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

Meeting TONIGHT:

FENWAY CENTER PUBLIC MEETING
OCT 05, 2016
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
RSS
Contact Name:
Phil Cohen
Contact Email Address:
Phil.Cohen@Boston.gov
Contact Phone:
617.918.4280
Type:
Public Meeting
Location:
Fenway Community Center
1282 Boylston St #123
Boston, MA 02215
Description:
The Boston Planning & Development Agency ("BPDA") would like to invite you to a public meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Fenway Center development.

A Notice of Project Change ("NPC"), submitted by Meredith Management Corporation on September 14, 2016, proposes that building 3 be removed from phase 1 of construction and further proposes a shift of gross square feet from phase 1 to phase 2, and a redesign of building 1 and 2.

The BPDA solicits comments from public agencies and the public. Written comments on the NPC should be received no later than October 15, 2016 by 5:00 PM. Please use the website form for comments or contact Phil.Cohen@Boston.gov for comments or clarification.

http://www.bostonredevelopmentautho...e?hootPostID=942fc777595048deb7fd5fc5e8c98573
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This thing is going to have the same fate as the Columbus center. Book it
 
HalcyonEra said:
It would be much better if nothing was named after anyone. There is not a soul on this planet that you cannot dig up dirt on. Especially when revisionist history becomes en vogue, as it is now.
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Thank you. I am not going to defend the man's actions, but Tom Yawkey was born in 1903, 17 years before women had the right to vote, and a full 60 years before MLK and the Civil Rights movement. Hell, WW1 hadn't even started yet! He died in 1976, 40 years ago and before many of us were born.

Where we are now as a society, and what we accept as normal, was not the case back then, just as today's norms will likely not be the case in 2100. He did not "know" what we "know". (or at least think we know, hence the quotes) What we would judge extremely harshly today may have been the accepted norms in the not-too-distant past. Heck, even gay marriage was not allowed just a couple of years ago! To rewrite history based on today's values is disingenuous and completely unfair. It was a different time that none of us can understand without having lived through it.

Be happy that we have evolved to the 2016 standards, but don't retroactively apply those standards to the past. If Tom Yawkey was alive today I would not expect him to make the same racist decisions he is being derided for now. His decisions don't relate to 2016 the same way that ours wouldn't relate to his time period.

Rather than rewriting the past, it is better to learn from our mistakes as we evolve into the future.
 
^ can we not open this can of worms? You know certain people are going to jump all over this and derail the hell out of this thread.

RE: tysmith- Im usually pro these developments and dont have a sky is falling mentality but fattony is right, this has so little chance of going forward. The air rights parcels have zero chance of getting done
 
Suffolk 83 said:
^ can we not open this can of worms? You know certain people are going to jump all over this and derail the hell out of this thread.

RE: tysmith- Im usually pro these developments and dont have a sky is falling mentality but fattony is right, this has so little chance of going forward. The air rights parcels have zero chance of getting done
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I give it a 5-10% chance of happening.

Btw I hate how MassDOT is charging the developer. MassDOT should provide it for free with the stipulation that the deck will be built (Shirley be dammed).
 
DZH22 said:
Thank you. I am not going to defend the man's actions, but Tom Yawkey was born in 1903, 17 years before women had the right to vote, and a full 60 years before MLK and the Civil Rights movement. Hell, WW1 hadn't even started yet! He died in 1976, 40 years ago and before many of us were born.

Where we are now as a society, and what we accept as normal, was not the case back then, just as today's norms will likely not be the case in 2100. He did not "know" what we "know". (or at least think we know, hence the quotes) What we would judge extremely harshly today may have been the accepted norms in the not-too-distant past. Heck, even gay marriage was not allowed just a couple of years ago! To rewrite history based on today's values is disingenuous and completely unfair. It was a different time that none of us can understand without having lived through it.

Be happy that we have evolved to the 2016 standards, but don't retroactively apply those standards to the past. If Tom Yawkey was alive today I would not expect him to make the same racist decisions he is being derided for now. His decisions don't relate to 2016 the same way that ours wouldn't relate to his time period.

Rather than rewriting the past, it is better to learn from our mistakes as we evolve into the future.
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Yes, people should be viewed by the standards of their times, as the accepted view of morality shifts over the years. But by the standards of his time, Tom Yawkey was a racist. Every single other club in Major League Baseball had allowed black players while Yawkey owned the Red Sox, but he still held out until 1959. That was twelve years after Jackie Robinson had started playing for the Dodgers, and two years after Robinson had retired. Yawkey isn't (necessarily) a racist for not allowing black players in the 1930s, but he's definitely a racist for not allowing black players in the 1950s. This isn't a judgment that was just made today by people retroactively applying modern norms, it was a widely held belief at the time as people such as Jackie Robinson called him "one of the most bigoted guys in baseball" while he was still owning the team.

Suffolk 83 said:
This thing is going to have the same fate as the Columbus center. Book it
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Isn't most of this project on terra firma? Even if the air rights portion never happens, it could still be a significant project.
 
tysmith95 said:
Btw I hate how MassDOT is charging the developer. MassDOT should provide it for free with the stipulation that the deck will be built (Shirley be dammed).
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This--or MassDOT should build the deck themselves and then auction it off.
 
Yes, people should be viewed by the standards of their times, as the accepted view of morality shifts over the years. But by the standards of his time, Tom Yawkey was a racist. Every single other club in Major League Baseball had allowed black players while Yawkey owned the Red Sox, but he still held out until 1959. That was twelve years after Jackie Robinson had started playing for the Dodgers, and two years after Robinson had retired. Yawkey isn't (necessarily) a racist for not allowing black players in the 1930s, but he's definitely a racist for not allowing black players in the 1950s. This isn't a judgment that was just made today by people retroactively applying modern norms, it was a widely held belief at the time as people such as Jackie Robinson called him "one of the most bigoted guys in baseball" while he was still owning the team.
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Jesus Fucking Christ people. Take the political / social bullshit commentary to another thread.

Back on topic:

I'm interested to see what the plan is. Will it be an entirely new proposal or the current one? I guess we'll find out tonight. I too have low confidence that this gets done, however, Rosenthal doesn't seem to know how to get this thing bootstrapped.
 
Equilibria said:
Updated plans:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getattachment/6817f375-9fb6-40ad-ba0d-834b773cfb06

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Let's kick this down here...
 
palindrome said:
This--or MassDOT should build the deck themselves and then auction it off.
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I feel like they should study this and have it ready for the next boom. i don't think it will happen in the next 5-7 years, but no reason they couldn't start building decks by 2025, upzone areas in coordination with the city and then auction and split the proceeds
 
choo said:
I feel like they should study this and have it ready for the next boom. i don't think it will happen in the next 5-7 years, but no reason they couldn't start building decks by 2025, upzone areas in coordination with the city and then auction and split the proceeds
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There's some risk involved with preemptive decking in that you're building without knowing the load-bearing properties of what's ultimately going on top. Constrains the development options to a narrower range. I suppose if there were a systematic plan for the upzoning they could pick decking construction that maximizes the juiciest per-parcel range of structural support. But that's only going to be a good idea if the state is prepared to move those parcels in due time.

Even the best future-proofing is going to be a lousy value if it takes 50 years to pull hands from neck at successfully landing and keeping a developer through completion on that deck. We need the institutions managing these parcels to change their way of doing business much sooner than we need to make a change in M.O. about pre-decking.
 
I wonder if it would help or hurt these buildings to be 1 and 2 David Ortiz Way (instead of addresses on Beacon St). Certainly would make them stand out on the market.
 
Are the 2 shorter ones first and the tallest one last? I'm not entirely sure what is supposed to be built over the air rights vs solid ground.

Again, based on the renders, it looks like the tallest one increased in height. You can see the scale is the same but there is less sky at the top of the pictures.
 
^Correct. The two shorter ones are on solid ground and the taller one is air rights.
 
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