Flats on D | 411 D Street | South Boston

Does anyone think that the 2 buildings adjacent (north) of these closer to Summer st, and across from the Westin/BCEC would ever be retrofitted to have some sort of ground level street activation? Theres obviously nothing there now, but with these Flats and the 2 new hotels further down, plus any potential buildout of the BCEC on the other side of D street, it seems like D street has a lot of potential. Not to mention that the D Street/Summer St intersection is the "Core Block" for future hotel space expansion, there could be a lot of added activity. Just curious if the owners of these 2 buildings would ever consider doing work on the ground floor to add some sort of retail component.
 
I believe the long term (near term?) BCEC plan is to fill in the empty spaces along D with more ground floor amenities, so at least that's hopeful.

Also, there's a deli inside 451 D Street, and it has absolutely not a lick of street presence. Pretty strange.

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Photo from Yelp
 
I attended a broker's open house for the north building a couple weeks ago. The exterior quality is echoed on the interior as well, and the model units are pretty much in line with the models I've seen for every other new building that's become available... although they're less grey/black&white than Kensington, Radian, and Waterside Place. More wood finishes and light colors.

My only gripe is that too much of the street frontage is wasted on common area use for the building (leasing office, concierge, gym, etc.) and parking garage. Asking prices aside, this is the kind of development we should be seeing in the outer city neighborhoods, like Dorchester, Roxburym, JP, and Allston/Brighton.
 
Any idea why these buildings are stepped down from the existing structures on the corner? There's probably a pretty simple reason, but it seems like a missed opportunity to develop a consistent skyline / street wall. I'm a big fan of these two, but just wondering.
 
The grade is dropping off pretty seriously it seems.

My opinion (watch out) is that "street face" does not mean lining up every horizontal datum. If you look at the streets that seem to be universally loved, the buildings that create that unified street face are NOT all lined up. The ARE striking an urban scale datum that brings uniformity but in the details the cornices, windows, and string courses bounce up and down a bit. I think this makes not only a unified street face but a kind of richness that cities need to be considered authentic. This is what places like Assembly Row miss. It is just slightly too controlled where as the real city does not follow those rules.

End Lecture.

cca
 
^ I agree with you on the urban authenticity point, but IMO, Assembly Row did a decent job of varying the cornices among the buildings and facades.
 
The next buildings in line after these two are a 14 story Aloft hotel and then a second hotel half that height. That will be an OK range of elevations.

Seaport was hopping yesterday, guess Liberty Wharf was really the tipping point to activating this neighborhood.
 
Brad Plaid said:
The next buildings in line after these two are a 14 story Aloft hotel and then a second hotel half that height. That will be an OK range of elevations.
Click to expand...

I recall seeing a rendering showing both those buildings set back quite a bit which is too bad.
 
I went to one of those Jimmy John's in Virginia Beach a few weeks ago and they're delicious! And better yet, they deliver very fast.. they had delivery personel pulling up and running back to their cars with bags of food and also delivery personel on bikes and on foot. It was pretty funny watching them literally run back and forth to the different office buildings around lunchtime
 
Jimmy John's is as generic as it gets. Not bad, not good.
 
Can't wait to spend $5k/month on a 3 bed so I can live above jimmy johns...
 
We're considering spending $3,000/month on a 1 bed for the privilege.
 
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