The Hub on Causeway (née TD Garden Towers) | 80 Causeway Street | West End

Java King said:
For those of us that are older and gay, I remember when Canal Street was closed for a Street Block Party and dance for Pride celebrations at the former Bobby's bar. (It was the location of the Grand Canal)

So, this isn't the first time that street was full of people! It was on a Saturday if I remember correctly. Probably back in the mid-90's sometime. I went from the Fritz block party over to Bobby's, so it had to be a Saturday.
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This street and surrounding ones remind me of the area in Providence near Westminster Street. That area has a bunch of block parties for pride too (the Dark Lady etc.). I think that area could be the future of causeway if it went fully pedestrian. Westminster isn't pedestrian but the streets are much smaller so they feel more urban and pedestrian friendly.
 
datadyne007 said:
Canal Street (at present) just doesn't have as much going for it as Newbury does. If Canal were to become a permanent pedestrian area, a number of changes would need to be made to the streetscape, facades/storefronts & retail uses in order to make it a nice space to inhabit. Right now, it's all just TD Garden-oriented bars. Also notice in the photos how many shops are run down/closed. Newbury, despite the traffic, is designed for people with an attractive mix of shops & dining. Canal is designed for cars, sports fans & concertgoers.

This trial really wasn't destined for success. I hope it's not used as a basis to put the kibosh on studying a permanent switch because Bulfinch Crossing will be at the end of this and could spur a refresh of the street.
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What they really should do is close the street to traffic on a Friday/Saturday night and allow open containers on the street with bars setting up shop outside. Boston is too prudish for this
 
I'm a regular at the Fours, primarily during hockey season and TBH, I don't see what the city envisioned when they announced the Canal Street shutdown.

On a non gameday, the street is dead. Once business hours end on a weekday, the sandwich and coffee shops are closed. Boston Beer Works, the Sports Grille and the Fours might have patrons (with outside seating in warm weather). Hurricane O'Reilly's is closed unless there is a Garden event or it's a Friday/Saturday night. Grand Canal is closed. The other ground level businesses are a salon, ski shop and a treatment center.

You can put all the pop-up vendors you want there, but in and of itself, Canal Street is not a draw.
 
I don't think we should consider this pilot a failure. I think it was a little premature, if anything, to be honest. They did it on a budget and expected existing businesses along the street to create a 'place.' Without a bigger headliner, I'm sure it's hard to convince people who don't live in the immediate area to see what it's like to stroll down a car-less street.

Once Phase 1 of the Hub on Causeway is finished, there will be an entrance to North Station aligned with the head of Canal Street. You'll have more foot traffic, even if it's just from commuters up and down the street. New entertainment options in the Hub on Causeway may also put pressure on existing bars on Canal Street to improve their street presence/offerings. (I think it's way too early to assess the impact of Bullfinch Crossing given that a finished project is much further down the pipeline.)

I do think there needs to be more diversity in retail along Canal Street as well. It would make strolling down the street more interesting and draw a more diverse crowd. Newbury Street draws crowds on a daily basis and has multiple levels of retail most of the way down the street.
 
BostonDrew said:
I don't think we should consider this pilot a failure. I think it was a little premature, if anything, to be honest. They did it on a budget and expected existing businesses along the street to create a 'place.' Without a bigger headliner, I'm sure it's hard to convince people who don't live in the immediate area to see what it's like to stroll down a car-less street.

Once Phase 1 of the Hub on Causeway is finished, there will be an entrance to North Station aligned with the head of Canal Street. You'll have more foot traffic, even if it's just from commuters up and down the street. New entertainment options in the Hub on Causeway may also put pressure on existing bars on Canal Street to improve their street presence/offerings. (I think it's way too early to assess the impact of Bullfinch Crossing given that a finished project is much further down the pipeline.)

I do think there needs to be more diversity in retail along Canal Street as well. It would make strolling down the street more interesting and draw a more diverse crowd. Newbury Street draws crowds on a daily basis and has multiple levels of retail most of the way down the street.
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The bold is true, but there's already an entrance to the Orange/Green Line essentially on the corner of Canal and Valenti (on Valenti next to the garage entrance in Avenir). Really, once the HoC's first phase is complete, the small stretch of Canal will be one of the most transit accessible strips in the city (if it isn't already). You'll have North Station Commuter Rail and Amtrak on one end, North Station Orange/Green in the Middle (on Valenti Way), and Haymarket buses, Orange and Green on the opposite end of the street. Transit access will see some improvements, but it's never been a problem for Canal.

Mixed-use development and growth in the neighborhood will be what boosts Canal, not the slightly improved transit access. As it is now (even with the recently completed projects), the neighborhood essentially serves TD Garden events (sports bars) and the small 9-5 work crowd (yours truly) in the area. You need more residents (and they're coming), more hotels (they're coming), and more offices (they're coming too) to increase the number of businesses and improve the diversity of what opens up shop along Canal. It has excellent bones, but nothing to entice businesses to operate beyond some key times (games/events and the 9-5). Thankfully it's well on its way. But as you said, it's a little premature right now.
 
odurandina said:
There a ton of new people coming to the neighborhood... + what, 6 new hotels within a few blocks in the next 3-5 years (i almost can't believe it)..... This looks like the go-to street in this area of the City for outdoor bars and restaurants, tons of trees, and just delivery (2am-10:30am?)/police/fire access, and nix the cars, soon.
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Six hotels? Marriott in the Beverly, Hub hotel and ??????
 
Marriott in the Beverly (220 rooms), Hub on Causeway (260 rooms), Hotel at Bulfinch Crossing (196 rooms), Haymarket boutique hotel (225 rooms), 104 Canal Street (90 rooms), 88 North Washington/Valenti Sq (74 rooms) for a total of 1065. :)
 
Boston Globe said:
These teens found out something about TD Garden no one realized for 24 years....

By Milton J. Valencia
Globe Staff July 13, 2017

(redacted)

Twenty-four years ago, the owner of the Boston Garden wanted a new arena, and local lawmakers wanted a stream of funding to help build and maintain the city’s recreational facilities, such as hockey rinks.

So they reached a deal: As part of winning state approval for a new $160 million facility, home to the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins, the owner of the Garden would host three fund-raisers a year to benefit the agency that oversees the city’s recreational facilities.

And then the fund-raising deal was forgotten. It was not until this past spring, when a group of teenagers from Hyde Square — eager to find funding for a new hockey rink in their neighborhood — began researching the old agreement that anyone realized the truth: The Garden had not held even one of those promised fund-raisers.

The discovery was the result of a painstaking search that involved a civics lesson in legislative sausage-making, the close eye of a neighborhood activist, and a bit of detective work by several determined teenagers.

Now, Garden executives, state officials, and the teenagers themselves are trying to answer one final question: What happens now as a result of their find?

In separate letters to the students, TD Garden — as it is now known — and state Department of Conservation and Recreation officials acknowledged the students’ findings. TD Garden president Amy Latimer referred the students to state officials, who told the students they are reviewing “strategies going forward.”

State officials would confirm to the Globe only that they are involved in discussions now with TD Garden “regarding a resolution to the legislative requirement,” though they said it would be too early to comment on any potential disbursement of money......
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...ad-realized/HjmmadXhxJcvpvkGKmXsYK/story.html

{edited by mod}
 
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^ Neat story, but don't post copyrighted content in its entirety. A link and summary / excerpt is appropriate.
 
So, this legendary jackwagon; the same who sent Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito packing, forced Raymond Bourque to arbitration, shipped more than dozen superstars and scores of other all-stars out of town.... pushed the NHL lockout that led to the salary cap--all but dooming the Bruins to decades of parity and mediocrity with the Nashville's, Columbus' & Ottawa's of the world (while the other sports franchises in town rank at the top of the $$$ of all sports teams worldwide)..... The same asshole just sued the IRS over 85 grand--has held the throne as Boston's #1 asshole for decades w/ no signs of that ending anytime soon.

The Community of Nations spend endless time ranting and raving about shadows + $ millions needed for the upkeep the Common/PG, Emerald Necklace, Franklin Park & Seaport.....

....and NOW we discover Boston's underfunded recreational facilities (for the kids) have in some part also been neglected by this same ASSHOLE via 24 years x 3 fundraisers/ year that never happened. Not that Jacobs deserves all the blame. Obviously, plenty of other folks on Tom Menino's (and now, Martin Walsh's) watch's weren't paying attention.
 
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Checking the webcam, I observe the following:
https://app.oxblue.com/open/BostonProperties/BostonRegion

First core is above ground level with work continuing on it. I wonder if we'll see a tall core before the steel arrives.

Except, apparently some of the steel already in the hole is now being decked?! (towards the right on the office tower side) I guess I don't fully get what's going on there but... Progress!
 
Is the core on the left for the residential tower? I thought that was phase 2 with phase 1 being the hotel in the middle.
 
Blackdog said:
Is the core on the left for the residential tower? I thought that was phase 2 with phase 1 being the hotel in the middle.
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Phase 1 is the podium, to be completed in 2018
Phase 2 is the 10-story hotel and connected & taller residential tower on top of the podium.

Phase 1 and 2, to put it simply, are being done together. The podium from phase 1 will open before the hotel and residences from phase 2 open, hence why the project is phased in this way. You are correct in that they are currently constructing the core for the residential tower, and soon we'll probably see a smaller core for the hotel closer to the middle.
 
Blackdog said:
Is the core on the left for the residential tower? I thought that was phase 2 with phase 1 being the hotel in the middle.
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Phase I: Underground garage and retail / office podium. This will be about 5 to 8 floors above ground and cover the entire site.

Phase II: Residential and Hotel towers (38 and 10 stories, respectively) on top of the western half of the podium.

BXP has indicated that work will not stop between Phases I and II. They'll work right up from the podium into the residential and hotel component.

Phase III: Office tower (21 stories) on top of the eastern half of the podium.

Obviously, the towers will be on top of the podium, so they'll have to start the cores of Phases II and III during Phase I. It's not like they're gonna retroactively go back and re-insert cores into another newly completed building.

EDIT: ninja'd by stefal...
 
Thanks for the information guys. Didn't realize the podium in phase 1 was going to span the whole site.
 
odurandina said:
Marriott in the Beverly (220 rooms), Hub on Causeway (260 rooms), Hotel at Bulfinch Crossing (196 rooms), Haymarket boutique hotel (225 rooms), 104 Canal Street (90 rooms), 88 North Washington/Valenti Sq (74 rooms) for a total of 1065. :)
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Great news! These hotels are badly needed in a city starved for hotel rooms! Hopefully they'll all get built along with many more around the city!
 
atlantaden said:
Great news! These hotels are badly needed in a city starved for hotel rooms! Hopefully they'll all get built along with many more around the city!
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A friend of mine recently moved to VT and is commuting by plane into Boston a few days per week. He missed his flight last week and had to get a last minute hotel room for the night. He got one in Waltham for $390. He said in the city they were asking over $600...
 
fattony said:
A friend of mine recently moved to VT and is commuting by plane into Boston a few days per week. He missed his flight last week and had to get a last minute hotel room for the night. He got one in Waltham for $390. He said in the city they were asking over $600...
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That crappy motel by the bowling alley on Route 2 (near Alewife) has signs saying 89.99. Your friend must have some pretty fancy tastes if the cheapest room he could find was $390!
 
DZH22 said:
That crappy motel by the bowling alley on Route 2 (near Alewife) has signs saying 89.99. Your friend must have some pretty fancy tastes if the cheapest room he could find was $390!
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I'm pretty sure that place is closed; you can't book any rooms there online. And for years it has really been more of a homeless shelter than a hotel. Even if it isn't closed and is indeed operating as a hotel, the prices posted on signs don't really mean anything. They are the theoretical lowest price you can ever get on a room, not the price of a room when you want it.

$390 seems believable to me for a last minute room on a summer night. There are suburban Boston rooms for tonight available in the $100-$200 range on hotels.com right now, but those could easily be gone by the time we reach "crap I missed my flight" o'clock. Also, conferences, events, and the random ebb-and-flow of tourists and business travelers can cause significant variation in day-to-day prices, so the lowest available price tonight might be significantly higher or lower than the lowest available price tomorrow night. Thursdays are frequently cheaper too, as weekday business travelers want to get home before Friday but weekend visitors haven't arrived yet.

My mother frequently has to book last minute hotels for visitors at her 128 office, and she sometimes has to send them as far as New Hampshire in order to fit in her company's per diem.
 
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