Fan Pier Developments | Seaport

The parks in the Seaport Public Realm Plan are not unusual in scale or quantity for a district of 27-30 million square feet of new commercial density at full build.

What cripples the district's potential is the BRA's penchant for long street blocks with a spattering of entrances (often for private groundfloor uses), the car-centric width of the streets and boulevards, and the possibility that there will be ridiculous setbacks for security bollards and plazas.

As for activation of parks and more generally the Seaport, if NAIOP, BCEC, Boston Chamber of Commerce and market pressures from within the Financial District continue to support the front-phasing of office, commercial and destination uses, residential uses will never achieve critical mass necessary for a "neighborhood" to evolve. As I've said before, over the past 10 years the BRA has approved and issued press releases for the development of 3000 residential units on the Seaport (not including Fort Point) but NONE have been built or are in the pipeline.
 
^ More or less true. The South End probably has the same amount of park space, but the configuration is radically different - mostly of the built environment around them, though to some extent, the parks themselves.

The whole district is diseased by gigantophilia. The parks are too big. The roads are too big. The buildings are too big.
 
The best case scenario under the current master plan is Boston's version of Battery Park City. BPC seems to be the paradigm for these kind of grey/brownfield developments all across English-Speaking North America: Big, fat towers, one for each block; throw some "green space" in to please the public.
 
And BPC = Charles River Park, in late PoMo drag.
 
Sicilian said:
Jass, rather than get into the haters debate, I'm curious what you find engaging about this street ? especially from the perspective of a pedestrian who does not work in the building.
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The ground floor of the building is fine. The park is well built and the street is very well built, including those great high-back benches. I was there as a pedestrian.

Note that the benches have music. That may or may not be a good thing.

My biggest complaint about the building is that it blocks the skyline view from the ICA.
 
Looks like somehow the Extreme Sailing website got its hands on an updated rendering of Fan Pier. Anyone seen this before?


Boston1.jpg


http://www.extremesailingseries.com/venues/view/boston-usa
 
Some of the massing is good. The curve building is decent. I think the bottom two, if they could increase the height of the left half so the roof is not as flat would definitely improve the design.
 
Worst part is that damn park next to One Marina. There's a nice board walk to the north (right) and those park and walkway along the curve of Fan Pier look nice and should be really decent. I don't see much draw to the park next to One Marina, though, and it needs a building or two. Badly.

If they do that, I'd be happy enough with what's shown (except the parking lots and other undeveloped lots, of course). I see a blank wall facing the ICA though (look next to the lower left corner of the ICA).
 
Damn, that's some nice render-porn. Never expected render-porn to come from the SBW! I just wish they were double the height. Nice to see the ICA's ugly back get hidden though.

About that park next to One Marina, it would be nice if they programmed the park somehow instead of one vast green lawn.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but not a single one of the buildings shown in that rendering is in the approval pipeline, even close to having an architect on board for a design.

I think every one of the buildings shown except One Marina Park Drive is a placeholder simply to demonstrate the potential massing of Fan Pier as was approved over the past 10 years of planning the SBW.

That rendering seems to be a larger version of the one that has been displayed on the Fallon Company website for the past few years.

Maybe something is moving forward on Fan Pier... if so, tell me which one.
 
^PaulC

From the link:

Request authorization to recommend the designation of Vertex
Pharmaceutical?s for the construction of office, research
laboratory and ground floor retail/restaurant located at 50
Northern Avenue and office, research laboratory and ground
floor retail/restaurant and day care located at 11 Fan Pier
Boulevard as a Certified Project to the Massachusetts Economic
Assistance Coordinating Council; to petition the City Council
for approval of a Tax Increment Financing Agreement; and to
approve the Tax Increment Financing Plan.
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OK, so a single project on Fan Pier is entering the approval pipeline, contingent on the tax incremental financing for Vertex moving through City Council and State regulators. Correct?

I don't think the tower shown on the rendering represents what the office building that Vertex plans on moving into will look like other than massing. And I'm guessing we are still 1-2 years away from an approval before shovels go in the ground.

Does anyone know if an architect is on board, or is it too early?
 
Things move at the pace Menino wishes:

Senak came out to speak to the Blackstone & Franklin Square Neighborhood Association Tuesday night about imminent renovations to the Salvation Army building on Washington Street in the South End. The visit was strictly a courtesy to put any concerned residents at ease since the project has successfully passed through the hands of all gatekeepers - construction is slated to begin May 1 with an estimated completion date of March 1, 2012.
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http://southend.patch.com/articles/salvation-army-renovations-to-start-next-month

This project seems to have come out of nowhere
 
Looks like Fallon paid someone to update the Fan Pier movie.
http://www.fanpiermovie.com/
More of that render porn you mentioned, and pretty good at that. Looks like the massing rendering has evolved, but not to the point of the picture posted recently. No curvy glass building anyways.

Sicilian, I believe that one project represents 2 buildings at Fan Pier.

What I like about the movie is how closely clustered this looks at full build out, of course everything would look clustered from 1,000 feet. Trying to imagine it with a built out Seaport Square behind it looks even better to the mind's eye.

But my eyesite is bad now, and when this is finished in say 30 years, they will be much worse.
 
SeamusMcFly said:
Looks like Fallon paid someone to update the Fan Pier movie.
http://www.fanpiermovie.com/
More of that render porn you mentioned, and pretty good at that. Looks like the massing rendering has evolved, but not to the point of the picture posted recently. No curvy glass building anyways.

Sicilian, I believe that one project represents 2 buildings at Fan Pier.

What I like about the movie is how closely clustered this looks at full build out, of course everything would look clustered from 1,000 feet. Trying to imagine it with a built out Seaport Square behind it looks even better to the mind's eye.

But my eyesite is bad now, and when this is finished in say 30 years, they will be much worse.
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Neoscape does some amazing visualizations. They spoke at WIT last year and showed us some of their stuff. They really do a good job selling anything and Fan Pier is no exception. I kind of wish the ICA had that giant lettering on the side that they show when they label the buildings. It adds a contemporary edge.

On a related note, one of my friends works at MassChallenge, which is HQ'ed in ONE Marina Park Drive. She revealed to me the other day that the city is paying for their rent in that building and there's only two other tenants in the entire building. Talk about a desperate attempt to get people down there.
 
I got to take a tour of Neoscape a few years back, absolutely remarkable stuff.

On a side note, if you get the chance, the Extreme Sailing Series is far more exciting than the Volvo Ocean Race, at least in terms of the sailing. Maybe not the same fanfare, but much more accessible, since the boats are smaller and the distances are shorter.

This rendering is hardly any different than what we've seen so far, so I don't think it's worth getting worked up over. The rendering is just a nicer marketing image than the reality is.
 
kennedy said:
I got to take a tour of Neoscape a few years back, absolutely remarkable stuff.
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Fort Point Networking Nights

Thursday, April 21st 5 - 7 p.m. NEOSCAPE 330 Congress Street

This is an opportunity to networking with other local businesses within the Fort Point, Fan Pier, South Boston Waterfront and Innovation District.
Register: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e3iklv1v46476851

When
Thu Apr 21 5pm ? 7pm Eastern Time
Where
NEOSCAPE, 330 Congress Street (map)
 
Wow what a great rendering, but it doesn't show the complete buildout of the area unfortunately. I hate the curvy building, I hope it doesn't happen, it'll be another Manulife John Hancock. And it's going to suck for the ICA once these are all built and that marina is in place, it's just completely dwarfed and blended into its blase neighbors.

I wouldn't hate the park next to One Marina as much as I do if it didn't have those stupid curbs terraced through it. They render it useless as a space.
 
Cambridge pharma company makes move official: Signs lease for space in South Boston

The Boston Business Journal reports that Vertex Pharmaceuticals has signed a 15-year lease for 1.1 million square feet of space in the Innovation District.

...Vertex will pay an average of $72.5 million in yearly rent for the two buildings... The lease is contingent on the FDA approval of the hepatitis C drug, which will be marketed as Incivek.

Last week, the company received a boost when a key advisory panel gave a positive recommendation on the hep-C drug. The full FDA rarely overturns the committee opinion.

...The addresses for the two buildings, yet to be built, will be 50 Northern Avenue and 11 Fan Pier Boulevard, according to regulatory documents. The buildings are scheduled to be completed in late 2013...
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(Courtesy of Adam on UHub)
 
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