Radian (Dainty Dot) | 120 Kingston Street | Chinatown

Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

RIP, Dainty Dot!
Looking ahead, this pic got me thinking, I seem to remember that the new building is gonna have some sort of 'waterfall or waterfeature' spilling out of wall behind this fountain? Is that true? And...really nice pic, GMACK! Beautiful, actually!
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

never even knew that fountain was there!
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

I didn't know it was there either. Wow. Really beautiful scene.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

Im sure youve all actually seen the fountain, you just didnt recognize it without the graffiti and billboards behind it.

http://goo.gl/maps/dmsqF
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

It looks like the Dainty Dot tower is officially under construction. Pile Driver and crane on site working today.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

itchy said:
Great! A historic, beautiful building made of valuable, quality materials and in excellent condition has been turned into a few errant bricks and dust.

Now how long before this vacant lot becomes a parking lot after the developer fails to find funding?
Click to expand...

Well atleast this didnt happen. The design sucks but they are really moving on the project.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

The night views show some semblance of a lighting scheme.

overallview3.jpg


overallview2fix.jpg
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

I agree those renders are impressive, but whoever designed those bottom floors is a monster.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

Work begins on $130M apartment tower on Greenway
By Greg Turner
Friday, September 21, 2012

Another apartment project is breaking ground in Boston.

A development team and city officials today will kick off construction of a 26-story tower with 240 units at 120 Kingston St., site of the Dainty Dot building at the intersection of Chinatown and the Financial and Leather districts.

“The building curves with the Greenway, so it will become part of the fabric of the city,” said Frank Wuest, president of developer Forest City Enterprises’ Boston office.

The Cleveland company is teaming up on the $130 million venture with Swampscott’s Hudson Group North America, led by Ori Ron, that bought the site in 2006.

A restaurant that will spill out onto a large patio “is really going to activate and enhance the pedestrian experience,” said Ron’s son Noam.

The 121-year-old Dainty Dot, deemed unworthy of historic preservation, was demolished earlier this year. Suffolk Construction will build the tower, finishing in mid-2014.

“I think it’s at a great intersection of the city, in place of a building that was tired and old,” said Greg Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “That part of the Greenway is not as inviting, so this will really help the whole Chinatown area.”

Several large apartment projects have broken ground across Boston in recent months, mostly in the Seaport where the 236-unit Waterside Place, 202-unit Boston Wharf Tower and 369-unit Pier 4 tower are on the way.


Link
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

“The building curves with the Greenway, so it will become part of the fabric of the city,” said Frank Wuest, president of developer Forest City Enterprises’ Boston office.

Apparently this is all it takes to become part of the fabric of the city. I'm glad Mr. Wuest put this into words so now it can really become true. Like describing some half-hearted intent for a development will imbue the building with these qualities. Will the general populace not have the reasoning abilities to see that this is hardly the case?

Someday maybe this building can be deemed unworthy of historic preservation.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

“The building curves with the Greenway, so it will become part of the fabric of the city,” said Frank Wuest, president of developer Forest City Enterprises’ Boston office.
Click to expand...

Sir, your logic is flawless.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

FWIW, It looks like they are holding the groundbreaking ceremony this morning in Chinatown Park.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

Looks a little like a big backyard bug zapper.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

Apparently "be part of the fabric of the city" =! maintaining existing urban fabric, integrating ground floors with surrounding streets, or otherwise at all orienting your development toward anything other than a massive new intervention in the cityscape that itself only very awkwardly fits in with its surroundings.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

In today's Metro paper, copied from online:

Forest City Boston brings the city together
CHRISTINA WALLACE
BOSTON
Published: October 16, 2012 5:05 p.m.
Last modified: October 16, 2012 5:08 p.m.

Construction has begun on a 26-story residential tower on the border of Chinatown and the Leather District, eventually adding 240 additional rental units to the blossoming Boston residential market.
The project, at 120 Kingston Street, is located on the Rose Kennedy Greenway and will also include a restaurant with outdoor seating, according to Frank Wuest, president of Forest City Boston, which is developing the project along with Hudson Group North America.

The current site is an abandoned lot, and Wuest says that the development will bring pedestrian traffic and vibrant activity to the area.

"It will bring together three adjacent neighborhoods: the Financial District, Chinatown and the Leather District," says Wuest. "We hope it will bring a lot of life to the street."

The rental units will include 18 studios, 175 one-bedroom units, 43 two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units. The building will also include garage parking and boutique-hotel amenities, Wuest says.

As part of the deal, the developers deeded four parcels of land to the Chinese Economic Development Council for the construction of 48 affordable housing units at Oxford Ping On in Chinatown.

The tower, which will be constructed of granite, concrete and convex radius glass, is expected to be complete in two years.




My letter (which will hopefully be published):

letters@metro.us
CC: christina.wallace@metro.us

Letter to the Editor -- Re: Bringing the city together

Re: Bringing the city together (Wednesday, 10/17 edition)

I'd like to note the blatant lie in the article in regards to the new 120 Kingston St project. The developer supposedly went on record saying the construction site was a vacant lot. This could not be further from the truth: the site is where the former Dainty Dot building stood until just weeks ago. Erected in the late 1800s, Dainty Dot and its beautifully detailed facade was not allowed to be saved and incorporated into the project per order of the incompetent Boston Redevelopment Authority. While it is great to see this new development, it came at the expense of an amazing building. Lets not forget that!

Sincerely,
A.P. Blake
Boston, MA


You guys should probably send letters, too, just to add some validity to it. It takes two seconds to make sure the building didn't go down without acknowledgement. I just found it appalling that the developer would go on record with such a blatant lie. I'd rather he not acknowledge the site than claim it was an empty lot.
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

While I certainly am devastated about the loss of the Dainty Dot, I don't think the developer actually lied. This is about semantics. Wasn't the Dainty Dot an abandoned building? That qualifies as "abandoned lot" as there was no activity on the lot or inside the building at all. Your letter is inherently flawed and invalid the moment you switch "abandoned" with the word "vacant." The developer never said the lot was vacant.

Abandoned /= Vacant
 
Re: 120 Kingston, 29 Story Tower in Chinatown

Doesn't lot imply an undeveloped parcel of land? He didn't even say abandoned structure or abandoned building. Just a lot.

And to what extent was it 'abandoned' anyway? They own it. If anything it was "a building is disrepair." I just feel like they're trying to downplay the whole thing for whatever reason.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top