Liberty Mutual Tower | 157 Berkeley Street | Back Bay

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Liberty Mutual started in 1912. It would be cool if they could dedicate and open some part of this development for their 100th anniversary, but that might be a bit optimistic.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

TheRifleman said:
It does look great.......Everytime I walk in that area thou I don't feel like I'm in the city. It just seems that the area is so dead.

Liberty Mutual Project is coming out nice.....I'm still against the tax breaks but overall I like it.
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Riff -- the first few shots were on the target -- then you just loaded again and fired into the crowd

Real-estate taxation is a black art to begin with -- how do you compare two buildings of different ages, and different constructions

The deals which connect the tax payments to some other aspect may seem unfair to you -- but unless we know all of the details of the history of payments and such -- its easy to criticize less easy to design a consistent and simple policy.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I'm not exactly sure, but I think I read that the charter school on the corner is turning into a hotel or condos. That transformation might add a bit more life into the area.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Meadowhawk said:
I'm not exactly sure, but I think I read that the charter school on the corner is turning into a hotel or condos. That transformation might add a bit more life into the area.
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Just as an example of how dead the area is, there are some outlying residential neighborhoods like Rozzy Square and Adams Village that are significantly more vibrant, pretty much at any time of day.

The school has already moved to Hyde Park, and I would think the condo conversion will get moving soon. I hope that this, combined with more office workers, combined with ???? might make this the proper gateway to downtown that it was meant to be. We'll see what happens with the ground floor for Liberty Mutual, I've heard competing claims, but at least one suggestion has been that there will be some retail. That might fill in the gap represented by my question marks. The Renaissance/UMass building could also use some ground floor retail.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

The former Charter School (Edison building) will be apartments, not condos ... and interior demo work is already underway. Sadly, the proposal for a boutique hotel at the property on Arlington Street immediately behind the former school is now on ice. If that could be picked up by someone and if the Redstone clan and the Sawyer trusts would come up with something constructive but not overwhelming for the parking lots on Arlington (which they each have held speculatively for many decades) all would benefit. The main problem with this area is that there are a bunch of empty lots, dead parcels, and low-use buildings that combine with the Pike to create a pretty big dead zone to the south. Both Bay Village and the adjacent sections of the South End have high residential density, but pedestrians tend to scurry around the edge of the space as there's nothing to make anyone want to pause. Of course the big opportunity to stitch up this area was Columbus Center .... maybe in our lifetimes something similar will emerge, but in the near-term, the best outcome is to fill the empty lots and repurpose the empty buildings.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

The former Charter School is advertising retail space for lease so presumably that will bring in some ground floor retail to the area. Btw, does anyone know what the name of that intersection is (i.e., the intersection of Columbus, Stuart and Arlington)? Is that technically called "Park Plaza"?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I believe that Park Plaza is one of those things that no longer exists thanks to street grid realignment, but is technically the next block up Columbus (just south of the Park). Don't quote that on a loan application though.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

underground said:
I believe that Park Plaza is one of those things that no longer exists thanks to street grid realignment, but is technically the next block up Columbus (just south of the Park). Don't quote that on a loan application though.
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Yes, Park Plaza no longer actually exists. The closest thing you can use for a name for that intersection is the name of the park wedged in there: Statler Park, as I mentioned pages ago.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Historically it was 'Park Square', not 'Park Plaza'. Park Square was the intersection of Columbus Ave, Broadway, Boylston, Carver, and various other streets at the south edge of the Common and Public Garden.

'Park Plaza' came into use first as the name of a never-executed 1970s development, then later as the name of the former Statler Hotel.

The 'Park Square Building' at Arlington and St. James was actually a block west of the actual Park Square.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

From yesterday

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Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

The Berkowitzes are calling it "Park Plaice", according to this week's Boston Courant. There's even a street sign there, apparently.

Yes, the "misspelling" is on purpose; points if you know what "plaice" means.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Right eyed flat fish. A type of flounder. Great lite white fish which melts in your mouth. Best fish for fish and chips. I find cod too heavy.
JohnAKeith said:
Yes, the "misspelling" is on purpose; points if you know what "plaice" means.
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Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

yesterday also
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^goodbye one Beacon
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

last week also
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hopefully some other cranes will join the Back Bay skyline soon!
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

today zoom in from here and there again I need another crane,Berkly,Hayward Pl. Kennsington,Pru apt tower? which will rise next?
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from inside 251 causeway st
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well messed that up lol,two are of Fan Pier
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

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Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

This does as much for the skyline as it seems destined to do for the street level.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Shepard said:
This does as much for the skyline as it seems destined to do for the street level.
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I've decided what this building needs to make it pop a bit more, is a second step back, right about where the top row of steel is at the moment. It might look kind of cool as a three staged building, and by doing it near to the top, not so much office space is sacrificed as would be the case for a slender tower.

As for your comment, at street level it's going to look pretty much like everything else in that neighborhood, so I'd argue it will do worse for the skyline than it will do for street level.
 
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