MXD II (Google Kendall) | 325 Main St. | Kendall Square | Cambridge

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Massey Glass
 
...or you could just go through the hotel. Why not show that on the map? Is it not open all business hours?

FWIW, I believe that BXP half-heartedly "committed" to having the COOP back in the new building. I can't imagine a student store being thrilled that they aren't in view of the campus (not to mention that after looking at pictures of the temporary space, it's all-basement, low ceilings... not very nice. Big sign out front, though).

https://thetech.com/2019/02/14/mit-coop-moving

The COOP will have to occupy a smaller space at its new location, but will offer the same textbooks, supplies, and insignia, Jeremiah P. Murphy, Jr., president of the Harvard Cooperative Society, wrote in an email to The Tech. There will be a reduction in non-academic goods; the COOP is also considering shifting course textbook purchases to an online platform.
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Google is still using the top floor, but should be out in the next few weeks.
 
The building is now in the hands of the contractor for early demo work. The sidewalk in front of the building is closed for the duration.
 
Boston02124 said:
Why is Cambridge following Boston’s seaport, everything is the same hieght and flat tops .If any city needed a signature tower with a distinctive crown Cambridge is it IMO
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Considering how desirable Kendall is and how no one can get enough residential/commercial/lab space there their only option is to build up and they just aren't doing it.
 
Jouhou said:
Considering how desirable Kendall is and how no one can get enough residential/commercial/lab space there their only option is to build up and they just aren't doing it.
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MXDII residential building is ~400 feet and the Volpe site could host a 500 foot tower.
 
Brookline-ish said:
MXDII residential building is ~400 feet and the Volpe site could host a 500 foot tower.
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And they should be pushing FAA limits with how hot that area is right now. I'm not saying that out of height fetishism, but rather I'm noting they are not maximizing density here like they should be. Instead they're going to artificially limit floor space and send costs skyrocketing anywhere along the red line. It's stupid.
They're only running up against zoning and NIMBYs here, nothing else.
 
Instead they're going to artificially limit floor space and send costs skyrocketing anywhere along the red line. It's stupid.
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Proceeding exactly as intended.

The government is not your friend people. Governments work for the people who scream loudest, vote consistently, and throw money around... that tends to be land owners and entrenched interests.
 
Building tall also doesn't just necessarily mean a project will make more money. Scaling buildings upward is hard and there is no guarantee tenants can be found for upper floor commercial or residential space.
 
meddlepal said:
Proceeding exactly as intended.

The government is not your friend people. Governments work for the people who scream loudest, vote consistently, and throw money around... that tends to be land owners and entrenched interests.
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YIMBYs need to place more of an emphasis on running for local government positions and pooling their money to buy off politicians for their selves. The people buying off their own politicians is starting to make headway on the national level, maybe it should be applied to the local level as well.

I'm kind of mad about NIMBYs right now because where I live a few years ago they killed off some desperately needed residential development. Just recently on the same parcel the planning board approved on the same parcel a 4 story commercial building with NO opposition. I'm angry as hell at these selfish mofos, but I also recognize that there is a shortage of commercial space in prime spots and it's forcing commercial development in places that desperately need residential. Hence why I believe they should maximize both commercial and residential density in hot spots like Kendall - I understand lab buildings are limited in height, so where it isn't lab space, go as tall and dense as possible ffs.
 
I understand lab buildings are limited in height, so where it isn't lab space, go as tall and dense as possible ffs.
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That wasn't really my point. Yes lab buildings are hard to scale, but also going taller costs more money which raises the per sq. ft rental price for tenants. If you go to high in cost then those potential tenants start to look elsewhere either in other existing buildings or they just decide to build their own and have it exactly built to their spec.
 
meddlepal said:
That wasn't really my point. Yes lab buildings are hard to scale, but also going taller costs more money which raises the per sq. ft rental price for tenants. If you go to high in cost then those potential tenants start to look elsewhere either in other existing buildings or they just decide to build their own and have it exactly built to their spec.
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You'd have a point with residential but considering Kendall is more desirable than Boston proper for locating a business I'm pretty sure more expensive commercial space in a tall tower here will have no issue getting leased quickly.
 
At this point in time, I keep reading that Kendall Class A is going for higher per square footage than anywhere else in the US outside of areas of Manhattan. Even if this isn't entirely accurate, it's safe to assume demand is strong enough to fill basically any height tower Cambridge would approve here.
 
The tenant profile in Kendall is significantly different and weaker than Manhattan. Mostly tech and biotech. Not much in terms of legal, finance, consulting, or advertising agencies. Those companies can pass on the costs of their location to the clients. Biotech prefers building their own stuff, and we have no tech companies with the size of say SalesForce in Boston.
 
meddlepal said:
The tenant profile in Kendall is significantly different and weaker than Manhattan. Mostly tech and biotech. Not much in terms of legal, finance, consulting, or advertising agencies. Those companies can pass on the costs of their location to the clients. Biotech prefers building their own stuff, and we have no tech companies with the size of say SalesForce in Boston.
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Are you requiring they be headquartered here? That's silly. Every tech major is making a presence of some sort here (except I guess salesforce). Boston proper is not actually all that weak at all in the "finance" sector, but those businesses have no desire to locate to kendall.

Biotech builds their own because of the whole lab space thing...
 
meddlepal said:
The tenant profile in Kendall is significantly different and weaker than Manhattan. Mostly tech and biotech. Not much in terms of legal, finance, consulting, or advertising agencies. Those companies can pass on the costs of their location to the clients. Biotech prefers building their own stuff, and we have no tech companies with the size of say SalesForce in Boston.
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Tech companies spend silly on space because they're using venture capital. I don't think that's all that different than passing costs to clients.
 
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