Lobby Renovation/Addition | 175 Federal Street | Financial District

JeffDowntown said:
Hum.... I am not sure what you are seeing in the BCDC presentation that suggests "mural up the cantilevers". I see one piece of ground level artwork on the facade facing High Street.

The existing cantilever angles (to become interior) are called out as keeping their existing precast panel.
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I may be misinterpreting - this could be a badly-rendered reflection...

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As I'm looking at this, and given that is directly facing Dewey Square/South Station, the thought hit me that this would be a great location for a local TV news studio - - a la the glass window/store front vistas on the Today Show/ Good Morning America, etc........
 
DAVE said:
I think the best and most interesting thing about cities is the diversity in building types and built form. You can literally walk less than a minute to get to more coffee shops and falafel kings than your stomach could handle. This building is for sure not the norm of the area so as it stands its quite unique...should every building be a 175 federal? No, but the same could be true about ground floor activation for every building. We don't even have the consumer demand for that anyways.

Again, I'm all for activating streets, but I really don't see the profound effects of investing money into activating this corner with really average repurposing. Also, there's definitely a way to respect the architecture while also providing 'human scaled entrances' to this off-ramp but this ain't it. And if we're gonna redo any lobby/ground floor in this area, do the Federal Reserve plaza challenge.
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Dave -- perhaps you missed it -- the Federal Reserve just redid the plaza and entrance area landscaping at a significant cost [as well as for on-going plant maintenance]
Now not only is the plaza much more pleasant to stroll through -- its much more secure
Stuff has been embedded in the landscaping which makes it very hard for someone to get near to the building with a large amount of explosive

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no gap in the overall security perimeter is wider than 4 ft.

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BCDC Presentation:

Box

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Strangely, I think every one of those massing alternatives is better than the one they went with...
 
Which one did they go with?? I saw options but never did see the final choice. I saw the developer push back on the "no terrace" option, was happy about that. I hope they have that terrace overlook.
 
This is a great little project that will really upgrade the street level experience in Dewy Square, which is great because it is the commuter gateway for so many transit passengers (when people are actually taking trains to get to their offices).
 
I am pretty sure I will get yelled at for extending a conversation in the wrong thread at the wrong time, etc, etc...but since we're here,

I actually think this building could make for a decent residential conversion. The floor plates aren't too huge. It doesn't have any window-blocking abutters on any sides. It's (probably) not super desirable contemporary office space by today's Class A standards. The location is fantastic; right next to transit, etc. Just my (underinformed, un-researched) opinion, but I think some apartments or condos would go great in here.
 
The windows-to-core distance isn't too bad, either. But I suspect the question will hinge on the math. Is there enough leaseable/sellable square-footage to pay for a conversion?

The closest comp I can think of is the Boulevard a bit further up the Greenway, although it's in a more pleasant part of the waterfront. It's old enough that some of those units are starting to trade on the resale market at $1.4M for a big 1-br or $5.8M for a big 3-br penthouse.

But with only 12 to 13 full-size floors (depending on wher you put the fitness center and other amenity spaces), no parking (apparently that's a must-have in high-end buildings :rolleyes:), a decidedly unfashionable facade, shade for most of the afternoon and the car sewer below limiting the appeal of any outdoor space or balconies you add, it's an open question whether or not you can make the numbers work. Residential conversions get expensive fast.
 
Aprehensive_Words said:
The windows-to-core distance isn't too bad, either. But I suspect the question will hinge on the math. Is there enough leaseable/sellable square-footage to pay for a conversion?

The closest comp I can think of is the Boulevard a bit further up the Greenway, although it's in a more pleasant part of the waterfront. It's old enough that some of those units are starting to trade on the resale market at $1.4M for a big 1-br or $5.8M for a big 3-br penthouse.

But with only 12 to 13 full-size floors (depending on wher you put the fitness center and other amenity spaces), no parking (apparently that's a must-have in high-end buildings :rolleyes:), a decidedly unfashionable facade, shade for most of the afternoon and the car sewer below limiting the appeal of any outdoor space or balconies you add, it's an open question whether or not you can make the numbers work. Residential conversions get expensive fast.
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This thing is a teardown.
 
king_vibe said:
This thing is a teardown.
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Thats probably true. They could go for 700 feet here with winthrop tower and sst right next door. Its really thin and only like 15 stories tall so demolition wouldnt be thaat expensive either.
 
I can't see the math working on a teardown. This is built over a sea of utility and transit tunnels. The core is the only place you can touch down structurally and the reason it looks the way it does today.

It's better to take the facade off and give it a tasteful refresh, and I agree - this could be a really interesting luxury residential building, but you better be experienced and be sure the math works out.
 
Yeah, the reason it's got a funny pinched base like that is because the Red Line runs underneath a corner of the tower, and the T wouldn't let them sink pilings onto the tunnel.
 
Aprehensive_Words said:
Yeah, the reason it's got a funny pinched base like that is because the Red Line runs underneath a corner of the tower, and the T wouldn't let them sink pilings onto the tunnel.
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Half a century has passed in terms of engineering and politics when this thing was built. You can't assume what was true in the past is true now.

I don't think it's going anywhere soon but I wouldn't rule it out.
 
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