Lyra (née The Huntington) | 252/258/264 Huntington Avenue | Fenway

curcuas said:
Symphony Hall has nearly perfect acoustics due to careful sound isolation. I doubt they'll want any digging next door or a major change in the abutting building. Nor shoudl they.
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I believe that the BSO owns the portion of the 2 story building abutting Symphony Hall. Maybe they bought it as a buffer.
 
That would make a lot of sense. Symphony Hall lacks a real restaurant (which could make $$$) specifically for acoustical reasons. They put a lot of thought into this.
 
im loading in a show here again this week. the old shops are completely empty and vacated. The elephant door into the theater is locked and sealed. There are a new series of concrete ramps and steps to the theater lobby from the street that act as a poor loading dock/ada entrance.

The load in of scenery into the theater is utterly ridiculous. Everything must be lifted over a ~3' discrepancy between the door and the sidewalk, navigate through the lobby, fit through a standard door, then be carried over the pit to get it on stage. There is no straight shot into the theater.
 
project approval, i mean, the hearing before the Board is the 16th of November.
 
This weekend they separated the water main so the Theater has its own connection now.
 
tysmith95 said:
Must have paid off the right people.
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It's certainly been in the newspapers that the developer was given the height (by John Barros' office) if they would keep the theater in place. The community interest is in the theater staying there.
 
This along with 1 Dalton and the pike parcels will be a nice extension to the back bay past the pru. Nice to see our other skyline getting a lot of additions.
 
Fingers crossed the Midtown Hotel site gets redeveloped with something tall in the future as well.
 
i approached the BPDA with an idea to develop the Midtown Hotel into 3 or 4 14~16 story buildings as a large hostel + international student housing (like NYC, Paris, Copenhagen, Berlin, etc have)... maybe do an outdoor plaza for cultural events, or outdoor dining in warm months, etc.... thus opening up new dorm space for area colleges and as a means towards activating the dead blocks between Symphony Hall and the Greenhouse Apts–without adding any significant new net parking or casting inordinate shade on the line of trees across the street.

i was basically told to be quiet–that the Church of Christ Scientist (owner) continues to resist that the Midtown Hotel be developed... and that neither the Church nor residents nearby would be open to the idea.
 
odurandina said:
i approached the BPDA with an idea to develop the Midtown Hotel into 3 or 4 14~16 story buildings as a large hostel + international student housing (like NYC, Paris, Copenhagen, Berlin, etc have)... maybe do an outdoor plaza for cultural events, or outdoor dining in warm months, etc.... thus opening up new dorm space for area colleges and as a means towards activating the dead blocks between Symphony Hall and the Greenhouse Apts–without adding any significant new net parking or casting inordinate shade on the line of trees across the street.

i was basically told to be quiet–that the Church of Christ Scientist (owner) continues to resist that the Midtown Hotel be developed... and that neither the Church nor residents nearby would be open to the idea.
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Matches exactly what I heard over 20 years ago. The land is owned by the Church of Christ Scientist. They have veto power over uses. You will not get open air dining, for example, especially if there is alcohol on site. The local neighbors in the St. Botolph neighborhood have been very vocal about anything over 10-11 stories (basically not visible from St. Botolph Street.) -- Same height/density as the Greenhouse Apartments and the Colonnade Hotel.
 
JeffDowntown said:
Matches exactly what I heard over 20 years ago. The land is owned by the Church of Christ Scientist. They have veto power over uses. You will not get open air dining, for example, especially if there is alcohol on site. The local neighbors in the St. Botolph neighborhood have been very vocal about anything over 10-11 stories (basically not visible from St. Botolph Street.) -- Same height/density as the Greenhouse Apartments and the Colonnade Hotel.
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Woof. Something new at 10-11 stories would definitely be better than what's there now. I didn't know that the church owns the land - thank you!
 
taking aside the greed of the developers, of course- I ask what is the rational of such project in the first place? completely out of scale & proportion, visually & unnecessarily aggressive, unpleasant & uninviting to the surroundings, I mean... Why?
 
odurandina said:
....

i was basically told to be quiet–that the Church of Christ Scientist (owner) continues to resist that the Midtown Hotel be developed... and that neither the Church nor residents nearby would be open to the idea.
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Maybe they said "that's great kid, but why are you approaching us?"
 
JeffDowntown said:
Matches exactly what I heard over 20 years ago. The land is owned by the Church of Christ Scientist. They have veto power over uses. You will not get open air dining, for example, especially if there is alcohol on site. The local neighbors in the St. Botolph neighborhood have been very vocal about anything over 10-11 stories (basically not visible from St. Botolph Street.) -- Same height/density as the Greenhouse Apartments and the Colonnade Hotel.
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The way that the Christian Science Church is headed they may be selling off their real estate soon to raise money. Northeastern already leases Building B, the Colonnade building and 9 floors in the Administration Building.
 
Hufer said:
taking aside the greed of the developers, of course- I ask what is the rational of such project in the first place? completely out of scale & proportion, visually & unnecessarily aggressive, unpleasant & uninviting to the surroundings, I mean... Why?
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Housing shortage and to get rid of an underutilized motor lodge in the city
 
Hufer said:
taking aside the greed of the developers, of course- I ask what is the rational of such project in the first place? completely out of scale & proportion, visually & unnecessarily aggressive, unpleasant & uninviting to the surroundings, I mean... Why?
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I don't think a tall building could really be called out of scale there considering there is a 370 foot tower across the street in the CSC complex and the Prudential Tower, Four Seasons, and 111 Huntington all about a block or two away. From in front of the Midtown Hotel it will be possible to see the Prudential Tower, 111 Huntington, The CSC office tower, The Huntington Tower, Sheraton Hotel Buildings, 101 Huntington, 30 Dalton Street and the Four Seasons Tower all clearly visible and nor more than a block or two away. It seems to me that a tall tower with a podium would be perfectly fitting with the scale in the area which will include two of the top 3 tallest towers in the city plus many of towers in the 300-400 foot range.
 
Hufer said:
taking aside the greed of the developers, of course- I ask what is the rational of such project in the first place? completely out of scale & proportion, visually & unnecessarily aggressive, unpleasant & uninviting to the surroundings, I mean... Why?
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TallIsGood said:
Housing shortage and to get rid of an underutilized motor lodge in the city
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citylover94 said:
I don't think a tall building could really be called out of scale there considering there is a 370 foot tower across the street in the CSC complex and the Prudential Tower, Four Seasons, and 111 Huntington all about a block or two away. From in front of the Midtown Hotel it will be possible to see the Prudential Tower, 111 Huntington, The CSC office tower, The Huntington Tower, Sheraton Hotel Buildings, 101 Huntington, 30 Dalton Street and the Four Seasons Tower all clearly visible and nor more than a block or two away. It seems to me that a tall tower with a podium would be perfectly fitting with the scale in the area which will include two of the top 3 tallest towers in the city plus many of towers in the 300-400 foot range.
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I'd like to add that the blocks abutting Massachusetts Avenue & Huntington Avenue are served by both the Green Line and Orange Line at "Symphony" and "Mass Ave" MBTA stations. Per the 2014 Blue Book #'s, Mass Ave station--designed to accommodate as many as 20,000 commuters per day--saw 6,400 boardings per weekday. Symphony--similarly designed to accommodate at least 5,000+ daily riders--experienced only 1,700.

There's capacity to accommodate growth here and, frankly, there's demand for it, too. #LetBostonRise
 
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