Future Plans for Hynes Convention Center | 900 Boylston St | Back Bay

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stellarfun

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We now have a glimpse of what could go up on the nearly six-acre site — or at least what officials at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority envision for the Back Bay location.

At a board meeting on Friday, the convention center authority discussed a new report showing the potential for a 2.3 million-square-foot project — largely consisting of office space, but also including shops and restaurants along with 650 housing units.
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RKG’s estimate is conservative and takes into account height limits of up to 120 feet along Boylston Street. Meanwhile, Gibbons notes that two-thirds of the property is on terra firma. The highway deck section could definitely support a four-story building, he said, similar to the Hynes in height.

But the report notes that no architectural or engineering studies were used in the analysis, and identifies the existing deck over the Mass. Pike as a potential constraint to “achieving the anticipated level of buildout.”
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www.bostonglobe.com

Massive project could replace the Hynes if it is sold - The Boston Globe

At a board meeting on Friday, the convention center authority discussed a new report showing the potential for a 2.3 million-square-foot project.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
 
Personally I don't see the residential aspect panning out. It'll very likely become an office block.

Whatever the use, I'd like to see the structure step back as it rises from the street. I've walked Boylston from the Fenway umpteen times and the Hynes is a squat, drab brick below the Pru. What about a modern take on the 1920s wedding cake spires in NYC, with tiered gardens and terraces stepping back from Boylston and Dalton, only the setbacks would start much closer to street level. You still get that classic view of the Pru along Boylston, but you've totally transformed the streetscape and the skyline.
 
from the article: "Think something on the scale of the John Hancock Tower — sorry, 200 Clarendon — but not quite as tall or narrow. "

Wait ... this is a perfect location to finally build a tower the exceeds the height of the Hancock. Make it so.
 
From today's Globe. Apparently Baker admin. is considering moving forward with Hynes redevelopment
www.bostonglobe.com

As Baker re-launches sale of Hynes Convention Center, debate brews on what might replace it - The Boston Globe

The governor is expected to file an economic development bill that could include a measure to sell the nearly 6-acre site of the Hynes, at the corner of Boylston and Dalton streets, likely for redevelopment.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

Neighborhood groups wasting no time mobilizing:
Meanwhile, two key Back Bay neighborhood groups are circulating a list of conditions that any sale would need to garner their support...​
Among them are a promise that any building on the site would not cast shadows on Commonwealth Avenue a few blocks away — which could limit the potential height of a new building​
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I lived for several years on the top floor of a building on the south side of Comm. Ave. between Fairfield and Gloucester, and could't really recall any time where I was shaded by the Pru, Hancock, or other buildings except during early morning hours. IIRC, by the time the sun was high enough that the buildings on Comm Ave weren't casting shadows on the mall, the sun was also high enough to not cast shadows on the mall, or would do so in a very narrow window.

This recollection seems to be backed up by taking a quick look at the BPDA's 3D tool to check out shadows in the area (http://www.bostonplans.org/3d-data-maps/3d-smart-model/citywide-3d-model), it looks like (for the most part) that when the Pru would cast a shadow on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the sun is low enough in the sky that the Mall is already mostly in the shadow of the buildings on the south side.
 
This is Boston's best, and maybe only, chance at a new tallest building to go over 900'. I sure hope Michelle Wu doesn't blow this opportunity for the city forever. It should have been proposed under Marty.
 
DZH22 said:
This is Boston's best, and maybe only, chance at a new tallest building to go over 900'. I sure hope Michelle Wu doesn't blow this opportunity for the city forever. It should have been proposed under Marty.
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She will fold faster than a discount Korean laundromat. I love her but she is a NIMBY and that’s probably why she was voted in.

This will get up to 200’ tops.
 
393b40 said:
I can't wait for the whinging on this board when this thing is inevitably like 300-400 feet tall.
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The only real whining you're going to see on this board is if it ends up looking like another 888 Boylston
 
The only real whining you're going to see on this board is if it ends up looking like another 888 Boylston
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I had a front-row seat to that building going up. The construction elevator was amazingly loud for some reason. I can vividly remember the sound of that thing going up and down.
 
They should keep the Hynes and blow up the
393b40 said:
I can't wait for the whinging on this board when this thing is inevitably like 300-400 feet tall.

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I'd be fine with something 300'-400' tall, but this site can fit 3 or 4 buildings that size.
 
From Google maps, the Mass Pike runs directly beneath the Hynes Center. Good luck putting a 900 foot building on top of the Mass Pike. One might be fortunate to get 200 feet on the existing Hynes slab.
 
Is the Hynes Garage in scope? The one with Bukowski’s? That ones on terra firms and can go tall iirc.
 
Blackbird said:
It’s the complaining about complaining that gets stale and annoying. This is an architecture/urban planning forum isn’t it? Let people discuss height without throwing a fit every other post.
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Agreed, especially when it comes to a spot like this which could potentially support relatively tall heights (for Boston). A new tower here would complement the High Spine and the Back Bay skyline very nicely, as long as the design is fitting.
 
Can they go tall on this plot, given it's over the highway?
 
cjbski said:
Can they go tall on this plot, given it's over the highway?
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I believe there is a specific portion of the Hynes that is not over the highway and could support the new tallest building in Boston. I don't have the documents in front of me but have seen something along these lines posted here in the past.
 
If one bothered to read the article,

(a) the deck over the Pike can "definitely" support four stories. (Brilliant! That's what's there, presently.)
(b) the convention center authority's study calls for predominately office space, but also retail and 650 residential units.
(c) the MCCA study kept heights along Boylston to no more than 120 feet.

Assuming building footprints cover five of the nearly six acres that comprise the site, that's a max footprint of about 220,000 square feet. 220,000 x 10 floors equals 2.3 million sq ft. which the article said is the max square footage. As Chesto (from the Globe) points out, this assumes one can build higher than four stories over the Pike, but no engineering study has been done that would support a higher height.

I suspect that what would be sold is a ground lease for the Pike and the railroad right-of-way portions of the sites, which is about a third of the Hynes property.

Apparently, there is no estimate of how much the sale of the Hynes would bring in,
 
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