The Alcott (née Garden Garage Towers) | 35 Lomasney Way | West End

393b40 said:
The materials on The Avalon really aren't aging well just like some (most?) of the Soviet apartment blocks either!
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By golly, you're right. These Soviet apartment blocks have held up pretty well. They do look like an inspiration for the Avalon's overall look:
photo_eastern-blocks_13.jpg
 
Anyone who lives at North Station and owns an individual car is a taker not a maker. They should charge MORE than $450/mo.
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When I lived in that area, my wife worked in Waltham and none of the shuttles made it possible to get back in time for school pick-up, so a car was the only option. A long time ago when I was young and single, I had no problem going car-free from downtown to a job also in Waltham, but that was when the Citibus was still a thing and I had no other obligations so I could work around the transit schedule.
 
I really love this building. The more I see it, the more I like it. The plaza is almost ready too (walked it the other night) except the stairs were closed off. I have no idea how people in the West End could have used the term "eyesore" as part of their opposition to this, especially compared to the rest of the neighborhood!

IMG_8233 by David Z, on Flickr
 
DZH22 said:
I really love this building. The more I see it, the more I like it. The plaza is almost ready too (walked it the other night) except the stairs were closed off. I have no idea how people in the West End could have used the term "eyesore" as part of their opposition to this, especially compared to the rest of the neighborhood!
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DZ, you know by now I'm not one to champion tall buildings for tall building's sake, but in the spirit of "credit where credit's due" I think there's a really key point in your observation with respect to community opposition in this case:
Post-construction, this site now actually feels, lighter, airier, brighter, and less cumbersome with this new building here than when the old concrete garage was there.
Your post above struck a chord with me because of a personal encounter with a sliver of the pre-construction neighborhood sentiment. Several years ago I was sitting in the (now defunct :( ) Equal Exchange coffee shop next to the Garden when a group of ~4 West End residents sat down next to me and started absolutely ranting about this project. They were using terms like "overbearing" and "gargantuan" and "monstrosity" regarding the present design. What's incredible about how wrong they were is that (to me anyway) the area around this new tower truly feels less overbearing, less heavy etc.. What a lot of local residents just don't understand (or, for some self-interest-based reason intentionally misrepresent) is that it would generally take a building at/greater than 700' AND proportionally on the fatter side to actually start to feel large and overbearing in Boston right now. This is what I'm saying about the Winthrop Sq. tower now too: that is NOT going to be a noticeably overbearing building by any means, most people not paying attention will not even recognize it's been added there (once all the construction equipment is gone). With the scale Boston is at these days, well-architected 400'-700' residential high-rises can feel effortless and airy and well-integrated into their environs. Their "imposition" on (most) neighborhoods is not a reason to block their construction; as this project shows, they can be a net improvement to the public experience.
 
DZH22 said:
I really love this building. The more I see it, the more I like it. The plaza is almost ready too (walked it the other night) except the stairs were closed off. I have no idea how people in the West End could have used the term "eyesore" as part of their opposition to this, especially compared to the rest of the neighborhood!

IMG_8233 by David Z, on Flickr
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It is a fairly handsome building. Nice addition and welcome landscaping to the neighborhood. So much better than the ugly garage it replaced.
 
The only disappointing aspect of this building is the lighting. I hope they do something to make the top look better.
 
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