Two Congress | Bulfinch Crossing East Parcel | West End

Equilibria said:
I'm sorry in advance because I know it will hurt to see it, but:

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The Boutique Office building extended the full length, as did the Hotel/Condo on the other side.
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One consideration the proponent cites in the Globe piece is the additional cost and difficulty of building up to (even a bit above, if I recall) the central artery tunnel, and from this diagram, one can see how that might be the case. I am disappointed in the PNF like most of you, regardless.
 
After thinking about this a bit... if I am the city, I think I put a little pressure on HYM to come back to the table with a proposal of additional condo's or apartments but I ask them what they need an additional heigh to make it doable? 100ft? 200ft? Can the additional height be allocated to a corner so it's a high-rise and mid-rise setup with condos/apartments.

I'm not in love with lab space in the CBD.. that might just be outdated thinking with the way offices are going right now, but I'd rather wait and see and if HYM wants to change the plans significantly I think I make it a demand that they do so in a positive way.

I'm not saying you don't let them do the lab space, but I think you make it a negotiation and see what they come back to the table with after the economic levers have been adjusted.
 
We want more eye candy / something unique / go big and interesting!
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awood91 said:
One consideration the proponent cites in the Globe piece is the additional cost and difficulty of building up to (even a bit above, if I recall) the central artery tunnel, and from this diagram, one can see how that might be the case. I am disappointed in the PNF like most of you, regardless.
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I believe the tunnel they're referring to is the MBTA Green Line tunnel, not the Central Artery.
 
Equilibria said:
I'm sorry in advance because I know it will hurt to see it, but:

View attachment 14634

The Boutique Office building extended the full length, as did the Hotel/Condo on the other side.
Click to expand...

Please help me to clarify. The residential tower and One Congress are nearly complete. Will they still be building Residential Tower II?

This change is only for the retail, hotel/condo and boutique office, right?
 
MrDee12345 said:
Please help me to clarify. The residential tower and One Congress are nearly complete. Will they still be building Residential Tower II?

This change is only for the retail, hotel/condo and boutique office, right?
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Thats correct. The development is made up of 2 parcels and the change only affects parcel #2.
 
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It would be nice if instead of having the building bulge into the path of the canal st extension.


They instead straightened it out.


If they absolutely have to have the space they could cantilever the floors over a few floors up. Once the corridor was straightened they could then line it with ground floor retail. At least then youre 75% of the way to where it was before. Having the tower bulge into the path of the ped corridor breaks it up and ruins the continuity thats supposed to be being created here. Then they could even go back later and add a building on the other side in the future when the time comes. The money to be made would be worth it. In the mean time they could align the lab building with canal.
 
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To the suggestion that they add height for condos, this proposed lab building tops out at 255',, nearly 80' feet higher than what was previously approved. The previously approved buildings had a gsf area of 400,300 gsf, this proposed building is 300 gsf less.

There is a provision for a future headhouse.
Further, the MBTA connections are highlighted through the design layout. Very clear connection and access from the Haymarket train station headhouse to the bus station is allotted. An accessible elevator [to where?] has been integrated into the building, with direct access from the plaza. In the future, the plaza may also accommodate the construction by the MBTA off a new Orange Line Haymarket access point, subject to future MBTA design and feasibility studies. Approximate location of this future access point is represented in Figure 3.8.
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The mechanical screen is 78 feet higher and the roof is 42 feet higher than the maximum of the existing proposal. That’s the equivalent of at least a few residential floors. If this was a residential proposal, what would the reaction be?
 
stellarfun said:
To the suggestion that they add height for condos, this proposed lab building tops out at 255',, nearly 80' feet higher than what was previously approved. The previously approved buildings had a gsf area of 400,300 gsf, this proposed building is 300 gsf less.

There is a provision for a future headhouse.
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Also, with some more searching, Green Line access will remain in the plaza (but isn't highlighted on the diagram for some reason). The future provisioning is for direct Orange Line access. They refer to Figure 3.9, which has no legend, but I assume the green and orange dots are the MBTA access:

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Here's the GL access in the other diagram. I have no idea why it isn't called out.

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And in the render (this is half-asked - obviously it would need signage. At least it's depicted as under the canopy, but clearly this is not MGH levels of cooperation).

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And having reviewed the Haymarket underground diagram EGE made, I think it's not as simple as building a headhouse. They need stairs heading off their property to access the orange line platform, which is under the Vent/Market building on the other side of Sudbury Street. It would be a big ask for HYM to fund all of that.

But honestly, if they'd like a guide on how to do a lab building that doesn't jar with its location and covers its mechanicals, allow me to direct them to one:

Foundation Medicine (Parcel P) | 400 Summer Street | Seaport

IMG_5385 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr IMG_5390 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr IMG_5392 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr IMG_5393 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr IMG_5398 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr IMG_5399 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr
archboston.com

Just build facades like this on both sides of Congress and we're good.
 
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This is a massive disappointment. The proposed building looks like it was airlifted out of Cambridge Crossing-Soulless. This portion of the project was supposed to be unique- now its just taller version of suburban lab space.
 
At some point, the lab market is going to collapse and Boston will be left with these giant buildings dotted all over. They are horrible for office conversion--so much space dedicated to mechanicals, floor plates that are too big to give people light and view. I wish there was more thinking about long term where labs make sense--parts of Allston, Charlestown, South Boston Waterfront--and where they don't--downtown.
 
The floor plates work for the WeWork/Google open office style, with LEED Gold. However, I wouldn’t want to work in such a space for long stretches.
 
It appears CBT knows no other way than glass and colored metal paneling based on their life science portfolio. And if you want a company to find innovative solutions to making lab buildings look more humane, urban, and well-designed, I wouldn't look to CBT for answers, at least for lab buidlings...

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The acceleration of Life Sciences and their lab buildings was bound to come, but I think we're in an okay position, considering the amount of talent here that has proven they can continuously reach breakthroughs. But yes, I'd venture in saying Downtown Boston should avoid lab buildings as often as possible. In fact, with how much lab space we're adding (and the jobs that come with them), we should be pushing for more and more residential downtown. It will likely see strong demand with the high-paying salaries that come with these jobs.
 
stefal said:
...we should be pushing for more and more residential downtown. It will likely see strong demand with the high-paying salaries that come with these jobs.
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I love this idea. Hey, I hear there's a reasonable commute from downtown to labs in kendall, seaport, assembly, union (soon), and even alewife ; )
 
Charlie_mta said:
Where are the North End NIMBYs when you need them, to force this proposal to be less of a faceless lab and to better match the neighborhood context.
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Right.. they come through at the wrong times and when the city actually needs them theyre nowhere to be found. Talk about useless.
 
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