Fan Pier Developments | Seaport

SeamusMcFly said:
If you're going to make a park that basically consists of a flat lawn of nice green grass. Could you at least make it flat so that someone could say throw a frisbee on it without turning an ankle on the silly little grade changes throughout. What is the purpose of the steps..... perhaps to keep the frisbees away?
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They are clearly planned speed bumps, because this is to be a park for cars. The developers didn't realize that everything needn't be designed for the automobile.
 
i guess they think grass is only meant to look nice and not be used for anything.
 
With speaker poles and a snack bar it's the Fan Pier Harborview drive-in.
 
variances only last for two years and then must be extended by the BRA board. They can't be "sat on" indefinitely.
 
The Pritzker project sat for many years after its approvals. Maybe they went back to the BRA board, I don't know, but the Mayor registered his concern over the years of delays after the project had been approved. The vast majority of residential in Seaport Square is approved (I admittedly don't know what stage of approvals one would call a piece of a large plan), but that piece is not expected to be built for years, until the market shifts.

My point above was not that a project could be approved and then delayed.

It was (#1) that profit made in the resale of approved undeveloped projects was problematic, (#2) that a property owner could continue to accumulate new incentives year after year, incentivizing the delay, (#3) phasing to suit the market should be reconsidered if significant variances are being provided, to ensure that a mix of uses get built.
 
Good find. It's in the second picture in the stream.

Good to know that I will have a place to play frisbee the next time I come to Fan Pier to.... park...?
 
Is this park only temporary until the economy comes back? I can't imagine a huge plot of land in this location set aside for parkland.
 
It's permanent. It shouldn't be bad once Fan Pier is fully built out (assuming they stick with a large residential component). They just made Fallon front load it so he wouldn't flake on it after full buildout.
 
Well then, there's the park that Sicilian says Ft. Point residents need! Definitely looks large enough to toss a football (heck, looks large enough to have a touch football game) or show an outdoor movie!
 
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It's not going to be the only grassy component of Fan Pier.

According to the renderings we've seen, another parcel will be housing the temporary Louis Boston structure - which will also (it appears) be built directly on a grassy field.

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atlantaden said:
Is this park only temporary until the economy comes back? I can't imagine a huge plot of land in this location set aside for parkland.
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Itll look better when its surrounded on three sides by buildings.
 
Hmm. Re: the parkland at the harbor - I thought this was a Hines parcel not Fallon. Not disagreeing, it will be parkland according to the plans released.
 
The Hynes parcels, formerly owned by LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, are landlocked -- and there are countless stories about the McCourt years out there.

Here's one I remember, related to the point of waterside access.

McCourt had an animosity for the partner/owners of the Barking Crab that was apparent in public. One of the Crab's owners was a neighbor of mine in the early 1990's -- his nickname for McCourt was Gremmie -- a guy who arrives every day at the beach, places his surfboard in the sand but never surfs (i.e. never develops anything).

McCourts' proposed "Gateway Project" went through a fairly intensive public process, with far less support from the BRA than Hynes' later proposal of the land as Seaport Square. But one of the glaring setbacks for the Gateway Project was that it had no relationship to the water's edge -- instead it had to relate to each of its abutters (Fan Pier in particular).

My recollection is that McCourt was rebuffed from his company's multiple attempts to acquire the Barking Crab parcel. There were words exchanged at public meetings, the Crab came under fire, and even the Public Works dept. arrived on scene -- the claim was that the restaurant lost $650k in business as a result of one notable fiasco. Word was, folks basically wanted to push the Barking Crab into the Channel.

At a classic meeting, early in Hynes' Seaport Square presentations, the company representative presented new construction on top of the Barking Crab parcel. The Crab's owner stood up and yelled something to the tune of "Hey, that's our property and we've never talked to you about what you are showing." The representative responded... "let's take it offline after the meeting," and continued discussing the redevelopment of the Crab parcel.

The Barking Crab stands. Too bad about James Hook.
 
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