South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

Charlie_mta said:
You're right. What I'm thinking is a market crash that could be on the horizon if the Federal debt limit impasse isn't resolved and the Federal Government defaults.
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If that doomsday scenario happens, it's very likely these mid-construction projects will go bankrupt and stop. However, I do not think there is any way in hell that it happens.
 
I had the chance to review this project on Wednesday. The platform area is much more spacious than I anticipated from photos. It didn’t feel cramped at all. The arches should be a really nice addition although it seemed like there should be another set of arches nearer the Atlantic Avenue entrance. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the renderings?

The inside concourse is pretty sad! It’s not as vibrant as it used to be, and it just looks dark and tired now. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and it seemed really dark inside the old head house. It could certainly use some skylights or enhanced lighting. I used to love hanging out here, having a coffee, browsing the newsstand, and enjoying people watching and waiting for the train. Not so much now! My neighbor who takes the first train from Scituate every day, mentioned to me they are removing all the homeless people when he arrives and the station smells terrible. The CVS looked like it needed a refresher too. The escalator was broken exiting the main floor CVS.

South Station could become really spectacular and similar to stations in London if they just cleaned up the concourse and waiting area to be an exciting and vibrant destination in and of itself. I really hope they refresh the waiting area as part of the tower project, or maybe it’s a whole project that will complement the tower construction. So far, I’m impressed with the construction to date, but just not the current state of the South Station waiting area. I want a similar feel to the new Moynihan Train Hall in NYC. Besides a lack of seating, it’s really nice.
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Moynihan Train Hall NYC - Home

Moynihan Train Hall is the city’s newest grand civic icon and a $1.6 billion transformation into a modern, world-class transit hub.
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Java King said:
South Station could become really spectacular and similar to stations in London if they just cleaned up the concourse and waiting area to be an exciting and vibrant destination in and of itself. I really hope they refresh the waiting area as part of the tower project, or maybe it’s a whole project that will complement the tower construction.
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As I noted above, the "they" in question has an absolutely abysmal track record at Faneuil Hall, and, as a result, the worst reputation/credibility gap amongst all major CRE operators in the city. (Seriously, I defy anyone to name another developer/owner in Boston that has as dismal a rep as those guys, based on what's transpired.)

So, no, definitely do not look to the current operator regime for anything remotely positive here--in fact, you should probably pray they exit the scene as quickly and efficiently as possible, given that, realistically, every. single. other. alternative to them would be preferrable.
 
In the photos where you can see the rock wool insulation thru the upper glass curtainwall, I believe the windows are just covered temporarily for construction protection. It will be removed once the exterior concourse is complete. It looks like the LED lights were added to the interior to replace the natural sunlight but this lame attempt to brighten the place just makes it more depressing. LED spots are not a good for interior lighting. Its just the typical short sightedness of the MBTA mind, thinking in terms of what's the cheapest way to do things to meet safety standards. It also looks like the MBTA is letting the ceiling finish system go a little to long without maintenance. They better get up there and look at it before it starts falling down on people like at some of the subway platforms.
 
DBM said:
As I noted above, the "they" in question has an absolutely abysmal track record at Faneuil Hall, and, as a result, the worst reputation/credibility gap amongst all major CRE operators in the city. (Seriously, I defy anyone to name another developer/owner in Boston that has as dismal a rep as those guys, based on what's transpired.)

So, no, definitely do not look to the current operator regime for anything remotely positive here--in fact, you should probably pray they exit the scene as quickly and efficiently as possible, given that, realistically, every. single. other. alternative to them would be preferrable.
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I agree! I know their track record at Faneuil Hall is terrible. Didn't Boston Properties used to manage South Station? I thought they did a really nice job. Hopefully, we can get someone else to manage the public areas of South Station sooner rather than later.
 
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shmessy said:
No, you're right on with your understanding of those renders.

I complained about that very same issue last year in this thread starting around Post #3,085 (""Why not continue the beautiiful archway theme right out to Atlantic Ave, instead of this pasting over/blocking method with a rectangular entranceway???') and not too many people were bothered by this seemingly obvious architectural blunder.
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However, I only saw ONE arch under construction. The rendering shows at least 3, so I'm still confused.
 
Bananarama said:
The other arches are coming later.
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Right, yet not only are the other arches coming later, according to the video, the set of four arches will actually have a different profile than the ones currently visible in cast concrete. It appears all four arches will have a more elongated shape, rather than the pure half-circles we're seeing now in the core.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Right, yet not only are the other arches coming later, according to the video, the set of four arches will actually have a different profile than the ones currently visible in cast concrete. It appears all four arches will have a more elongated shape, rather than the pure half-circles we're seeing now in the core.
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Got it. So we are seeing the 2 concrete arches of the main core, but there will be one more arch on EACH side of the current core for a total of 4 arches. When I referred to only seeing one arch, I was speaking about the core which will encompass one of the arched/domed ceilings. So if I understand correctly, there will ultimately be 3 arched/domed ceilings in the outdoor concourse? What we are seeing under construction now is ONLY the center domed spaced in the rendering below.

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Java King said:
Got it. So we are seeing the 2 concrete arches of the main core, but there will one more arch on EACH side of the current core for a total of 4 arches. When I referred to only seeing one arch, I was speaking about core which will encompass one of the arched/domed ceilings. So if I understand correctly, there will ultimately be 3 arched/domed ceilings in the outdoor concourse?
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Yes, that's how I see it too: 3 domed ceilings
 
The outer domes will be narrower than the middle one. You can tell by where the columns are spaced, and if you count the glass panels of the existing concourse in the rendering you can see that there are fewer in the outer sections than in the middle section. So there will still be a large area on the Atlantic Avenue side that I think will be mostly covered from the rain and snow by a truss or some other kind of extended structure.
 
Jahvon09 said:
I thought that Au Bon Pain had went out of business!! :eek:
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I thought so also until I saw one in the International Place Lobby last weekend, it looked brand new! Seems there are five in Boston and one in Easton, Massachusetts and about 90 others nation wide
 
DBM said:
As I noted above, the "they" in question has an absolutely abysmal track record at Faneuil Hall, and, as a result, the worst reputation/credibility gap amongst all major CRE operators in the city. (Seriously, I defy anyone to name another developer/owner in Boston that has as dismal a rep as those guys, based on what's transpired.)

So, no, definitely do not look to the current operator regime for anything remotely positive here--in fact, you should probably pray they exit the scene as quickly and efficiently as possible, given that, realistically, every. single. other. alternative to them would be preferrable.
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Yes, the biggest problem with the current South Station is the over-abundance of advertising and sales kiosks. Cut as much of the advertising as possible and cut the kiosks by 50% so there is space for seating and people. And that's NOT what this operator does--they do quick and easy stuff not real investment and thoughtful programming
 
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It's amazing how large this will be. The core already looks pretty substantial from the south, yet here it's making a modest impression. It's also wild to think how much further this has to go (borrowing DRR's photo for illustrative purposes).

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cburns said:
It's amazing how large this will be. The core already looks pretty substantial from the south, yet here it's making a modest impression. It's also wild to think how much further this has to go (borrowing DRR's photo for illustrative purposes).

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Interesting to see the "built" perspective! Thanks for posting that.

But oh my...can we just get *one* unique, differently-shaped prominent/tall building in the skyline without a flat roof? Just one? Imagine something like the Shard in London here, how awesome that would be...
 
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