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

will this be the low part of the project?

are either of the 400' and 325' towers approved?

it will be nice when they go up.
 
There looks to be a cylindrical slot (for a column?) in the middle of the new median.
 
CSTH said:
To my untrained eye, it doesn't look like that median includes a bunch of load bearing columns....please don't tell me that the mass pike median work didn't get coordinated with provisioning for the Viola development....
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CSTH -- when you look at the Viola information the buildings sit on foundation located in "terra relatively firma" -- no significant loads are transferred to any supports in or near the pike proper

Perhaps some of those other proposed air rights projects in that area [on the other side of the pike] will need to place columns in the pike proper -- though I would expect that the structural engineers will be instructed to minimize that kind of foundation work if at all possible
 
Boston already has had a taste of forward thinking engineering. They can build a 600-700' tower 100% over the pike.

As per Weigh's earlier post re Colombia Ctr, if developers could command the rents of Midtown or SF, and if the

anti-development preservationists could have agreed, they well could be building the next Back Bay skyscraper.




 
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CSTH said:
To my untrained eye, it doesn't look like that median includes a bunch of load bearing columns....please don't tell me that the mass pike median work didn't get coordinated with provisioning for the Viola development....
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It's sort of hard to tell, but it looks like there are supposed to be two or three columns in the picture Digital posted, according to the BRA docs. So it appears that the DOT did not coordinate their work with the Viola development.

tngc6Rl.png


If someone with more experience can interpret this picture better than I can, please correct me.
 
DOT's work was probably planned out as prior to or as this bid was happening. I highly doubt any work has been coordinated as I'm sure they didn't know who the eventual winner was going to be. Not to mention the work shown in the proposals was only schematic. there is still a great deal of design work that needs to happen.

MassDOT's work was relatively minor and I don't think there is much to be saved in coordinating scopes of work. If anything, you're really just shifting costs from the veolia build out to the DOT maintenance work.
 
Got it. I just have this fantasy where MassDOT took the opportunity presented by years of lane closures to get serious about air rights. And just sunk a bunch of piles and said to developers 'here they are, find something useful to do with them. Yes I know that spending the extra money etc etc.... But on the other hand, the opportunity cost etc etc...

Like I said it's a fantasy...
 
CSTH said:
Got it. I just have this fantasy where MassDOT took the opportunity presented by years of lane closures to get serious about air rights. And just sunk a bunch of piles and said to developers 'here they are, find something useful to do with them. Yes I know that spending the extra money etc etc.... But on the other hand, the opportunity cost etc etc...

Like I said it's a fantasy...
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Not really. They did exactly that in the Bulfinch Triangle and at South Station. Difference in those cases was that the project and disruption were both much larger.
 
Then post them when they are, not if they "may be released soon."
 
Since this got bumped I was snooping through the BRA presentations and found some OLD renders in there. These are not getting built, but its cool to see where there head was at and to get some massing models essentially to look at.







I do like the high spine but itd be nice if we started dabbling near the FAA FU zone n get a midtown manhattan spine going.
 
On another note I dont think its smart for the Viola to plan so far out into the future to start construction. We have a horrible track record of completing projects that try to do this. SST, Millennium, this parcel the other 5 times they tried, columbus center...etc. Hopefully this works out, we need it, but I dont think its good to plan that far out in this city.
 
i asked their pr agent about it this afternoon, and she's not aware of anything other than the 400' and the 325' towers now clearing the state review and on to the Article 80 process in the next several weeks.

keep us updated.
 
odurandina said:
There was at least one >550' tower proposed in the '90s that preceded Columbus Ctr - that Menino killed. i can't recall if there had been 1 or 2 proposals. i believe there was an loi on the triangular parcel at the Northwest corner of Mass Ave and Boylston right up against the Pike, and possibly another tower considered proposed for the southwest corner at the 1000 block (1065 Boylston). This parcel would be perfect for a very tall, thin tower.
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One of those was called Boylston Square:

BoylstonSq002.jpg


According to Emporis, it was to be 49 floors and 650 feet. 1065 Boylston Street / 121 Mass Ave. I remember this getting proposed when 111 Huntington was still being built.
 
Can someone help me out here...I see renderings of a tall, but long dead project, whisperings, etc.
Is this a zombie thread, or is there something new?
Thanks!
 
tobyjug said:
Can someone help me out here...I see renderings of a tall, but long dead project, whisperings, etc.
Is this a zombie thread, or is there something new?
Thanks!
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I don't think it's a zombie thread. Boston02124 is pretty reliable when it comes to tips - he described the GE headquarters accurately in advance, and did the same (IIRC) with One Bromfield.
 
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