Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown
- Thread starter KentXie
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 7,003
- Reaction score
- 1,748
Re: Filene's
Those renderings got me all hot and bothered. Let's not get too caried away.
Those renderings got me all hot and bothered. Let's not get too caried away.
BostonObserver
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2006
- Messages
- 569
- Reaction score
- 92
BostonUrbEx
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2010
- Messages
- 4,340
- Reaction score
- 128
Re: Filene's
Plateau? AFAIAC, this breaks any plateau we have.
It looks like the elevation of the ground would make the roof the highest roof in Boston (exception to Hancock/Pru).
Plateau? AFAIAC, this breaks any plateau we have.
It looks like the elevation of the ground would make the roof the highest roof in Boston (exception to Hancock/Pru).
KentXie
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 4,192
- Reaction score
- 758
Re: Filene's
Yea by probably at most 15 feet. Not really breaking the plateau IMO.
Yea by probably at most 15 feet. Not really breaking the plateau IMO.
Suffolk 83
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,978
- Reaction score
- 2,330
Re: Filene's
This should be Boston's new tallest, end of conversation. This is a unique opportunity to do it, reversing an embarrassment to the city and turning it into a point of pride. Also I don't get some of these developers, don't any of them have egos? I would want to attach my name to tallest in Boston.
This should be Boston's new tallest, end of conversation. This is a unique opportunity to do it, reversing an embarrassment to the city and turning it into a point of pride. Also I don't get some of these developers, don't any of them have egos? I would want to attach my name to tallest in Boston.
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 7,003
- Reaction score
- 1,748
Re: Filene's
And what if the building failed? Then your name would be attached to a giant failure.
And what if the building failed? Then your name would be attached to a giant failure.
Ron Newman
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
- Messages
- 8,395
- Reaction score
- 12
Re: Filene's
Is the design the problem here, or just the fact that the storefronts are still unrented?
Is the design the problem here, or just the fact that the storefronts are still unrented?
Re: Filene's
kz1000ps you are awesome.
You just saved me 1 hour and a 1400 word essay on this thread.
To keep the ball moving, as it should, the BRA and Boston Globe will tell the world something completely different and exciting is happening on the ground floor than will actually get built. Guaranteed.
kz1000ps you are awesome.
You just saved me 1 hour and a 1400 word essay on this thread.
To keep the ball moving, as it should, the BRA and Boston Globe will tell the world something completely different and exciting is happening on the ground floor than will actually get built. Guaranteed.
Re: Filene's
The Ritz Towers suffer from a zombified street-level. Sure, there are business in those storefronts, but the entire expanse is dead, dead, dead. And you sure as hell don't want to look at it.
It's a product of the same school of thought that brought us the Intercontinental Hotel. Both feature monolithic dead zones accented by granite panels and fancy glass, and buildings that are... at best... simply there taking up space.
The Ritz Towers suffer from a zombified street-level. Sure, there are business in those storefronts, but the entire expanse is dead, dead, dead. And you sure as hell don't want to look at it.
It's a product of the same school of thought that brought us the Intercontinental Hotel. Both feature monolithic dead zones accented by granite panels and fancy glass, and buildings that are... at best... simply there taking up space.
BostonObserver
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2006
- Messages
- 569
- Reaction score
- 92
Re: Filene's
Sorry guys, it's Menino and Shen that get the blame.
Sorry guys, it's Menino and Shen that get the blame.
Re: Filene's
what can you really do though in such a spot? I mean you have a hotel sandwiched between a huge perennially empty Roche Bobois and a megaplex theatre and the place by the Park Plaza has never been a heavy street traffic neighborhood for as long as I remember...
I'd love to see the Bobois shutter down though...place is so large for serving such a small clientele...who the f#$k spending $10,000 on a sofa?
what can you really do though in such a spot? I mean you have a hotel sandwiched between a huge perennially empty Roche Bobois and a megaplex theatre and the place by the Park Plaza has never been a heavy street traffic neighborhood for as long as I remember...
I'd love to see the Bobois shutter down though...place is so large for serving such a small clientele...who the f#$k spending $10,000 on a sofa?
I
InTheHood
Guest
Re: Filene's
One Charles is amazingly awkward both top and bottom. Bad as the streetscape is, the huge blank brick gymnasium wall at the top, visible as you drive down Stuart Street toward South Station, must be one of the most clumsy elements of any recent building in the city.
Honestly, it makes you wonder what keeps bringing Handel more opportunities. Maybe ... just maybe, you could give them a mulligan for the Ritz, which is a tough retail setting. But over at One Charles, they managed to mush together a combination of driveways, blank walls, loading docks, and goofy window planes that seem intended to create a buffer zone rather than street engagement ... you can hardly see into the restaurant, for example.
Of course Kairos Shen and his minions will be ready with the usual excuses about the need for modern loading docks and the inevitability of cars, etcetera ... but the funny thing is, the Motor Mart Garage across the street from One Charles, whose entire PURPOSE is to house automobiles, is one thousand percent more successful at street level.
One Charles is amazingly awkward both top and bottom. Bad as the streetscape is, the huge blank brick gymnasium wall at the top, visible as you drive down Stuart Street toward South Station, must be one of the most clumsy elements of any recent building in the city.
Honestly, it makes you wonder what keeps bringing Handel more opportunities. Maybe ... just maybe, you could give them a mulligan for the Ritz, which is a tough retail setting. But over at One Charles, they managed to mush together a combination of driveways, blank walls, loading docks, and goofy window planes that seem intended to create a buffer zone rather than street engagement ... you can hardly see into the restaurant, for example.
Of course Kairos Shen and his minions will be ready with the usual excuses about the need for modern loading docks and the inevitability of cars, etcetera ... but the funny thing is, the Motor Mart Garage across the street from One Charles, whose entire PURPOSE is to house automobiles, is one thousand percent more successful at street level.
tmac9wr
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,445
- Reaction score
- 63
Re: Filene's
Yea the Motor Mart Garage is a shining example of what a parking garage should be. It has an attractive design and interacts with the street very well (for a parking garage). It's a shame there aren't more like it...and it's also a shame that we're wishing an apartment building could be more like a parking garage.
Yea the Motor Mart Garage is a shining example of what a parking garage should be. It has an attractive design and interacts with the street very well (for a parking garage). It's a shame there aren't more like it...and it's also a shame that we're wishing an apartment building could be more like a parking garage.
BosDevelop
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,500
- Reaction score
- 334
Re: Filene's
Does anyone else share my sentiment of disappointment over the fact that the hotel portion of the development has been scrapped? Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to see something moving forward but I really thought that in addition to a residential component that a hotel was/is the best way to add 24/7 life to the area. Most of us know that people buying what are likely to be pricey residences in this building are not very likely to set foot outside of the confines of their homes after 8-9pm during the week. Whereas a hotel would have brought more life to this area when it needs it most (i.e. after the financial district workers make their way home). I thought this would be a great location for Loews Hotels to set up shop in Boston. I just worry this location is going to get 35 floors of office space, 15 floors of pricey residential, and a small supermarket and handful of useless stores that all close up for the night around 9pm. Then again, that is better than a hole so we have that going for us....
Does anyone else share my sentiment of disappointment over the fact that the hotel portion of the development has been scrapped? Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to see something moving forward but I really thought that in addition to a residential component that a hotel was/is the best way to add 24/7 life to the area. Most of us know that people buying what are likely to be pricey residences in this building are not very likely to set foot outside of the confines of their homes after 8-9pm during the week. Whereas a hotel would have brought more life to this area when it needs it most (i.e. after the financial district workers make their way home). I thought this would be a great location for Loews Hotels to set up shop in Boston. I just worry this location is going to get 35 floors of office space, 15 floors of pricey residential, and a small supermarket and handful of useless stores that all close up for the night around 9pm. Then again, that is better than a hole so we have that going for us....
tmac9wr
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,445
- Reaction score
- 63
Re: Filene's
Yea a hotel would have been great. I think everyone's a bit more concentrated on the ground-floor street interaction though since the developer/architect don't have the best history in this regard.
I think a bigger hindrance on a "24/7" Boston is that the laws of the city don't support it. Even if there was a hotel with tourists bumping around, they're not going to be able to make it more 24/7 because Boston seems to be terrified of the thought of people staying out late. It's a shame.
Yea a hotel would have been great. I think everyone's a bit more concentrated on the ground-floor street interaction though since the developer/architect don't have the best history in this regard.
I think a bigger hindrance on a "24/7" Boston is that the laws of the city don't support it. Even if there was a hotel with tourists bumping around, they're not going to be able to make it more 24/7 because Boston seems to be terrified of the thought of people staying out late. It's a shame.
- Status