Middlesex County Courthouse Redevelopment | 40 Thorndike St | East Cambridge

Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Smartiro said:
Our office is on Athenaeum st and most of employees use the red line. Although significant portion first gets to South station via commuter rail. Believe it or not but making 5-6 minute walk into 15-16 min walk (esp in winter) is a dealbreaker for many.
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15+ minutes also a very unpleasant walk in the harsh winters and hot summers and not to mention the area is dangerous at night.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Spent a lot of time in the building (NOT as a prisoner). The design rendering looks weird.

It isn't far from Lechmere. The mall was close enough for lunch during the trial lunch break.

The red brick Bulfinch/court/Roman forum across the street is pretty cool. Hope the new building relates to that grouping well.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

datadyne007 said:
15+ minutes also a very unpleasant walk in the harsh winters and hot summers and not to mention the area is dangerous at night.
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Kendall is dangerous at night???
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

BussesAin'tTrains said:
Kendall is dangerous at night???
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This is not Kendall by any means. The area around the Galleria/3rd St is not the most pleasant area. When I worked at the Galleria, many of my friends would park on various sidestreets in the area and a few were robbed/mugged, one of them even in the light near Lechmere station.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

tobyjug said:
The red brick Bulfinch/court/Roman forum across the street is pretty cool. Hope the new building relates to that grouping well.
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Great point. I'm sure it'll be overlooked by the hacks at Elkus Manfredi, but the potential is there to make something that enhances the ensemble and not just stand across the street all aloof like.

And are those a bunch of glass fins and brise soleil on this thing? That rendering raises more questions than it answers.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

datadyne007 said:
This is not Kendall by any means. The area around the Galleria/3rd St is not the most pleasant area. When I worked at the Galleria, many of my friends would park on various sidestreets in the area and a few were robbed/mugged, one of them even in the light near Lechmere station.
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I know the area as well, but I've never felt unsafe there at night. Didn't know muggings were frequent there. Either way, it is close to transit, just not close to Kendall.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

My general distaste of East Cambridge aside, I do really like this proposal and I also hope this development sparks more development in East Cambridge. The retail space in One Canal Park, where the former East Cambridge Savings Bank was, has sat empty for over 5 years (that's just how far my personal knowledge goes back, its probably way longer) despite being right on First St next to the Galleria's main circulation paths. Last year, for some reason they installed neon lighting, so the arcade at least looks cool now, but is still dead. It would make a great coffee shop, convenience store, or even combo and would be very convenient for people working in this development so they wouldn't have to trek into the mall.
 
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Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

datadyne007 said:
My general distaste of East Cambridge aside, I do really like this proposal and I also hope this development sparks more development in East Cambridge. The retail space in One Canal Park, where the former East Cambridge Savings Bank was, has sat empty for over 5 years (that's just how far my personal knowledge goes back, its probably way longer) despite being right on First St next to the Galleria's main circulation paths. Last year, for some reason they installed neon lighting, so the arcade at least looks cool now, but is still dead. It would make a great coffee shop, convenience store, or even combo and would be very convenient for people working in this development so they wouldn't have to trek into the mall.
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That whole stretch is a PoMo disaster.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Too much brick. Too little window display activity. Too little signage.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

datadyne007 said:
My general distaste of East Cambridge aside, I do really like this proposal and I also hope this development sparks more development in East Cambridge. The retail space in One Canal Park, where the former East Cambridge Savings Bank was, has sat empty for over 5 years (that's just how far my personal knowledge goes back, its probably way longer) despite being right on First St next to the Galleria's main circulation paths. Last year, for some reason they installed neon lighting, so the arcade at least looks cool now, but is still dead. It would make a great coffee shop, convenience store, or even combo and would be very convenient for people working in this development so they wouldn't have to trek into the mall.
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I recall it being empty in 2005...
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

BussesAin'tTrains said:
I know the area as well, but I've never felt unsafe there at night. Didn't know muggings were frequent there. Either way, it is close to transit, just not close to Kendall.
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There are lots of gang bangers and other nefarious creatures in that mall and milling around at night. My former employer went so far as to warn people unfamiliar with the area to be careful when they stayed in the Marlow.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

I never felt the least bit unsafe when I worked at first Banta Integrated Media and then Northern Light, both in the American Twine building on Third Street. Sometimes I'd bike, sometimes I'd walk from the T at either Kendall or Lechmere, and I'd often walk over to the mall and its food court.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

East Cambridge residents apparently may want the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority to foot the bill for changes. The problem? the idea of developers being forced to remove the top floors of the 22 story Edward J. Sullivan county courthouse. This guarantees whomever buys the property would be buying at present value and shrinking the overall footprint of their investment to meet the demands of the neighborhood. Isn't that like buying a BMW and prying the decal off the hood and replacing it with Honda one? East Cambridge may be close to the height of the current tower soon and perhaps some of Harvard/Porter Squares within the next decade. The building has grandfathered air rights and some in the community want the building to go by the new height restrictions. Good luck with that!

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridg...pment-Authority-help-with-Sullivan-Courthouse
 
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Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

^^^^Fantasia is Italian for fantasy. The proponent's spokesperson is Rhoda Fantasia. Must be Top Ten on apt names.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Hopefully common sense finally prevails and this moves forward as proposed. Don't be surprised though if the activists call out an army of unicorns to try and slay the mean, greedy developer.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Also: shortened by two floors and redesigned. Meh. (From the Curbed article.)

062814i-courthouse-b.jpg
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Downburst said:
Also: shortened by two floors and redesigned. Meh. (From the Curbed article.)

062814i-courthouse-b.jpg
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Last design was fine. This design is fine. Both are infinitely better than the status quo, so bring in the wrecking ball!
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

I don't have any problems with either design- I quite liked the old one, in fact, and the new one is acceptable. I do have a problem with shortsighted NIMBY pressure resulting in a floor reduction. Cambridge could use as much housing as it could possibly get.
 
Re: New Design for Middlesex Courthouse

Downburst said:
I don't have any problems with either design- I quite liked the old one, in fact, and the new one is acceptable. I do have a problem with shortsighted NIMBY pressure resulting in a floor reduction. Cambridge could use as much housing as it could possibly get.
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The floor reduction shouldn't really affect the housing component as all the hosing units were on the first couple floors. IIRC the upper floors were all offices. I don't really care what the final height of this particular building is, because it's such a terrible building, but I do agree that Cambridge in general, and particularly the area around Kendall and up into lechmere can support some decent height.
 
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