Forecaster Building Addition |121-127 Portland Street | West End

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EarnestMoney

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Is there supposed to be a retail/restaurant component to whatever it is that whoever it is, is building on Portland Street?
Does anyone have any deets?
 
Re: Portland Street

EarnestMoney said:
Is there supposed to be a retail/restaurant component to whatever it is that whoever it is, is building on Portland Street?
Does anyone have any deets?
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If its 121-127 Portland St., (the Forecaster Building) the BRA says thus:

Existing 6 story building with a 2 story addition. 54 Loft Style units. 7 on-site affordable. 42 internal parking spaces on floors 1-3
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Re: Portland Street

Yes, it is 121-127 Portland St., (the Forecaster Building)

Thanks, Stellar!
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

In the words of Mamie Eisenhower, "I'm not dead yet!"

Pizzuti Development has tweaked its long-dormant proposal to redevelop a 73,000-square-foot building into a mixed-use condo community in the city’s West End. The Boston firm said the new plan is “more responsive to the current economic environment” and, if approved by city planning officials, could potentially see shovels in the ground by early 2012.

The updated proposal was submitted Thursday for review by the Boston Redevelopment Authority . Pizzuti, which has owned the Portland Street property since 2004, has requested BRA confirmation that the new plan does not materially “increase the impacts” of the company’s previous plan.
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More: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2011/10/pizzuti-looks-to-spark-frozen-condo.html
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

"According to this week’s filing, the new proposal would increase the property’s supply of residential units to 62 from 54 while upping the site’s parking capacity to 44 spaces, compared to 42 in previous plan."

North Station, Haymarket, and Bowdoin are within 5 minutes walk...
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

Not relevant to your point, but Bowdoin will close permanently once Gov't Center is rebuilt, according to an article I read somewhere today.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

JohnAKeith said:
Not relevant to your point, but Bowdoin will close permanently once Gov't Center is rebuilt, according to an article I read somewhere today.
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I'm confident that an extension to MGH will result in a new Bowdoin a block or two west of the current location.

Bowdoin has thus far staved off numerous threats of closing, so I'm not so sure we'd see it close, even with the new second Government Center headhouse. Trains still need to turn around at Bowdoin. And I'm sure the buttons on the doors cost some money in the design and manufacturing, might as well keep them from being completely useless.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

BostonUrbEx said:
I'm confident that an extension to MGH will result in a new Bowdoin a block or two west of the current location.

Bowdoin has thus far staved off numerous threats of closing, so I'm not so sure we'd see it close, even with the new second Government Center headhouse. Trains still need to turn around at Bowdoin. And I'm sure the buttons on the doors cost some money in the design and manufacturing, might as well keep them from being completely useless.
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Urb -- at least in the near-term Bowdoin is scheduled to close as when Govt Center is rebuilt it will support 6 car Blue Line trains -- due to curvature and slope the existing Bowdoin platform can not be extended sufficiently to enable 6 car trains -- so when the 6 cars start operating that is the end

If and when there is a Blue Line extension to Charles -- then there might be a case made for a new Bowdoin

However, given that even the Green Line extension is at least a year from being shovel-ready -- I wouldn't count on a new Bowdoin anytime soon
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

There's been 6 car trains for 2-4 years now.... They said Bowdoin would close with 6 car trains, and it's still here.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

NPC for this project was filed/presented on 6/13/13. Now a 10 story proposal (4 additional floors) with the roof topping off at 147'.

This Notice of Project Change (‘NPC”) is being submitted in accordance with Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code (“the Code”) for the property at 121-127 Portland Street, owned by 121 Portland LLC and
to be developed by Pizzuti Development (the “Proponent”), for a proposed multi-family residential development of eighty one (81) mixed-income, for-sale loft condominium units and associated parking for up to thirty two (32) vehicles.

The Proponent is proposing to fully renovate, upgrade and add four-stories to the approximately 73,000 square foot Forecaster Building, located at the 121-127 Portland Street in Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle, part of the West End neighborhood, into a residential facility with supporting ground floor retail uses (the “Proposed Project”). The Proposed Project exceeds the 10% affordable housing requirement established in the Mayor’s Executive Order relative to Affordable Housing, dated February 29, 2000, by providing ten (10) affordable housing units to the City’s affordable housing stock, or 13% of the total units proposed
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http://bostonredevelopmentauthority...Portland Street (The Forecaster Bldg)_NPC.pdf
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

There is some construction fencing erected behind the building on Friend Street. Is it possible that they are going to do "something" after all this time? Even the tyvek on the windows is worn out.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

A few notes: Those plans are strange. Most of the "bedrooms" don't have windows. You can't even legally call them bedrooms. Also, this is a pizzutti development. Looks like the sister of Mrs. John Henry is running the show.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

sidewalks said:
A few notes: Those plans are strange. Most of the "bedrooms" don't have windows. You can't even legally call them bedrooms. Also, this is a pizzutti development. Looks like the sister of Mrs. John Henry is running the show.
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I'm glad you pointed that out. I too was looking at the plans and going WHAAAAAAA????

This whole NPC might as well go in the trash because you can't market those interior rooms as bedrooms. You can't just take any old office building and fit it out for apartments. I see they are cutting some courtyards, but the building itself is too tall for light to get very far down in those courtyards if you were to extend them lower anyway. The quality of life in that place would be horrendous.

Funny... I interviewed with Pizzuti. They didn't hire me. I probably would have ended up drafting these awful plans.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

sidewalks said:
A few notes: Those plans are strange. Most of the "bedrooms" don't have windows. You can't even legally call them bedrooms. Also, this is a pizzutti development. Looks like the sister of Mrs. John Henry is running the show.
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You guys are piling on because it's easy. I'm not an architect, but even I've seen bedrooms that don't have windows. They typically leave an enlarged doorway or a wall that is not floor to ceiling. It's not uncommon in old warehouse buildings (i.e., buildings that are too wide to simply double-stack).

Pizzuti began investing aggressively in the Bulfinch Triangle like 15 years ago. He looks pretty smart now (in spite of his daughters choice of husband and his decision not to hire datadyne).
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

Piling on? I don't know what you're talking about. I just have never seen two bedroom units in which none of the bedrooms have windows. It's not uncommon to have 1 bed plus dens...the dens have no windows...that's exactly what makes them dens. They appear to have a plethora of two den no bedroom units. It's strange. If you can find another example of such a product anywhere in the city I'd be interested to know.
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

Apparently part of last week's BRA epic meeting?

From "BISNOW" - a daily email I get.

PS. This is great news but what happened to the plans for the parking lot next door?

Cathartes/AEW Portland Street IV, LLC and Pizzuti Development won City approval for the $20M renovation and conversion of the vacant Forecaster Building in Bulfinch Triangle including a four-story addition. It will become 80 condominiums, 3700 SF of retail and parking for 32 cars with electrical charging systems.
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Location: http://goo.gl/mh16gq
 
Re: The Forecaster Building (121-127 Portland St.)

The electrical charging station lot is already there...along with that odd coffee place.
 
That lot can't possibly be long for this world.

Assuming the current real-estate environment in Boston has legs for a few more years, that lot will be developed posthaste once the Gov't Center Garage redevelopment gets underway, which is an unalloyed good. The main thing I would hope for is that the remaining historic structures lurking on the periphery of the West End don't also get redeveloped.
 
I recall that some of the small parking lots in the Bulfinch Triangle could be difficult to develop because they are surrounded by brick walls full of windows.
 
Something seems to be happening here. Scaffolding, windows and other signs of life.
 
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