MCCA Hotels: Aloft & Element | 371-401 D Street | South Boston

+1 Xec

Whigh the site has been a disused wasteland for at least 10 years. I don't consider a MassDOT service facility or a Big Dig staging zone the highest and best use for the D Street corridor.

xec said:
OK, but Bos77's comment was about what D street is like today, not what it was like years ago.
Click to expand...



whighlander said:
XEC -- Only Recently has it been unused

I know about the truck maintenance facility because I took a truck there [ThermoKing] as part of some of the research which I was engaged with while I was at Lincoln circa mid 1980's

Take a look at old Aerial Photos with views toward the Army Base -- Since the land near Summer and D was filled [beginning in the mid 1800's and continuing as recently as WWII] -- none of that was ever for any significant period of time without any obvious function - i.e. weeds and fences

Some of it was used as a Highway maintenance truck facility, and so might have held a big pile of salt [1973 photo] https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:bk128b42v

Later a number of the parcels in that area were used as staging for the Big Dig which was ripping its way through the area as I-90 heading for the Ted Williams Tunnel
Click to expand...
 
alexander said:
+1 Xec

Whigh the site has been a disused wasteland for at least 10 years. I don't consider a MassDOT service facility or a Big Dig staging zone the highest and best use for the D Street corridor.
Click to expand...

Alexander -- its simply the old "Location, ..... "

Until quite recently, the only new construction in decades, on the sea of parking lots sprinkled with low rise, cheap construction warehouses, in what is now known as the Seaport / Innovation District was:
  • the CourtHouse,
  • the the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Office Buildings
  • the BCEC and Westin

Then, mostly with a few exceptions, development stalled while the Big Dig plowed through the area to connect the Turnpike to Logan by the Ted Williams Tunnel and to the Financial District via the Fort Point Channel tunnel and the Silver Line tunnel and stations were built

Now things have blosomed starting from where the old development left off -- Fan Pier & Seaport Square and the area right next to the BCEC
development in the

Until recently the area along D and E St. from Summer heading toward Dorchester Ave was not a priority location for development

It is now becoming a priority location and development in that area will accelerate with the construction of the BCEC expansion getting underway
 
And coming full circle... It was a wasteland, as recently as 18 months ago, and is now looking like a proper city street. The end.
 
Exactly. +1

9Xef2rZ.jpg


Bos77 said:
And coming full circle... It was a wasteland, as recently as 18 months ago, and is now looking like a proper city street. The end.
Click to expand...
 
Bos77 said:
And coming full circle... It was a wasteland, as recently as 18 months ago, and is now looking like a proper city street. The end.
Click to expand...

Bos -- Much to soon to make any type of judgement on the blocks of D/E away from Summer

Come back and look at the area about 5 years after the BCEC expansion is done -- then we'll see how that area has turned out
 
whighlander said:
Bos -- Much to soon to make any type of judgement on the blocks of D/E away from Summer

Come back and look at the area about 5 years after the BCEC expansion is done -- then we'll see how that area has turned out
Click to expand...

Well, I always appreciate being corrected repeatedly.

First, my casual observation about the VERY recent changes to D Street needed schooling in 50+ years of land use I'm already quite aware of. Now I need to come back in 5 years to see how it goes.
 
If this project replaces the Victorian acorn street lights with those modern fixtures that 411 D St installed then I'm going to be pissed..
 
It would be nice if they would just activate the edges build some hotels with street level retail it is unfortunate its so sprawling... I can't believe they are expanding it.
 
citylover94 said:
It would be nice if they would just activate the edges build some hotels with street level retail it is unfortunate its so sprawling... I can't believe they are expanding it.
Click to expand...

Apparently it's so they can bring the bigger conventions to the city... I get that they didn't activate the edges because there were/are so many empty parcels in the Seaport to build on, but I really hope that the design of the structure doesn't preclude additions on the periphery of the BCEC. Once the area is built out it's going to be an enormous scar in the district. Yeah, it's what gives the district a lot of life, but that doesn't mean it should be exempt from physically contributing to the urban environment.
 
This building is for y'all who made past comments about wishing the colorful insulation on buildings under construction being the actual color of the building. Well here's one colorful building for you and damn, I'm liking the blue! The blue siding here actually beat out the appearance of green siding on Troy!
 
cca, is this the new trend for a while, lots (or splashes) of color? Troy and a few of the Cambridge residential buildings have major color components. Just beginning to see this trend here in Atlanta as well.
 
atlantaden said:
cca, is this the new trend for a while, lots (or splashes) of color? Troy and a few of the Cambridge residential buildings have major color components. Just beginning to see this trend here in Atlanta as well.
Click to expand...

These kinds of things are cyclical trends. Especially in retail and developer housing. The buildings are designed to be hip in the moment. Think of it like the stainless steel appliance trend.

It is not bad design. Its actually quite fun ... but one should fear the "dating" affect if you are thinking about the design in a long term way. As folks on a forum hoping to improve our cities over the long run ... we should always a little skeptical about a la mode solutions to design problems. That is just me though, I have almost exclusively worked on institutional or civic buildings in my time. I am biased

cca

Ps. Troy I think hit a nice balance of hip and just plain solid design choices. I think that design will continue to be elegant when other designs start to feel passe'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top