Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

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^ Great documentation of the new plaza. Now we just need to do something about that horrible parking garage -- I was really jolted back to reality when it came into the frame.
 
JeffDowntown said:
^ Great documentation of the new plaza. Now we just need to do something about that horrible parking garage -- I was really jolted back to reality when it came into the frame.
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My apologies in advance if this has been already discussed ad nauseum on this board: doesn't "doing something" with the parking garage require a rather radical readjustment to 33 Arch St. (short of outright demolition) given how it cantilevers over it?

If you can't eliminate the cantilever (which would seem to require a full demolition to do so), then it obviously imposes a cap on how high up a significant portion of the garage parcel could go in a redevelopment... which would seem to have a pretty chilling effect in terms of any developers eyeing it. And that's not even speaking of the amount of cooperation that would be required between the abutting property owners during any redevelopment construction operations...

Picture of cantilever:

http://www.metra-aluminium.com/media/realisations/full/33archstreet.jpg
 
DBM said:
My apologies in advance if this has been already discussed ad nauseum on this board: doesn't "doing something" with the parking garage require a rather radical readjustment to 33 Arch St. (short of outright demolition) given how it cantilevers over it?

If you can't eliminate the cantilever (which would seem to require a full demolition to do so), then it obviously imposes a cap on how high up a significant portion of the garage parcel could go in a redevelopment... which would seem to have a pretty chilling effect in terms of any developers eyeing it. And that's not even speaking of the amount of cooperation that would be required between the abutting property owners during any redevelopment construction operations...

Picture of cantilever:

http://www.metra-aluminium.com/media/realisations/full/33archstreet.jpg
Click to expand...

You would definitely have to work closely with 33 Arch -- it is a challenge. But there is plenty of the footprint in the garage parcel that 33 Arch does not impact.

I mean if you can slice and dice the Government Center Garage for development, you must be able to work around this cantilever.
 
BeeLine said:
https://flic.kr/p/NXU1eY

https://flic.kr/p/P1pybT
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This is the ground part of the development I'm not liking on this side.
The design is too corporate very LOUD--did not interact with the fabric of Downtown on that side.

I do like the Tower and the Macy's side is coming out nice but this side just looks to corporate---I wish they design the parking valet service in a more simplify design (maybe underground and keep better street interaction with that area)
 
I agree. This side doesn't interact well with the street. Even PABU has really dark windows. I really wish it felt much more open to the street.
 
I'm sure some of that is due to code, but I have a hard time believing that they couldn't have done a better job while still adhering to code. But what do I know? Maybe that was the best possible solution to the problems they needed to solve.
 
cden4 said:
I agree. This side doesn't interact well with the street. Even PABU has really dark windows. I really wish it felt much more open to the street.
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Millennium placed those big ass planters directly in front of the T entrance/exit too to keep pedestrians from using the porte cochere which is supposed to be MIXED USE. The planters effectively wall off their private driveway and force pedestrians from the T to the sidewalk. The only way to walk a straight path to Hawley is to squeeze through the planters.
 
datadyne007 said:
Millennium placed those big ass planters directly in front of the T entrance/exit too to keep pedestrians from using the porte cochere which is supposed to be MIXED USE. The planters effectively wall off their private driveway and force pedestrians from the T to the sidewalk. The only way to walk a straight path to Hawley is to squeeze through the planters.
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True, but they also really effectively block cars, trucks and taxi's!
 
JeffDowntown said:
True, but they also really effectively block cars, trucks and taxi's!
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I'm fine with the ones in the middle of Franklin, but I'm not fine with the ones literally in front of the T entrance. You come up the stairs and are walled in by planters. You can't take the most direct route & freely roam the woonerf down to Hawley. The language of the barriers say "this is only for cars" when actually it's not.
 
datadyne007 said:
I'm fine with the ones in the middle of Franklin, but I'm not fine with the ones literally in front of the T entrance. You come up the stairs and are walled in by planters. You can't take the most direct route & freely roam the woonerf down to Hawley. The language of the barriers say "this is only for cars" when actually it's not.
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Datadyne -- While not a party to the decision -- I'm willing to bet that the planters are there to let pedestrians coming up from the T know that the "straight path" might put them at risk of taxi's and such pulling up to deliver passengers -- its not always ulterior in the motive
 
cden4 said:
I agree. This side doesn't interact well with the street. Even PABU has really dark windows. I really wish it felt much more open to the street.
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Unfortunately, I have to agree after seeing it in person the other day. Windows are not nearly transparent enough. The Franklin St. ground level side is sterile and appears to consists of mostly a lobby. At least on the Franklin St. ground level side this is a downgrade from the old pre-war Filene's building. Even the concrete bunker addition of Filene's on the corner of Franklin and Washington, ugly as it was, had a couple of take out food places and activated the "plaza" better than sheer glass walls.
 
Came across this today through Universal Hub
https://wrongsideofthecamera.com/2016/11/14/a-microcosm-of-the-world/

a couple of excepts from

wrong side of the camera
natalia.radziejewska@wrongsideofthecamera.com

A MICROCOSM OF THE WORLD
Well, its finally done. The Millennium Tower is finally finished in downtown Boston. I know this is news you have eagerly been waiting for. Why is this news up here? Well, I’ll explain in the new few paragraphs....

For seven years, I went downtown everyday for work.....

But downtown was an amazingly interesting place. Downtown Boston when I started working there was like Wall Street. Teeming with people during the week and deserted on the weekends. Just empty. And why would it be full? All it had was jewelry stores and a couple of other things but somehow it just never put itself together to be a city.

Slowly and gradually though while I was in downtown, it started to change drastically. More businesses started to move in. More people came. But there was one big gapping hole. I’m not being philosophical here. There was an actual gapping hole in downtown. Behind the Filene’s building there was a giant gapping home that was never filled. It stood empty for years, but somehow I got the feeling that as downtown started to fill up more, something would happen with the hole. And it did.

...Since I worked in downtown and generally carried my camera with me everywhere I went, I decided to start documenting the progress of the tower. I kept the photos on a little file on my computer waiting for the day I would unleash them on the world.
Well, today is that day. Here ladies and gentlemen is Millennium tower, from nothing to everything. The photos present its growth in chronological order:

boston-millenium-tower-july-18-20141.jpg
...
boston-millenium-tower-august-7-2014.jpg
....
boston-millenium-tower-september-17-2014.jpg
....
boston-millenium-tower-march-16-2015.jpg
...
boston-millenium-tower-july-30-2015.jpg
...
boston-millenium-tower-june-2-20161.jpg
...
boston-millenium-tower-november-12-2016.jpg
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There are quite a few more in the middle -- but this is a good sample
 
That last image is powerful. Thats the most perfect example of what "New Boston" is trying to achieve/become.
 
tangent said:
Exclusive, shiny and full of millionaires up top?
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I meant more starting with the pavers, to the planters, some new trees, to the ground level retail, the steps encouraging pedestrian activity, transit oriented, the blending of old and new capped with a shiny glass tower, and finally adding height, but yes I agree with this. I meant "New Boston" as in transit oriented meshing of old with the new with height added above it, but yes that is basically what it is. Its much better than what was there though. This and Hayward Place have really turned this area around in a couple of years. Oh yea and the "slanty crown" has become a staple of the Boston development menu as of late.
 
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