Nuba ( Parcel 8) | 429 Melnea Cass Blvd | Nubian Sq | Roxbury

Equilibria

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There's a lot here for others to unpack:


Bear in mind that this is just one of three proposals. It's the cover shot because the others aren't as cool (although the Melnea Cass frontage looks pretty flat and bare).

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The three proposals (without going through UHub):

 
The proposal shown above is gorgeous. This lot (between Goodwill and Tropical Foods) has certainly been underused, and I love that something iconic like this would bring something new to a block that includes one of the oldest burial grounds in Boston.
 
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They actually rendered the window curtains (!!!)
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Hard to get renders from this doc, as they're mostly split page/spreads. Overall, this thing looks great.

Construction expected to be completed early 2024.
 
The trees on roofs thing is getting more and more ridiculous.
 
To be clear there are three proposals....

I agree the first proposal (#1) is the most striking and would be a great addition to the area, I'm afraid, knowing Boston, we will be lucky to get a VE'd version of #2.

I have the same fear as well. We'll get #2, and even the first iteration of that will be deemed "too tall."
 
That's ... not even a contest.*

*unless we are factoring in cost to build in which case #1 probably doesn't stand a chance. :(
 
The trees on roofs thing is getting more and more ridiculous.


Ya know, I keep seeing renders with trees on upper floor terraces.

Has anyone ever seen that actually play out once these things are built?????

To me, it seems like developers keep selling unicorns........
 
Yes but it's melnea Cass street interaction. Not sure there's any fixing that road

Not with that attitude!

Anyway, I guess #1 is all wood so that’s cool. I’m still cautiously rooting for #3 for the time being.
 
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The closest I've personally seen to actual roof top trees was this in London, I think about 20 storeys up, completely free and open to the public like a park, really awesome place but even then no real trees just shrubbery and plantings. Wish Boston had something like this though...
 
The closest I've personally seen to actual roof top trees was this in London, I think about 20 storeys up, completely free and open to the public like a park, really awesome place but even then no real trees just shrubbery and plantings. Wish Boston had something like this though...

Closest thing I can think of was a garden on top of a parking garage in Kendall. It connects to the Marriott. I don't even know if it's open anymore due to the surrounding construction.
 

Is this supposed to be made out of wood? If so I changed my mind on it. I don't think buildings over 6 stories tall should be made of wood, regardless of the "technological advances" being touted with this method. I wouldn't feel safe in or around that type of building.

If this is true I'd rather see Option 3. I get that it's bland and whatever but at least it's an appropriate scale and not made of wood.
 
Closest thing I can think of was a garden on top of a parking garage in Kendall. It connects to the Marriott. I don't even know if it's open anymore due to the surrounding construction.

I am not sure if folks are struck by the engineering of the thing, the reality of it it not being VEed, or the utility of it. From an engineering/planning perspective great example of this locally is post office square, the entire park is the roof to a parking garage. That said, I dont think Bosco Verticale (below) is about to happen in Boston anytime soon and am annoyed that the BPDA permits renderings to take such unrealistic liberty.

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For the record I am currently [1] f*ck [2] marry [3] kill.
 

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