Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Sicilian is a thoughtful contributor here. Do you mind not being such a smartass?
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

L'Espalier owner: Seaport has 'sucked the wind' out of Boston restaurant scene
Galen Moore, Boston Business Journal

Even as the future of occasion dining in Boston is clouded by Radius' uncertain future and the recent closing of his own Sel de la Terre in the Back Bay, McClelland sounded like he thinks it's the proliferating casual fine dining restaurants that should be concerned.

"Everyone on the street in Boston is hurting to fill seats because too many seats have been built," McClelland said. "The Seaport has sucked the wind out of the city. Are they (Seaport restaurateurs) building a restaurant to be a vacation? No, they're not."
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Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

This is why Menino has focused on robbing Peter to pay Paul. Who do you think was going to suffer with all those proposed tax-breaks to help these developers expand into the Seaport which gained momentum but sacrificed all the successful businesses?

Just like BID for the downtown district. Charge extra taxes for bullshit regulation then issue tax breaks and call it job creation. A total dictatorship from looting from the successful business to enriching their friends.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

^yup the back bay, south end restaurant scenes are totally dead. Nothing is going into DTX or fenway either.

/sarcasm

Do you know what will really support more restaurants.... more housing!
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Are they (Seaport restaurateurs) building a restaurant to be a vacation? No, they're not.
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Wait, what does this even mean in context?
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Arborway said:
Wait, what does this even mean in context?
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The restauranteur was describing L'Espalier as being a place that some patrons save up to dine at for an entire year, making it like a vacation. Also hyped up the service, comparing it to the sweet escape of a vacation.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Well, he should know what things will cost since he's the biggest landlord. Takeaway from this article: It's not realistic to expect any apartments in area for under $1,500.

Seaport District rising but developers say more is needed
By Thomas Grillo, Boston Business Journal

With millions of square feet of new projects including 6,000 apartments on the horizon, Boston’s Seaport District is poised to grow in 2013.

But developers who own property in the Hub’s waterfront section say much more is needed to complete the vision of a 24/7 neighborhood.

“Our goal is to get the retail jumping, that’s what lacking,” said John Hynes, CEO of Boston Global Investors, at a session dubbed “The State of the Seaport District,” a BisNow event at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel on Friday.

Hynes said a groundbreaking is expected this year on a portion of the retail at Seaport Square, the 23-acre neighborhood that is expected to rise from surface parking lots that will eventually include a hotel, apartments and an office building. His company is collaborating with WS Development, the Newton developer best known for so-called lifestyle centers including the Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham and Legacy Place in Dedham, for 400,000 to 500,000 square feet of retail along Seaport Boulevard.

Hynes also noted that Seaport needs a school: public, charter or private if they are to attract families. “Today, the Seaport’s demographic includes yuppies, singles, couples without children and empty nesters,” he said. “But the gap is kids. The one demographic that’s missing are the younger families. There is room here for a school.”

David Greaney, president of Synergy Investments, which owns several office buildings in Seaport, said one of the biggest challenges in the budding neighborhood is finding affordable apartment for people earning $50,000. With rents at $4 per square foot, he noted “These folks will be spending 50 percent of their income just on housing.”

But Hynes said given the land and the construction costs, it is unlikely low cost rents will ever be available in Seaport. “You can’t do brand new construction for less than $500 per square foot,” he said. “So you’re looking at about $3.50 per square foot on a 500-square-foot studio that will still be about $1,500 to $2,000 a month. You’d need subsidies to get lower rents and I’m not sure where that would come from.”
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Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

The day I spend $180 on one dinner is the day that will never happen, one, because it seems ridiculous, and two, because my dear mother would come down from heaven and slap me across the face for being such a fool.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

BussesAin'tTrains said:
The restauranteur was describing L'Espalier as being a place that some patrons save up to dine at for an entire year, making it like a vacation. Also hyped up the service, comparing it to the sweet escape of a vacation.
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*facepalm*

That's what I get for reading before I have coffee.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

If they need people to make retail and other amenities moving forward, why don't they build housing. Hynes is sitting on acres of property and saying i can't do this until there is housing built... SO build the housing you have planned. If he is holding out for better paying office tenants then say so, and don't complain that there isn't enough housing to support the neighborhood. HE is building the neighborhood.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

“These folks will be spending 50 percent of their income just on housing.”
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I think a better measure is to ask what percentage are they spending on housing+transportation?

To someone making $50,000 a year, a $1,500/mo apartment plus monthly MBTA pass is under 50% of their (after-tax) income.

Maybe they can get an equivalent place for $800/mo further out, but if they're spending $1,000/mo on a car and commute, that's less affordable.

That's not addressing lifestyle and such, of course, either way.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

JohnAKeith said:
The day I spend $180 on one dinner is the day that will never happen, one, because it seems ridiculous, and two, because my dear mother would come down from heaven and slap me across the face for being such a fool.
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Whoa, judgmental! Inverted pretension is just as bad or worse than the conventional kind.

Enjoying fine dining is a perfectly acceptable leisure activity/hobby/indulgence. It is no different than spending $180 on a day at Fenway, or a theme park, or a fishing trip.

Try a $100+ meal at Craigie on Main or L'Espalier and when you are done eating your meal you'll eat your words.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

What kind of residential is Hynes building for $500 a sq ft?

Charlesview, including 243 underground parking spaces, costs about $300 a sq ft.

You don't need a new neighborhood school if your residential costs $500 a sq ft to build, because families with kids who need three+ bedroom condos can afford private school at those prices.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Stellar, could the $500psf include land cost?

David Greaney, president of Synergy Investments, which owns several office buildings in Seaport, said one of the biggest challenges in the budding neighborhood is finding affordable apartment for people earning $50,000. With rents at $4 per square foot, he noted “These folks will be spending 50 percent of their income just on housing.”
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This is going to sound bad, but should we expect someone earning $50K to be able to live in a neighborhood that is walking distance to the heart of the city? It's tough to live in the Back Bay earning $50K per year, but people don't seem to be crying about it. I'm all for affordable housing in the city, but maybe new construction in a neighborhood that's a stone's throw from downtown isn't the best place for it.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

AmericanFolkLegend said:
This is going to sound bad, but should we expect someone earning $50K to be able to live in a neighborhood that is walking distance to the heart of the city? It's tough to live in the Back Bay earning $50K per year, but people don't seem to be crying about it. I'm all for affordable housing in the city, but maybe new construction in a neighborhood that's a stone's throw from downtown isn't the best place for it.
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Quite frankly I agree. I just want more housing to relieve overall housing pressures in the city.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Hutchison said:
Quite frankly I agree. I just want more housing to relieve overall housing pressures in the city.
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EXACTLY. As proven by the BRA 15 years ago here.

As for Seaport Square, I see nothing built, just Hynes' parking lots being flipped, enriched from years of public investment in the Seaport and years of BRA approvals for new development rights. These lot-flipping transactions themselves drive up development costs, siphoning margin away from the land and making housing even more difficult.
 
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