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

Pheldy34 said:
I thought WeWork was moving to 200 Portland...are they also going to come here too?
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Steve Adams of Banker & Tradesman tweeted this in May:

"First office lease at Hub On Causeway? @wework reportedly commits to 38K sf at North Station development"

38k + 147k = 185k, and the office portion is only 175k. It's possible that the WeWork lease fell through, or that the numbers aren't final, or that WeWork's lease includes some retail space...

Either way, that project is filling up very nicely.
 
Does anybody else think the Office Tower might end up being built at the same time as the Residential/Hotel Tower? Potential tenants wouldn't have to wait nearly as long as they would for SST or Congress Garage Tower, considering it's already well out of the ground!
 
DZH22 said:
Does anybody else think the Office Tower might end up being built at the same time as the Residential/Hotel Tower? Potential tenants wouldn't have to wait nearly as long as they would for SST or Congress Garage Tower, considering it's already well out of the ground!
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It seems quite possible, especially since the Phase 3 side of Phase 1 is further along than the Phase 2 side. Plus, the crane is already there...just needs the "jumping" rig installed.

Hopefully the success of this project acts as a catalyst to jump start SST, Garden Garage, and the chronically stalled 104 Canal.
 
DZH22 said:
Does anybody else think the Office Tower might end up being built at the same time as the Residential/Hotel Tower? Potential tenants wouldn't have to wait nearly as long as they would for SST or Congress Garage Tower, considering it's already well out of the ground!
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goldenretrievers said:
It seems quite possible, especially since the Phase 3 side of Phase 1 is further along than the Phase 2 side. Plus, the crane is already there...just needs the "jumping" rig installed.

Hopefully the success of this project acts as a catalyst to jump start SST, Garden Garage, and the chronically stalled 104 Canal.
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To DZ's question, I think the Rapid 7 lease is obviously tremendous news for Hub on Causeway. Obviously it's a good thing for that development that they've more or less pre-leased Phase II. As far as what this means for Phase III, one of five things is going to happen next.

1) Boston Properties & Delaware North will continue marketing the space to potential tenants. When they reach the 35% to 40% mark of pre-leased space (~200,000 sq. ft.), they will announce full steam ahead on Phase III office tower. With Phase I & II office space fully pre-leased at HOC, it's possible they can land a new tenant in the next 6 to 12 months for enough space to move forward.

2) BP & DN pull a Skanska (121 Seaport) and boldly decide to self-finance the construction of Phase III office tower. If they jointly have the cash on hand and enough confidence in the office market, it is possible they might build at 525,000 sq. ft. office tower on spec. #risky

3) BP & DN use the good news of the full occupancy at HOC's Phase I & II and decide to sell the property to another developer. It's not an unprecedented move, and frankly they'd stand to earn a windfall of cash from such a sale.

4) Developers go back to the drawing board on phase III tower design, filing a Notice of Project Change for the tower. This would push out the start/completion date of the office tower, but may possibly mean we'd see a larger building here. This of course could only happen if the engineers of Phase I/II built the podium base strong enough to satisfy the specs of a larger building than what's been approved.

5) An Act of God derails the entire project. #knocksonwood

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I think outcome #1 is the likeliest. With the construction cost savings to just continue developing Phase III in this time juncture, BP & DN must be working their tails off to secure large tenants for their building. And even if we experienced an economic downturn in the coming years, I'm confident Boston Properties is one of the only developers that would still make that happen. This is, after all, the same company that secured Wellington Management for 40% of Atlantic Wharf (née Russia Wharf) at the height of the recession, thus moving ahead with the only major office building in Boston during that time period.

(sorry for the long post--I couldn't help myself)
 
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They could very likely be kicking themselves in the keister for leaving all that square footage on the table.
 
Thanks dshoost for the long response.

dshoost88 said:
4) Developers go back to the drawing board on phase III tower design, filing a Notice of Project Change for the tower. This would push out the start/completion date of the office tower, but may possibly mean we'd see a larger building here. This of course could only happen if the engineers of Phase I/II built the podium base strong enough to satisfy the specs of a larger building than what's been approved.
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Brad Plaid said:
They could very likely be kicking themselves in the keister for leaving all that square footage on the table.
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I was under the impression that the office tower is maxed out due to its location closer to the North End. If anything, isn't it the residential component that left all of the extra space and height on the table? They were preapproved to go 600'+! FAA would have allowed upwards of 800'! The office tower is... good enough, although I'd prefer twin spires myself. The residential letdown is the one that will probably bother me until I'm dead. I'll never stop ranting and raving! Never!!!
 
Looks like it's going to be a junior version of the World Trade Center in New York! :cool:
 
DZH22 said:
Thanks dshoost for the long response.

I was under the impression that the office tower is maxed out due to its location closer to the North End. If anything, isn't it the residential component that left all of the extra space and height on the table? They were preapproved to go 600'+! FAA would have allowed upwards of 800'! The office tower is... good enough, although I'd prefer twin spires myself. The residential letdown is the one that will probably bother me until I'm dead. I'll never stop ranting and raving! Never!!!
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Damn imagine that.


24195773330_66bf969a73_b.jpg



 
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stefalarchitect said:
I don't see why they would do so. Floor 1 is definitely going to be opened up so the MBTA concourse opens up directly to Causeway Street. Floor 2 could possibly open up to the arena entrance, but I don't know the official layout of the Garden but I'd assume opening those walls up would require a lot of reworking of their floor plans. Anything above the second floor will probably act as a connecting passageway between the two podiums, so no cuts there probably.
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This is from something close to the original proposal here, but the relevant portion of the Garden hasn't changed. The two existing staircases/escalators from the ground floor, as well as the elevator, put one in the middle of the second floor, which is essentially a mezzanine open to the train hall below (and which can be visited regularly now, since the Bruins/Celtics Pro Shop got moved up there). Then, eventgoers move towards either end of that floor, go through the turnstiles, and proceed to the stairs and elevators to go up to the seating floors. As shown here, there's room to add doors into the central section from the Champions Row escalators, essentially allowing Garden events to exit directly to Causeway St.

picture.php
 
Yea the second floor of the garden opens up to the escalators between the podiums allowing a new entrance from Causeway, but the original question was from floor 3 up is that glass open to the garden or is it a passage between podiums. I had originally thought you were seeing into the garden in the renders, but seeing the steel go up it looks like a passage between both podiums with glass looking down to the floor below.
 
Theres only 2 floors to go on both podiums. Causeway street is very much improved from before. Removing the bollards, the new cycle track, also the side streets are now right turn only, and finally just repaving it and fixing the sidewalks has been huge. This and the street next to pwc in the seaport were two of the worst streets in the city with stuart street being up there as well. Its nice and smooth now and you actually want to drive down it now vs before.
 
BeeLine said:
Causeway looking east
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Are there any plans to place planters on those dividers between the cycle track and vehicular lanes?

If not, does anyone know who the appropriate group or agency is to donate funds to to place planters along them? For many people arriving to North Station, this is their front door to Boston. I know Hub on Causeway will look great when it's finished, but Causeway Street would be so much nicer (let alone safer) with some greenery lining this cycle track.
 
Honestly I don't think they are really wide enough to support any substantial greenery, and they are likely to quickly wrecked by sand, salt, cars, people. I think the street trees being installed are enough. The cycle track only runs halfway down Causeway anyway.
 
Money said:
Honestly I don't think they are really wide enough to support any substantial greenery, and they are likely to quickly wrecked by sand, salt, cars, people. I think the street trees being installed are enough. The cycle track only runs halfway down Causeway anyway.
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He specifically said planter, which absolutely do fit and have no issues with salt

f409c414832040ebc55109e686f20ce4--tree-planters-white-planters.jpg
 
I can guarantee you right now that the cycle track is going to be a jaywalking pedestrian slolam course. I think the designers had good intentions, but in the end it's not going to work.
 
cden4 said:
I can guarantee you right now that the cycle track is going to be a jaywalking pedestrian slolam course. I think the designers had good intentions, but in the end it's not going to work.
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Planters would actually fix this.
 
Google Image "Cycle Track Planters" (or just click here). Literally any of those solutions are what I have in mind.
- Planters provide a safe barrier between cyclists and vehicles.
- Planters and vegetation mitigate air and noise pollution.
- Planters and vegetation are aesthetically pleasing.
- Planters will deter jaywalkers from crossing illegally along Causeway Street.
- Planters and vegetation are relatively inexpensive to install and maintain.
- Planters and vegetation have a positive impact on abutting property values, both assessed and appraised, which over time means their maintenance costs could be offset by greater property tax generation.

Again, if anyone has any suggestions who or where to contact about donating money to implement planters here, please share. Thanks.
 
You'd probably have to talk with someone at BTD. Perhaps try Chief of Streets Chris Osgood?
 
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