South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

themissinglink said:
12/8
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My favorite thing about all glass buildings is when it's dark and you can't see all the glass; you see the floors lit up. That's when you get a sense of scale.
 
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SMCYB said:
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My favorite thing about all glass buildings is when it's dark and you can't see all the glass; you see the floors lit up. That's when you get a sense of scale.
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There are buildings that give that sense of scale in the daytime, too. The Sears and Hancock in Chicago are great examples, IMO. It's not just that they are huge, they look huge in all the right ways.

Curtain walls just give a different effect. The Sears Tower and 1WTC are essentially the same in roof and spire height (or antenna height, whatever, the distinction is dumb when the antennas are so much a part of the image of those towers) but the Sears Tower just feels bigger and more imposing - you can't stop looking at it when you're within view.
 
Thats the old version of the tower when it was all office and had an extra set back.

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Compared to the current model:

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They removed the second set back in order to make the top of the tower thinner so it was better suited to residential when it was changed from offices only to offices and residential.

I personally think the original was a much better looking building with perfect proportions and the exact right amount of set backs. It was an absolutely timeless design. I actually think if built it would have been known as one of the greatest glass tower designs of all time. Especially sitting on top of south station. What we ended up with is still nice and I’m glad to finally see it built, but the proportions are a bit strange. Thats because one of the set backs is missing.
 
yeah, MUCH better proportions in the original. curious as to why they'd back off that design - does it save that much money?
 
stick n move said:
Thats the old version of the tower when it was all office and had an extra set back.

3NOAPWABVYI6NNPVZSCGPCDE2U.jpg


Compared to the current model:

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They removed the second set back in order to make the top of the tower thinner so it was better suited to residential when it was changed from offices only to offices and residential.

I personally think the original was a much better looking building with perfect proportions and the exact right amount of set backs. It was an absolutely timeless design. I actually think if built it would have been known as one of the greatest glass tower designs of all time. Especially sitting on top of south station. What we ended up with is still nice and I’m glad to finally see it built, but the proportions are a bit strange. Thats because one of the set backs is missing.
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Really?
 
itchy said:
yeah, MUCH better proportions in the original. curious as to why they'd back off that design - does it save that much money?
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As explained, narrower dimensions make for better residential layouts.
 
JeffDowntown said:
Queue the office to housing conversion discussion in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.....
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Winthrop Square is struggling to lease anymore. There are no prospective tenants after Deloitte and M&T. They are about 45% leased. Residences are only 80 of about 350. Anyone else that is there is on a lease to own program that they stopped a year ago.
 
I heard from a high end residential broker that interest in these new Ritz Carlton South Station units isn't going great either. You need 2 elevators and a long walk down a corridor to get between the outside and your unit and they're pricing these like it's 2019 and money is cheap.

We have definitely overbuilt both lab buildings and luxury residential units, so it will be interesting to watch the dynamics over the next few years when supply/demand in a (niche) housing market starts to hit. Not everything can go for >$2,000 a foot, so concessions will have to be made somewhere along the market. If you're in, say, 45 Province and need to sell there will be very strong downward pricing pressure for the "last gen" luxury units especially when the amenities and starter rate HOAs on the new luxury buildings are beyond compare. Not a tear shed from me, but I'm curious if we see some of these unrenovated units out of Millennium Place/Tower, Avery St Ritz and elsewhere start to trade down.
 
Justbuildit said:
I heard from a high end residential broker that interest in these new Ritz Carlton South Station units isn't going great either. You need 2 elevators and a long walk down a corridor to get between the outside and your unit and they're pricing these like it's 2019 and money is cheap.

We have definitely overbuilt both lab buildings and luxury residential units, so it will be interesting to watch the dynamics over the next few years when supply/demand in a (niche) housing market starts to hit. Not everything can go for >$2,000 a foot, so concessions will have to be made somewhere along the market. If you're in, say, 45 Province and need to sell there will be very strong downward pricing pressure for the "last gen" luxury units especially when the amenities and starter rate HOAs on the new luxury buildings are beyond compare. Not a tear shed from me, but I'm curious if we see some of these unrenovated units out of Millennium Place/Tower, Avery St Ritz and elsewhere start to trade down.
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I would have thought the prospect of an elevator ride and a short walk to the intercity bus terminal might have been a bigger draw.
 
kmp1284 said:
I would have thought the prospect of an elevator ride and a short walk to the intercity bus terminal might have been a bigger draw.
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So, am I to infer here that there are luxury high rises where residents don't use elevators?
 
I think the point is spilling out into the bus station isn't very attractive. No arguments here.

Let's not forget that there are a ton of new parking spots being added to this development, and the website makes it clear that a private valet section awaits anyone coming into the residences. My initial post was that it's a bit of a journey to get from either the car or outside up to the residential lobby area, especially compared to the Millennium properties that have concierges right off the curb.
 
It was a sarcastic reference to what’s likely the least consequential “amenity” of this project for the demo that would buy here. I hate to say it though but with so many other options available I can’t imagine a lot of folks are super eager to live directly above a busy transit hub with some sketchy people about(something inherent to any urban train station) and almost constant car traffic making coming and going a hassle.

type001 said:
So, am I to infer here that there are luxury high rises where residents don't use elevators?
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I personally prefer to the ones where they haul you up on the window washing crane in a boatswain’s chair and then have fire poles to the lobby. Just make sure you leave a window open when you leave or have a Louisville slugger handy.
 
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kmp1284 said:
It was a sarcastic reference to what’s likely the least consequential “amenity” of this project for the demo that would buy here. I hate to say it though but with so many other options available I can’t imagine a lot of folks are super eager to live directly above a busy transit hub with some sketchy people about(something inherent to any urban train station) and almost constant car traffic making coming and going a hassle.



I personally prefer to the ones where they haul you up on the window washing crane in a boatswain’s chair and then have fire poles to the lobby. Just make sure you leave a window open when you leave or have a Louisville slugger handy.
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Gotcha, and agreed. I am actually surprised that there is as much interest as there is for some of these units. I love the location, but definitely not for living.
 
type001 said:
Gotcha, and agreed. I am actually surprised that there is as much interest as there is for some of these units. I love the location, but definitely not for living.
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Do we know that people are living in these units? The Seaport has been dominated by investment properties and pied-a-terres.
 
Equilibria said:
Do we know that people are living in these units? The Seaport has been dominated by investment properties and pied-a-terres.
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BPDA says that Seaport condos are 53% owner occupied -- qualifying for the owner occupancy tax break (residential exemption) in the City of Boston. That would mean owner-occupied dominates the Seaport. (To get the tax break the unit has to be your primary residence in the given year -- pied-a terres generally would not qualify.)
 
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