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

This is awesome. Design might need some honing, but think how much better the pedestrian experience is going to be over the Pike now.
 
It might not all be as bad as i think--but retail hasn't been doing so great around here the last few years. If anything, rents being what they are, we may be closer to max retail.
Maybe when another 20 or 30k residents are added (which could happen soon)--the retail magic seen once upon a time, will switch on.
 
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I don't know that every building needs to necessarily have retail anyway. Admittedly, a retail focused street wall can make for enhanced walkability, but even if it's interspersed among buildings without any public amenities, the Beacon street wall should be pretty pleasing when this project reaches completion.
 
Was Gensler always on Phase II, or did TAC get sacked?
This surprised me too. It looks like Gensler got Phase 2 from TAT. The prior iterations were all TAT. Maybe TAT had Phase 2 for prelim planning and handed it off to Gensler for SD?
 
TAT didn't deliver the kind of icon that this very prominent location should have had. They delivered a couple of not-bad but forgettable background buildings.
Also if phase 2 is mostly life sciences then it notably goes against the girthy, low/mid-rise that is pretty much the norm here.
 
I'm trying to figure out if either of the following things in the NPC can possibly be true (emphasis mine):
  • Page 24 - "a new major traffic signalization at Beacon, Mailtland and Mountfort Streets due to be completed in January 2020" - as far as I can tell, they haven't even started this?
  • Page 91 - "Mixed Use Path – The creation of new accessible pedestrian connections between David Ortiz Drive, Overland Street, Maitland Street, Beacon Street, Brookline Avenue, Lansdowne Station and Lansdowne Street (Under Construction and to be completed early 2020)" - there's no way they're going to connect Lansdowne Station to Brookline Ave. before the end of Phase 2, right? Early 2020 is just a typo as to these specific connections, right?
I'm also having trouble figuring out what Lansdowne Station egress looks like when Phase 1 is completed. They shut down and demolished the old (2014!) stairs from each platform to Beacon Street in December 2018. I can't tell whether the westernmost side of each platform will have secondary egress up to Beacon Street, or if passengers alighting at Lansdowne will have to use the station's central stair/elevator towers to access the new deck and thence Beacon. Some of the plans make me think the outbound platform has secondary egress but not the inbound platform, and some of the plans make me think that neither platform will have stairs anywhere near where they used to be on the Beacon side. Can anyone figure out the answer?
 
I'm also having trouble figuring out what Lansdowne Station egress looks like when Phase 1 is completed. They shut down and demolished the old (2014!) stairs from each platform to Beacon Street in December 2018. I can't tell whether the westernmost side of each platform will have secondary egress up to Beacon Street, or if passengers alighting at Lansdowne will have to use the station's central stair/elevator towers to access the new deck and thence Beacon. Some of the plans make me think the outbound platform has secondary egress but not the inbound platform, and some of the plans make me think that neither platform will have stairs anywhere near where they used to be on the Beacon side. Can anyone figure out the answer?

There are stairwells cut out of the new deck on both the inbound and outbound platforms right off Beacon. I believe that one side re-uses the 2014 stairs while the other staircase has been moved slightly.
 
IMG_8130 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8137 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8139 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8145 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8147 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8144 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8148 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8150 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

Standing on the Beacon Street Bridge over the Pike.

IMG_8157 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8154 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8158 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8160 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8168 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_8161 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr
 
Wonder how much train vibration will be noticed in the units.
 
I actually like it. You have to imagine what itll look like with the ground level and roof complete, but if it comes out how I expect itll be fine. Well see.

IMG_0510.8.jpeg

Curbed
 
I'm still all for this project - and more like it! - but I seriously hope the mid-rise comes out better than the low-rise. The latter's cladding looks poorly installed, cheap, and the color scheme is unpleasant to the eye.
 
Exciting to see the station [partially] covered. Wasn't sure we'd ever see anything resembling air rights again following the Columbus Center falling through.
 

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