The Boulevard (née The Times/Littlest Bar) | 110 Broad St | Downtown

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Hutchison

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Proposal to tear down 112 Broad St. (the Times) for a 120 ft., 52 unit building, while keeping 110 (The Littlest Bar) "as is" as a lobby. Flip to 5-1 for renderings.

Filed last Friday, here's the PNF:

http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getattachment/f051925b-bde6-48e6-85a0-150c1f177313

From the PNF:

The Project...will be an approximately 83,500 sf, twelve-story
residential building that will include approximately 52 residential units and 3,500 sf of commercial/café space or other allowed retail use on the ground floor. The Project will include approximately 35 parking spaces in a below grade, automated garage. The residential units will be a variety of sizes, including one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom units. Secure bicycle storage for residents (one per residential unit) will be included within the building.
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The Project will restore and reuse the historic ca. 1805—1807 Bulfinch Warehouse at 102 Broad Street for reuse as Project lobby and as residential space. A significant component of the Project is the restoration and interpretation of the Bulfinch Building as part of a distinct group of “Bulfinch” Warehouses located in the Custom House Historic District. Currently existing exterior signage, lighting, and “decorative” additions that are inappropriate for the historic context will be removed from the Project site, and interpretative information in the form of self-guided tours or lobby displays will be incorporated into the Project in a manner consistent with the plan for documenting the Bulfinch era of the city waterfront warehouse district.

The adjacent commercial building at 112 Broad Street, an early 20th century building that is a non-contributing structure with respect to the Custom House Historic District, and will be demolished to allow construction of a new building on the Project site. The program for the new mixed use residential building includes upper story residential units accessed via a ground floor lobby, a ground floor café/commercial area with building support space, underground parking, and a new streetscape and landscaping for an outdoor café.
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Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

So, let me get this straight, they are going to take down those neat little places that I have been to a billion and one times and replace it with this boring piece of junk? I will be there to try to stop this.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

NO FUCKING WAY!
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

Sure, kill two of the only successful businesses that actually face the Greenway.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

So if this goes through and remains on schedule (finished in 2016), will it be done before or after its neighbor development on India St? Feels like there are a whole bunch of small developments like this one lining the greenway that get proposed, approved, and then... nothing.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

underground said:
Sure, kill two of the only successful businesses that actually face the Greenway.
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Uground -- actually there are several dozen very successful businesses on or near to the Greenway including the Palm and on down from there

I think the demand for having an apartment or condo on the Greenway will lead to very wide-scale infill development
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

Why so short? This kind of land is rare.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

Because Menino didn't want the Greenway to turn into Park Ave... which it should have.

I don't hate the design but I know it's gonna turn out like pre-cast crap.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

I hate it because it kills the Times. There I said it.

I need to start 'Liking' ya dude bars and douche hat bars, so they start getting torn down or closed. Its starting to be just like when I buy a sports Jersey.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

I'm against this one too. I don't want to lose those two bars and I like the two buildings better than what cheap carp we will inevitability get. We don't need to exchange two unpretentious, moderately priced establishments with one ultra chic over priced establishment
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

I don't know anything about these bars and it would be good if they kept both but they are keeping one and this could not be approved. I think it would be best if they were to keep both bars and build a taller structure that retained the old facades.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

From the Herald.

010515110broad004.jpg


http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2015/01/more_housing_set_to_sprout_on_greenway
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

The city needs to be imposing better standards but from the developers point of view this is a risky place to build. It's one of the reasons that you don't see larger buildings going up here; it's not a desirable neighborhood yet. It's still primarily office space, it's dead at night, and it isn't even on the waterfront.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

I dunno. I think the risk in this location is fairly low level at this point. That shot alone up there shows a pretty desirable location with the Granary building and the Custom House beyond, out the front door is the greenway, which isn't going anywhere, and should only get more attractive, particularly as more money gets pumped into this neighborhood.

Of course a smart thing would be to allow things on the West of the greenway to be a few storeys taller than whatever is across the way, to allow for expensive penthouses to have water views. But, to get to the waterfront is pretty damned close in this location. Plus you get a buffer from the existing construction across the way to not get that cold blast off the water when you step out the front door.

I think they see a strong market in the area for residences based on the ongoing transformation of this area, and the risk is not too big in their eyes. But, they are starting small, which says they are not completely sold. So, I guess I agree with you more than I thought....
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

JeffDowntown said:
It looks like pre-cast crap, and it hasn't even been VE'd yet!

Doesn't a prominent position on the Greenway deserve better architecture than this? Where is the Walsh administration and the call for better design standards for Boston?
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We should at least wait for more info, rather than a wide angle, blurry rendering before we all freak out.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

citylover94 said:
I don't know anything about these bars and it would be good if they kept both but they are keeping one and this could not be approved. I think it would be best if they were to keep both bars and build a taller structure that retained the old facades.
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They aren't actually going to keep even The Littlest Bar as a bar, just keeping the facade. The Times would be demolished and the facade of The Littlest Bar becoming the lobby for this hunk of junk.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

Wasn't the Littlest Bar initially where 45 Province stands now? Sacrificed twice for shitboxes? If they tear down the Times, Boston will lose another bit of its soul.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

whighlander said:
Uground -- actually there are several dozen very successful businesses on or near to the Greenway including the Palm and on down from there

I think the demand for having an apartment or condo on the Greenway will lead to very wide-scale infill development
Click to expand...

If you're going to spam the board with posts all day, can you at least use some minimum level reading comprehension? "Two of" /= "The Only Two"

And several dozen? No, sorry, that's a stretch.
 
Re: 110 Broad St. (The Times/Littlest Bar)

Conceptually, I don't mind it. A nice tall wall to frame the Greenway. More residences, more windows, more life. The Littlest Bar and the Times are, to my mind, fairly interchangeable and I'm not sure that any sort of preservation battle should be fought on their behalf.

For this location, though, the materials will really need to be stellar. I hope the BRA will recognize that.
 
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