Shreve, Crump & Low Redevelopment | 334-364 Boylston Street | Back Bay

[Czervik.Construction]

9 floors in the middle of the downtown part of Boston? This would be ok in Burlington. Is it so short because of the shadows something taller would cast on the park?

 

[Massachoicetts]

I dont think a high rise fits the area...

 

[statler]

Yes, that the problem with this project. It too short.

 

[Czervik.Construction]

I left out that alarming part of the loss of an attractive existing facade as that was covered extensively already.

Yes, that the problem with this project. It too short.

 

[odurandina]

^^You left out the part of beautiful prewar bldgs that make up a fair part of the history
and personality of the area (being destroyed).

 

[whighlander]

They had already approved the project. This was approving the NPC - they can't unapprove the demolishing of the building, they can only force them to build the first shitty design they submitted.

The City should take this site by eminent domain and sell it to a less nasty developer. The legal fees would be worth it.

Equilibria -- that would get appealed though a law suit and at some level [possible the Supreme Court] in the end the use of Eminent Domain power by Boston just because you as the City of Boston don't like the outcome of your own processes for approving development -- NO Chance of that standing

 

[DZH22]

I'm moving this to the appropriate thread. Can somebody post a pic of the Shreve Crump and Low as compared to the building below, which is what I thought we were losing?

This is the Berkeley not Shreve Crump and Low.
We have two major buildings locally referred to as the Berkeley.
This is the Berkeley (#5) on the list.
Berkeley-Building-1-of-1 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

And this is the second Berkeley which is (#32) on the list. Also referred to as the Old John Hancock Bldg.

Old-John-Hancock-1-of-1-e1532358513257 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[DZH22]

Found the answer. Thanks BeeLine! Still a big (huge) loss but I'm really glad it's not the building that I thought it was!

Just a reminder of the current state of this site and what this proposal will replace.

IMG_0582 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[Winston3D]

Any news on this project as of late?

 

[Poolio]

No news is good news on this one. As far as I'm concerned, the project can stay in limbo indefinitely.

 

[DwnTwnr]

There is a What's happening with Project X thread, which is the best place to ask these kinds of questions.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

Any news on this project as of late?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1369783961422094341

It was at Boston Air Pollution Control Commission this month which suggests movement.

 

[RandomWalk]

A watercolor painting of a pig doesn’t change the fact that it is a pig.

 

[Blackbird]

Can’t the city force the developer to keep the facades?

 

[DBM]

I meant to post the other day--last week, when the temperatures flirted with 60, I walked through the Common/Back Bay and traversed the Arlington/Boylston intersection. There are now Jersey barriers all along the Arlington perimeter of 350 Boylston (I didn't check the Boylston face as I turned onto Arlington). I assume this is now under construction and the light demo/gutting is now underway while the heavy equipment is being mobilized for the more destructive (and tricky) heavy demo.

 

[Bananarama]

Getting some deja vu to the Kenmore monstrosity going up now...

This concluding bullet from the presentation way back in Oct 2019 made me laugh:
"THE ERECTION OF A CONTEMPORARY BUILDING AT THIS CORNER WILL PROVIDE A STRONG VISUAL AND ARCHITECURAL STATEMENT AND ADD VITALITY TO THE GATEWAY TO BOYLSTON STREET"

Yes. This is clearly an architecturally bold project that massively improves the existing historical facade...

How did this get approved.
The flowery watercolor style and overused rooftop trees can't hide the sub-par quality of the actual design.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

How did this get approved.

2008 wasn't a hot year for real estate development, I think the city was taking any development they could

 

[stefal]

Getting some deja vu to the Kenmore monstrosity going up now...

This concluding bullet from the presentation way back in Oct 2019 made me laugh:
"THE ERECTION OF A CONTEMPORARY BUILDING AT THIS CORNER WILL PROVIDE A STRONG VISUAL AND ARCHITECURAL STATEMENT AND ADD VITALITY TO THE GATEWAY TO BOYLSTON STREET"

Yes. This is clearly an architecturally bold project that massively improves the existing historical facade...

Yeah, if they truly cared about architecture, this would be the last thing they'd be building. Foolish to even argue this is a good replacement for what's there now.

 

[curcuas]

I meant to post the other day--last week, when the temperatures flirted with 60, I walked through the Common/Back Bay and traversed the Arlington/Boylston intersection. There are now Jersey barriers all along the Arlington perimeter of 350 Boylston (I didn't check the Boylston face as I turned onto Arlington). I assume this is now under construction and the light demo/gutting is now underway while the heavy equipment is being mobilized for the more destructive (and tricky) heavy demo.

There was underground construction closing a lane of Arlington and a sidewalk the other week. Perhaps it was related to that instead?

 

[DBM]

There was underground construction closing a lane of Arlington and a sidewalk the other week. Perhaps it was related to that instead?

Ah, thanks for the clarification--sorry I erroneously assumed work had begun @ 350 Boylston--though you can see why I was confused into thinking so!