new FBI Boston headquaters

Up in the air ....

The irony of the Palandjian connection is not lost on me! Ha ha!

When I first thought about this, I thought it was a stupid idea. Based on what I've read in the RFP (meaning, one sentence ...) it sounds as though the FBI needs too much space and has too many requirements to be able to build something appropriate in an area that we are trying to build out for the benefit of everyone.

Why does the FBI think they should be located on one of the most prominent pieces of real estate in the city? Why does the Mayor feel this way? What possible benefit is there to anyone but the people who work in that building?

Having said that, if everyone is arrogant enough that they feel the need to put the headquarters down there, then it seems as though that location on D Street is much preferred to any other parcel in the area. It's out of the way, it's remote, but it's accessible by car, taxi, and public transportation.

The courthouse seems to have ended up fitting in okay with the area - do people agree? Yes, I'd much prefer it be a multi-use development which encouraged people to come and hang out. It could've been much worse however.

Thoughts?
 
Isn't there plenty of room for this in Waltham, Burlington, or Framingham?
 
Hmmm lol
i don't know about this
i mean it would make me feel safer, and i don't think it would make the area seem that gloomy or bad
D Street is a good location for this, and south Boston is a huge development spot, so i can see why the FBI would want an HQ hear in Boston
 
and also does anyone know if they have a planned height yet, and what it is?
 
TheBostonBoy said:
Hmmm lol
i don't know about this
i mean it would make me feel safer....
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It would make you feel safer? There's a reason the FBI just spent a bunch of money to harden their building security. Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, federal buildings, especially those involved in federal law enforcement, have been viewed as potential terrorist targets. That's why the portion of Dewey Square fronting the Federal Reserve building looks like the Maginot Line, though hopefully the Fed's fortification's would be more effective. The threat to any particular federal building may be remote, but clearly the FBI thinks it's significant. I'm with Ron on this one--move the headquarters to the 'burbs.
 
Ron Newman said:
Isn't there plenty of room for this in Waltham, Burlington, or Framingham?
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there isnt that much difference between waltham, framingham and worcestor by the sea(errr,,,uh south boston waterfront). So why not D street.
 
Isn't there plenty of room for this in Waltham, Burlington, or Framingham?
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I highly doubt that the FBI would ever even consider having there headquaters anywhere other than in a major city other than the DC area
 
Arch21 is right, the FBI won't put themselves in an area that isn't well known. They want to be in prominent areas (major urban areas). Why Boston is so much better than Framingham I have no idea. It's just the way it is.
 
bosman said:
Arch21 is right, the FBI won't put themselves in an area that isn't well known. They want to be in prominent areas (major urban areas).
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Fine then, let them 'serve' New England from New York City. That's as close as they need to be to us.
 
Whatever, when I said i would feel safer, it's because a huge federal organization would be right near me, which kinda makes me feel safer. If their was a terrorist attack or whatever I believe that having the FBI closer would be better, and more effective so whatever.

Besides I know how some these federal organizations work, since my uncle, Mark Sullivan, is the Director of the Secret Service
 
TheBostonBoy said:
Whatever, when I said i would feel safer, it's because a huge federal organization would be right near me, which kinda makes me feel safer.
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Really? The further away they are from me, the safer I'll feel. Especially considering their role in the Whitey Bulger affair.
 
ahhhh whatever
maybe the FBI has brainwashed me to want it their! I dont know!
:shock:
 
Ron Newman said:
Really? The further away they are from me, the safer I'll feel.
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Is this your general sentiment toward all law enforcement, or just the Feds? Just curious. The Somerville cops were pretty plugged in with the Winter Hill gang as well.

Ron Newman said:
Especially considering their role in the Whitey Bulger affair.
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The Boston Field-Office has a lot to answer for (lots more than they have), but your persistent assertion that the FBI shouldn't maintain a Field-Office in Boston-proper is at best intellectually dishonest. I'm no fan of the IRS, the FAA, or folks at the Dept. of Ed. responsible for the byzantine bureaucracy surrounding the repayment of student loans -- should these agencies also move out of town?
 
I think that the real distaste for the FBI doesn't have to do with them actually coming to Boston, but it is where they are trying to be located. The South Boston Waterfront is an area of Boston that is trying to become the next big hotspot for shopping, dining, and tourism in the city. An FBI office doesn't really do much to help that cause. Granted, it will bring a ton of jobs to that area, but that's about it. If the FBI wanted to move into another section of the city, I hardly think that there would be as much protest.

That's just my read on it.
 
from today's Boston Herald
Builders line up for FBI complex
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Updated: 06:33 AM EST

As many as a dozen developers across Boston are competing to build the FBI a new, roughly $100 million Boston headquarters, executives familiar with the bureau?s search said.
FBI officials have inspected various development sites and are now preparing to narrow down the field as they search for a location that meets extensive security needs, said Timothy Pappas, chief executive of Pappas Enterprises, which is among those competing.
In the running are a number of developers with land in South Boston, both in the general vicinity of the city?s new $800 million-plus convention center and directly on the waterfront at the Fan Pier development site.
A finalist could be in place by this fall. The FBI has indicated it wants to move into a new, roughly 300,000-square-foot Boston command complex in 2010, executives said. ?Everybody who has got five acres will probably throw their hat in the ring,? Pappas said.?A lease with the federal government is a pretty good lease to have.?
Pappas, which has done extensive residential development in the neighborhood, has submitted a site on Summer Street near the Fargo building now occupied by a pair of industrial buildings.
John Drew, a veteran waterfront developer who teamed up with Fidelity Investments to build out the World Trade Center complex, has also submitted a site, he said. That site is on Summer Street, not far from the convention center.
And Peter Palandjian, head of Intercontinential Real Estate, has put into the mix his own site on D Street, just across from the new convention center.
Also in the running: a site in Andrew Square, where a junkyard now stands, and another location in Charlestown, executives said.
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There was an interesting story out of Cleveland several days ago, where Federal judges are threatening to move the Federal courthouse if the city of Cleveland builds a parking garage abutting it. The judges cite the threat of a terrorist attack using the parking garage.
 
Federal offices don't pay taxes -- another good reason not to locate them on prime waterfront property.
 
Ron Newman said:
Federal offices don't pay taxes -- another good reason not to locate them on prime waterfront property.
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Right, but isn't it likely that the Feds won't own the building, and will instead lease it from the developer? In that case the property would be taxed?
 
In the article, it does say that the FBI would be leasing the property from the developer of whatever site that they choose. So, LeTaureau is correct here.
 
Winnowing down the number of potential sites?
FBI may seek move to S. Boston

Bureau considering Postal Service land

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | January 11, 2008


Local Federal Bureau of Investigation officials are considering relocating the agency's Boston office from downtown to a new facility along A Street in the emerging Fort Point Channel area, using land now owned by the United States Postal Service.


The FBI, with headquarters now at One Center Plaza, is seeking 270,000 square feet of highly secure space and has been scouting the city for almost a year.


Last year, the postal service said it plans to move its massive Dorchester Avenue distribution center along the Fort Point Channel near South Station to Summer Street in South Boston. It would also give up a large block of acreage on A Street, now used mostly for parking.


In the last month, the FBI extended its lease at One Center Plaza, across from City Hall, for 3 1/2 years, to give the agency and its real estate partner, the General Services Administration, time to find a location, engage a developer, and build a new home.


"We're in the process of getting a new building," Gail A. Marcinkiewicz, FBI public affairs coordinator, said. She said she believes a site has not been selected.


The General Services Administration would not say whether it is focusing on one location, following its request last March for proposals from developers for sites. "We can't say anything about the specifics," said Paula M. Santangelo, public affairs officer for the New England region. "We're working with the FBI to evaluate the locations that were identified to us. We've got several interested parties."


But according to a city planner and local developer who could be involved in the project, the FBI is zeroing in on a portion of a 22-acre lot owned by the Postal Service between the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and Fort Point Channel.


Though the deal is not done, the FBI offices could also include about 2 acres of privately owned land now used for parking at the southern end of the former warehouse buildings known as Channel Center. Those parcels are approved for 620,000 square feet of office space in two buildings, under permits secured by the land's former owners, Beacon Capital Partners LLC.


The current owner of Channel Center is Commonwealth Ventures LLC of Southport, Conn. Richard Galvin, president of Commonwealth Ventures, said yesterday that he had spoken to the FBI last June and again recently when it expressed interest in the area.
"They asked us to submit something," he said. "I really can't say anything. Their process is going along."


Galvin could develop the site for the FBI and has hired R.F. Walsh Co., a business run by former Boston Redevelopment Authority director Robert Walsh, as a consultant on the continuing redevelopment of the Channel Center buildings.


Both the city's planner and the local developer, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak for the bureau, said the combination of the Postal Service land and the Channel Center site could provide enough space for a headquarters as well as setbacks from publicly accessible areas that are needed for security.


The land is bounded on the east by the Haul Road, which is restricted to commercial traffic, and the convention center.


A move by the FBI to the Fort Point Channel area could help accelerate development of a new neighborhood. In 2006 the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved a master plan for the area that called for residential, retail, commercial, and office development, along with more than 11 acres of parks. Under the plan, buildings would range from low-rise structures to a small number of towers rising 180 feet. About 4 million square feet of development is currently envisioned.
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http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2008/01/11/fbi_may_seek_move_to_s_boston/
 
is it just me or is that bad news? i thought something good was going to go up near south station
 
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