South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

squidman1 said:
Ah, thanks for noting. Before I had much information about this project I was getting scared that the footprint of the tower would just be taking up a bunch of space inside the actual main concourse.
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Squidman -- the fopotprint of South Station the outdoor concourse and the train platforms is however changing
The work which is currently underway is shortening the platforms and expanding the outdoor concourse as well as moving the doors between interior South Station and the currently open concourse area

some of the transformation is temporary for the construction work to go on*1 while keeping passenger access between the train platforms and the waiting area functional]
some of the transformation will be permanent providing a larger concourse area undercover of the Tower [open to the wind hopefully not so much the snow]*2

see the animated sequence for the details


*1
STAGE 1 (JANUARY 2020 - MARCH 2021):
Stage 1 includes the following construction activities:
Three construction zones are in place:​
Atlantic Avenue construction zone​
Summer Street construction zone​
Track 13 construction zone​
The contractor will begin expanding the outdoor concourse area to create a temporary outdoor concourse that is 22% larger than the existing area to accommodate pedestrians and rail passengers throughout construction of the project.​
Some retail kiosks inside South Station have been relocated to accommodate changes to passenger circulation.​
At the end of March 2021, the Tower construction zone will be created and the temporary outdoor concourse area will be complete.​

STAGE 2 (MARCH 2021 - DECEMBER 2022):
Stage 2 includes the following construction activities:
The contractor will begin work on the expanded bus terminal and parking garage (which will be built over the tracks, platforms and outdoor concourse area).​
The contractor will perform foundation and structure work on the mixed-used tower.​
By December 2022, the newly expanded bus terminal will be opened for public use with access from Atlantic Avenue through the existing bus terminal entrance.​

*2
EXPANDED OUTDOOR CONCOURSE AREA
The new outdoor concourse area will increase in size by 67% for an improved experience for passengers and people passing through the station. The tracks and platforms will be completely covered and the outdoor concourse will be transformed into an architecturally significant gateway to the city.
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HelloBostonHi said:
That was definitely before my time, but the correct me if I'm wrong but the current public parking garage located on top of the bus station appears to be accessible from the interstate ramps? There is an HOV Ramp but there's also a non-HOV ramp back at Exit 20. Takes you up this way (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.344...4!1sKunK16gxzWFFQQ9cqVjVsg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192) to the current parking garage here: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.348...4!1sior0c2Ydgjy9DF1auwS_Xg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

My question is what is wrong with the current parking access that has been in use for decades? I presume the answer is increased volumes. And yes it looks like the entrance from the Pike EB is marked as HOV 2+, but worst case you take a loop around Lincoln St to get back on SS Connector.
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You might be right about the non-HOV entrance
As for the Atlantic Ave entrance / exit -- that is connected with expanding the parking garage for later phases of the project
work just beginning:
The contractor will begin work on the expanded bus terminal and parking garage (which will be built over the tracks, platforms and outdoor concourse area).
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1613418410875.png
 
I can confirm the entrance to the parking garage from the highway as I used to use it all the time picking people up from the bus terminal. If I remember correctly it was free if you were there under 15 min. Even if you were there longer it was worth a few bucks to avoid the craziness of Atlantic ave. From both the pike & 93 it's the same path the buses take except when the buses go left into the terminal cars for right up to the parking garage. The HOV portion is all of 500' when coming from the I90 so I'm not really sure who that "HOV 2+" sign is stopping.
 
A couple questions about the new parking entrance/exit on Atlantic.

1) Do we know that the new section of garage is connected to the old garage? If so, is it a straightforward connection or a convoluted routing?
2) Is the developer sectioning the garage between Bus Terminal traffic and office tower traffic?
 
Definitely going to have a different feel with the boarding area being all covered.
 
Building over a garage imposes some structural challenges that would have to be addressed during this current phase for something about 10 years down the line. That's a big risk to take without knowing how well you'll sell, and a tough sell to a bank/loan provider, saying "we'll start making money back on these gigantic costs in maybe 15-20 years." Granted, this is -on top- of one of the busiest transit hubs north of NYC, so I can't imagine back during planning they wouldn't have seen any reason to not go larger, at least on the yellow portion. The green low-rise is being constructed over the existing bus terminal - can't get too big without sinking ultra-high costs into retrofitting the existing structure to accommodate a taller tower above it. Visually, also, the yellow portion, if taller, may have interfered with the 'centerpiece' quality SST has, though with its most recent design, it could sure use a more handsome tower next to it to help.
 
Blackbird said:
Since they're directly on top of the train tracks, maybe there'd need to be more aggressive and expensive reinforcement for them to go taller? Just an uninformed guess, though.
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And maybe views from the tower would be impeded...commanding higher rents if free and clear?
 
Was the zoning/permitting an additional factor here? Assuming they had to get a variance for the tower parcel that was apparently carved-out solely for the tower structure (if I'm interpreting correctly) maybe the yellow and green structures are being built via an easement on the MBTA parcel and are only rising up to the as-of-right zoning height there in that particular zoning overlay? all speculation
 
I believe as you move south from the South Station headhouse you run into FAA height restrictions pretty quickly. The sharp height drop for the approach space for runway 9/27 is somewhere in that stretch.
 
Yup, the line cuts diagonally across the back of the new tower and the height limit immediately drops to 325’. The tower falls almost directly in the notch where the angle changes.

Heres the real massport map thats a pdf you can zoom in on vs trying to look at the fuzzy piece of crap you find on google images, for anyone interested.
https://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map.pdf

-most of assembly is at 1000’ lol, at least as far as the faa goes.
 
stick n move said:
Yup, the line cuts diagonally across the back of the new tower and the height limit immediately drops to 325’. The tower falls almost directly in the notch where the angle changes.

Heres the real massport map thats a pdf you can zoom in on vs trying to look at the fuzzy piece of crap you find on google images, for anyone interested.
https://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map.pdf

-most of assembly is at 1000’ lol, at least as far as the faa goes.
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-most of Cambridge Crossing is 1000 ft. also, per FAA :rolleyes:
 
stick n move said:
-most of assembly is at 1000’ lol, at least as far as the faa goes.
Click to expand...

Assembly looks like it's only around 400'. Kendall and North Point are the 1000' neighborhoods. This is why I scream my head off about those 2 areas in particular. They basically monopolize, AND WASTE, by far the highest allowable height limits in the city!
 
Some good points about structure, finances and the FAA

I suspect that the stuff shown in yellow and green [aka phases 2 and 3 of development] is basically a place holder
About when the tower is rising we might get an NPC telling us about what the developer will be aiming to build next

Remember --- When this project was being initially planned GE was still going to have a Logo viewable from Mars, and outside of Vertex there was no major bio/pharma development on the other side of the Fort Point Chanel

That's one of the things I recently pointed out about the history of development in Boston -- since it takes a lot of time to get from an idea to fruition -- things sometimes change rather drastically in the intervening years
If the NPC was filed today -- I would bet that it might be one building for lab and one for bio/pharma manufacturing -- or perhaps an all-in-one building with very large floorplate

Finally -- I think the later phases are still subject to the eventual disposition of the USPS facility and the Commonwealth DOT's plans for further expansion and improvements to South Station
 
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