Four Seasons Tower @ CSC | 1 Dalton Street | Back Bay

stick n move said:
Exactly my point. There will be no tower that bridges the gap in the skyline between the Hancock and downtown in any significant way....ever. 400' to MAYBE 500 is possible, but nothing significant will ever be built here. Just the way it is. As long as we keep improving our two separate skylines I see no problem with it. Its kind of cool to have two separate completely different skylines.
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There is a reason why everything new in that area is in the 300-350 range. W, Archstone, Kensington, Ava... It is like a flat-top haircut.

Shadows on the Common.

Pull out your sun table and protractor. The BRA has been through this 4 times in recent memory.
 
The Sheraton actually did open up retail facing Belvidere - a hair salon day spa kind of place. Looks nice on Belvidere though the street interaction could be greatly improved (See https://goo.gl/maps/GWKScDLPmaA2). If they wanted to, they could also open their bar area to the outside with outdoor seating on Belivdere (next to what's the day spa) - no idea why they haven't done this, but it would be easy enough - and would greatly benefit the nearly windowless lobby. I have a hard time seeing them ever build out over the porte cochere.

Meanwhile, the CSC colonnade building actually does have a retail spot facing Belvidere too - they were trying to lease it last year. Right now it's functioning as the construction office. (Right here: https://goo.gl/maps/TQwyUWMbjsP2)

I hear you on the Hilton. I can't think of a single redeeming feature about it. I find the most urbanistically insulting thing is that, on the ground floor of the parking garage, they have a... plastic picnic table streetside. Wtf? Right behind a vent blowing hot air onto the sidewalk. (Here it is: https://goo.gl/maps/pAXSs2uBCsx) Oh, and their lobby blasts chintzy pop music out of tinny speakers into the driveway.

There are lots of other things about this immediate "neighborhood" that should and will eventually change, though perhaps not in this development cycle. The Kings garage and what I call the Homeless Garden by the Hynes loading ramp, for example. Other eyesores won't be going anywhere like the NStar and Verizon buildings.

I used the word "neighborhood" in quotes before, but I am hopeful that with these changes this corner of the Back Bay - and really, it's quite distinct from the Back Bay that most people think about - will take on a character that's more than the conventioneer-warehouse it is now.
 
I see the Dalton St. garage as the next big development here after all of the air rights parcels are filled in within a few years.
 
tobyjug said:
The owner is the disaster, not the design.
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Toby -- the use of the building is a disaster -- see for example
http://www.mediabistro.com/portfolios/samples_files/933116_kbkphmbht9akccddq5ft04nev.pdf
ARCHITECTURE OF INSANITY BOSTON GOVERNMENT SERVICE CENTER
Text by Michele Koh Photography by Gwen Lee
...The Lindemann Center is in poor condition. With bedraggled inmates dragging their feet along dismal grey halls, this building is a notorious example of architecture’s power to agitate, confuse and fatally overwhelm. The rest of the building, also in a state of weary neglect, stands as a reminder of the unhappy times caused by an ineffectual attempt at urban renewal.
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So yes the use of the building is a disaster. However, even more so is the waste of that centrally located plot as the repository for a huge pile of concrete. Level it, and build tall.
 
Bay Village Neighborhood Association is a cult for sure. This would be quite a hassle, and I still would do it. The city needs a link.
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Hi neighbor, no we don't. You want a link. The city doesn't need it.
 
stick n move said:
I see the Dalton St. garage as the next big development here after all of the air rights parcels are filled in within a few years.
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I agree, it's going to be done sooner or later. Also has just about the highest height limit in the back bay according to the FAA chart.
 
Sure does, this spot is like a sleeper cell for a future supertall to come out of nowhere one day 10 years from now. After 1 Dalton, Copley, parcel 15 are all built out it wont be so hard to propose the FAA height limit here one day once most of the spots are filled in and people are used to tall buildings in the area.
 
Only way that dalton st garage gets something tall built on it is if it starts the approval process now, once 1 dalton is occupied the super rich tenants of that building will never let something block their views
 
Suffolk 83 said:
Only way that dalton st garage gets something tall built on it is if it starts the approval process now, once 1 dalton is occupied the super rich tenants of that building will never let something block their views
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Suffolk -- its far enough away that if it presents a tall narrow aspect to the Four Seasons then there can't be much of an effective complaint -- put an high aspect ratio [3 or 4 to 1] elliptical super tall close to the Turnpike and align it the long way parallel to Dalton St. -- it would have minimal sightline effects to any significant view corridors
 
whighlander said:
Suffolk -- its far enough away that if it presents a tall narrow aspect to the Four Seasons then there can't be much of an effective complaint -- put an high aspect ratio [3 or 4 to 1] elliptical super tall close to the Turnpike and align it the long way parallel to Dalton St. -- it would have minimal sightline effects to any significant view corridors
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Also, if it is an architecturally interesting tower, it becomes part of the view.
 
Are we talking about the garage with Kings in it? Yea those eventual rich asshole arent going to allow a comparable tower close by
 
The Four Seasons will not have a wall that faces that direction, correct? Kind of kills any potential issue. That said, I personally don't think that blocking the view from one tower should be a valid criticism of another tower so long as it's not so close that it's all you see.
 
chmeeee said:
The Four Seasons will not have a wall that faces that direction, correct? Kind of kills any potential issue. That said, I personally don't think that blocking the view from one tower should be a valid criticism of another tower so long as it's not so close that it's all you see.
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The garage is further away from One Dalton than the One Bromfield proposal is from Millennium Tower. Of course One Bromfield seems to be scrambling to get approval before MT gets occupied (which could validate the concern).
 
Look on google maps. This tower is 3 sided. All 3 sides do not face towards the garage plot. Only one corner faces toward it and even then it is not a direct line of sight. Blocked views would be absolutely minimal.
 
I'm in Malaysia now, and the way they get around it here is they take the floor below it and ad "A" to it.

My building has 13, 13A, 15...23, 23A, 25..
 
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