MassDOT Pike Parcels 12 - 15 | Boylston St. and Mass. Ave | Back Bay

[pel_north]

I'm just blown away by all of these announcements. I guess we will get the units that we desperately needed.

 

[jass]

I dont like the parking garage entrance immediately adjacent to the parallel road. Creates a lengthy pedestrian hostile stretch. Rest looks good.

 

[FK4]

It's pretty cool. And, we should rename this thread (at least Parcel 12 + 14&15), because Parcel 13 isn't included and is already a separate thread.

 

[Equilibria]

It's pretty cool. And, we should rename this thread (at least Parcel 12 + 14&15), because Parcel 13 isn't included and is already a separate thread.

Just move the posts about 1000 Boylston to a new thread titled for this project? The Parcel 12 stuff is so far in the future it can be handled as it comes.

Do any of these developments come with any sort of commitment to enhance capacity at the Hynes T, Back Bay or Yawkey? Bus? Feels like the Seaport all over again: drop big developments on empty parcels, wonder later why transport bogs down.

Step 1 would be that MassDOT promise to reinvest their own proceeds into transit, but Step 2 would be some nod from the city or developer that infrastructure isn't free.

MassDOT has demanded some T benefits from these developers. Peebles is building 2 new headhouses and I think they're giving money to the interior reno at Hynes. It seems like Samuels is proposing another headhouse/connector tunnel on the west side of Mass. Ave.

Beyond that, this is a little problematic to me. Residential developers forced to make these payments will simply pass them on to renters/buyers of the units. That essentially forces them to pay twice (rent/mortgage + pass) for something that suburbanites and other city residents not in these new buildings only have to pay for once. Funding transit through special tax districts is a more fair approach, but it's much larger in scale than simply putting a demand on developers to pay up.

In any case, it's the public's job to fund the system, in part through user fees and in remainder through taxes. Seaport transit sucks because the State failed to plan adequately and built a half-assed, flawed system in order to ride the BRT bandwagon to Federal funds. The problem isn't that the money isn't there - a billion was spent, but stupidly. That's not the developers' fault.

 

[tysmith95]

Will this require nighttime or weekend closures of the Pike? If so it would make sense for this, Columbus Center, and Fenway to collebrate by working on their respective projects at the same time (assuming that they all get built) That would lessen possible traffic impacts caused by the construction.

 

[datadyne007]

Will this require nighttime or weekend closures of the Pike? If so it would make sense for this, Columbus Center, and Fenway to collebrate by working on their respective projects at the same time (assuming that they all get built) That would lessen possible traffic impacts caused by the construction.

Sort of. Not full closures, but off-peak lane restrictions were mentioned. It'll suck, but there's no other way to do it!

 

[stefal]

Also yay for Boston! How the hell are we supposed to get all this stuff built though? Are things like this being planned to start in 7 years from now? I think the whole region is starting to run out of construction workers.

There was actually a herald piece about this. I can't find it online though. Wynn is supposedly going to be taking up a large percentage of the construction workers in Boston, and with One Dalton, TD Garden, and others coming close to going vertical, things might get interesting. Some are confident we have enough, others are saying they can schedule their developments according to others, and there are some saying we'll be facing a shortage.

 

[Boston02124]

Huh. A slanted crown. I guess 'new' New Boston has a signature look now. See what you have started Millennium!

I think it all started with 60 State back in the 70's

 

[stick n move]

This is going to wonderfully put the pike out of sight out of mind for ordinary people walking the area. This has been a long time in the making and extremely necessary for the betterment of one of the highest tier neighborhoods in the city.

 

[whighlander]

This is going to wonderfully put the pike out of sight out of mind for ordinary people walking the area. This has been a long time in the making and extremely necessary for the betterment of one of the highest tier neighborhoods in the city.

Stick -- Not Really for quite a while, until Parcel 12 construction is actually underway -- the west side of Mass Ave will continue to offer a great view of the Pike and plenty of sound effects as well

Even when Parcel 12 is finished and fully landscaped the Pike will be just to the west -- there will always be a Pike Gulch between Mass Ave and he Fens due to the deal with the Artists to save their "Northern Light"

 

[stick n move]

This for most people is common knowledge but if your new and want an overview of whats coming here check this out. It includes the Viola renders etc...

http://boston.curbed.com/maps/massachusetts-turnpike-boston-construction-buildings

Stick -- Not Really for quite a while, until Parcel 12 construction is actually underway -- the west side of Mass Ave will continue to offer a great view of the Pike and plenty of sound effects as well

Even when Parcel 12 is finished and fully landscaped the Pike will be just to the west -- there will always be a Pike Gulch between Mass Ave and he Fens due to the deal with the Artists to save their "Northern Light"

Thats fine itll be a small onramp to the pike between 2 buildings. The majority of the pike will be gone from view. Its no different than the onramp by the financial center.

This has to be one of my favorite overall developments at the moment. The back bay is like our midtown but its stumpy save the pru and hancock. This is finally going to bring the area up to what it is just supposed to be. If they execute this well this is going to dramatically change boston. Having a bridge over the highway next to the PRU is unacceptable and should have been fixed a long time ago. Well, good things come to those who wait... The back bay is already the tier 1 neighborhood of Boston and this will just solidify it as finally feeling complete. Now if only boylston st had been a 2 way and went straight through the fens to route 9 the fenway neighborhood would have been a direct extension of the back bay. Oh well its still a game changer.

Im still eyeballing the westland avenue garage for a future thin residential, and of course the dalton st garage could 1 day be the spot of our next tallest.

-makethebackbaygreatagain

 

[stick n move]

Paint x render.

 

[393b40]

The best part of this project is that it hides The Hilton.

Fuck that building.

 

[stick n move]

Theres going to be plenty of distractions away from some of the "mistakes" of the past.

 

[whighlander]

This for most people is common knowledge but if your new and want an overview of whats coming here check this out. It includes the Viola renders etc...

http://boston.curbed.com/maps/massachusetts-turnpike-boston-construction-buildings

Thats fine itll be a small onramp to the pike between 2 buildings. The majority of the pike will be gone from view. Its no different than the onramp by the financial center.

Stick -- No -- its not like the ramps in the Financial District or even the Greenway until you get to the overlook by TD Garden

When you look either at the existing photo or the render -- you still see a lot of the Pike and the railroad exposed as well

In fact the entire 6 cars of the CR Train is going to be seen as it leaves from under Parcel 12

 

[stick n move]

Wtf are you talking about?

 

[whighlander]

Wtf are you talking about?

Stick -- Everything you see in the pix from the west -- trains, turnpike lanes, cars, trucks -- they are not going to be covered by anything

The reason for the "Gulch" even after you cover the stuff near to Mass Ave and even after you cover the stuff near Fenway Park is the brick building with the funny tops with the CR Train Engine directly in front. The Turnpike [now DOT] grandfathered the Northern Light for the artists' studios in that brick building -- the Fenway Studios Building -- now on the National Historic Buildings Register.

So -- unless you either make the building and the decking totally transparent or wrap the building sitting on a glass plate in a cloaking material [not impossible just unlikely at present] you will violate the agreement with the artists' cooperative.

Note since shadows are not the issue -- you might be able to build a tall thin glass blade tower on Newbury St directly across the Pike -- but you wouldn't be able to deck over the pike
https://goo.gl/maps/gMBFr9efq442

 

[datadyne007]

Stick -- Everything you see in the pix from the west -- trains, turnpike lanes, cars, trucks -- they are not going to be covered by anything

You're being pedantic (per usual). He was talking about not seeing the Pike when you're around the Pru area like you do now. Of course you can still see the Pike as the grade of Newbury & Ipswitch becomes level with it if you walk further down Boylston. That was never in question.

 

[whighlander]

Datadyne -- look at the picture -- the Pike is not changing grade from Mass Ave to where the Train is located -- that is all still in the same railroad cut that both occupy under the Pru

All I'm saying is that you will cover a small part of the Pike -- all of it currently visible from Boylston at Mass Ave towards the Pru and the part on the other side of Mass Ave directly under Parcel 12 immediately to the west. However, if you walk just past Parcel 12 on either side of the Pike -- its still going to be doing the "Full Monty"

Approaching the Pru from the west and moving at Pike speeds what you've done is add about 5 or 6 seconds to the length of the combined Pru and Copley tunnel

 

[stick n move]

No shit the back alley part of newbury st and ipswitch st you can still see the pike. The point is mass ave and boylston st are going to be separated from the pike except for an onramp. Thats the entire point. Boylston st has huge gaping holes in one of the most important intersections in the entire city. Mass ave also at one point is a bridge over the pike with nothing but fencing on either side.

Thats one of the most important intersections in the entire city and its a friggin bridge. Thats what is important here and being remedied. We dont need to get into well if you go 325 feet down this back street and turn left youll be able to see the pike behind Joey McDonalds brownstone. Mass ave and Boylston st are going to be massively improved and removed from the pike noise while gaining streetwall, thats the ENTIRE point.

Certain things usually go without saying-and this is one of them, I don't know how this turned into a back and forth.

Anyways these may be the most important parcels in the entire city for knitting the city together. Theres a few obviously but this one is a glaring example. The west end is great too but that area has sucked forever and isnt as important as boylston and mass ave in the back bay. This is a very important development and I hope this is pushed through as seamlessly as possible for the greater good of the city and its residents.