Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

I walked through here a couple of times this past weekend and was surprised by how many pedestrian crossing signals didn't work, the complete lack of any pedestrian detour signs to get through the many construction sites blocking sidewalks, and the horrible on-street death lanes for people on bikes. I was not at all annoyed by the guy on a Hubway who used the sidewalks instead.

The closure of the Northern Ave bridge has made the walking experience from here into downtown really awful.
 
KentXie said:
The fenced off area, is that going to be developed? Having walked by that area, I thought it would be nice to keep that plot a park as it gives a nice expansive view of all the mid-rises surrounding the park.
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Yes, it will be.
 
Part of that parcel is supposed to be an expansion of the park and another small, District Hall-type structure. The rest is to be developed into another mid-rise.
 
elemenoh said:
I walked through here a couple of times this past weekend and was surprised by how many pedestrian crossing signals didn't work, the complete lack of any pedestrian detour signs to get through the many construction sites blocking sidewalks, and the horrible on-street death lanes for people on bikes. I was not at all annoyed by the guy on a Hubway who used the sidewalks instead.

The closure of the Northern Ave bridge has made the walking experience from here into downtown really awful.
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It's an active construction zone with several large projects going on at the same time.. this is not the least bit surprising.
 
jl326 said:
It's an active construction zone with several large projects going on at the same time.. this is not the least bit surprising.
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It has been for decades, that's nothing new. The poor management of the pedestrian realm with a "oh it will be better when it's done" attitude has been going on for just as long. They still haven't put any benches on the Seaport Blvd bridge, and that was in the plan from before it was built.
 
elemenoh said:
It has been for decades, that's nothing new. The poor management of the pedestrian realm with a "oh it will be better when it's done" attitude has been going on for just as long. They still haven't put any benches on the Seaport Blvd bridge, and that was in the plan from before it was built.
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Would benches on the Seaport Blvd bridge be used? Seems to me like they would get in the way more than anything else. Pedestrian traffic on that bridge is rather heavy (especially with the Old Northern Ave Bridge being gone), and it doesn't seem like a natural spot to stop and sit.

But I agree that the city needs to do more to address pedestrian access during construction. This is especially pronounced over at the Moxy Hotel site in the Theater District, and at the site for the new Akamai building outside Kendall in Cambridge.
 
^^ It's a bit frustrating to see ~30 projects around the city (ranging from significant to very large and tall) that aren't happening as fast as i hoped (fingers crossed). But looking around; i can see the Seaport really beginning to mesh together in 3~4 years, and continue to improve. ....To go from what we had before the CAT–to the Great Menino/Greenway/ Wharfs/ Seaport/Southie/Ft Point/ West End/ Causeway/ North End, and planning for Chinatown, the Leather District and Dot Ave is quite a fine thing, imo.

Just hoping the ext of the Fairmount Line + Northern Avenue Bridge happens soon.

Call the Building Dept about the benches. It might speed things up.
 
Revised plans filed for Seaport Square by WS. According to Banker & Tradesman:

WS said it has agreed to extend the operation of the District Hall tech hub for at least 10 years and will create another incubator space for small businesses.
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The revisions, filed with the BPDA today, call for a 600-seat Seaport Performing Arts Center (SeaPAC), a 150-seat community theater, 1.5 acres of park space on the “L” blocks, and expansion of the Seaport Common park to nearly 1 acre.
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In addition, WS is agreeing to provide a $2.5 million annual operating subsidy for 10 years to enhance water transportation service to the Seaport or upgrades to MBTA Silver Line capacity.

According to the article, a retail building on Seaport Boulevard next to District Hall is being reduced by 80,000 square feet to accommodate the changes.
 
dirtywater said:
For your reading and viewing pleasure - the Supplemental Impact Report filed today. See, in particular, the Urban Design Section 3.0 which includes many renderings, plans and other graphics.
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DJimJXfXkAAPHm8.jpg
 
Amazing, can't wait to see all this materialize. Does "Summer Steps" mean that they will be building steps to get from Summer Street to the new park? Any additional connections from Summer to the Seaport will help tie the neighborhood together and activate retail there.
 
FenwayResident said:
Amazing, can't wait to see all this materialize. Does "Summer Steps" mean that they will be building steps to get from Summer Street to the new park? Any additional connections from Summer to the Seaport will help tie the neighborhood together and activate retail there.
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Yes. They are monumental stairs.
 
Have we seen this render before (for the retail building along Memorial Park)?:

WSD_13seaport02_met.jpg


I'm digging the staircase and the public green roof.
 
It's too bad they don't put in nicer, dark black street light posts to complement the new black street lights. The old silver ones look tired and cheap.
 
FenwayResident said:
Amazing, can't wait to see all this materialize. Does "Summer Steps" mean that they will be building steps to get from Summer Street to the new park? Any additional connections from Summer to the Seaport will help tie the neighborhood together and activate retail there.
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Interesting that they scrapped that graded connection from Summer Street to Seaport Blvd (passing over Congress St).

Certainly cheaper for them, but what sort of impact does it have on parcels N & P? Are they detrimentally isolated now, or is this negligible? Do benefits to "daylighting" Congress from the 2010 plan offset the loss for Summer Street visual/ pedestrian connectivity?
 
^ This is definitely an improvement. Kudos to the BPDA for pushing back on the developer for trying to skimp on the public space amenities!
 
JumboBuc said:
Have we seen this render before (for the retail building along Memorial Park)?:

WSD_13seaport02_met.jpg


I'm digging the staircase and the public green roof.
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I really like what they are doing here.
The PDF has a paragraph or two explaining the idea behind this:

The Proponent has reduced the size of the retail building on Block F to approximately
30,000 square feet and 2.5 stories, a reduction of approximately 80,000 square feet and 6
stories.
This building will assume the form and function envisioned in the approved Third
Amendment to the Current PDA Plan: a retail pavilion serving Seaport Common. This
building will also contain a public space known as the Mourning Room, operated by the
Massachusetts Fallen Heroes organization, in which the stories of service members who
have lost their lives in overseas combat service to the United States since 9/11 will be told
through innovative interactive technology and where members of the public, including
school groups and other organizations can learn more about the sacrifices made by these
service members and their families. This building will also include a rooftop public open
space, which will be easily accessible by the public via a public outdoor stair on axis with
the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial to maximize its public visibility and will offer a
unique type of public open space never before developed in the Seaport. In addition to
increasing the amount of public open space available in the District, this space will also be
an integral aspect of the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial visitor experience and fulfill
the original vision for the Memorial.
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I love how this rooftop lawn, as rendered, echoes the subtle stepping of lawn and stone on the Fan Pier Green.
 
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