Millennium (Hayward) Place | 580 Washington Street | Downtown

Re: Hayward Place

I'd say that balcony isn't common space, but a private amenity for the penthouse dwellers shelling out the big bucks. Or maybe its a restaurant. Who knows. If you look at the rendering you can see that the full height portion runs only along Washington and De Lafeyette. It seems to step down beyond that. What's going on there is mystery, but I bet there's some kind of rooftop common space.
 
Re: Hayward Place

briv said:
I'd say that balcony isn't common space, but a private amenity for the penthouse dwellers shelling out the big bucks. Or maybe its a restaurant. Who knows. If you look at the rendering you can see that the full height portion runs only along Washington and De Lafeyette. It seems to step down beyond that. What's going on there is mystery, but I bet there's some kind of rooftop common space.
Click to expand...

I did notice how the building only runs along Washington and Avenue de Lafayette, but I wouldn't put it past them to not develop anything on that stepped down roof. Maybe it is. It's just strange how they hid it away completely with no connection to DTX like the glass rendering has.
 
Re: Hayward Place

Most luxury buildings try to entice potential tenants with roof decks that either have spectacular views or are as private as possible; I don't think an outdoor courtyard stuck between two towers just a couple stories off Washington St. was ever going to be that marketable.
 
Re: Hayward Place

What I don't want to see are auto entrances and blank walls on Washington or other streets with heavy pedestrian-traffic.
Click to expand...

Is there any evidence of that on Washington? The other three streets are not that congested with pedestrians so I don't see the problem there.

I think there's gotta be ground retail on Wash which I guess there is. 12,000 sq ft. I can't visualize that and I don't know what a good sized store should be. If there were 3 store fronts on that block I'd be ok with it.

The brick is better than the glass and I'm ok with the height but it'd be nice for there to be something somewhere with progressive architecture and significant height.
 
Re: Hayward Place

If it's going to be a chode they should at least make the roof a cool outdoor space.
 
Re: Hayward Place

We still have Kensington to look forwad to? Anyways, when the economy bounces back I'm pretty sure we'll start seeing 40 story+ proposal again. It is depressing though that Boston is only developing buildings that are in the teens and lower 20 stories.
 
Re: Hayward Place

I'm with Briv on this.

This lot should have been divided into three or four smaller lots and the ground floor is the most critical component of this whole project. Everything else is just frosting.
 
Re: Hayward Place

I dont mind the lack of height here. I'd rather see height across the street over Lafayette (a couple of towers were proposed to be built there a few years back).
 
Re: Hayward Place

A legitimate proposal would have recognized the need to vary the exterior - perhaps to the point of seeming and acting like seperate structures even if integrated on the interior -and thereby create unique moments along the sidewalk to complement street-level oriented uses. Instead they have given us a brick bunker. I hesitate to say this is better than a parking lot, because I see it as scarcely better than a 15-story parking garage.
 
Re: Hayward Place

I'm sure someone has answered this already upthread, but I can't find it right now. What was on this site before it was a parking lot? Raymond's? RH White? Some other retail store(s)? (To my knowledge, there was never a theatre here.)
 
Re: Hayward Place

Only 12,000 sf of retail on the groundfloor? That's a joke. 33,000 square feet of retail was proposed last year for three existing 100' (former) Boston Wharf buildings on Melcher Street.

I smell above-grade parking on the groundfloor, perhaps multiple tiers. Otherwise how is that massive groundfloor to be used? Lobby?

I agree with above comments that the block should have been broken up, same height, multiple buildings.

The Pritzker Prize nomination committee can scratch this parcel. Damn it.
 
Re: Hayward Place

Ron Newman said:
I'm sure someone has answered this already upthread, but I can't find it right now. What was on this site before it was a parking lot? Raymond's? RH White? Some other retail store(s)? (To my knowledge, there was never a theatre here.)
Click to expand...

It was a (ugly, people have said) parking garage that Campeau demolished in anticipation of Lafayette Place Phase II. As everyone knows, the project flopped, and they just paved the site over.
 
Re: Hayward Place

The garage was a temporary construction by the BRA following the demolition of R.H. White and the neighboring buildings.

The whole crummy side of the block should be demolished and rebuilt with the street grid and facades that were there prior to urban renewal. Have new towers wear the historic skirt to compliment the restored theaters and keep the none-the-wiser shoppers all warm and fuzzy for shopping in Boston's 'historic' shopping district. Honestly truncating Bedford and obliterating Avon Street did more to wreck connectivity in that area than anything. The loss of verticality on Washington Street only added to the anti-urban feel of redevelopment of the area.
 
Re: Hayward Place

The other three streets are not that congested with pedestrians so I don't see the problem there.
Click to expand...

The problem is that they're no longer streets; they're alleys, access roads, driveways.
 
Re: Hayward Place

Right.

Those streets are not going to improve under this project as currently proposed.

With only 12,000 square feet of retail, only the Washington Street side would be an active block with storefronts, the others not visible in the rendering (and the alley on the right) must be dead blocks.
 
Re: Hayward Place

Were they ever live blocks, though? Or were they like Hawley Street and Chauncey Street further north?
 
Re: Hayward Place

As someone who remembers that area circa 1960 (as a child granted). it was always the back yard of what was then a thriving retail district. The "Shopper's Garage" was an incredibly ugly elevator garage built in the 1950's as a way to provide convenient parking for shopper's at Jordan Marsh, Filene's etc. It was a failed effort to accomodate the automobile in the retail district.

BTW, does anyone remember CityMart? It occupied the abandoned RH White (later Raymond's) building before it was demolished.
 
Re: Hayward Place

Ron Newman said:
Were they ever live blocks, though? Or were they like Hawley Street and Chauncey Street further north?
Click to expand...

If I understand the point of your question...

Do you think the past should be a determinant of the future on this parcel?

Are you suggesting that two or three dead streetwalls is the best Boston can expect of such projects in its premium districts?

In the past, was residential density a significant factor in the streetlife on these streets and alleys?
 
Last edited:
Re: Hayward Place

No, but the city has always had some 'back streets' like Hawley Street. I'm just asking what the history of these streets has been.
 
Re: Hayward Place

The Hayward Place parcel is notable as it faces among the two best redevelopment blocks in Boston's recent history, with the Paramount, Modern etc. Those blocks will dump tons of pedestrians on the street many evenings.

Following on Briv & czsz, if this parcel had been broken up, we'd have multiple active streetwalls available for active retail, dining, sidewalk activity. And we'd have multiple new interior alleys of the type Ron points out existed (i.e. Hawley) to handle commercial loading, parking entrances, etc.

We don't have that design because the project appears to fill out the zoning envelope to the last square foot. IMO, this predominate motivation has dictated the bloated architecture.

As mentioned, two or three blocks of dead streetwalls will be hosting the parking entrances and commercial loading. I continue to suspect that some of the dead streetwalls on the far side of the rendering are shielding groundfloor parking within the building... just a guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top