Renaissance Seaport Hotel

[Coyote137]

first attempt at posting photos. have a bunch from the last couple weeks, will try and post them over the next couple days.

 

[bostonman]

Boston's first Renaissance hotel expected to open in December 2007

To the sound of bagpipes and drum, a 25-foot-long steel beam, painted white and decorated with a US flag and signatures of steelworkers from Local 7 and others, was raised this morning at the topping-off of the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in South Boston.

Executives from Renaissance Hotels & Resorts and officials from the Massachusetts Port Authority, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and Payton Construction Co. joined workers for the event, one year after ground was broken on the 471-room hotel at D and Congress streets. The Renaissance is expected to open in December 2007.

The hotel, adjacent to the Park Lane Seaport residences and the new Legal Test Kitchen restaurant, will have 21 suites, flat-panel televisions, connections for laptop computers and MP3 players, and wireless Internet access.

The Renaissance Boston Waterfront, designed by The Stubbins Associates of Cambridge and to be operated by Marriott International Inc., will have a seafood restaurant operated by Marriott, a Starbucks, and two ballrooms.

The 21-story hotel, Boston's first Renaissance, will share parking with the nearby residences, apartments, and condominiums that are being completed and now are being occupied.
(By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)

Posted by Boston Globe Business Team at 11:52 AM

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2006/09/bostons_first_r.html

 

[statler]

471-room waterfront hotel gets a steel topping-off

September 29, 2006

To the sound of bagpipes and drum, a 25-foot-long steel beam, painted white and decorated with a US flag and signatures of steelworkers from Local 7 and others, was raised at the topping-off of the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in South Boston. Construction on the 471-room hotel at D and Congress streets began a year ago; it is expected to open in December 2007. The hotel, adjacent to the Park Lane Seaport residences and the Legal Test Kitchen restaurant, will have 21 suites. The hotel, designed by The Stubbins Associates of Cambridge, will be operated by Marriott International Inc. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)

Link

 

[xec]

The Renaissance hotel this afternoon.

The precast panels have made their appearance. Expect the plague to spread to Fan Pier sometime next year.

Looks like a parking garage. Maybe it wil improve once the windows are in.

They just blend one into the other.

 

[briv]

Xec, thanks for the update.

Its a shame the developer decided to cheap out on this buildings skin. Its curving facade could of really went well with Manulife HQ across the street. I mean, look at this:

These two could have been really striking together.

But these materials make me want to yak. The building still has its redeeming qualities, but back when it was just steel you could see its true potential.

 

[gravedigger4444]

From the Tobin Bridge, the area is beginning to have a quite noticeable "skyline".

 

[Mike]

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Holy shit that's ugly. At least this area will be the first to go when global warming increases the sea level.

 

[ablarc]

An inspiring view.

.

 

[riserise]

park lane et al

at least its dense and urban - a minor victory

 

[Joe_Schmoe]

Re: park lane et al

at least its dense and urban - a minor victory

Normally I'd think you were kidding, but I get the sense you're being serious.

Dense and urban:

Suburban office park:

 

[riserise]

density

when the other blocks fill up just as dense - there'll start to be some critical mass. not to say there will be good street life. but the artery will have to be bridged there to connect the neighborhood - er developments - by the convention center. also, the ornamental space in front of the first world trade center office building needs to be developed into a low rise pavilion of active uses to help define the wonderful seaport park there by halvershorn and machado/silvetti

 

[lexicon506]

Ugly or not, riserise is right that it is dense and will only get denser. But you need many more missing elements before you can call the Seaport an urban area.

 

[briv]

These few blocks look like they will have a density comparable to a typical Longwood area block--which is to say, it will be pretty dense. But just because it's dense doesn't mean it succeeds urbanistically, because it has some serious problems--particularly on Park Lane, where this hotel presents a big blank wall. Its pretty bad.

 

[ablarc]

These few blocks look like they will have a density comparable to a typical Longwood area block--which is to say, it will be pretty dense. But just because it's dense doesn't mean it succeeds urbanistically...

Increment of development is way too big.

 

[xec]

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I honestly hope that one day, far into the future, people will look back at the seaport and hold it as an example of a totally post-modern architectural district. These buildings are boring now but I hope that when they are all done they will work together like the warehouses of SoHo or the townhouses of the Back Bay.

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

the problem is that those districts actually have life in them, they're dense and interesting and aren't filled with 70% useless parkland

 

[Joe_Schmoe]

They also don't have 6 lanes of traffic on the streets.

 

[kz1000ps]

I honestly hope that one day, far into the future, people will look back at the seaport and hold it as an example of a totally post-modern architectural district.

I really struggle to see that happening here, but I'd say such a place already exists in MIT's University Park. There's roughly 15 blocks of buildings all built within the last 15 years, and I don't think there's a single street wider than 70 feet. Plus, if it's any sign, I actually enjoy walking around the place, whereas I don't down by the seaport (note how I never have pictures of developments down there).