The new building, Klee said, will be of modest height, in keeping with zoning that restricts buildings to 180 feet. It will include open space along the water and public exhibit space on the ground floor. There may be an elevated walkway connecting the buildings. The company won’t replace the parking spaces lost to the new building; Klee said GE wants employees to use public transit.
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And it puts GE exactly where it says it wants to be.
Even before announcing the move to Boston in January, the company had zeroed in on the Seaport, with Klee and others taking in the bustling neighborhood from a high perch in the Federal Reserve Bank’s tower, across the channel.
Then, in searching for a building, GE executives quickly ruled out the glassy towers planned along Seaport Boulevard as too corporate, according to people involved in the search. And they eschewed state-owned parcels farther from downtown as too removed from the action.
But the chance to both build new and be among old bricks, in the heart of a neighborhood that buzzes with brainy competition? After decades in suburban Connecticut, that’s exactly what GE wanted
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