South Station Tower | South Station Air Rights | Downtown

Could this be the last tall (by Boston standards) project we see in the city for a long time?

Depends what you mean by "long"
  • Hynes and Hurley parcels could host something big
  • North Station remains ripe (parking lots behind, handful of parcels in front).
  • Aquarium garage tower could awaken if they get the waterfront plan sorted sooner rather than later

My personal hopes:
  • Always thought Longwood could use a peak (like a 400 footer)
  • Columbus center re-awakening
 
Depends what you mean by "long"
  • Hynes and Hurley parcels could host something big
  • North Station remains ripe (parking lots behind, handful of parcels in front).
  • Aquarium garage tower could awaken if they get the waterfront plan sorted sooner rather than later

My personal hopes:
  • Always thought Longwood could use a peak (like a 400 footer)
  • Columbus center re-awakening

I was thinking projects 600 feet and taller and breaking ground in the next 5-6 years. In a crazy world, a brand new arena would be built behind the convention center where the parking lots are and then an 850 foot tower be built on top of north station.
 
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I really like watching the progress now, especially the construction of the massive archway. Too bad there isn't a webcam to monitor this one.
 
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Does anyone know if all the new developments for the bus expansion and South Station Tower include cleaning or replacing the existing silver paneling? This picture is a perfect example showing how it hasn't aged very well, and the facade over the tracks is heavily stained with diesel exhaust gunk.
 
I was thinking projects 600 feet and taller and breaking ground in the next 5-6 years....

Change it to 500 feet and taller and the result is the same. There are 5 potential miracles that I can think of, but otherwise we might be stuck at 23 500'+ buildings for the next 10 years after SST is built.
1. Aquarium Garage Tower - LFG!!!
2. Copley Tower revival - LFG!!!
3. Developers get bold with Hurley Tower proposal, city goes for it, we get a new tallest downtown 700'-750' range - LFG!!!
4. 1 Bromfield back to residential, probably under the 709' but over 500.... LFG!!!
5. Somebody in Kendall notices the FAA map and says what the heck, the demand is there, let's eclipse 500... LFG!!!
 
Weve got a pretty huge amount of towers over the last 10 years downtown/backbay/fenway etc, personally Im really looking forward to the city filling in with lots of shorter residential towers in allston, jfk, suffolk downs, everett, boston landing, cambridge etc. When the demand builds back up theyll propose a taller tower downtown, but in the meantime Id really like to see the city densify its transit clusters further away from downtown. Housing is really getting out of control and I think we really need to densify areas much further out of the core in order to make a dent.
 
Weve got a pretty huge amount of towers over the last 10 years downtown/backbay/fenway etc, personally Im really looking forward to the city filling in with lots of shorter residential towers in allston, jfk, suffolk downs, everett, boston landing, cambridge etc. When the demand builds back up theyll propose a taller tower downtown, but in the meantime Id really like to see the city densify its transit clusters further away from downtown. Housing is really getting out of control and I think we really need to densify areas much further out of the core in order to make a dent.
I am looking for densification along the Lynn Harbor waterfront and Lynn Central Square (and then a magical pony too, Blue Line to Lynn and Salem)
 
Does anyone know if all the new developments for the bus expansion and South Station Tower include cleaning or replacing the existing silver paneling? This picture is a perfect example showing how it hasn't aged very well, and the facade over the tracks is heavily stained with diesel exhaust gunk.
Maybe it will be part of the 3rd and final phase of work (new green office space above the purple bus station)
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It's great that these contractors share photos. Meanwhile, Massport has a number of projects going on and cannot be bothered to post regular photo updates.
 
I am giddy with excitement watching this current phase of construction. These archways and vaulted ceilings in the area connecting the platforms with the existing headhouse are going to be spectacular.
 
I love this.

I wish they put this much effort into the ground floor at Winthrop Sq.

In what sense? The ground floor at Winthrop Square is much more publicly engaged than this (trying to find the right word given how many people will of course pass through the concourse here), and honestly I think it will be better looking from the street (though I'm definitely a fan of the arches).
 
True, but I was referring mostly to the arches themselves. If I recall correctly, the original plan for Winthrop Sq was a grand monumental space like this, but they seem to have shifted to more of an 'oversized corporate lobby' model.

To be fair though, niether is completed yet.
 
I love this.

I wish they put this much effort into the ground floor at Winthrop Sq.
The ground floor(s) at Winthrop Sq. was/were never going to be the Great Hall effect imagined in the early renderings. Those renderings were pure imagination, and completely ignored the one floor elevation difference between the two ends of the hall, that have to be bridged with ADA compliant means for high volume traffic.
 

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