Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

SeamusMcFly said:
If I bother to read it... it changes nothing about what I have said above.

Now if you want to keep citing instances of almost 100 years ago, long before labor and material prices got ridiculously out of whack, keep at it. I do love reading about history, even when it has no bearing on current events.
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But Seamus ... The equations don't change just because we chose to use Alucobond instead of stucco ... Since the advent of reinforced concrete and steel frames both effectively about 100 years ago -- only the outside veneer has changed substantially

The challenge of accommodating the desired building program within the budget was just as vexing for Paladio or Bulfinch as for a modern architect, structural engineering, construction management team

For a more modern example just look at all the high=powered star-studded stuff which has been proposed for the open parcels on the Greenway -- to-date Nada but the minuscule Harbor Islands Pavilion has gotten built
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

whighlander said:
But Seamus ... The equations don't change just because we chose to use Alucobond instead of stucco ... Since the advent of reinforced concrete and steel frames both effectively about 100 years ago -- only the outside veneer has changed substantially

The challenge of accommodating the desired building program within the budget was just as vexing for Paladio or Bulfinch as for a modern architect, structural engineering, construction management team

For a more modern example just look at all the high=powered star-studded stuff which has been proposed for the open parcels on the Greenway -- to-date Nada but the minuscule Harbor Islands Pavilion has gotten built
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Not to continue this tangent too much, but the addition of creature comforts such as HVAC systems that didn't really get going until the 1940's added quite a bit to costs. Also, as stated the cost of steel and concrete, although the product today is much the same, has risen well in excess of inflation as well as organized labor costs and benefits. You're comparing apples to stop signs and justifying it because they are both red.

(we can also add telcom, IT, buried parking, and any number of other things that are different today and add to and drive costs up.)
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Residents deliver feedback on new Seaport hotel, apartment plan

Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor-
Boston Business Journal

Local residents packed the Boston Innovation Center Thursday night to vet a Stoughton developer’s plan for more apartments and a new hotel in Boston’s Seaport District.

Consultants for Conroy Development made the case to replace Parcel K, a 2.4-acre parking lot owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the corner of Northern Avenue and Congress Street, with an 11-story apartment building and a 10-story hotel. The hotel, whose operator has not been chosen, would contain 246 rooms, while the adjacent apartment building would contain 304 units.

The development would feature a 150,000-square-foot hotel that would be built on the eastern side of the parcel while the 300,000-square-foot residential building would rise on the western said, a reversal of a previous plan that was opposed by MassPort and former Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The two buildings would include 25,000 square feet of retail space and 16,000 square feet of potential commercial space. The proposal also includes underground parking for 640 cars. Conroy would lease the land from MassPort.

“These buildings will be a marvelous addition to he neighborhood,” said Linda Lucas, a resident and member of the Parcel K Impact Advisory Group, a panel appointed by City Hall to advise the mayor on the development. “I like the softness of the design compared to other buildings in Seaport.”

Vivian Li, president of the Boston Harbor Association, said the development team has made progress to address concerns about potential trucking routes. “The way they have reoriented the building has made it more palatable compared to the original.

Still, Lucas and others disputed an assertion by Jeffrey Dirk, the traffic consultant from Vanasse & Associates, who said the project and its 640-car garage will not have any impact on traffic in the neighborhood. Residents noted that the addition of this new project as well as a host of other developments including “315 on A,” Waterside Place, Pier Four and new headquarters for Vertex Pharmaceuticals and State Street.

“The bridges are not getting any wider to accommodate more traffic,” said one member of the audience.

Jon Seward, a member of the Seaport Alliance for Neighborhood Design, questioned George Tremblay, principal of Arrowstreet Architecture who coordinated the session, why the buildings’ weren’t taller.

“I’m happy to see parking lots become residences,” he said. “But is there some reason why they are not taller and denser?”

Tremblay said the building heights were determined by Federal Aviation Administration restrictions.

Conroy executives Louis Cabral and Terence Conroy attended the session but did not speak. They also declined a request for comment.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2014/01/seaport-likes-apt-hotel-plan.html?page=all

This is a serious problem for the Innovation District.
“The bridges are not getting any wider to accommodate more traffic,” said one member of the audience.

Just poor planning by the BRA-
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

640 car underground parking garage? holy moly.... how stupid is that? It's going to cost $40 million at least for the garage alone, and it'll just jam up the streets with traffic.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Are the building heights really the max the FAA allows? Cuz the neighbor buildings are all a bunch taller...
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Sounded like a cop out answer, where he hoped no one would check him on it.

C'mon who asks why a building isn't taller around here? Nobody has a good canned answer for that.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Matthew said:
640 car underground parking garage? holy moly.... how stupid is that? It's going to cost $40 million at least for the garage alone, and it'll just jam up the streets with traffic.
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It is not ideal, but it is a combination hotel and residential complex. The residential will need some parking, but the hotel needs more.

People coming into the city often have or rent cars. Hotels also host events that require more parking than their room count. You cannot make everyone take the Silver Line.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Okay, if they continue to build parking at that clip then they'll complain about "gridlock" and traffic in the waterfront even more. No winning.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

There must be a net decrease in parking in the Seaport over time, no? The whole thing was a sea of parking lots. I know they are making multi-level garages, but are they really replacing spots one-for-one or creating a net increase?
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

fattony said:
There must be a net decrease in parking in the Seaport over time, no? The whole thing was a sea of parking lots. I know they are making multi-level garages, but are they really replacing spots one-for-one or creating a net increase?
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The Channel Center Garage is TEN stories!
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Ugh, this freagin' NIMBY behavior is so.... Wait, they liked it? My bad.

Is the garage definitely above ground? I think it's underground.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Three levels of underground parking on 2.4 acres creates about 250,000 sq ft of parking, so 640 cars can readily be fit into that space. However, they don't need space for 640 cars for the hotel and residential they plan. It appears that some of those spaces are for people going to events nearby, visiting Liberty Wharf, etc. Most of the 'public' space users will not be crossing the bridges, but using the Ted Williams tunnel and the 'Pike.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

SeamusMcFly said:
Not to continue this tangent too much, but the addition of creature comforts such as HVAC systems that didn't really get going until the 1940's added quite a bit to costs. Also, as stated the cost of steel and concrete, although the product today is much the same, has risen well in excess of inflation as well as organized labor costs and benefits. You're comparing apples to stop signs and justifying it because they are both red.

(we can also add telcom, IT, buried parking, and any number of other things that are different today and add to and drive costs up.)
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Seamus -- Not to endlessly continue this deviation from the thrust of this thread --- BUT Not only have "cost of steel and concrete... risen well in excess of inflation as well as organized labor costs and benefits "

BUT so have land and improved property values -- houses that sold for $4,000 in Lexington in the late 1940's today are tear downs at $400,000 just for the lot -- that is so much beyond the rate of inflation on steel or wood over the past 50 to 60 years that you can't be serious

And with respect to your increase in cost due to technology -- then there is a whole patent office full of inventions and processes that enable buildings today to be constructed faster and cheaper -- including [but hardly limited to]: just-in-time fabrication and delivery, prefabricated structural and finish unit,s and of course the unprecedented impact of information technology with things such as CAD, GPS, GIS, 'Dig-Safe", Push-to-talk on your cel phone, etc.

You are making the analogy that because Stop Signs are red made of metal, and some Apples are red during part of their life-cycle and are mostly water that you can't put both through a shredder and dump the refuse into an electric arc furnace
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Yeah. I'm done. But, you can keep countering points with nonsense and ultimately making my point for me.
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

SeamusMcFly said:
Yeah. I'm done. But, you can keep countering points with nonsense and ultimately making my point for me.
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Seamus -- not to continue this off-top discussion too much more -- but building technology may soon leap forward into the Future with 3D printing of structures

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/3d-printing-could-transform-home-building/
CBS NEWS January 22, 2014, 12: 07 PM
3D printing could transform home building
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Building a 2,500-square-foot house in less than 20 hours? It sounds like a tall tale, but a professor at the University of Southern California says it is absolutely possible. He would toss out traditional building practices and replace them with a single 3D printer.

It's called contour crafting, creator Behrokh Khoshnevis, the director of the manufacturing engineering graduate program USC, tells CBS News.
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0529-ctt-3d-printing-22.jpg
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Vertex To Open Fan Pier Headquarters Next Week

Vertex Pharmaceuticals will officially open its corporate headquarters at Fan Pier on the South Boston waterfront early next week.

The biotechnology company will hold a grand opening on Feb. 4 at 10 a.m. for its new 1.1 million-square-foot facility at 11 Fan Pier Boulevard. Vertex had previously been headquartered in Cambridge at 130 Waverly St.

The new site consists of two buildings which will house all of Vertex's Massachusetts-based employees. The building's state-of-the-art research labs and facilities include a 3,000-square-foot classroom and laboratory space designed for use by Boston Public School students and teachers, as well as community groups.

Vertex moved its headquarters from Cambridge.
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http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news158256.html

Get ready for increase in traffic getting on and off that bridge
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

I'll get ready to read about or hear news stories about people who have alternatives, sitting in their cars on a bridge.

I worked in the neighborhood for 8 years, and took mass transit 90%+ of the time.

It's not difficult. If people choose to sit in traffic. That is their fault and problem.

Boo frikken hoo!!
 
Re: Innovation Dist. / South Boston Seaport

Bridges aren't the only way off the island.

The on-ramp at Congress and B Streets will take you directly to 90 and 93. Points east, west, north and south.
 
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