NEMA Boston | 399 Congress St. | Seaport

Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

BostonDrew said:
Per the Herald article, "The company is scheduled to review its plans with the Fort Point Neighborhood Association on Tuesday. Stantec is the project architect." http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2017/02/new_life_for_sausage_lot

We should be getting a glimpse of what the new design will look like pretty soon!
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Heh, Stantec kept the project! (Was originally ADD Inc's and they were bought by Stantec)
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

it looks like the original design was x-rayed, for better or worse
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

The twitter owner seemed to complain about the new exterior not getting a public review. If the the new render is on the right, it was an improvement, IMO.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Czervik.Construction said:
The twitter owner seemed to complain about the new exterior not getting a public review. If the the new render is on the right, it was an improvement, IMO.
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He is very critical of all BPDA approvals and actions, especially with Seaport Planning: shadows, open space, lack in the # of architects designing in the Seaport, bland designs, etc.

I agree with what you said though. This looks like an improvement... a little concerned with the white precast. If that precast was like the original facade with good materials with good textures this would be great, IMO.
 
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Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

I think its an improvement. Old design was very 2006. New one is very 2012.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

CSTH said:
I think its an improvement. Old design was very 2006. New one is very 2012.
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One of my least favorite ADD Inc. buildings is Pier 4. This new iteration is essentially a rearranged Pier 4. Awful white precast & dark black glass. One of my favorite ADD Inc. buildings is 319A which has a lovely sense of material & color, as the previous iteration of 399 Congress had. Loved that orangey-yellow gridded facade (like 319A) with the shades of blue panels on the end. We've got to start embracing color in our architecture ala 319A, Channel Center & the MCAD Treehouse.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

CSTH said:
I think its an improvement. Old design was very 2006. New one is very 2012.
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That white precast screams 2006.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Well I never liked the randomly scattered rectangles of color thing, so I say it's an improvement based on that.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

datadyne007 said:
One of my least favorite ADD Inc. buildings is Pier 4. This new iteration is essentially a rearranged Pier 4. Awful white precast & dark black glass. One of my favorite ADD Inc. buildings is 319A which has a lovely sense of material & color, as the previous iteration of 399 Congress had. Loved that orangey-yellow gridded facade (like 319A) with the shades of blue panels on the end. We've got to start embracing color in our architecture ala 319A, Channel Center & the MCAD Treehouse.
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I always find the white precast to look god awful against the very common Boston overcast sky. Some color really does help.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

datadyne007 said:
One of my least favorite ADD Inc. buildings is Pier 4. This new iteration is essentially a rearranged Pier 4. Awful white precast & dark black glass. One of my favorite ADD Inc. buildings is 319A which has a lovely sense of material & color, as the previous iteration of 399 Congress had. Loved that orangey-yellow gridded facade (like 319A) with the shades of blue panels on the end. We've got to start embracing color in our architecture ala 319A, Channel Center & the MCAD Treehouse.
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The previous design looked a little like the Grand Marc Residence Hall at Northeastern. I agree that the new design looks a lot like Pier 4/Waterside Place/Avalon North Station with the white precast. I'm not sure if a more textured precast, like One Greenway or the Mosaic on the Riverway condos, would help redeem a building like this.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Honestly, it's not the best but it is a bit consistent with Pier 4....and ANYTHING is better than what's there now. A windswept area of nothing.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

I actually like Pier 4. Aside from the material, but it just sets apart from the other 99% of glass boxes in the area. The Goodwin building might be the most boring building ever built in Boston. Literally a perfect square of glass. I'll take the Pier 4 look 100/100 times over that horrible looking box.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Spoke with someone who works for JMA. This project should be getting started very soon.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Good, this is such a dead part of the Seaport...
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

datadyne007 said:
One of my least favorite ADD Inc. buildings is Pier 4. This new iteration is essentially a rearranged Pier 4. Awful white precast & dark black glass. One of my favorite ADD Inc. buildings is 319A which has a lovely sense of material & color, as the previous iteration of 399 Congress had. Loved that orangey-yellow gridded facade (like 319A) with the shades of blue panels on the end. We've got to start embracing color in our architecture ala 319A, Channel Center & the MCAD Treehouse.
Click to expand...

I'm all for embracing some color and for interesting architecture, but strongly feel that had the developer went with the original design, it would have ended up like one of the buildings in Cambridge with the random rectangle motif and multi-colored panels. And that would not be a good thing, at least in my opinion.
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

promising development: core sample rig in proximity to this parcel. my guess is prep work for running utilities here
 
Re: Residences at 399 Congress St (formerly Madison Seaport Hotel)

Construction mobilization has begun. Banker & Tradesman has an article. Foundation work commences this month with a completion date of Fall 2019. The Developer has set up a website.
 
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