Lyrik Back Bay | 1001 Boylston Street (Parcel 12) | Back Bay

JeffDowntown said:
Looks like an early version of the proposed Parcel 15 (1000 Boylston) air rights tower. The project that fell apart last year when Weiner Ventures pulled out.
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They have the Viola in their "existing conditions" pic as well. Not sure why they didn't just take a new photo.
 
HelloBostonHi said:
I love when projects don't mess around, they get approved, they pull permits, they close the roads and get digging. I know it's been in the works for years but the time from approval to real construction on this is impressive to me.
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This project is especially impressive, given having to coordinate traffic management with MassDOT for the vertical construction, as well as having plans ready for moving and altering the exit ramp. That takes some engineering and planning even after the approvals, indicating they didn't waste a second here..
 
This is so huge too because parcel 15 stated how iffy they were about trying to build over the pike, no word on viola etc... so once this goes up and is wildly successful/impactful AND it went up mid pandemic all of that is out the window. Having something set a precedent is huge because no longer is the “projects just dont get built over the pike” sentiment valid. After this thats OVER.

Now you point to this and say they did it and its a massive game changer and hopefully before you know it the rest of the holes are closed and if that happens the other columbus center side now looks more doable as well. This is going to be massively important for the city as a whole towards sewing together some massive and lingering gaps in the streetscape. Boston becomes a better city because of this... whether everyone loves the specific design or not.
 
stick n move said:
This is so huge too because parcel 15 stated how iffy they were about trying to build over the pike, no word on viola etc... so once this goes up and is wildly successful/impactful AND it went up mid pandemic all of that is out the window. Having something set a precedent is huge because no longer is the “projects just dont get built over the pike” sentiment valid. After this thats OVER.

Now you point to this and say they did it and its a massive game changer and hopefully before you know it the rest of the holes are closed and if that happens the other columbus center side now looks more doable as well. This is going to be massively important for the city as a whole towards sewing together some massive and lingering gaps in the streetscape. Boston becomes a better city because of this... whether everyone loves the specific design or not.
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It is true the prescident is important -- breaking the air-rights curse.

But the really sad thing is we are losing the coordination among this project, Viola and Parcel 15 regarding road and rail closures. So the ultimate losers are commuters who are going to have never ending delays on both the Pike and Worcester Line.
 
I still lament the loss of parcel 15 and cant help but think it was Baker pulling strings because he wanted to sell rights to the hynes next door.
 
JeffDowntown said:
But the really sad thing is we are losing the coordination among this project, Viola and Parcel 15 regarding road and rail closures. So the ultimate losers are commuters who are going to have never ending delays on both the Pike and Worcester Line.
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The one positive thing with the road disruptions for commuters is that, with this damn COVID, there are less commuters (thus less traffic backups) on the Pike since so many work from home now.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
I still lament the loss of parcel 15 and cant help but think it was Baker pulling strings because he wanted to sell rights to the hynes next door.
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Parcel 15 was lost when they came back with a revised version that cut more than half the housing, chopped down the first tower, and eliminated the second building altogether. They made it unfeasible. If they were going to eliminate the shorter building, the main tower should have come back BIGGER AND TALLER. Instead, they (unnecessarily) sacrificed too much here, and they knew it.
 
Not sure if the render with signage has been posted yet.
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stick n move said:
Not sure if the render with signage has been posted yet.
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I liked it better when Downtown was enforcing the sign ban. Or were capable of dilineating between generational brands like Prudential, State Street, Citgo vs....CarGurus? That's probably my main objection to the Verizon building. Verizon has been a brand unto itself for slightly less than 20 years, the product of a frenzied deregulation acid trip's worth of 1990's mergers. The way telcos are still horse-trading there's still only 50/50 par odds the Verizon brand will survive another 20 years, much less have its logo radically restylized after several more mergers. So that's kind of where it scores too low on the smell test for me.

10 years from now what are the realistic odds CarGurus is going to exist? Considerably less than 50/50. If this dev were jump-started for 1999 it almost seems interchangeable with a giant PETS.com logo on the top, given how 1999 business logic default-assumed that was going to be a forever icon brand. I wouldn't be surprised if some merger nukes the name before the building is ever topped off.


I think the Garden ended up handling the corporate branding instability era best after its hapless slate of swallowed-bank brandings by re-promoting the cross-generational "Garden" branding as the primary and prefixing it with the corporate sponsor. New Balance too with Boston Landing, because although the signage is corporate (albeit further on the right side of the smell line for being a generational Boston brand) the redev there is aggressively placemarking as "Boston Landing". I feel like there's got to be some 'merger-proofing' corollary invoked for the brands that get allowed to sign vs. the ones that need to be rejected because odds are too easily they'll instantly date themselves with too-quick changeover. It doesn't necessarily have to be a firm set of rules, but where T.D. Garden's and NB/Boston Landing's emphasis passes the permanance smell test there's got to be something meatier and generational backing up the place-specific bona fides behind the cosmetic logo. If Verizon's projectable permanance is 50/50 iffy because of the merger-mad nature of its industry, frickin' CarGurus is just going to be a farce-in-wait when they have to scramble to replace it with the new flavor after the building's barely been open (if not beforehand).
 
Can signage this prominent at least go through a more intense review board? That branding is so damn ugly.
Something about the red-blue is tacky. I totally see the Pets.com/PetCo/Petsmart similarities lol, and I agree F-Line. Seems like signage of a certain height/prominence should require some legacy to the brand. Never heard of this company until now.
 
Just spitballing here, but maybe they got rid of the green so that a sign would show up better. Otherwise, I really still don't understand why 2 colorful building were both changed to white. It seemed to be an unnecessary dulling and the larger tower is so much less exciting because of it.

Obviously, the fact that it might be a successful air rights is what matter most here, and can lead the way for bigger/better future opportunities. Still, the green would have been a true stand-out, and the white just isn't.
 
DZH22 said:
Just spitballing here, but maybe they got rid of the green so that a sign would show up better. Otherwise, I really still don't understand why 2 colorful building were both changed to white. It seemed to be an unnecessary dulling and the larger tower is so much less exciting because of it.

Obviously, the fact that it might be a successful air rights is what matter most here, and can lead the way for bigger/better future opportunities. Still, the green would have been a true stand-out, and the white just isn't.
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That's not a bad guess. That logo would have disappeared into the green facade.
 
Im just glad theyre somehow finally pulling this miracle off against all odds, especially in the current economic climate. They can throw a “this is a huge sign” sign up there for all I care. I dont think they need any complaints right now, or anything that could risk tying them up... at least until after its complete.
 
On the one hand, a dynamic and vibrant economy needs to have new companies (and their brands), and it is undoubtedly good that Boston isn't only home to 100+ year old companies. And I'm more concerned about new development being high quality architecture - and avoiding the destruction of our pre-WWII architectural heritage - than I am about signs. So I welcome our new "CarGuru" overlords.

On the other hand, it's too hard to not make a snippy, snobby few comments here:

Wow - "CarGurus." What is that, anyway? Is it based in Boston?

Feels like the sort of "Amateur Night at the Apollo" branding one would expect to see in a Sun Belt city.

Maybe the omnipresent worries about the "Manhattanization of Boston" should get some friendly competition from concerns about the "Tempe-ification" or "Tampa-ification" or (to expand the breadth of consonants and vowels we're using) the "San Diego-ification" of Boston?
 
stick n move said:
Im just glad theyre somehow finally pulling this miracle off against all odds, especially in the current economic climate. They can throw a “this is a huge sign” sign up there for all I care. I dont think they need any complaints right now, or anything that could risk tying them up... at least until after its complete.
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Agreed. My view is you allow signage for a local company (state street, vertex, etc) or if you're getting something in return. Not 100% familiar with the Verizon deal but I suspect it revolved around jobs being located here.

If getting the turnpike covered meant finding an anchor tenant, and that company insisted on a logo display to sign on, then it's a deal I'm happy to make. Whether cargurus, car chopshops, or carthieves.com is being displayed and how long they stay in business afterwards is irrelevant. Let's get the thing built first.
 
The CarGurus sign could very well come down in 15 years or whenever they vacate the space.
 
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