Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

chumbolly said:
Stellarfun--I realize it is useful to compare the proposed amount of retail to shopping malls because it is easy to peg their size, but that's apples and oranges. Aside from Waterside Place (which I wish would be given a long walk off one of the shorter piers in the area), none of the proposed retail that I am aware of is a mall. It is all ground-floor retail in mixed-use buildings. Would you say there's too much retail n Chinatown?
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I know neither Seaport Square at 1.5 million square feet of retail and Waterside Place at 750,000 sq ft is a mall in the usual sense. But in total, that's a lot of retail if you don't have major anchor tenants or big boxes.

Quincy Market is 217,000 sq ft of retail.

The Time-Warner complex at Columbus Circle is 500,000 sq ft total; with no anchor tenant other than Whole Foods. (There is a 40,000 sq ft health club.) The retail portion is 350,000 sq ft; the remainder is entertainment and stuff for foodies. The largest of the seven restaurants is 13,500 sq ft.

South Street Seaport is 260,000 sq ft retail (gross).

Baltimore's Harbor Place (including the Gallery level) is 284,000 sq ft. retail.

I cite these four examples because the retail is almost entirely smaller stores and shops. And if that's the type of store you envision populating 2.25 million sq ft of space, that's a whole lot of shops.
 
Depending upon what goes in for a hotel, that would be an excellent location for another Sports Club LA which tend to average in the 100,000 square foot region. The problem is, the Sports Club isn't going to waste their time with a Westin or some other anywhere in America brand, but if we could score a much needed Four Seasons, Loew's, Shangri La or even Ritz-Carlton, it would work out great. There's definitely a need for something above average down there.
 
arrowstreet

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the arrowstreet proposal that is being discussed is on the site of Waterside Place. It is a proposal that was rejected. The model is actually in the front offices of Arrowstreet in Davis Square. I think you can actually see the roof of the convention center in the rendering...it is protruding over summer street in the bottom right hand corner.
 
/\ Ok, I can see that.

I actually like Waterside Place. I just wish it had a park on top.

I am not against urban malls, in fact I think they can work really well, especially in an area with as much inclement weather as Boston.
 
^ How do people acquire the wisdom to make such precise and fine-tuned microdecisions (that then acquire the force of law)?

It can't be planning programs or architecture school or field experience that makes them so wise that they can parse building heights with such precision from block to block, 'coz if it were, tyros like me could be right in there with them, confident in rightness and expertise.
 
Wow, that zoning sucks...absolutely no height. I thought they allowed buildings to be a little taller! Damn, the SBW could be so much taller. I wish it was
 
That was so depressing. No pun intended. We could have such a great city, but this damn BRA won't let us. I say, have all of the people on this board, who are able, try and get hired at the BRA.
 
Damn, the SBW could be so much taller. I wish it was

Take it up with the FAA.
 
kennedy said:
I say, have all of the people on this board, who are able, try and get hired at the BRA.
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Being a low level employee at the BRA won't change shit. It has to come from the top. Who here wants to run for Mayor?

I would but I ain't old enough or politically connected enough.
 
well then we could be high level employees. im sure there are a few of us who are mit/harvard grads
 
A billboard up on Broad St.

img0912pw5.jpg
 
Seriously, how much could it possibly cost to have those buildings different colors?!
 
So the I.C.A. really will be boxed in? I thought they'd want to use the land for expansion. Also, I see no parking. Are they really going from too much parking to not enough?
 
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