Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

[Ron Newman]

We'll soon have a test of whether people are willing to visit the Seaport District in winter. The new ICA's grand opening is now scheduled for December 10.

 

[NIMBOB]

Yes, that North End sure is dead in winter without an indoor shopping mall. An indoor mall is hardly the type of place I'd describe as 24/7.

You wouldn't know it by reading this forum, but some people actually like malls. I don't see why an indoor mall can't be one component of a 24/7 neighborhood. I mean, senior citizens have to walk somewhere!

Mall or no mall, setting the North End as the bar for any neighborhood is a waste of time. World-class destinations as unique and historic as the North are not planned. They grow organically, influenced by factors outside the control of urban planners.

People go to the North End in the winter despite its proximity to the harbor. It's that special of a place. Maybe if the seaport district can someday be half that special, it will thrive in the winter without an indoor sanctuary. Easier said than done.

 

[briv]

Mall or no mall, setting the North End as the bar for any neighborhood is a waste of time. World-class destinations as unique and historic as the North are not planned. They grow organically, influenced by factors outside the control of urban planners.

Someone should have told that to Baron Haussmann.

 

[Mike]

Hynes details waterfront plan; mayor is lukewarm

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | December 15, 2006


Developer John B. Hynes III intends to fill the portion of the South Boston Waterfront he owns with blocks of six- to eight-story residential buildings and mid-rise commercial buildings, dotted with parks, shopping opportunities, and possibly a private school.

Hynes, who along with the investment firm Morgan Stanley purchased about 23 acres formerly owned by developer Frank H. McCourt Jr. , also proposed installing a street that would run from Seaport Boulevard uphill to Summer Street.

Hynes said the site would be a third each residential, hotel/retail , and offices . He plans a total of 6.5 million to 7.5 million square feet of development -- compared to about 3 million across the street at Fan Pier. Hynes outlined his plans in a presentation yesterday before a meeting of real estate executives in Boston.

Right now, the former McCourt land is used mostly for parking cars. It is one of three huge development parcels on the waterfront that, after decades of unrequited promise, is finally seeing activity.

Hynes cautioned that he has not yet submitted his plans to Boston city officials, which would be the first official step in a long permitting process.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday gave a somewhat lukewarm response to the development concepts outlined by Hynes, raising an objection to the uses planned there.

"We can't just have office, hotels, and condos," Menino said. "It's got to help create a new economy down there."

Menino himself this week stunned Boston by proposing to move City Hall to 13 acres that the city owns on the waterfront and selling off the old building and 9-acre City Hall Plaza.

Meanwhile, Hynes has his hands full . He is partners with Vornado Realty Trust in the redevelopment of the Filene's department store block at Downtown Crossing, which is expected to get its approvals from the city early next year. And he is partners in the development of a $25 billion from-the-ground-up city of about 10 million square feet in Incheon, South Korea.

Hynes would not elaborate on his plans for the waterfront. The property would have about 30 percent green space, Hynes said, and would include mid-rise towers up to 275 feet high.



Link

 

[briv]

"We can't just have office, hotels, and condos," Menino said. "It's got to help create a new economy down there."

Anybody care to speculate as to what the hell this means? Is he proposing Hynes build factories or something?

 

[Jasonik]

Hopefully he means he wants a "Seaport Village" with a main street retail district, supermarkets, package stores, restaurants, health clubs, dog parks, etc. This could be like the North End if planned properly.

 

[castevens]

He wants something that will bring people who do not live in those mid-rise buildings to the area. A giant statue of Menino should do the trick.

 

[ablarc]

"We can't just have office, hotels, and condos," Menino said. "It's got to help create a new economy down there."

Anybody care to speculate as to what the hell this means? Is he proposing Hynes build factories or something?

Hopefully he means he wants a "Seaport Village" with a main street retail district, supermarkets, package stores, restaurants, health clubs, dog parks, etc. This could be like the North End if planned properly.

In the minds of developers the spirit of zoning continues to drool.

You live or work in one place, you shop in another.

Just like Framingham.



* * *

briv, the Cow says you're actually "brie." Really a riot.

 

[castevens]

Ripped from the other thread:

 

[stellarfun]

New Hotel Approved Next to Convention Center

From the Boston Business Journal March 7

BRA approves 505-room hotel in Seaport
Boston Business Journal - 4:02 PM EST Thursday, March 8, 2007
by Michelle Hillman
Boston Business Journal

The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved a 505-room hotel in the South Boston Seaport District on Thursday.

The project will likely break ground in the next 12 months, said Denis Dowdle, president of Madison Properties, which is developing the hotel. Dowdle bought the sliver of land on Congress Street known as the "sausage parcel" last April from Nstar for $5.6 million.

Dowdle still needs to find a hotel operator and receive final design review before he can break ground. The three-star hotel will include two concepts in one -- short-term and long-term stay rooms -- and provide a much needed moderately-priced lodging,a ccording to a presentation made by the development team. The hotel will contain "sky lobbies" as well as a swimming pool and sundeck.

The parcel of land the hotel will be constructed on is kitty-corner from the World Trade Center West and between B Street and the East Service Road. Described as an island, it is bordered by a Massachusetts Turnpike ramp on its south side and sits in the shadow of a ventilation building for the Ted Williams Tunnel.

 

[stellarfun]

Post moved to Madison Seaport Hotel thread.

 

[briv]

There is an older thread on this project, formerly known as the Madison Seaport Hotel.

 

[Mike]

Hynes readying project for waterfront
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Saturday, May 26, 2007


After months of radio silence, Hub developer John Hynes is readying his first big step toward building out what could the biggest project in the city?s history.

Hynes, chief executive of Gale International, said he will present Mayor Thomas M. Menino with a master plan next month for the buildout of his 24-acre site near Pier 4 and the federal courthouse on South Boston?s waterfront.

The master plan will present a broad vision of what Hynes, Gale, and investment backers Morgan Stanley envision for the key site. And it is likely to kick off a lengthy regulatory review by City Hall.

Overall, Hynes? proposed megadevelopment calls for 6.5 million square feet of office, residential, retail and civic space.

Said Hynes of his plans for the $2.5 billion project dubbed Seaport Square: ?It?s moving.?

The push comes after several months in which Hynes? South Boston venture faded into the background after an aggressive push late last year. Initial development concepts floated by Hynes ran into criticism from City Hall.

But now Hynes and his partners have fine-tuned their plans, hammering out some key details.

Highlights of the plan call for the construction of a small hill to bridge a 125-foot grade change between Seaport Boulevard near the harbor and Summer Street, farther inland. Also in the works: a school and cultural center, two hotels, and millions of square feet of office space and shops. There could be as many as 2,000 housing units as well, he said.

Still, the South Boston project is just one of a number of big endeavors Hynes is juggling.

The developer, son of newscaster Jack Hynes and grandson of former Boston mayor John B. Hynes, is also pursuing two other high-profile projects: the redevelopment of the historic Filene?s complex in Downtown Crossing and the construction of a new city in South Korea.


Link



I think it would be a good idea to change the title of this thread to Seaport Square.

 

[stellarfun]

With all these new hotels being planned for the Seaport area, I am wondering if there are plans afoot to expand the BCEC to the original 2.3 million sq. ft. size. If I remember correctly, some of the basic utility infrastructure was designed and constructed to support a building about a third larger than present. And again, if I remember correctly, the expansion would be accomplished by pushing out the south wall.

 

[Mike]

Hynes unveils $3B plan: Proposal envisions brand new Seaport
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Saturday, June 9, 2007


Windswept parking lots on South Boston?s emerging waterfront would be transformed into a new neighborhood of hotels, shops, theaters, office buildings and enough homes for 5,000 residents, under a proposal unveiled yesterday by a Boston developer.

John Hynes filed his $3 billion Seaport Square proposal with City Hall. The plan calls for 6.5 million square feet of new development to be built over the next six years near Pier 4 and the new federal courthouse - one of the largest new projects ever proposed in Boston.

It is a proposal that dwarfs even the Fan Pier project just across the street on the harbor, a proposal that is not quite 3 million square feet.

The project would create a new neighborhood where 24 acres of parking lots now stand, including:

1.5 million square feet of shops, restaurants and other retail space

1.5 million square feet of office and lab space

2.5 million square feet of residential space

two hotels, schools, colleges and theaters.

Hynes proposal also touts significant public benefits, including roughly eight acres of ?open space,? and a two-acre centerpiece park the size of Copley Square; and 350,000 square-feet of ?green roofs.?

The project would also result in $50 million a year in city real estate taxes. It would create 20,000 permanent jobs, and contribute another $40 million to city housing and job funds. Another $5 million would be donated toward the reconstruction of the Northern Avenue bridge.

Still, the project was met with a note of caution from City Hall. Hynes? proposed school irked Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who?s suggested it would be only for the rich. That may have added friction to a relationship that, some real estate executives believe, was already strained.

?I understand (Menino?s) concerns,? Hynes told the Herald. ?I?m not trying to replace the Boston public schools. He is the CEO of the city of Boston.?

For developers, winning the mayor?s support is seen as crucial for a project?s chances of advancing through City Hall?s lengthy development review process.

?It?s an interesting (idea) and we look forward to seeing more on it,? said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Menino. But, she added of the school idea, which would be targeted at condo buyers: ?We worry it may be a little too elitist. What about the regular kids in the neighborhood. How are they going to benefit from that??

While State Rep. Brian Wallace (D-South Boston) said he is waiting to see the plan himself, he gave Hynes a thumbs up for his bold style. ?I like the guy. He has some guts. He is willing to put his ideas out there,? Wallace said.



Link

 

[czsz]

the project was met with a note of caution from City Hall. Hynes? proposed school irked Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who?s suggested it would be only for the rich.

When the South End and Back Bay were first built, they were entire neighborhoods designed entirely for the rich.

Private schools and universities are probably the primary driving factor of this region's economy and prestige. Their existence helps the area without precluding education for everyone else - is this not obvious?

?We worry it may be a little too elitist. What about the regular kids in the neighborhood. How are they going to benefit from that??

They don't exist. There's nothing but parking now. And when a residential neighborhood is built, its gleaming new waterview condos aren't going to be housing "regular kids".

No one asked what "regular," non contemporary art-aficionados in the asphalt "neighborhood" were "going to benefit" when the ICA opened...

 

[justin]

Class warfare quiz:

Which great political leader said that 'To get rich is glorious'?

justin

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Deng Xiaoping

Don't mess with Google.

 

[ablarc]

Still, the project was met with a note of caution from City Hall. Hynes? proposed school irked Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who?s suggested it would be only for the rich... ?We worry it may be a little too elitist. What about the regular kids in the neighborhood. How are they going to benefit from that??

Another example of Boston's ideological commitment to proletarianism. They should close most shops on Newbury Street.

And Harvard, pestiferous breeding-ground of the elite? How can it be countenanced in Allston? Its future has already been hounded out of Cambridge. Let them eat cake in the Berkshires.

Don't know what to make of Deng Xiaoping, that ol' Commie. I guess what he wanted was rich proles. Come to think of it, so did Karl Marx, the elite prof.

Why are powerful politiciansw so committed to preservation of the working class that they themselves have escaped? Is even the working class committed to it really, as anything but a romantic fancy? Who really wants to see his kid toil a lifetime in the blazing sun? Isn't that why we tolerate Mexican immigration? Who turns down a Harvard scholarship?

Hypocrites.

.

 

[stellarfun]

I read an email blurb from Banker and Tradesman (I dont subscribe so I can't access the entire article) that his honor, the mayor (HHTM), is also fearful that Seaport will siphon off retail and shoppers from downtown.

Its unclear how HHTM defined downtown. I don't recall him voicing similar concern about the retail mega-block going up next door on the Massport parcels.