Fenway Center (One Kenmore) | Turnpike Parcel 7, Beacon Street | Fenway

I think it's time to at least let the master builders share some visions in Boston again. What would the Greenway look like if someone had actually thought about it systematically, for example?
 
I think it will be a generation before a master builder is allowed to reshape a city. People still remember urban renewal and until they die out they are going to continue to be vocal.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Lame. I'm very disappointed with this decision. I think the neighborhood could use more residential housing, and I certainly think the market could have absorbed the 500 additional units by the time this project was going to be completed.

Fenway Developer Decides To ?Air? on Side of Caution

Slumping home sales have forced the developer of an air rights project near Fenway Park to slash the number of dwellings in his proposed mega-development.

?Capital markets have shifted dramatically,? said John Rosenthal, president of Newton-based Meredith Management Corp. ?It?s much easier to fund commercial and retail uses, which makes this a viable development.?

As a result, One Kenmore, the long-delayed $450 million urban village in Kenmore Square that would connect Boston?s Fenway and Audubon Circle neighborhoods, has shrunk to accommodate the new reality. Under the latest version, 264 apartment or condominium units will be built as part of a 1.29 million-square-foot mini-city over the Massachusetts Turnpike between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue.

This is not the first time the project?s housing units has been trimmed. In January, the plan included 688 residential units. But by August, as home sales in the Bay State continued to plummet, the number was trimmed to 353.

Rosenthal presented his revised proposal in a sparsely attended public hearing last week at the Boston Arts Academy. The newest version of the proposal will include three buildings, totaling 7, 13 and 17 stories, along Beacon Street. In addition, One Kenmore will contain 350,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,360 parking spaces. The project will be centered around a revitalized Yawkey MBTA Commuter Rail Station funded by the state Legislature.

If approved, the project would be built on 75,000 square feet of land, bounded by Brookline Avenue and Maitland and Beacon streets, including several surface parking lots and 85,000 square feet of air rights. A steel deck would cover the turnpike where a portion of the development would sit, similar to Copley Place. A parking garage would be wrapped by housing so that it is not seen from the street.

Despite the changes, the project remains popular with the Citizens Advisory Committee, an 11-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, owner of the air rights parcels.

George Thrush, a CAC member and director of the School of Architecture at Northeastern University, said he is pleased with the latest version.

?The evolution of this plan is one that integrates transit well and incorporates the public interest in a fundamental way,? he noted. ?The only questions to be answered are the scale, character and quality of the buildings that establish the connections within the area.?

Jack Creighton, a CAC member who represents the Audubon Circle Neighborhood Association, said he supports the 7-story building that will abut the nearby Audubon section of the city, an area that borders Brookline.

?There have been substantial improvements made in the design and it is becoming more like an integrated part of the Boston community,? he said. ?We have to keep a good eye on traffic and buses though.?

A third CAC member, Marc Lederman, praised Rosenthal but raised a question about the need for nearly 1,400 parking spaces.

?The big plus is Yawkey Station, which will be a huge addition to this urban village so people can walk to work and walk to shop,? Lederman said. ?The problem with the project is that the developer has not justified the non-accessory parking.?

?A Fair Trade-Off?

The number of spaces remains a sticking point for many Fenway residents. Rosenthal said a transit study is under way to examine how many spaces will be lost as part of the project and how many new ones will be needed.

?We will determine the number of net new spaces, but my gut tells me it will not be more than a couple of hundred,? he said.

But Lawrence Cancro, senior vice president for the Boston Red Sox, made the case for parking. He said the ballpark needs a place for cars because without it, Sox fans will drive around the neighborhood.

?We need to have some parking for those premium customers and out-of-town fans who drive from places like Syracuse, N.Y., who will not take the MBTA,? Cancro said. ?To build the project that John is proposing, we will lose 560 spaces. The plan is to replace them with a parking garage over the turnpike and that?s a fair trade-off.?

City Councilor Michael Ross noted that the project enjoys strong community support.

?There will be issues,? he said. ?But I am confident that at the end, we will be at a good place with this project. John has great credibility in the community and I appreciate the job he?s done.?

Anthony Montalto, the project?s architect and a principal at New York-based Carlos Zapata Studio, said the plan continues to get ?richer and better.? He noted that the unique landscape of parking lots and air rights space above the windswept bridge along Beacon Street would be transformed into a welcoming neighborhood.

?We are creating some wonderful urban nooks and open spaces that will benefit everyone,? he said. ?Our goal is to make it a wonderful place and vitalize the area, not only within the development, but to make connections that are safer, more exciting and vital.?

Project team member Ruth Bonsignore of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, a real estate planning and design firm with offices in Boston, said the development reflects the civic vision for the area created by the city and the neighborhood.

In June 2000, Mayor Thomas M. Menino released the Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights in Boston. The document emphasized four major points concerning the development of air rights and their use to enhance the quality of life and economic opportunity for Boston.

Those points are: fostering increased use and capacity of public transportation, and decreased reliance on private automobiles; reinforcing the vitality and quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods; enhancing Boston as a place to live, work and invest; and repairing and enriching the city?s public realm.

But not everyone is convinced that One Kenmore is the answer. One Fenway resident said the project would add more cars to an already-congested area of the city.

?There?s a noose around our necks and this is not an urban village. You are creating another downtown,? he said.
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Source: Fenway Developer Decides To ?Air? on Side of Caution - By Thomas Grillo, Banker & Tradesman (subscription required)
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

The shrinking really is a bad thing.

The parking isnt an issue for me. The fenway area has lost ALOT of parking in the past few years....in a good way. Less surface lots moving into a concealed garage is fine.

I just hope the MBTA assures all trains stop at Yawkey.

And builds a new stop in Allston, but thats another discussion
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Plans for One Kenmore development filed
January 16, 2008 12:39 PM
By Thomas C. Palmer, Jr., Globe staff

After more than a decade of planning and major changes in size, use and even location, the developer of One Kenmore yesterday again filed plans with the city ? this time reducing the number of residential units and adding a substantial amount of office space.

John Rosenthal, whose previous plans for a mixed-use development over the Turnpike between Kenmore Square and Fenway Park emphasized residential, with more than 600 planned condos or apartments, yesterday bent with the current market winds that are strong for commercial development but weak for housing.

He told the city he now wants to build almost 340,000 square feet of office space plus 100,000 square feet of retail shops and restaurants ? and only 282 residences. Condos or rental apartments ? that too will be determined by the market, but later, Rosenthal said yesterday.

The architect is Carlos Zapata Studios of New York.

Rosenthal?s project has evolved from the idea of a hotel and entertainment complex 10 years ago, to a $300 million complex with 29- and 23-story residential towers in 2003, to a more modest proposal that in recent iterations has been well received by the community and the powerful neighboring Boston Red Sox organization.

In 2005, One Kenmore was ?moved,? from east of the Brookline Avenue bridge spanning the Turnpike to just west of it. With the support and partnership of the Red Sox, it will now be located along Beacon Street over the MBTA?s Yawkey Commuter Rail station, on land and air space previously designated for team owners? use.

Rosenthal called it ?smart-growth, transit-oriented development? and said he has presented a ?dramatic site plan change,? with the tower closest to low-rise Audubon Circle reduced to seven floors.

The One Kenmore plans, which must undergo Boston Redevelopment Authority scrutiny over the next year or so, before construction can begin, call for less square footage in total than were in Rosenthal?s other recent proposals.

In its current proposal, One Kenmore would have a total of almost 1.3 million square feet ? but about half of that would be parking. The plans call for towers of 22, 10, and 7 floors. Most recently, Rosenthal had proposed towers of 20 and 17 floors; his 2003 proposal for the location closer to Kenmore Square was for towers of 29 and 20 floors and five smaller buildings.

The plans still include two large parking garages, with a total of 1,360 parking spaces. About 660 of those would be for use by One Kenmore residents, tenants, and visitors. A public garage with about 700 spaces would serve the surrounding community, including workers in the nearby Longwood Medical Area.

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/01/plans_for_one_k.html
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

All and all, this really isn't that exciting of a project. It will reconect those parts of the city, which is great. But whats actually getting built is pretty mediocre. And I don't know how more housing near Fenway wouldn't sell like hot cakes. I mean eventually the office market will cool down and office vacancy will be high and housing will be back in demand. But I wont pretend like I know financing, so maybe this is the only way to turn a profit.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Sounds like a lot of parking to me. More parking means more cars going through Kenmore Square. Is that really a good idea?
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Oooooh...Carlos Zapata Studio....I like their work :)
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Oh wow, Zapata! I missed that. This should be one of the more exciting projects to see develop...
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Is the layout still the same as the scanned image from the Courant? Lets hope the actual design redeems the project.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Does John Rosenthal still controll parcel 8 & 9, and if so are his old plans relevant?
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

unlikely that this project is financeable in today's capital markets.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

statler, there is an article in banker and tradesman about the the recent approval of this project. could you post it please? I think we all really appreciate the additional info that would otherwise cost 200 bucks a year!! :)
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

One Kenmore Project Plan Posted
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter

A decade in the planning stages, a Newton-based developer has for the first time filed formal plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot development over the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park.

The plans for One Kenmore were submitted to the Boston Redevlopment Authority on Wednesday.

One Kenmore is a smart-growth, transit-oriented project slated for construction between the Beacon Street overpass, Brookline Avenue and Maitland Street.

The $450 million proposal by Meredith Kenmore/Fenway Development Group will include four buildings ranging from 7 stories to 22 stories and feature 338,000 square feet of office space, 101,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, 282 apartments and 1,360 parking spaces, according to the document filed with the BRA.

If approved, the urban village for Kenmore Square would connect Boston?s Fenway and Audubon Circle neighborhoods and replace an assortment of parking lots.

For the last several years, John Rosenthal, the developer, has presented his plan to neighborhood groups and the Citizens Advisory Committee, an 11-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the BRA and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, owner of the air rights parcels.

Each time, he has revised the proposal to meet neighborhood and city suggestions before finally filing the Project Notification Form with the city of Boston today.

The project will be centered around a revitalized Yawkey MBTA Commuter Rail Station funded by the Legislature. A steel deck would cover the turnpike where a portion of the development would sit, similar to Copley Place. A parking garage would be wrapped by housing so that it is not seen from the street.

Rosenthal presented the latest version of the plan to the Audubon Circle Neighborhood Association on Tuesday night. The One Kenmore plan and developer Rosenthal have been popular with the Kenmore neighborhood. The city?s approval porcess is expected to take a year and construction could begin as early as the spring of 2009.

Thomas Grillo may be reached at tgrillo@thewarrengroup.com.
Click to expand...

No link.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

7722a51b60_Kenmore_01172008.jpg


from the Herald:
The neighborhood around Fenway Park [map] would get a major overhaul under development plans filed yesterday at City Hall.

The proposed One Kenmore project calls for 1.3 million square feet of new apartments, shops and parking around a rebuilt Yawkey rail and bus station next door to Fenway Park.

The plan is the brainchild of Newton housing builder John Rosenthal, who has teamed up with the owners of the Red Sox [team stats] in a bid to redevelop the neighborhood around Fenway.

Carlos Zapata, a marquee, award-winning architect, is overseeing the design of the project. The project?s centerpiece is four buildings ranging in height from seven to 22 stories, with retail and offices at their base and residential above.

The complex, which will deck over the nearby Massachusetts Turnpike, includes 282 housing units, 28 of then affordable set-asides. Rosenthal has also agreed to pay for the construction of 14 additional affordable units off site.

The project will also include 101,000 square feet of street-level retail that will include restaurants, a grocer, cafes, a health club and community space.

The project will have 780 parking spaces, to be hidden from view by existing and proposed buildings, designed to wrap around the parking at the center. A smaller underground garage will contain 580 additional spaces.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1067079

How much are the Red Sox a minority owner in this project, and is their project interest focused on the garage?
 
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Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Wow! That rendering is pretty dramatic. I think 29 stories would definitely have been too tall. It will be great to connect the neighborhoods. When I lived in Audubon Circle 10 years while attending BU, I always felt a little disconnected from Kenmore (although the neighborhood itself was fantastic).
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Why these flat bulky boxes surrounding a decent tower,one has even latch on!this looks like Brighton Landing part 2! Two taller towers as originally plan would have made a better visual impact at this key site
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Interesting rendering, but the surrounding buildings look like suburban offices that could be in Burlington or Waltham and the actual tower looks like something from the Jetsons. I'd like to see something that looks a little less like a water color print before i pass judgement. Good news though.
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

Boston and the developer ought to be embarrassed and ashamed by that rendering.

In a location that serves as the gateway way to the city for thousands every day, they will put up something as bad as what was built in the 80s along New Jersey's Route 22.

I realize Boston can never get anything visionary off the ground (imagine CCTV over the Pike), but why always so cheap, so small, so awful?

xinsrc_dad2247a3296422d904474c1ae925d37_1.jpg
 
Re: One Kenmore (Mass Turnpike PARCEL 7)

I am not so sure if something that visionary would work with such close proximity to Fenway Park. That proposal (from China I believe?) would look pretty awesome either on the north or south side of downtown right before you go into the tunnels.
 
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