Ink Block (Boston Herald) | 300 Harrison Avenue | South End

Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

By the way to DZH -- have you ever been to Warsaw or perhaps Warszawa

The Germans pretty much leveled the old place -- the Poles during the communist era meticulously rebuilt the old town and major government and historic buildings

Stalin donated a piece of Moscow -- still the tallest building in the city -- and the butt of many jokes about views and such including a derisive name connected to one of Pape-Joe's appendages

Everything else including giant multi-level shopping malls and such has been built Las Vegas-like in the past 2 decades -- much of it is banal, some is horrible -- very little of it has much to recommend it -- probably the best modern building is the Marriott

some of the main avenues are twice the width of Comm Ave with trams running down their center and people crossing underneath through passages which feature shopping as you cross the major intersections -- these underground passages also connect into the basements of malls such as the one sitting under the Marriott -- you can walk for many blocks without seeing the light of day -- is this good or bad?
 
Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

whighlander said:
And Rome and Athens do they have to have 200 m towers to not "look ancient" -- not necessarily critical -- just asking?
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Rome currently has its 2 tallest buildings under construction. They are far from 200m, but the city made more of a point to protect its historic skyline of like, 2000 years ago. Still, it represents about a 70% bump in height (higher if you count the spire) so, 200m might be possible in the future. Athens really has no skyline to speak of. These are not particularly fair examples, as they are more the exception at this point (and Rome just might be bucking that trend). If Boston was the capitol city of a major empire from thousands of years ago, I think we should protect that too. However, it isn't, and the only thing we are making sure of by building short is that our skyline will always be dominated by towers from the (19)60's-80's.
 
Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

whighlander said:
Stalin donated a piece of Moscow -- still the tallest building in the city -- and the butt of many jokes about views and such including a derisive name connected to one of Pape-Joe's appendages
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No offense, but you need to do some research on world skylines of the 21st(!!!!!) century, of RIGHT NOW, because many things you are saying are outdated... not by MUCH, but by enough. For example, Moscow's tallest building is no longer from the Stalin era! (in fact, they built an "8th sister" a few years ago that broke the height of Moscow University anyways). Here is a link to Moscow's International Business Center (IBC). The current tallest is between 300m and 1000 feet (technically a supertall). There is going to be a new peak soon, as the gold colored tower is going to pass everything, and in turn be passed multiple times. I have been telling all my friends that in terms of skylines, "the future is now" in many places. Boston is not one of them...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=297180&page=109

Please familiarize yourself with some of these projects on:
www.skyscrapercity.com
and also use the diagrams page on www.skyscraperpage.com
These are more up-to-date and accurate that wikipedia.

Cities to pay attention to over the next few years include: Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, Austin (again), Melbourne, Brisbane, Milan, London, most Chinese cities, Warsaw, and of course the ever changing Dubai (as well as tons of others). I think you might be surprised. It certainly isn't 2005 anymore!
 
Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

Cities to pay attention to over the next few years include: Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, Austin (again), Melbourne, Brisbane, Milan, London, most Chinese cities, Warsaw, and of course the ever changing Dubai (as well as tons of others). I think you might be surprised. It certainly isn't 2005 anymore!


Try Singapore

If you want a combination of tallish, modish and just different its got to be Singapore

Try:

The iconic Marina Bay Sands complex (moshe Safte):
with 50th floor sky Park -- complete with "over t edge swimming pool)),
Shopping Cente / Convention Center / Casino
still to be completed:
'Lotus-shaped" Science Center;
Giant Botanical Garden;
Residences;
extension of subway

DNA Pedestrian bridge -- really has illuminted Base-Pairs in the pavement to complement the Stainless Steel double helix structure

The Singapore Flyer -- I think taller than the London Eye

Merlion -- a tourist-centric-photo fountain

a few years older SunTec City omplex, etc.

I was last there in 1997 -- when I returned last October for international conference -- looked as if the old waterfront and some of downtown had been erased and something new pasted in place!

By the way -- i'll bet Safte and Sands would love to have a crack at Filenes for a urban casino entertainment, residemces and hotel (must visit venue) complex
 
Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

whighlander said:
Try Singapore
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Yes very true, those were just off the top of my head. The problem with Singapore is it has a height limit of 280 meters (919') and 3 buildings have already reached that exact limit. It is bulking up with an incredible amount of skyscrapers around 800' but will eventually "fall behind" as more Asian cities in general are building supertall buildings/clusters. Hopefully they repeal this height cap in the future.
 
Re: Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

Must be something in the air or water or perhaps SK has had a "road to Damascus" event


"Ted Tye, a managing partner at National Development, said that since it is early in the development process, the company’s plans are “very much up in the air,’’ and his staff has been listening intently to neighbors’ suggestions.

“People would like to see more rather than less on the site. They would like to see something that stimulates the development of the area, puts more density and puts more people on the street,’’ Tye said. “They would like to see some retail mixed with some residential. We don’t disagree with that.’’

Tye did acknowledge the unusual nature of the situation with neighbors. “It does run contrary to some other development situations,’’ he said. “It’s great to have a neighborhood behind us that wants to see something happen, because so do we.’’"
 
Re: South End Construction

I haven't seen those renders before, but that looks to be the Boston Herald site - I believe there is a thread. Are these pictures new?
 
Re: South End Construction

Is this different than the Normany hotel proposal? So many overlapping projects these days!

Edit -

I think this is different than Normany, as they list 275 Albany Street as their project:

http://www.normandyrealty.com/norma...2/ctl/ViewProperty/mid/427/id/46/Default.aspx

Still a mystery...

Oh and Teradyne is now offices - I know there is an insurance company and some other boring ol' office type stuff in there.
 
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Re: South End Construction

That's hot. If it is a new proposal for the Herald site then I'll move it.
 
Re: South End Construction

By the way, who moved into Teradyne's old place?
 
Re: South End Construction

My face when I saw these renderings of the Herald site:

156.jpg


Looks like they'll be breaking up the block with side streets and such. I pray this goes through as is.
 
Re: South End Construction

That looks great! Mixed use residential/retail?
 
Re: South End Construction

man,

that area was so bleak 20 years ago...tough to visualize a nice project there...

then again I mostly just rememeber Harry The Greeks on Washington and that Chinese market on Harrison.
 
Re: South End Construction

Article in the Globe, with same renders as above.

http://www.boston.com/business/arti...herald_site_to_host_apartments_grocery_store/

The architecture firm Elkus Manfredi, of Boston, has designed the complex to be like an authentic city block by planning buildings with different heights and a mix of materials, textures, and colors.

The signature building would be a nine-story glass apartment building at the corner of Herald Street and Harrison Avenue.

A five-story building on Harrison would house the grocery store, more apartments, and a roof deck with a pool.

Two other buildings, at Harrison and Traveler Street, would have apartments above smaller shops and restaurants at street level.
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Re: South End Construction

The article makes it sound like something to really look forward to.

On a side note:

The architecture firm Elkus Manfredi, of Boston, has designed the complex to be like an authentic city block by planning buildings with different heights and a mix of materials, textures, and colors.
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So, we don't build actual city blocks anymore... the best we can hope for is a simulacra of a city block? I don't want to split hairs but something about this sentence really troubled me...
 
Re: Ink Block | Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

Best New Proposal 2012
 
Re: Ink Block | Boston Herald Property Redevelopment

Could us a little more height in the area, but otherwise this is great.
 
Re: South End Construction

Bubbybu said:
man,

that area was so bleak 20 years ago...tough to visualize a nice project there...

then again I mostly just rememeber Harry The Greeks on Washington and that Chinese market on Harrison.
Click to expand...

As a 13 year old (1982) I asked "Harry" how does he keep in business safely in the then really crappy area. He pulled up his shirt and showed me a revolver tucked into his belt. He told me he wasn't too worried with that in mix.
 
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