowns as a true community in/of themselves. They're, instead, almost viewed like a piece of infrastructure, as opposed to a 24/7 home/backyard for humans. The stereotype is somewhat understandable, given the 9am-5pm "Banker's" office underpinnings. But if one harbors the stereotype (especially a mayor), it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Treat it like a cold, boring piece of back-office and it becomes that (till it dies).

I would definitely push back on the notion that downtown Boston is dead, though. Yes, it is slow many times of the week (however, not so 9am-7pm, Tues - Thurs). But it is nowhere near dead. I was just in Portland, OR. My gosh. And I love Portland, which still has lots of bright spots in the surroundings and pockets of the city, but as a whole, that place is (presently) in SO much worse shape than downtown Boston. Boston is (relatively speaking) clean, safe, with most buildings at least partly occupied (some very much so), many storefronts occupied; it is actively being utilized.

In other words: there are good bones in Boston, and still time to act. IF businesses can stay open later, and the ~few hundred residential conversions can become ~few thousand, then it will be fine. But we need a mayor with vision.

Wu is smart, but has too many concurrent priorities, many of which involve serving the outlying neighborhoods and city-wide issues. A smaller agenda balancing a few city-wide issues with a few core neighborhood issues would (IMO) make her more effective. I had thought appointing Jemison might help (and am still willing to give him a bit more time in my mind).

 

[HenryAlan]

I voted for Wu the first go around but its very clear her priorities are not focused downtown, backbay, seaport, south end, fenway, south boston, north end etc etc. Last time I checked there's still an eyesore of a bridge waiting to fall in the channel in the heart of the city. There are early closing times, lack of happy hours, lack of affordable options downtown, lack of public bathrooms, park renovations that take years instead of months. The parks department has been terrible since covid, grass doesnt get cut for weeks. There's an ocean of issues that should be addressed in what should be the most important part of the city.

I'm pretty sure most of the elements of this complaint are not something the Mayor of Boston can control. The bridge, the happy hours, and to some extent affordable options downtown (assuming you mean dining and such) are controlled at the state level. Public bathrooms, okay, sure. You should send her some e-mails or go to a coffee hour, she usually is responsive to well articulated constituent needs. Or alternative, and perhaps easier, get in touch with your city councilor. They don't have a lot of power, but one thing they can do is put a request in the right inbox (such as the Park Commissioner).

 

[HelloBostonHi]

BPDA completed late last year the Plan Downtown, that dramatically increases the as-of-rights heights and FAR in the new Downtown Skyline Districts. (Big barrier now is the Shadow law, which is State controlled, and Logan Airspace which is Federal). Draft Zoning (still subject to amendment) was released in April.

Have you not seen this change?

https://www.bostonplans.org/planning-zoning/planning-initiatives/plan-downtown

That work was largely completed under the Walsh admin, shelved during COVID, then left collecting dust during our interim mayoral phase. Example of this presentation from 2020: https://www.bostonplans.org/documen...plan-downtown-scenarios-workshop-presentation

I don't think Mayor Wu can take much credit for just letting them finish what they started under Walsh.

 

[DBM]

That work was largely completed under the Walsh admin, shelved during COVID, then left collecting dust during our interim mayoral phase. Example of this presentation from 2020: https://www.bostonplans.org/documen...plan-downtown-scenarios-workshop-presentation

I don't think Mayor Wu can take much credit for just letting them finish what they started under Walsh.

That is precisely false. If you checked out the PLAN Downtown timeline, you'd see that the Wu administration, after reviving PLAN in November 2022, has since hosted 14 different public meetings on it. I'm not at City/Planning Dept. staffer and thus carry no water for the administration, but this ridiculous (and lazy, in light of not having researched) claim of "just letting them finish" is some serious misinformation, in light of the facts.

P.S. Under the "man proposes, God disposes" category: it's humorous to see the state legislature having mandated, in July 2017, that PLAN Downtown "shall be published not later than 3 years after this act goes into effect."

(In reality, it was published in August 2023, per that timeline linked to above... oops!)

 

[commuter guy]

The mayor can do more:

Particularly to drop the 20% affordable unit requirement just for the Downtown refits.

That could be a gamechanger and it doesn't take away at all from the requirement outside of that 1 mile square.

Wu could also try to prioritize nightlife downtown, some cities have created nightlife zones with success. We often hear that given the scarcity of liquor licenses, many licenses have been siphoned from outlying neighborhoods to the seaport, back bay etc. The response of the city has been to push for geographically restricted licenses in Hyde Park, Mattapan etc. which is great, but the fact remains that the market is indicating that the unmet demand is higher downtown - that's why corporate type restaurant groups are snapping up the licenses for over 500k to open up in Seaport. We need more licenses everywhere, but especially downtown, if we are to satisfy unmet demand. Perhaps they could give downtown some advantage in allowing later hours, close ladder streets on the weekend, allow open carry on that street, something to jump start economic development and give downtown an advantage. Coming out of COVID, the downtown area is the one area needing attention, the outlying neighborhoods are probably doing better foot traffic wise than before covid.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

That is precisely false. If you checked out the PLAN Downtown timeline, you'd see that the Wu administration, after reviving PLAN in November 2022, has since hosted 14 different public meetings on it. I'm not at City/Planning Dept. staffer and thus carry no water for the administration, but this ridiculous (and lazy, in light of not having researched) claim of "just letting them finish" is some serious misinformation, in light of the facts.

Well I was on the BPDA staff during the Walsh admin but oh well what do I know I guess.

 

[shmessy]

Well I was on the BPDA staff during the Walsh admin but oh well what do I know I guess.

I really miss Mayor Walsh.

Ironically, my predisposition towards him before becoming Mayor was negative, and my predisposition to Mayor Wu was far more positive before becoming Mayor.

As it turned out, regarding urban optimism about the future - dynamic/growth planning, I was wrong on both.

 

[JeffDowntown]

Wu could also try to prioritize nightlife downtown, some cities have created nightlife zones with success. We often hear that given the scarcity of liquor licenses, many licenses have been siphoned from outlying neighborhoods to the seaport, back bay etc. The response of the city has been to push for geographically restricted licenses in Hyde Park, Mattapan etc. which is great, but the fact remains that the market is indicating that the unmet demand is higher downtown - that's why corporate type restaurant groups are snapping up the licenses for over 500k to open up in Seaport. We need more licenses everywhere, but especially downtown, if we are to satisfy unmet demand. Perhaps they could give downtown some advantage in allowing later hours, close ladder streets on the weekend, allow open carry on that street, something to jump start economic development and give downtown an advantage. Coming out of COVID, the downtown area is the one area needing attention, the outlying neighborhoods are probably doing better foot traffic wise than before covid.

In Plan: Downtown, the Skyline districts of downtown include prioritizing entertainment uses for the ground floor retail. Whether this translates to nightlife or not remains to be seen. Isn't the liquor licensing issue really under the control of the State Legislature? They have micromanaged Boston licenses for about a century.

 

[tobyjug]

Need more bike lanes.

 

[commuter guy]

In Plan: Downtown, the Skyline districts of downtown include prioritizing entertainment uses for the ground floor retail. Whether this translates to nightlife or not remains to be seen. Isn't the liquor licensing issue really under the control of the State Legislature? They have micromanaged Boston licenses for about a century.

yes, you're correct liquor licenses are controlled by the state, but the focus for Wu and other Boston pols is requesting state permission/home rule petitions to increase geographically restricted licenses in the outlying neighborhoods. This is a important goal in itself, but there seems to be insufficient attention or a lack of attention to downtown. The narrative seems to be downtown has taken all the licenses away from the neighborhoods and/or the all the economic activity over the years has been concentrated downtown at the expense of the outlying neighborhoods. There is some truth to that, but the city needs to recognize the pandemic has changed the situation, the one area that needs the most attention is now downtown.