Seaport without height restrictions.

tysmith95

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Imangine if the seaport didn't have any height restrictions. Would it look like the transbay area in San Francisco? I feel like the archetcture would be much more interesting.
 
It's an interesting question. Fundamentally, I think it comes down to this:

Is the Seaport filling in because of the height cap (pushes development horizontally) or is it filling in in spite of the height cap (each parcel is less profitable) ...?


Someone better versed than I am in real estate may be able to say...
 
It's an interesting question. Fundamentally, I think it comes down to this:

Is the Seaport filling in because of the height cap (pushes development horizontally) or is it filling in in spite of the height cap (each parcel is less profitable) ...?


Someone better versed than I am in real estate may be able to say...

I am not better versed than you in real estate, but that doesn't stop me for having (probably incorrect) opinions:

We would see 400-footers, with offices on the bottom and luxury apartments or condos on top. We would not see supertalls, but we would see something taller than what we're seeing now.

To go very tall must warrant the disproportionately high engineering and construction costs...but you can build taller than what they're currently building before encountering those diseconomies. Meanwhile, people like living higher and with views.

So that's my take...a small sea of 400-footers.
 
It's an interesting question. Fundamentally, I think it comes down to this:

Is the Seaport filling in because of the height cap (pushes development horizontally) or is it filling in in spite of the height cap (each parcel is less profitable) ...?


Someone better versed than I am in real estate may be able to say...

Land prices are flexible. Seaport parcels currently trade at a price at which development is profitable, taking the height restrictions into account. With no height cap, Seaport land would be (even) more expensive. The height cap doesn't necessarily make development less profitable to developers, it makes it less profitable to entrenched land owners.
 
The architecture would be much more interesting because companies could be more expressive instead of being forced into the restrictions to try and get as much space as possible.
 
The problem with Seaport is the platform concerning MEGA Development BLOCKS that make the area less friendly for Foot traffic.

Hopefully one of the Piers changes this.

The architecture for Box Buildings is not that bad especially since the first fan pier building was a disaster for architecture gurus.
 

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