Kendall Common ( née Volpe Redevelopment) | Kendall Sq | Cambridge

[KentXie]

Renders and plans for this to be released today. Will be twin towers reaching 900 feet each. From looking at the renders it appears to look like the the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It will have glass facade however. An exciting new technology tenant will anchor the new development. Cambridge also wants to upzone other parts of Kendall for taller developments pending NIMBY approval.

This is why I hate April Fool's Day...

 

[DZH22]

This is why I hate April Fool's Day...

There was one a few years ago on Emporis that actually had me convinced that the Petronas Towers were sinking into the ground.

 

[tmac9wr]

Renders and plans for this to be released today. Will be twin towers reaching 900 feet each. From looking at the renders it appears to look like the the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It will have glass facade however. An exciting new technology tenant will anchor the new development. Cambridge also wants to upzone other parts of Kendall for taller developments pending NIMBY approval.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[cca]

Renders and plans for this to be released today. Will be twin towers reaching 900 feet each. From looking at the renders it appears to look like the the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It will have glass facade however. An exciting new technology tenant will anchor the new development. Cambridge also wants to upzone other parts of Kendall for taller developments pending NIMBY approval.

This kind of post would only be concidered a prank in the posts of arch(give me height or give me death)Boston.org

 

[type001]

Actually, it looks like there is a timely update on this, but unfortunately it's not good.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/04/01/volpe_development_plans met_by_fierce_opposition/467349702/story.html

 

[odurandina]

Will Cambridge ever eclipse 150m, or even 120m?

no.

 

[GW]

d

 

[Lrfox]

Actually, it looks like there is a timely update on this, but unfortunately it's not good.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/04/01/volpe_development_plans met_by_fierce_opposition/467349702/story.html

 

[reverend_paco]

Actually, it looks like there is a timely update on this, but unfortunately it's not good.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/04/01/volpe_development_plans met_by_fierce_opposition/467349702/story.html

thanks for the zag.... a well-thought URL

 

[JumboBuc]

Globe: Volpe redevelopment in Kendall launched by feds

The federal government Wednesday issued a formal request for proposals for the 14-acre campus of the Volpe Transportation Center in Kendall Square, offering up a rare swath of open land in one of the tightest real estate markets on the East Coast. Developers will have 90 days to respond with their plans, and the General Services Administration hopes to award the site to one of them by year’s end.

 

[ivyhedge]

Globe: Volpe redevelopment in Kendall launched by feds

Give us something awesome: stunning, unexpected, and distinctively Cambridge, whatever that might be... (hopes...hopes...hopes...)

 

[bigpicture7]

...(hopes...hopes...hopes...)...

If given the chance to dream a wildest dream:
A thousand-footer in Kendall, and a thousand-footer near the other end of the Longfellow bridge in Boston. The two would create grand gateway at the mouth of the Charles, that nonetheless leaves all of the historic parts of Boston intact, but provides our city's statement to the world.

 

[tysmith95]

Shadows be dammed I would love to see another downtown area open up in Kendall Square. It has the potential to be the next Back Bay if they build high.

 

[stellarfun]

A tale of two cities:

This is of the former Social Security Administration HQ in Baltimore.

Located on the northwestern edge of Baltimore’s Central Business District (CBD), occupying approximately 11 acres, this 1.1 million gross square-foot complex ....

Constructed in 1980, the facility is configured as two separate structures – the North and South Buildings that are linked by a two-story connecting wing -- and features 410 garage parking spaces and 108 surface parking spaces.

This unique property is located at 300 N. Greene Street, with convenient linkages to major employment centers and transportation routes.

Just sold at auction for $7 million. (< Not a typo).

 

[whighlander]

A tale of two cities:

This is of the former Social Security Administration HQ in Baltimore.

Just sold at auction for $7 million. (< Not a typo).

Stellar -- Better Not let any of our Elders see either the pix of the Palace that Saddam could have been Proud to Own,

or how little of the original $ value is left -- they might all need Medicare Parts A and B in a hurry

 

[whighlander]

Globe: Volpe redevelopment in Kendall launched by feds

Jumbobuc -- here's the most important part of the story

A slew of major Boston-area builders have expressed interest in the site, according to Cambridge officials, among them Skanska USA, Boston Properties, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and the real estate arm of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The GSA released the RFP only to bidders who qualified in an earlier round of the competition, which included proven ability to finance a $500 million project. It has declined to identify those firms, citing federal procurement laws. It has also refused to publicly release details of the RFP, so it is unclear what priorities the agency will consider.

One requirement the GSA did disclose, however, is that the winning bidder build a “state-of-the-art” facility for the Volpe Center itself before taking possession of the rest of the property. That means any large mixed-use development there is likely to be years away.

Not if the Fed's chose the MIT development unit -- and they offer up one of the buildings that they have already got tentative approval to build on one of the MIT parking lots

 

[Equilibria]

Jumbobuc -- here's the most important part of the story



Not if the Fed's chose the MIT development unit -- and they offer up one of the buildings that they have already got tentative approval to build on one of the MIT parking lots

I believe that the GSA already specified that the replacement building must be on the current site. I also believe that MIT has programmed those buildings, most of them for academic or residential use.

 

[stellarfun]

I believe that the GSA already specified that the replacement building must be on the current site. I also believe that MIT has programmed those buildings, most of them for academic or residential use.

Back at the time of the RFI, I believe GSA said it would be willing to consider having Volpe built at another site, provided the other site was proximate to Kendall, MIT, and had good transportation links. Whether any of the responding developers raised that as an option is unknown, and perhaps why GSA is being so secretive.

GSA publicly listed the short list of developers (from a larger list of 10) for Federal Triangle South (just south of the National Mall).
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportu...&id=2ac2b6955a3d6934b33135f13f692f29&_cview=0

(The exchange approach to Federal Triangle South was cancelled earlier this year because bids weren't high enough for the properties that would be exchanged.)

 

[Mongo]

I believe that the GSA already specified that the replacement building must be on the current site. I also believe that MIT has programmed those buildings, most of them for academic or residential use.

There are two office buildings that could be candidates, but I don't think those would be acceptable, both from a federal government building security standpoint and IIRC because the Volpe center has labs that they can roll cars into to conduct tests. The current design of those buildings as office towers with retail on the ground floor wouldn't be conductive to that.

 

[whighlander]

There are two office buildings that could be candidates, but I don't think those would be acceptable, both from a federal government building security standpoint and IIRC because the Volpe center has labs that they can roll cars into to conduct tests. The current design of those buildings as office towers with retail on the ground floor wouldn't be conductive to that.

Mongo -- the Volpe also has a high security underground bunker where the where-abouts-of most transportation is tracked and displayed in real-time

But given the early stages of the designs of the MIT South of Main and North of Main buildings -- these could probably be adjusted in order to capture the opportunity of a Lifetime to redevelop the Volpe site