Fenway Center (One Kenmore) | Turnpike Parcel 7, Beacon Street | Fenway
KentXie
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Forget Ned's UFP. It's already shown that developers can give two shits about his UFP. His whining goes unheard and he is merely shouting against the wind. The only people that actually discuss about the UFP is ironically probably us. Look at the comment section and you will see people care more about the funding than the UFP.
Forget Ned's UFP. It's already shown that developers can give two shits about his UFP. His whining goes unheard and he is merely shouting against the wind. The only people that actually discuss about the UFP is ironically probably us. Look at the comment section and you will see people care more about the funding than the UFP.
BostonYoureMyHome
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Centralized parking as opposed to a large quantity of smaller lots and garages seems like a better option to me. The traffic is already there, and half of it is driving around looking for a place to park. Obviously there will have to be infrastructure upgrades that I would assume only improve traffic in Kenmore especially on game day.
Centralized parking as opposed to a large quantity of smaller lots and garages seems like a better option to me. The traffic is already there, and half of it is driving around looking for a place to park. Obviously there will have to be infrastructure upgrades that I would assume only improve traffic in Kenmore especially on game day.
Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
The small lots are gonna get built on eventually anyway, expecially along Boylston. I'm not a fan of hulking garages but if they cover the pike and are shielded from view (unlike the Hancock garage, which needs a date with a wrecking ball) then I'm all for them.
The small lots are gonna get built on eventually anyway, expecially along Boylston. I'm not a fan of hulking garages but if they cover the pike and are shielded from view (unlike the Hancock garage, which needs a date with a wrecking ball) then I'm all for them.
Shepard
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
I'd always hoped that a Yawkey Station would be somehow connected with Kenmore to facilitate transfers... maybe via an enclosed and dedicated pedestrian walkway or tunnel.
Doesn't look like that's going to be the case.
I'd always hoped that a Yawkey Station would be somehow connected with Kenmore to facilitate transfers... maybe via an enclosed and dedicated pedestrian walkway or tunnel.
Doesn't look like that's going to be the case.
Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
People will not stop circling. As long as the big lots charge $30, the small lots charge $20 and street parking is free....
People will not stop circling. As long as the big lots charge $30, the small lots charge $20 and street parking is free....
Shepard
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Maybe what works in Longwood Medical Area would work here - almost complete elimination of street parking; garages all cost roughly the same. That's certainly dissuaded me from circling around the LMA.
Maybe what works in Longwood Medical Area would work here - almost complete elimination of street parking; garages all cost roughly the same. That's certainly dissuaded me from circling around the LMA.
BostonYoureMyHome
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Maybe this is when public transit becomes the better option, again decreasing congestion in the area?
Maybe this is when public transit becomes the better option, again decreasing congestion in the area?
Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
But thats the thing, as long as they keep building parking capacity, and street parking is free after 6 and all day Sunday, theres little incentive to take public transit.
Make the meters run later, say 9pm, and enforce the 2 hour rule by writing down plates, to start.
Then add a $2 tax to parking garages in the area on game days (and other high demand days) and put that money into raising police presence and enforcing traffic rules.
Make it a pain in the ass for people to drive to fenway for a game so that they start taking the T.
But thats the thing, as long as they keep building parking capacity, and street parking is free after 6 and all day Sunday, theres little incentive to take public transit.
Make the meters run later, say 9pm, and enforce the 2 hour rule by writing down plates, to start.
Then add a $2 tax to parking garages in the area on game days (and other high demand days) and put that money into raising police presence and enforcing traffic rules.
Make it a pain in the ass for people to drive to fenway for a game so that they start taking the T.
Lurker
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Jass, the meters in Fenway do run later than 6pm now. There was an article in the Courant a few weeks ago about the change. The rest of the neighborhood is almost entirely resident permit parking only.
I usually get stuck paying $15 for parking at Landmark Center every time one of my tennants manages to break something.
Jass, the meters in Fenway do run later than 6pm now. There was an article in the Courant a few weeks ago about the change. The rest of the neighborhood is almost entirely resident permit parking only.
I usually get stuck paying $15 for parking at Landmark Center every time one of my tennants manages to break something.
Suffolk 83
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Your basically acting as a NIMBY. You agree with those folks then huh? Since when is street parking supposed to rape you of all your money? Cant have it both ways.
Your basically acting as a NIMBY. You agree with those folks then huh? Since when is street parking supposed to rape you of all your money? Cant have it both ways.
Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
I dont think you understand how street parking works. Street parking is supposed to be available for short time trips, so you can run into the bookstore, drop off stuff etc. Hence the 2 hour limit. Turnover is key. More turnover = more business.
The price shouldnt act as a revenue source but as a way to control demand. As far as I know, theres no other way to control demand as effectively as money. You charge $1 an hour and have no enforcement and your bookstore employee is going to park there for 8 hours and feed the meter, meaning lost business and more hassle for the neighborhood. If you start charging higher rates, suddenly the $10 all day parking at the lot down the street is more attractive for employees (or public transit), leaving the street spaces free for people that need them.
I lived in Fenway for 4 years. If theres a 7:10pm game at Fenway you can bet that every street parking slot from mass ave to the BU bridge will be taken by 4pm. None of those people are visiting friends in the neighborhood. Some, but not all of those people are patronizing stores. 100% street parking occupancy helps nobody. Even worse, latecomers start circling hoping for a spot to open up. Go to bay state road before a game. 95% of the traffic is looking for a spot, and theyre certainly not residents.
Do you have more information about this? As far as I know, the only meters with expanded hours in Boston are the new multispace ones, and none of those are in Fenway.
Also, all of comm ave, beacon street (after mass ave), mountfort street, bay state road, st marys street and many others are metered (the countless side streets). Mountfort street is actually just free. No meters, just a 2 hour limit.
Exactly.
Anybody going to Fenway has 3 green line branches, yawkey commuter rail and 6 bus routes to chose from, never mind the LMA, BU and MIT shuttles (which are essentially open to the public)
I dont think you understand how street parking works. Street parking is supposed to be available for short time trips, so you can run into the bookstore, drop off stuff etc. Hence the 2 hour limit. Turnover is key. More turnover = more business.
The price shouldnt act as a revenue source but as a way to control demand. As far as I know, theres no other way to control demand as effectively as money. You charge $1 an hour and have no enforcement and your bookstore employee is going to park there for 8 hours and feed the meter, meaning lost business and more hassle for the neighborhood. If you start charging higher rates, suddenly the $10 all day parking at the lot down the street is more attractive for employees (or public transit), leaving the street spaces free for people that need them.
I lived in Fenway for 4 years. If theres a 7:10pm game at Fenway you can bet that every street parking slot from mass ave to the BU bridge will be taken by 4pm. None of those people are visiting friends in the neighborhood. Some, but not all of those people are patronizing stores. 100% street parking occupancy helps nobody. Even worse, latecomers start circling hoping for a spot to open up. Go to bay state road before a game. 95% of the traffic is looking for a spot, and theyre certainly not residents.
Do you have more information about this? As far as I know, the only meters with expanded hours in Boston are the new multispace ones, and none of those are in Fenway.
Also, all of comm ave, beacon street (after mass ave), mountfort street, bay state road, st marys street and many others are metered (the countless side streets). Mountfort street is actually just free. No meters, just a 2 hour limit.
Exactly.
Anybody going to Fenway has 3 green line branches, yawkey commuter rail and 6 bus routes to chose from, never mind the LMA, BU and MIT shuttles (which are essentially open to the public)
Equilibria
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
All of those options are just as congested as the parking and traffic in the Fens (at least when the Sox play), and they all have to end somewhere. Back home in Newton, school buses can't get kids home on big game days for all the street-parked cars.
I'm not arguing with the concept of encouraging mode shift, I'm just saying that this isn't a scenario where everyone drives. Many of those drivers were probably sick of driving around Chestnut Hill or Newton Center looking for spaces before a half-hour long ride on a packed train.
What is the target market for this new garage space? If it's shoppers at local businesses, then there's some local benefit. If it's a dump point for Downtown (like the Back Bay Garage), that's a huge cost. If it's for residents of the new development, it's probably not a good idea to encourage new city-dwellers to own cars.
All of those options are just as congested as the parking and traffic in the Fens (at least when the Sox play), and they all have to end somewhere. Back home in Newton, school buses can't get kids home on big game days for all the street-parked cars.
I'm not arguing with the concept of encouraging mode shift, I'm just saying that this isn't a scenario where everyone drives. Many of those drivers were probably sick of driving around Chestnut Hill or Newton Center looking for spaces before a half-hour long ride on a packed train.
What is the target market for this new garage space? If it's shoppers at local businesses, then there's some local benefit. If it's a dump point for Downtown (like the Back Bay Garage), that's a huge cost. If it's for residents of the new development, it's probably not a good idea to encourage new city-dwellers to own cars.
briv
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
There are a few interesting articles in this week's Courant. Here's one, brought to you with the help of the miracle that is OCR, on possible financing being found for Fenway Center:
[quote="Scott Van Voorhis/ Boston Courant]
Union Fund Rescuing
Some Boston Projects
by Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Courant
A pair of former Hub development czars has emerged as financing angels imid a downturn that has left projects across the city stuck at the drawing boards.
Steve Coyle and Paul Barrett, former directors of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), are helping funnel $100 million of union pension fund money into various development projects in Boston and across the Bay State.
Coyle, who ran City Hall's redevelopment arm in the 1980s, oversees billions in investment money as head of the Washington-hased AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. Barrett, his long-lime lieutenant at the BRA who went on to direct the agency, runs the union investment fund's Boston office.
As they hammer out financing deals, the pair can also look to another top union pension fund official with local roots, Karen Howarth. Chief investment officer of the $3.5 billion AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, Howarth got started in the 1970s at MassHousing, a state authority that finances new housing projects.
The union fund is now working out a deal to provide the financing to kick off the construction of the long-awaited, $500 million Fenway Center air rights project near Fenway Park.
"Everything we have seen gives us strong reason to believe we can get that block of Boston brought into the new Boston," Barrett said.
As it looks for local projects' to invest in, the AFL-CIO Housing investment Trust is armed with $100 million in Massachusetts pension fund money designated for local projects.
In Boston, Barrett and his boss, Coyle, are focusing on a pair of new housing projects, Fenway Center and a proposal to build 80 units of housing near the new Greenway on Parcel 9 in the North End.
Developer John Rosenthal's Fenway Center proposal calls for decking over the Turnpike near Fenway and building a residential, parking, retail and transportation hub. The AFL-CIO investment fund is teaming up with MassHousing on a potential financing deal for the project's first two residential buildings, which could cost roughly $100 million to construct.
The union fund has sent Rosenthal a letter of intent and will soon begin a formal vetting process before inking a final agreement.
"We don't have to sell Steve Coyle or Paul Barrett or Karen Howarth on how dynamic Boston is as a market and the Fenway, Kenmore areas are as a submarket," Rosenthal said.
The union financing help could not come at a more crucial time for Boston developers, with private sector lenders skittish about taking on new projects.
The Filene's redevelopment, which stalled in the midst of demolition work aimed at clearing the site, is just one of a number of projects stuck in neutral from a lack of cash.
Still, the financing does not come without strings attached. In order to qualify, Rosenthal will have to agree to use 100 percent union labor.
MassHousing also requires that at least 20 percent of a new project's units be set aside for low- and moderate-income renters.
The giant union fund sees an opportunity not only to create jobs for union hard hats, but also to invest in the increasingly promising rental housing market, Barrett noted.
Amid the turmoil in the condo and forsale market, prospects for the rental housing market appear to be on the upswing. There is also less competition with the demise of a number of Wall Street lenders that had been big players in the market, creating a profitable niche for the AFLCIO Housing Investment Trust, he said.
'"There are very few people in the multifarnily (lending) business," Barrett said. "There is a real opportunity to create additional margins."
With a dearth of project financing, local developers are welcoming the interest from the giant union pension fund with open arms.
"It's a great team and a good prospect that whatever they do get involved with, it is a project that will move forward," said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts.
[/quote]
There are a few interesting articles in this week's Courant. Here's one, brought to you with the help of the miracle that is OCR, on possible financing being found for Fenway Center:
[quote="Scott Van Voorhis/ Boston Courant]
Union Fund Rescuing
Some Boston Projects
by Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Courant
A pair of former Hub development czars has emerged as financing angels imid a downturn that has left projects across the city stuck at the drawing boards.
Steve Coyle and Paul Barrett, former directors of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), are helping funnel $100 million of union pension fund money into various development projects in Boston and across the Bay State.
Coyle, who ran City Hall's redevelopment arm in the 1980s, oversees billions in investment money as head of the Washington-hased AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. Barrett, his long-lime lieutenant at the BRA who went on to direct the agency, runs the union investment fund's Boston office.
As they hammer out financing deals, the pair can also look to another top union pension fund official with local roots, Karen Howarth. Chief investment officer of the $3.5 billion AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, Howarth got started in the 1970s at MassHousing, a state authority that finances new housing projects.
The union fund is now working out a deal to provide the financing to kick off the construction of the long-awaited, $500 million Fenway Center air rights project near Fenway Park.
"Everything we have seen gives us strong reason to believe we can get that block of Boston brought into the new Boston," Barrett said.
As it looks for local projects' to invest in, the AFL-CIO Housing investment Trust is armed with $100 million in Massachusetts pension fund money designated for local projects.
In Boston, Barrett and his boss, Coyle, are focusing on a pair of new housing projects, Fenway Center and a proposal to build 80 units of housing near the new Greenway on Parcel 9 in the North End.
Developer John Rosenthal's Fenway Center proposal calls for decking over the Turnpike near Fenway and building a residential, parking, retail and transportation hub. The AFL-CIO investment fund is teaming up with MassHousing on a potential financing deal for the project's first two residential buildings, which could cost roughly $100 million to construct.
The union fund has sent Rosenthal a letter of intent and will soon begin a formal vetting process before inking a final agreement.
"We don't have to sell Steve Coyle or Paul Barrett or Karen Howarth on how dynamic Boston is as a market and the Fenway, Kenmore areas are as a submarket," Rosenthal said.
The union financing help could not come at a more crucial time for Boston developers, with private sector lenders skittish about taking on new projects.
The Filene's redevelopment, which stalled in the midst of demolition work aimed at clearing the site, is just one of a number of projects stuck in neutral from a lack of cash.
Still, the financing does not come without strings attached. In order to qualify, Rosenthal will have to agree to use 100 percent union labor.
MassHousing also requires that at least 20 percent of a new project's units be set aside for low- and moderate-income renters.
The giant union fund sees an opportunity not only to create jobs for union hard hats, but also to invest in the increasingly promising rental housing market, Barrett noted.
Amid the turmoil in the condo and forsale market, prospects for the rental housing market appear to be on the upswing. There is also less competition with the demise of a number of Wall Street lenders that had been big players in the market, creating a profitable niche for the AFLCIO Housing Investment Trust, he said.
'"There are very few people in the multifarnily (lending) business," Barrett said. "There is a real opportunity to create additional margins."
With a dearth of project financing, local developers are welcoming the interest from the giant union pension fund with open arms.
"It's a great team and a good prospect that whatever they do get involved with, it is a project that will move forward," said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts.
[/quote]
Suffolk 83
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/gre...big_solar_statement_for_fenway_center/?page=1
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/gre...big_solar_statement_for_fenway_center/?page=1
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
He is betting that the credit markets will ease up by then (which all signs seem to point to). By the time these buildings open (+2 years) the recession should be over and demand starting to increase.
He is betting that the credit markets will ease up by then (which all signs seem to point to). By the time these buildings open (+2 years) the recession should be over and demand starting to increase.
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Re: Fenway Center (One Kenmore, Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)
Might be easier for one central platform (high level) since he is going to be building over the station. He is probably going to have to move the tracks in order to pull that off.
The station, as it is now, is under Beacon St on a curve. There is a straight track just east of this curve which is sandwiched between the Pike and a parking lot. It would probably be the best option to move the existing station to this straight stretch and expand the ROW into the parking lot. Anything else would have to deal with the Pike and both overpasses.
Edit: A Map!
Red Lines: Current Railroad ROW, Westbound on top, Eastbound below
Red Marker: Current Station
Blue Line: New Eastbound track, moved south.
Blue Marker: New single-center platform Station.
Might be easier for one central platform (high level) since he is going to be building over the station. He is probably going to have to move the tracks in order to pull that off.
The station, as it is now, is under Beacon St on a curve. There is a straight track just east of this curve which is sandwiched between the Pike and a parking lot. It would probably be the best option to move the existing station to this straight stretch and expand the ROW into the parking lot. Anything else would have to deal with the Pike and both overpasses.
Edit: A Map!
Red Lines: Current Railroad ROW, Westbound on top, Eastbound below
Red Marker: Current Station
Blue Line: New Eastbound track, moved south.
Blue Marker: New single-center platform Station.