Seaport Idea

[stick n move]

I was blankly staring at pictures of the seaport wondering what the "it" is that it needs, that also fit within the height restrictions and I had an interesting idea. Most of Boston and the seaport especially seeing how it was train yards, was missed by the art deco or really any older styles of architecture other than a select few buildings. I really liked how Liberty Mutual brought the feeling of that back while still being unique. It is a short tower but it has had a lot of impact on that area. I feel that if we can get a few Liberty Mutual style buildings to mix into the seaport with the glass that is going up now, mixed with the fort point brick buildings I think that could really make a nice mix of architecture there.

 

[JeffDowntown]

I was blankly staring at pictures of the seaport wondering what the "it" is that it needs, that also fit within the height restrictions and I had an interesting idea. Most of Boston and the seaport especially seeing how it was train yards, was missed by the art deco or really any older styles of architecture other than a select few buildings. I really liked how Liberty Mutual brought the feeling of that back while still being unique. It is a short tower but it has had a lot of impact on that area. I feel that if we can get a few Liberty Mutual style buildings to mix into the seaport with the glass that is going up now, mixed with the fort point brick buildings I think that could really make a nice mix of architecture there.

To get this you will need an owner occupied building. No developer building, even for a prominent tenant will survive the value engineering to get the Liberty Mutual effect. That building is high quality construction for a company that plans to occupy it for a century.

 

[Shepard]

that plans to occupy it for a century

And, to complicate things further, the number of companies planning on doing this is not growing. Of the Fortune 500 companies in the year 2000, more than half don't exist anymore today. That's the new reality of things. Industries are no longer stable, and businesses are about as flimsy as the office towers we build.

 

[cozzyd]

You probably need an institutional building. The University of Chicago Business School has a building in downtown Chicago (http://www.gleachercenter.com/) for ... I'm not sure why... but perhaps HBS might be interested in something like that.

 

[stick n move]

I think this is where the BRA can step in an not just approve every POS idea that gets thrown at them. They need to come up with a plan and not just let whatever happens happen. If they refuse to accept these budget buildings the developers wont have a choice. This is a hot real estate market and someone is going to buy.

 

[cbrett]

I think this is where the BRA can step in an not just approve every POS idea that gets thrown at them. They need to come up with a plan and not just let whatever happens happen. If they refuse to accept these budget buildings the developers wont have a choice. This is a hot real estate market and someone is going to buy.

Exactly, there needs to be more oversight on what gets built and what doesn't. The question is how do they quantify a "unique" building and support their development without outright designing the thing themselves.