Marine Industrial Park | Seaport

It actually looks quite urban - either it will be a proverbial stump in a park (park = weed strewn lots and warehouses) or else more optimistically the start of something better on this side of the seaport.
 
A 4-story landscraper is just what the Seaport ordered. And a desolate plaza, too, because we don't have enough "greenspace" voids planned for the area.
 
Shepard said:
It actually looks quite urban - either it will be a proverbial stump in a park (park = weed strewn lots and warehouses) or else more optimistically the start of something better on this side of the seaport.
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URBAN?!?!?!?!

Are you looking at the same picture I'm seeing?

Aside from the existing streets, that building says Route 128 all over. The only debate is whether it is more Waltham or Burlington.
 
Yes, urban. It interacts with the street grid with the potential for ground floor uses, as opposed to being isolated with parking. The setback actually looks like a usable pedestrian plaza rather than the autocentric greenspace ornamentals we often see.

As an aside, and not to confuse this with the urban/Burlington debate, I actually like the aesthetic look.
 
shmessy said:
URBAN?!?!?!?!

Are you looking at the same picture I'm seeing?

Aside from the existing streets, that building says Route 128 all over. The only debate is whether it is more Waltham or Burlington.
Click to expand...

When was the last time you were on 128? This screams 1984 Kendall Square.
 
The rendering makes note of the ridiculous six lane widths of the Seaport grid only carrying one lane worth of traffic volume.
 
Shepard said:
Doesn't show why they should be stumpy, though.



Wow - I've been looking for that diagram for a while.

One thing that strikes me is that any South Bay tower couldn't be at all tall, could it?
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You could probably squeeze in the SST, but nothing near that height in South Bay.
 
BeeLine said:
Yes that is 150 Second in Cambridge built by Skanska.
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No For Lease signs? Maybe they have a tenant, and just have to do the build-out for the tenant. (I know this is a tangent from Cambridge developments.)
 
Do they purposely make the cars small to make the buildings look bigger? They are ridiculously small in that first render near the top of this page.
 
"Suffolk Construction moving to South Boston: Announces plans to make new headquarters in South Boston Innovation District"

By Casey Ross |

Suffolk Construction Co., one of Boston’s biggest and busiest contractors, is proposing to build a new national headquarters in the South Boston Innovation District, joining a rapid influx of major companies into the area.

Chief executive John Fish said Tuesday that he is planning construction of a 125,000-square-foot building along Harbor Street in the Marine Industrial Park. The new building, for about 450 employees, would allow the company to consolidate its Roxbury and Danvers offices at a single facility.

“This location speaks to where Boston is going, not where it is today,” Fish said Tuesday. “We appreciate the vibrancy and overall energy of the Innovation District, and we think it’s only going to get stronger.”

Suffolk still needs approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and other city agencies. Fish said he has held preliminary discussions with BRA officials and expects to file more detailed documents outlining his proposal soon. He hopes to start construction by next spring.

The construction firm, which is building several residential and office towers in the Innovation District, is the latest in a long line of businesses to announce plans to move there. The district seems to attract a new headline company every day. On Tuesday, PricewaterhouseCoopers said it will move into a 17-story tower to be built on Seaport Boulevard, joining incoming firms such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., State Street Corp., Zipcar Inc., and the branding and apparel company Life is good.

While Suffolk is a major gain for the Innovation District, it is a significant loss for Roxbury, where the company has operated for years out of a building on Allerton Street. Fish said the company will retain ownership of the Allerton Street building and lease it to new tenants.

Suffolk, one of the nation’s largest privately held contractors, has expanded rapidly in recent years, acquiring a string of competitors in Boston and other markets. In 2009, it acquired William A. Berry and Son, one of the Boston area’s oldest, most respected builders. It has also snapped up large contractors in Virginia and San Diego.

While known as a politically connected powerhouse in Boston, Suffolk has offices and major projects in cities across the country. In recent years, it has built major residential and commercial projects in Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Miami, among many other communities. In Boston, it is building a half-dozen residential towers in the Innovation District, Downtown Crossing, and the West End, along with a new office building and parking garage for State Street Corp. in Fort Point.

Fish said he expects Suffolk to record $2.1 billion in revenue this year.

He said the design of the new headquarters in the Innovation District is still under discussion, although he expects it will be glass and stainless steel, striking a more modern tone than some of the older industrial buildings in the area.

“We think we can build something special, but we still have to go through the city’s [review] process,” Fish said. “All the financing is ready to go. We just want to be sure we do this thoughtfully.”

The Marine Industrial Park is seen as the next logical extension of the redevelopment that has been sweeping through the rest of the waterfront in recent years. Jamestown Properties, an Atlanta-based real estate firm, recently bought the Boston Design Center and the adjacent Bronstein Center, and several other firms are proposing new commercial and residential buildings in the area.
Click to expand...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...on-district/VM3sLI0L3VXVRG822wwgpJ/story.html
 
Yesterday, Fish said he expects a slow down next year. So they're building a new headquarters just to keep busy?
 
Sure, why not get things done for yourself if other business lightens up?

I would be careful not to overstate the predicted slowdown. Any slowdown is very unlikely to be a grinding halt like we had with the Great Recession. Even with the Fed hinting at lightening up QE, there is no inflation pressure at all for the foreseeable future and interest rates will stay low. Barring another epic world-wide collapse, the only impediment to development in Boston will remain political.
 
Fattony,
Your point is well made/taken about the political (amongst other) hurdle(s) developments must overcome in Boston.
That said, I'd be careful not to understate the doozy on the horizon that will be the other shoe dropping on the present funny money economy . . . hold on to your hats, boys, it's gonna be a wild ride when this roller coaster reaches the crest . . .
 
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