Harvard Enterprise Research Campus | 100 Western Avenue | Allston

I gotta say I partly agree with the nimby's in this case. Boston needs more housing, more walkable neighborhoods, not another urban disaster like the seaport. Harvard should axe their whole plan and go back to the drawing board.
 
Hydrobus said:
I gotta say I partly agree with the nimby's in this case. Boston needs more housing, more walkable neighborhoods, not another urban disaster like the seaport. Harvard should axe their whole plan and go back to the drawing board.
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I genuinely believe that Harvard should not be allowed to develop anything because they have proven themselves incapable of doing it.
 
Hydrobus said:
I gotta say I partly agree with the nimby's in this case. Boston needs more housing, more walkable neighborhoods, not another urban disaster like the seaport. Harvard should axe their whole plan and go back to the drawing board.
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I walked through the Seaport last night, there were hundreds or even thousands of people milling about, and it was an amazing experience. The Seaport is turning into a pretty awesome, walkable neighborhood. I feel like most people who complain about it probably haven't been for years. Considering it was a sea of parking lots just a decade ago they're really doing a great job over there, and it's only getting better.
 
DZH22 said:
I walked through the Seaport last night, there were hundreds or even thousands of people milling about, and it was an amazing experience. The Seaport is turning into a pretty awesome, walkable neighborhood. I feel like most people who complain about it probably haven't been for years. Considering it was a sea of parking lots just a decade ago they're really doing a great job over there, and it's only getting better.
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I have to agree the seaport is looking pretty nice these days. Its also extremely popular judging by the huge amounts of people always there and by the amount of times I hear people say theyre going to the seaport for a night out.

I definitely dont think that it would be quite as popular without the waterfront, but with regards to Allston the charles river is right there plus it has one of the better all encompassing views of the city. Some well placed restaurants with outdoor dining taking advantage of these things would be a major hit. Throw in the future west station and it becomes a million times easier for metro west residents to get to by transit, and you have a potentially extremely popular destination.
 
stick n move said:
with regards to Allston the charles river is right there plus it has one of the better all encompassing views of the city. Some well placed restaurants with outdoor dining taking advantage of these things would be a major hit. Throw in the future west station and it becomes a million times easier for metro west residents to get to by transit, and you have a potentially extremely popular destination.
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Ferris wheel. Ferris wheel! Ferris wheel!!!
 
Progress? BBJ and Globe articles.

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... Wu began meeting with Harvard and the neighborhood’s elected officials to broker a compromise soon after taking office last November. In those meetings, she made it clear that Harvard and its development partner for the Enterprise Research Campus, New York real estate firm Tishman Speyer, had to do more to address the neighborhood’s affordable housing needs
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Harvard and Tishman Speyer have now agreed to set aside 25 percent of the 345 apartments to be built in the first phase of the project at income-restricted prices, totaling 86 affordable units. That’s up from a previous offer of 17 percent and roughly twice the citywide minimum of 13 percent.

Harvard has already promised at least 20 percent of apartments would be affordable in subsequent phases of the campus, and has said it aims to keep that minimum for the residential projects in Beacon Park as well.
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some of the affordable units will be set aside for renters who earn between 30 and 50 percent of the area’s median income — “deeply subsidized” units, as Moran put it, aimed at individual renters, for example, who make between nearly $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
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www.bostonglobe.com

An accord in Allston: Harvard and neighbors reach deal that will greenlight big development - The Boston Globe

Harvard, city officials, and Allston groups have reached a deal, brokered by Mayor Wu, to move ahead on the university's expansion plans in the neighborhood.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
 
DZH22 said:
I walked through the Seaport last night, there were hundreds or even thousands of people milling about, and it was an amazing experience. The Seaport is turning into a pretty awesome, walkable neighborhood. I feel like most people who complain about it probably haven't been for years. Considering it was a sea of parking lots just a decade ago they're really doing a great job over there, and it's only getting better.
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I love biking around the Seaport on a Friday night. It is always so alive and festive. I think a lot of criticism has focused on singular elements, all the while missing how well it all has come together in a workable way.
 
HenryAlan said:
I love biking around the Seaport on a Friday night. It is always so alive and festive. I think a lot of criticism has focused on singular elements, all the while missing how well it all has come together in a workable way.
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As you say, there are definitely some singular elements worthy of criticism. But the neighborhood is far more active and vibrant than I ever would have guessed it would be while watching it go up box by box over the last decade or so. I enjoy spending time there and there's no denying it's a destination. That said, I think the biggest knock against the Seaport is the exclusivity. It has been fairly well documented at this point, and I think the fear about any new large scale development is that it'll be just as exclusive as the Seaport.
 
Harvard has a benefactor to pay for the conference center, now known as The David Rubenstein Treehouse. David Rubenstein is a noted philanthropist.

the new facility will host international summits, recruitment fairs, alumni events, and receptions, according to a University press release.

“I am honored to help Harvard with a conference center that will serve as a convening place for academic and business visitors, as well as Harvard faculty and students, at the exciting new Enterprise Research Campus Harvard is building in Allston,” Rubenstein said in the release.

Designed by Studio Gang, an architecture firm led by Graduate School of Design Professor Jeanne K. Gang, the center will contain a ground floor open to the public and multi-use spaces. Construction management companies Consigli and Smoot will undertake the building of the center.
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According to the release, the above-ground construction of the center will rely on mass timber rather than concrete or steel in order to reduce carbon emissions. The use of wood also illustrates the name of the building, and the upper-level areas “feel almost suspended within the surrounding tree canopy,” according to Gang.

“The building’s visible mass timber columns and beams emphasize the branching structure — you can see the V-shaped columns extending out and the diagonals of the cross-bracing reach all the way to the roof, becoming finer the higher they rise,” Gang said in the release.
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https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/12/15/rubenstein-conference-center/[url]

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https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/st...ates-first-university-wide-conference-center/
 
Globe article.

The Harvard Allston Land Co. selected Tishman Speyer as the developer for the ERC’s 900,000-square-foot first phase in late 2019. With construction financing in hand, Tishman pulled nearly $500 million in building permits on June 14 for three projects along Western Ave.: a 17-story apartment building with 343 units, along with four retail or restaurant spaces and a second-floor roof deck; 440,000 square feet of labs; and a 16-story, 250-room hotel. All the projects will have underground parking. The project will also have more than 2 acres of public open space.
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As part of a deal brokered by city officials, one-quarter of the planned housing units will be affordable to those making between 30 percent and 100 percent of the area median income — ranging from $44,520 to $148,400 for a family of four. That’s substantially more than typical city requirements.
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Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital’s life-science joint venture development firm, Breakthrough Properties, will develop, lease, and operate 440,000 square feet of lab space across two buildings. The labs will be targeted toward biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies “across all life cycles,” from early-stage companies to large global firms who are seeking proximity to Harvard.
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Turner Construction Co., Janey Construction Management, and J&J Contractors will build the ERC’s labs, while Consigli Construction and Smoot Construction will build the apartments and hotel. Construction on the buildings is expected to wrap up in late 2025 and early 2026.
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www.bostonglobe.com

After years and years of planning, Harvard is set to break ground on Allston research campus - The Boston Globe

Construction will begin this week on the first phase of Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus, which will include labs, housing, and a hotel.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
 
George_Apley said:
The should at least make sure that there are ROW opportunities to get from Grand Junction to the Stadium area. If transit solutions aren't even on Harvard's radar... we're doomed from an Allston transit and radial transit perspective.
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Any update on whether they fucked this up or changed their moronic ways?
 
-Article about the groundbreaking plus the press photo.

Wu, others celebrate new Harvard mixed-use project underway in Allston​

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“City officials and developers grabbed silver shovels and took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday to celebrate Harvard University’s new Enterprise Research Campus in Allston.

The project, which actually broke ground in June, is slated to convert the sprawling 14 acres of pavement along Western Avenue into a mix of housing, commercial, hotel and lab spaces. A greenway will connect a nearby library to the waterfront.

About a quarter of the 343 residential units will be set aside as affordable housing, almost double the requirement under the city's inclusionary development policy. That's a record high percentage for any market-rate project in Boston, according to Mayor Michelle Wu.

“That will allow people from a breadth of socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in this neighborhood in a way that’s really different from every other project,” said Harvard Allston Land Company CEO Carl Rodrigues.

As part of the developer’s agreementwith the Boston Planning and Development Agency, the project's investors include “150 Black and Latinx individuals into the project’s ownership,” a commitment worth roughly $30 million. The builders also committed to set aside 25% of the retail activity, 15% of the pre-construction contracts and 15% of construction contracts for minority-owned and women-owned businesses, according to project documents.

Construction started in June on the first phase of the development and is slated to finish by the start of 2026.”

https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/11/01/harvard-university-enterprise-research-campus-groundbreaking
 
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