Hotel Buckminster Renovation | Brookline Ave & Beacon St | Kenmore Square (Fenway)

When I first came to Boston in '88, that Uno's was always packed, often hour plus waits for a table. That changed at some point, and the last few times I was there, my group would be one of the few parties in the dining areas. Whatever once made it a sought after spot is long gone, and it made sense to close, with or without any project happening to the building itself.
 
LOI: https://bpda.app.box.com/s/9rd58vhdk7p9todcbyczpeoq2fptfgpd

Buckminster gets an addition on the current site of 655 and 677 that will connect at every floor but go up to 215'. Life science, of course. Connects to Fenway Center.

Interestingly, they don't specify what the hotel would be renovated into (should be housing). Life science is only specified for the new part.
 
Isn't the Buckminster already being reno'd? Is there no clarity on what's happening there or are they just gutting it?

Also, hows the Fenway Center connection going to work? Out the back?

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There's already a couple of buildings with bricked up windows at 683, 721, and 731. Are those GL maintenance? Definitely gives a creepy feel to that part of the block.
 
curcuas said:
Isn't the Buckminster already being reno'd? Is there no clarity on what's happening there or are they just gutting it?

Also, hows the Fenway Center connection going to work? Out the back?

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There's already a couple of buildings with bricked up windows at 683, 721, and 731. Are those GL maintenance? Definitely gives a creepy feel to that part of the block.
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I believe that the ongoing renovation stopped when IQHQ bought the building. The Fenway Center connection would presumably be through the back, yes.
 
HenryAlan said:
When I first came to Boston in '88, that Uno's was always packed, often hour plus waits for a table. That changed at some point, and the last few times I was there, my group would be one of the few parties in the dining areas. Whatever once made it a sought after spot is long gone, and it made sense to close, with or without any project happening to the building itself.
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My friends and I spent a lot of time around Kenmore and Fenway in high school and on vacations in college. This was a spot that we liked because it was low key, and I recall they had some long running special for large glasses of Killians Irish Red, a beer I haven’t seen or thought about in years.
 
Equilibria said:
I believe that the ongoing renovation stopped when IQHQ bought the building. The Fenway Center connection would presumably be through the back, yes.
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Given the first floor layout of Fenway Center, it seems like the only possible connection would be to the garage, which honestly might be helpful to combine.

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25 JUL, 2023
ALLIANCE ALERT: BUCKMINSTER HOTEL VOTE PULLED FROM AGENDA AT 11TH HOUR
Preservation Alliance
Is there a possibility of the Buckminster being torn down?? I'm speculating, but if there is a slow down threat on this project, would Boston / Preservation Alliance allow the Buckminster to be torn down to prevent this project from slowing/ stopping? Would it really be a loss? If it's a gut rehab, wouldn't the loss of significant historic interior be just as much a loss of the exterior? I actually met someone that lived there up till it closed and they said it was really nasty inside. See the link
 
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Hot off the presses.

Dustup over the fate of the historic Hotel Buckminster highlights the quick changes around Kenmore Square


We are committed to reactivating The Buckminster, which was closed for years prior to our purchase, by preserving key elements in a fashion that recognizes its importance at Kenmore Square,” an IQHQ representative told the Globe.

Last October, after meeting with IQHQ representatives on the project, the nonprofit Boston Preservation Alliance filed a landmark petition to the Boston Landmarks Commission, which formally kicked off the city’s extensive landmarking process.

“Hotel Buckminster represents the development of Kenmore Square at the turn of the 20th century, and today remains the oldest historic building at the western edge of the square,” the landmark petition reads.
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dhawkins said:
I actually met someone that lived there up till it closed and they said it was really nasty inside.
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My mother in law stayed at the Hotel Buckminster a few years back. The interior was your classic "old dowager" situation: Grand, timeworn but by no means dilapidated.

Basically, a place that if you invested any modest amount into it and used a few now-standard design tricks, you'd immediately have New York magazine and Architectural Digest heralding the "chic restored magnificence" of the place, and could easily be a trendy hotspot, like the Ace, Beekman, NoMad, etc etc. in New York.
 
itchy said:
My mother in law stayed at the Hotel Buckminster a few years back. The interior was your classic "old dowager" situation: Grand, timeworn but by no means dilapidated.

Basically, a place that if you invested any modest amount into it and used a few now-standard design tricks, you'd immediately have New York magazine and Architectural Digest heralding the "chic restored magnificence" of the place, and could easily be a trendy hotspot, like the Ace, Beekman, NoMad, etc etc. in New York.
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Instead they’re trying to put fucking labs right in Kenmore Square. Disgraceful.
 
FK4 said:
Instead they’re trying to put fucking labs right in Kenmore Square. Disgraceful.
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Is the disgraceful part that it's immediately touching the square? Because IQHQ is building a 300' lab building next door that will share a party wall, and I think that idea is pretty popular...
 
Equilibria said:
Is the disgraceful part that it's immediately touching the square? Because IQHQ is building a 300' lab building next door that will share a party wall, and I think that idea is pretty popular...
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Good question to raise. I share the angst about lab encroachment on the public realm and on preserving the city's historic character. But broadbrush anti-lab sentiment in Boston makes no sense. Usage needs for physical space are not going to stay stagnant over centuries. As we've discussed in detail elsewhere on this forum, there are a few (scarce) examples of very well integrated urban labs with excellent respect for public realm that prove it is possible; there are also many instances of failure in that regard. The interesting debate here is on how to achieve tasteful integration and preserving what matters; not on banning labs from urban spaces. Boston is emerging from the pandemic better than most cities in large part due to its robust higher ed (which includes research labs and connections to industry), medical/health sciences, and life sciences/biotech realms. Killing that golden goose makes no sense. Yet I also say this willing to fight for great public realm, streetwall activation, and historic preservation. I also would have loved to see this stay as a (restored) hotel if possible. But my main attention is to the public experience, not specifically to what goes on behind walls in non-public-facing spaces. Let's not make this into a false binary, folks.
 
Equilibria said:
Is the disgraceful part that it's immediately touching the square? Because IQHQ is building a 300' lab building next door that will share a party wall, and I think that idea is pretty popular...
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It’s disgraceful that Kenmore has literally had life sucked out of it on every side. And yes, you don’t put a laboratory in a major urban node. The corridor between Kenmore and Audobon Circle could, with enough effort, be activated into residences and commercial space connecting these two nodes, but I’m less bothered by labs there since it’s already a totally dead space.


bigpicture7 said:
Good question to raise. I share the angst about lab encroachment on the public realm and on preserving the city's historic character. But broadbrush anti-lab sentiment in Boston makes no sense. Usage needs for physical space are not going to stay stagnant over centuries. As we've discussed in detail elsewhere on this forum, there are a few (scarce) examples of very well integrated urban labs with excellent respect for public realm that prove it is possible; there are also many instances of failure in that regard. The interesting debate here is on how to achieve tasteful integration and preserving what matters; not on banning labs from urban spaces. Boston is emerging from the pandemic better than most cities in large part due to its robust higher ed (which includes research labs and connections to industry), medical/health sciences, and life sciences/biotech realms. Killing that golden goose makes no sense. Yet I also say this willing to fight for great public realm, streetwall activation, and historic preservation. I also would have loved to see this stay as a (restored) hotel if possible. But my main attention is to the public experience, not specifically to what goes on behind walls in non-public-facing spaces. Let's not make this into a false binary, folks.
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Excuse me, I did not make this binary at all. I said it’s disgraceful that the last remaining historical building defining the border to Kenmore Sq itself is being proposed to become lab space.

Also, pharma, big banks and politicians are very fond of trumpeting the benefits of the robust life sciences economy. The reality is that for Boston this has been a double edged sword. Aside from potential disrupting the urban fabric and experience, I would say that unless the city can figure out how to not let this process be a major contributor to turning Boston into SF, with unaffordable rents driven by big money from biotech, this is not the good thing we always hear it is. The question isn’t Boston’s dollar numbers on the spreadsheet, but who those dollars go to that matters.
 
FK4 said:
It’s disgraceful that Kenmore has literally had life sucked out of it on every side. And yes, you don’t put a laboratory in a major urban node..
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So what DO you put in major urban nodes these days? Do we really think that cost-effective apartments, cafes, and bookshops is all it will take? Let me clarify: I would LOVE the latter. Seriously. But I am a pragmatist. Cities have always been a mix of commercial and everything else. And what is commercial these days? We can all blame post-pandemic and big pharma, but reality is that Kenmore has been dying a slow death for decades. In the year 2000 Kenmore was on life support. Not all labs = "big pharma" anyway. I would say we should put labs right smack in the urban nodes, right alongside housing, entertainment, retail, etc, otherwise the urban nodes are dying. I want to see what that creative integration will look like. The office park aesthetic of labs is a cheap-out perpetuated by developers; it is not the necessary implementation; just look at the Broad Institute in Kendall with its retail storefronts and hidden mechanicals.

FK4 said:
Excuse me, I did not make this binary at all. I said it’s disgraceful that the last remaining historical building defining the border to Kenmore Sq itself is being proposed to become lab space.
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Your second sentence here does make it binary. I could imagine a preservation of the facade, with active uses on the Kenmore-frontage, perhaps even in multiple stories in elevation, but with a lab building enveloped by what I described 50+ feet set back behind inward from that. The whole hotel footprint doesn't have to have homogenous usage. Not making it binary means thinking creatively. I would want to fight any developer who doesn't honor the frontage and public-facing use; but I can imagine a hidden lab building within here that the public is barely even aware of.

FK4 said:
Also, pharma, big banks and politicians are very fond of trumpeting the benefits of the robust life sciences economy. The reality is that for Boston this has been a double edged sword. Aside from potential disrupting the urban fabric and experience, I would say that unless the city can figure out how to not let this process be a major contributor to turning Boston into SF, with unaffordable rents driven by big money from biotech, this is not the good thing we always hear it is. The question isn’t Boston’s dollar numbers on the spreadsheet, but who those dollars go to that matters.
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I honestly believe I share similar interests and values. But I have a much different orientation and I see what you're sharing in this last paragraph differently. Yes there is a big "pharma" and associated RE dev. and banking lobby. But that is not at all the entirety of the Boston life sciences ecosystem. Calling all labs "big pharma" is simply untrue. Yes I suppose it is all connected in the end, but there is a huge education, research, non-profit, and small business aspect to this, and a huge number of employees who are not high income (and who need to be close to work and need a reasonably affordable place to live). Most of the people I know who go to school in boston and actually stay in this city are in the life sciences space, and zero of my friends in this industry are capitalistic, high-income Bro's. They are humans who want to be part of a live/work urban ecosystem.

What other employment do you see as occupying such a large portion of Boston's commercial space these days? I would argue that Boston's lab preeminence is the entire reason it is not lumped in with other cities who've had a harsher pandemic-era downfall; the opposite of what you are saying about Boston going the way of SF because of it's lab-inization.

The interesting, creative thing here is how can we make labs not break urban fabric. Not assouming they inevitably will. If left unchecked, yes, they will, but I can envision creative solutions where they don't.
 
FK4 said:
It’s disgraceful that Kenmore has literally had life sucked out of it on every side. And yes, you don’t put a laboratory in a major urban node. The corridor between Kenmore and Audobon Circle could, with enough effort, be activated into residences and commercial space connecting these two nodes, but I’m less bothered by labs there since it’s already a totally dead space.
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Labs are life. They're the only mid-day weekday life an urban area can have in 2023. Offices are dead. Work-from-home people don't leave their apartments between midnight and 6pm. If you want a neighborhood that feels like it has life, you need labs (which is why the most lively-feeling parts of Boston at this point are Kendall, Fenway, and the Seaport). I realize it hasn't been the most urban-friendly aesthetic in the past and there's lots of things about lab buildings I don't like, but the Kenmore of 40 years ago is gone and it isn't coming back.
 
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