W Hotel | 100 Stuart St | Theater District

[atlantaden]

Re: W Hotel

I counted at least 12 cranes outside our hotel room window alone; it seems as if they don?t have the same problems attracting investors that we do in Boston.

Atlanta is the same; cranes everywhere, all sorts of construction going on. IMO, Boston doesn't lack investors, it's the sheer weight of regulations/public hearings/NIMBY's/etc. that I think turns many potential investors off. Here in Atlanta (and I would guess many other Southern/Western cities as well) you'll read in the Atlanta Business Chronicle in January about a proposal to build a 50+ floor complex with construction to begin in June...of the same year!! Very little in the way of neighborhood input or whatever; the city gives it's approval and it's built. In Boston, it literally takes years from the day a project is proposed to the day that the 1st shovelfull of dirt is lifted. I'm not saying either way is the right way, just making an observation. I do know that in Boston, the neighborhoods get lots in the way of concessions and in Atlanta, they get very little.

ps..how do you highlight someone's quote from another article?

 

[Dan]

Re: W Hotel

It is good to see holes in the cityscape finally plugged.

Now if only something would happen with Hayward Place . . .

 

[12345]

Re: W Hotel

In Atlanta or Dallas there's hardly any nimby's because there's not that many people who live in the downtown area or have multimillion dollar views to whine about.

 

[stellarfun]

Re: W Hotel

I counted at least 12 cranes outside our hotel room window alone; it seems as if they don?t have the same problems attracting investors that we do in Boston..........

ps..how do you highlight someone's quote from another article?

type [_quote] text [/_quote] but don't include the linespace as I just did. If I didn't put in the linespace, you wouldn't see the coding.

 

[stellarfun]

Re: W Hotel

Progress is often hidden from the casual observer

Slurry Walls in particular -- that are now becoming quite common on projects hereabouts can hid a bunch of progress

Instead of digging a giant wide v crosss section pit to build the foundations or even driving external piling before digging the dirt out to put in a traditional foundation.

You dig a series of narrow slots into the ground. As you are digging you are refill it temporarily with a Bentonite clay {to keep the narrow and deep hole from collapsing} If someone come around to inspect at ground level -- they might see nothing obvious for weeks.

After you dug the slots you put in rebar cages or steel I beams and then replace the Bentonite Clay with concrete slurry

After the wall are in place you then can excavate traditionally from the top or sometimes such as in Rowe's Wharf for th underground garage you can mine {as in coal} the dirt removing and introducing all the material through one or two small shafts

So the entire underground structure of the building could be constructed without disturbing the surface -- a la much of the Tip O?Neil Tunnel


Westy

Getting off thread, but Harvard's science complex contractor is moving in three cranes to help build the slurry wall for the complex in Allston. That may be one of the bigger building slurry walls constructed in Boston.

 

[BarbaricManchurian]

Re: W Hotel

In Atlanta or Dallas there's hardly any nimby's because there's not that many people who live in the downtown area or have multimillion dollar views to whine about.

Yeah but in Las Vegas and Miami, they complain but don't have any power because there's no law protecting views and the approval process takes literally hours. Turnberry towers (Las Vegas) residents complained about the Fountainebleu parking garage (300 ft high!, project is 700+ ft, highest highrise u/c in LV right now) being right next to their towers but nothing happened and there was no delay. Likewise, for Wynn Las Vegas, he bought up the whole block and the ones who complained and didn't sell got their land taken by eminent domain and replaced with a golf course and a hotel tower! Progress moves very fast in Las Vegas and Miami, because of NIMBYs having no power except to not sell (and even then their land will get taken by eminent domain) and a super fast approval process. You see the result in their stunning, huge, skylines and bold architecture.

 

[stellarfun]

Re: W Hotel

Yeah but in Las Vegas and Miami, they complain but don't have any power because there's no law protecting views and the approval process takes literally hours. Turnberry towers (Las Vegas) residents complained about the Fountainebleu parking garage (300 ft high!, project is 700+ ft, highest highrise u/c in LV right now) being right next to their towers but nothing happened and there was no delay. Likewise, for Wynn Las Vegas, he bought up the whole block and the ones who complained and didn't sell got their land taken by eminent domain and replaced with a golf course and a hotel tower! Progress moves very fast in Las Vegas and Miami, because of NIMBYs having no power except to not sell (and even then their land will get taken by eminent domain) and a super fast approval process. You see the result in their stunning, huge, skylines and bold architecture.

You also see the result in a condo market collapse, particularly in Miami. A lot of empty condo towers.

 

[BarbaricManchurian]

Re: W Hotel

^^

That has nothing to do with the approval process, and they're still building condo towers in Miami, so it doesn't seem like much of a "collapse" as there's still enough demand for more high-rise condos. Can you name some empty condo towers in Miami or Las Vegas?

 

[stellarfun]

Re: W Hotel

^^

That has nothing to do with the approval process, and they're still building condo towers in Miami, so it doesn't seem like much of a "collapse" as there's still enough demand for more high-rise condos. Can you name some empty condo towers in Miami or Las Vegas?

See this July 2007 article in Bloomberg News:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=&sid=a4qa.rYTWyYA

The market has further deteriorated since then.

 

[BostonObserver]

W Hotel - where are the pictures

No final pictures for this project? In 50 years of watching development in Boston I have never seen such a secretive mayor. I'm sure he avoids criticism this way and we get stuck with more Kenmore Hotel buildings. Time for Jaba the mayor to go.

 

[BarbaricManchurian]

Re: W Hotel

See this July 2007 article in Bloomberg News:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=&sid=a4qa.rYTWyYA

The market has further deteriorated since then.

There's no "empty condo towers" in Miami, that's a complete exaggeration, and they're still building at the same pace as before, just the price lowered by 30%. It's not a collapse if they're still building, it's just a down market for prices and the price bubble cooled back to reality.

 

[JimboJones]

Re: W Hotel

Miami:

The truth may be somewhere between what the two of you are saying.

From yesterday's Times:

Jim Clark and Tom Jermoluk cut a swath through Silicon Valley in the 1990s with companies like Silicon Graphics, Netscape and WebMD. But they are finding that it is a lot harder to maneuver through the real estate market than to master the Internet.

Five years after they decided to put their entrepreneurial talents and technology fortunes to work building Miami condominiums, the first two projects by their company, Hyperion Development, are plagued with delays and unhappy buyers. Some residents at the first tower, named Blue, are threatening to sue the company for not delivering on amenities, while other owners at the 330-unit complete ...

Read on: Masterful Web Entrepreneurs Hit a Snag in Miami?s Condo Market

 

[KentXie]

Re: W Hotel

From sampan.com

W-Boston Hotel and Residences Going Up

Nearly 10 years after introducing plans to build a high-rise at Stuart and Tremont streets, Sawyer Enterprises will finally begin constructing the tower within the next two months.

Sawyer received local permits to build the 309-feet project in 2001, but the construction was held up because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said John Connolly, Sawyer's vice president of development, at an April 4 Chinatown Safety Committee meeting.

The glass-and-steel tower will house 235 hotel rooms and 123 condominiums.

Costing $230 million, the four-star hotel and residential high-rise will take two years to construct.

 

[itchy]

Is that current?

The same exact press release was posted last April. Is this release definitely current?

Also, I get a weird Vietnam War collectibles web site when I go to sampan.com...

 

[stellarfun]

Re: Is that current?

The same exact press release was posted last April. Is this release definitely current?

Also, I get a weird Vietnam War collectibles web site when I go to sampan.com...

well, its sampan.org, and they don't seem to have an issue more recent than last year, so the development news, including kensington etc is dated.

http://sampan.org/show_article.php?display=1069

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: W Hotel

Saturday the 19th

 

[type001]

Re: W Hotel

Oh my. I had no idea that this what we were getting. This is the best W Hotel I have personally seen. This image was also sent to me by Boston02124.

 

[Corey]

Re: W Hotel

Wow, not too shabby. Nice pictures KZ. Been to the Wang Theater once, seemed like a nice area.

 

[stellarfun]

Re: W Hotel

My goodness!!

Time to redo the Transportation Building across the street which now looks as if it belongs in Omaha, or some other distant universe. Maybe we could reclad the west end of the Transportation building with the saved facades from the Arlington Building etc.

 

[Cojapo]

Re: W Hotel

Finally another render. I like this.