Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

palindrome said:
just picking hairs here, but Menino was adamantly against the private school if i remember correctly.
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Retracted. Thanks for setting the record correct. That's what happens when I collect scattered impressions of info from the blogosphere...
 
The issue is not whether a hotel makes more sense than educational/cultural space, or whether Menino thought that the educational component of the project was consistent with the larger approvals.

The issue is that the project has been moving through approvals for upwards of 3 years and we are in the final months of approvals at State level.

In the 11th hour, all major land use changes are being made in the State filing, while the media is focusing on minor elements (34 housing units, etc.). The PR effort on the educational piece was debated in the Globe over multiple articles a few years ago. That school was NEVER going to be in the final project. NEVER.

This is the same for Atlantic Wharf and Fan Pier, where 11th hour land use changes were made despite years of so-called Master Planning and public relations spin regarding civic, cultural and other amenities.

One day a building is approved residential. The next day it is developed as an office space. One day a building is approved as a school. The next day it is developed as a hotel.

We do not have even a semblance of a planning agency.
 
^Ron Newman

The church in your image, Our Lady of Good Voyage, is to be demolished in Seaport Square Phase One, and a new church reconstructed on a different site, closer to Fort Point.
 
Rising tide for Seaport
Hynes scheme foresees homes, church, parks, visitor center
By Thomas Grillo / New Frontiers: Seaport District
Thursday, August 19, 2010


It has been called Boston?s new Back Bay.

Seaport Square, a plan to transform 23 acres of parking lots on the city?s waterfront into a neighborhood of homes, offices, retail, theaters and green space, is expected to take the next giant step forward next month when the Boston Redevelopment Authority approves a master plan for the project.

?What the Back Bay did at the turn of the century is being repeated at the turn of this century at Seaport Square,? said John Hynes, chief executive of Boston Global Investors, the lead developer in the project. ?It will generate interest from new businesses and people who want waterfront live-work space and create opportunities for entrepreneurs.?

When completed over the next decade by Boston Global Investors, Morgan Stanley and W/S Development Associates, Seaport Square will consist of 20 new blocks bounded by Northern Avenue, Seaport Boulevard and Congress and Summer streets.

A series of yet-to-be-named streets define the 6.3-million-square-foot development. The first block near Old Sleeper Street will provide a visitors center. Seaport Square Green, a 1.25-acre park, will be planted between Old Northern Avenue and Seaport Boulevard.

A cultural corridor is set for Summer Street to Seaport Boulevard connecting to Harbor Street, a new boulevard featuring a performing arts center and 5,000 square feet of exhibition space. The plan for a private school was eliminated after the idea ran afoul of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who insisted that if any school were to be built in Seaport, it should be public.

Another park, dubbed Seaport Hill Green, will slope toward the waterfront, connecting Congress Street and Boston Wharf Road, and offer a sculpture garden.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Voyage on Northern Avenue will be demolished to make way for housing, but will be rebuilt nearby.

Proposed uses include residences, offices, shops, restaurants, two hotels, a Catholic Church and a theater in 22 buildings surrounded by 6.5 acres of green space and the MBTA?s Silver Line with more than 6,000 underground parking spaces.

Like many of Boston?s neighborhoods, Seaport Square will consist mostly of housing. While final numbers have not been determined, Hynes expects to offer 2,500 units with a mix of affordable and luxury housing ranging from four-story townhouses to 20-story towers. Offices will come later as demand increases, he said.

The first phase, an eight-story building with 38 residences and two floors of retail, won city approval in 2008 and is expected to break ground next year. Like the city?s other major developments, financing will depend on demand and whether lenders open their wallets.

Earlier this week, Seaport Square cleared a major hurdle by gaining approval from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, said Seaport Square, along with Fan Pier - Joseph Fallon?s planned $3 billion, nine-block project - and Waterside Place, which could break ground next year with apartments and a supermarket, will create the city?s newest neighborhood.

?When these three projects are combined, Seaport Square becomes a more robust neighborhood because it will have enough people to patronize a supermarket, boutiques and restaurants,? she said.

?Hynes plans to add playgrounds and ballfields, which will contribute to making it a home for families.?


Link
 
They need to give the anticipated population density of the new neighborhood....it's good that Hynes changed his strategy but the homes still seem too big with not enough of them to go around.

An overload of greenery for those consumers not quite in the high end luxury market while not really filling a need to create truly dense neighborhoods that would help drive down rents and boost the population of the city.

lolz @ City Hall taking what Hynes gives them...
 
Does anybody on the board remember the history behind while McCourt could not build the Seaport Parcels?
 
The "new Back Bay" label is still alive and well! Good to know we can still hold the city to that standard...
 
TheRifleman said:
Does anybody on the board remember the history behind while McCourt could not build the Seaport Parcels?
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Some recollections:

1. Around the time after the Fan Pier project was approved, McCourt began circulating a comprehensive plan of his own called the "Gateway" project, which had been going through preliminary public process (meetings, presentations, etc.) up until the parcels were sold. The plan was similar to Fan Pier, megablocks of buildings up to 300 feet with 1/3rd residential and the rest commercial.

2. I think it wasn't long before the "Gateway" project was under consideration McCourt's parcels were considered as a potential relocation site for the Sox (as was Gillette's property acquisition from Boston Wharf). There was significant opposition to the idea of building a new stadium for the Sox from many quarters, as there had been in the mid-1990's for the Patriots.

3. I think McCourt had an ongoing feud with Menino, not dissimilar from what is going on with Chiofaro -- my recollection is that it was playing itself out publicly. It was obvious that Pritzkers were being walked through approvals, while McCourt would be asked to jump through hoops for approvals.

4. Although McCourt had developed very strong relationships in South Boston, he had alienated abutters. Intense public animosity existed between McCourt and the owners of the Barking Crab (also no friend of City Hall at the time). His parcels were landlocked and it was widely assumed he wanted the Crab location for its waterside appeal. I remember when Seaport Square developers later purchased McCourt properties they would hold public meetings and talk as if they owned the Barking Crab parcel and were going to redevelop it. At one meeting one owner of the Crab (of which there were a few partners) stood up and said, "like hell you will" or to that effect.

My own observation was that it always seemed McCourt was out the door whether or not the Gateway project was approved. Maybe he had an instinct that it wasn't worth the effort or maybe the financing of the Gateway project wasn't possible. There was some complication that involved Rupert Murdoch but I forget what that was about.
 
4. Although McCourt had developed very strong relationships in South Boston, he had alienated abutters.
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Yes. I definitely remember being surprised how much support he had from Southie and it's state reps. He was really active in the community there which seemed to pay dividends. But since he didn't get along with the mayor, all the support he had from the state was negated by the city.
 
I was walking from south station through the convention center today, and one thing i really like is how the fort point buildings are geared to both the congress street (or is it summer?) ground floor, but then also to the street level which is below. I hope the new seaport buildings incorporate this as well as you continue towards the BCEC. its and interesting feature, and there also needs to be a way to get down, currently there isnt so i was just wandering and had to do a giant loop.
 
There's a stairway down from Summer Street to A Street, and the World Trade Center Silver Line station has entrances on both levels.
 
Ron Newman said:
There's a stairway down from Summer Street to A Street, and the World Trade Center Silver Line station has entrances on both levels.
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Most buildings also have internal staircases, available to the public (but with no signs)
 
Our internal stairs are definitely not available to the public (the back door is always locked for key card access.) Some people know how and kind of wait to go in with someone and cut through.
I do like taking first timers down those stairs to A street. Some people get a little freaked out by the change.
 
McCourt had never developed a major project; the family construction company made its mark in general construction and utility construction.

McCourt over time assembled the parcels in South Boston, got rich from leasing them to the Big Dig for construction staging. When the Red Sox were put up for sale, McCourt bid on the team, using the parking lot acreage as the basis for his bid. He intended to move the Sox to a new stadium on his South Boston acreage.

His bid was supposedly never seriously considered, so he moved on to looking at teams in California, and was first in line to buy the Dodgers from Fox. That's how Fox came to acquire the property, which they soon sold.

When he owned the South Boston parcels, McCourt unveiled a new scheme for developing them every week (slight hyperbole). Not a beloved figure in the Boston business community, and apparently disliked in Los Angeles as well.
 
Can somebody pull this article up from Bankers Tradesman


http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news139695.html?Type=search


Commercial Interests
Don Chiofaro Is Looking More Like Frank McCourt Everyday
Showmanship Didn?t Work For McCourt, But Can It Work For Chiofaro?


By Scott Van Voorhis

Banker & Tradesman Columnist
08/16/10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe, just maybe, there is some method to the madness behind Don Chiofaro?s scorched earth public relations campaign against City Hall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This content is available to subscribers only
 
The only way for this to happen while Menino is mayor if for Chiofaro to keep this public. The city needs the money and keeping it public will force a compromise. Other wise the project just disappears like so many others. Need a list?
 
stellarfun said:
McCourt had never developed a major project; the family construction company made its mark in general construction and utility construction.

McCourt over time assembled the parcels in South Boston, got rich from leasing them to the Big Dig for construction staging. When the Red Sox were put up for sale, McCourt bid on the team, using the parking lot acreage as the basis for his bid. He intended to move the Sox to a new stadium on his South Boston acreage.

His bid was supposedly never seriously considered, so he moved on to looking at teams in California, and was first in line to buy the Dodgers from Fox. That's how Fox came to acquire the property, which they soon sold.

When he owned the South Boston parcels, McCourt unveiled a new scheme for developing them every week (slight hyperbole). Not a beloved figure in the Boston business community, and apparently disliked in Los Angeles as well.
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Frank never really worked for the construction company (beyond laboring during summers in high school and college). He did have at least one successful development (an office building in Neponset) and one spectacularly unsuccessful development ("Fishmarket" at Baltimore's Inner Harbor).
He also didn't go looking for the Dodgers. Bud Selig approached him after the Red Sox sale went to John Henry and McCourt asked to be considered for any future team sales. He'd already been vetted during the sale of the Red Sox so it was an easy decision for Selig to reach out to him.
 
AmericanFolkLegend said:
Frank never really worked for the construction company (beyond laboring during summers in high school and college). He did have at least one successful development (an office building in Neponset) and one spectacularly unsuccessful development ("Fishmarket" at Baltimore's Inner Harbor).
He also didn't go looking for the Dodgers. Bud Selig approached him after the Red Sox sale went to John Henry and McCourt asked to be considered for any future team sales. He'd already been vetted during the sale of the Red Sox so it was an easy decision for Selig to reach out to him.
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Call it dumb luck then. I sure wish I had his luck.
 
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