What to do about the NEAQ?

F-Line to Dudley said:
BTW...if you want to expand the Aquarium, simply look here at which of these wharves is not like the other:

2cxc8ir.jpg


NEAQ sits on a much stubbier wharf than adjacent Long Wharf and Commercial Wharf. It's a good deal shorter than it could be, since unlike India and Rowes Wharves which are length-limited by the shipping channel in/out of Ft. Point Channel, NEAQ is far enough north that Long and Commercial Wharves set the limits on how far it can poke out. By building it out to equivalent length it can grow a full third larger in size without affecting the ferry terminal at Long Wharf.


Problem is...who's going to coordinate this? To build out the wharf requires lots of government regulatory approvals, difficult EIS'ing because of the needs to drive pilings into the water and have floodwater contingencies baked in, and a city willing to control any NIMBY riffraff from the adjacent wharves. Exactly the same institutions who ratf***ed NEAQ multiple times before and are risking snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on the garage tower.

Yeah, there's lots of things that could be done. And for each of them it takes (more than) two to tango. The nonprofit can't magically make those partners appear and get to the table; the garage partners won't even do that like they mean it. So it's the same existential problem that has to be solved. No single entity can compel an effort from another entity that doesn't care enough to meet. And for whatever reason this one spot is an unusually dense don't-give-a-crap zone.
Click to expand...

It appear from the renders that the previous expansion plan did actually look to extend the wharf a bit.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
BTW...if you want to expand the Aquarium, simply look here at which of these wharves is not like the other:

2cxc8ir.jpg


NEAQ sits on a much stubbier wharf than adjacent Long Wharf and Commercial Wharf. It's a good deal shorter than it could be, since unlike India and Rowes Wharves which are length-limited by the shipping channel in/out of Ft. Point Channel, NEAQ is far enough north that Long and Commercial Wharves set the limits on how far it can poke out. By building it out to equivalent length it can grow a full third larger in size without affecting the ferry terminal at Long Wharf.
Click to expand...

They all used to substantially longer:

 
New England Aquarium Expansion and Blue Way Park

With an actual proposal floating I think it is time for a thread title change to "New England Aquarium Expansion and Blueway Park" or something like that.
 
Re: New England Aquarium Expansion and Blue Way Park

tangent said:
With an actual proposal floating I think it is time for a thread title change to "New England Aquarium Expansion and Blueway Park" or something like that.
Click to expand...

Since this project is intertwined with the Harbor Garage project maybe they could be joined? Maybe if someone cough... cough... opens the aquarium garage thread up to discussion.
 
I like the mid-century style of the rendering. So much more interesting than the typical computer generated type.
 
^I like that all the roadways (old atlantic, milk, etc) appear to be closed to cars. Or can you just make out a couple buses by where that ice cream place is on Central St?

Is it realistic to kick out all the buses, deliveries, cars, etc?
 
I like this render, and I REALLY like the way this proposal jumps the entire NEAQ and Harbor Garage conversation onto a new path. Hopefully Chiofaro and Prudential have the sense to let any leftover rancor to the side and engage with it. "Engage with it" in my book does not equate "accept it hook, line, and sinker", negotiations don't work that way. But if the NEAQ and Chiofaro could come to terms on a joint plan that also got the Harbor Island Alliance type organizations on board, they could get some real momentum going. The Harbor Towers' parking easement burns off in the not far future, the A/C easement can be worked around, I think public opinion has minimal sympathy for them losing their landward views. North End NIMBYs strike me as collectively more of a hurdle, but a Chiofaro / NEAQ / Harbor Island Alliance would be formidable.

Chiofaro would have to actually, you know, compromise during such negotiations. As would NEAQ. I hope both sides have it in them. If Chiofaro doesn't, I hope Prudential throws him overboard and takes over the negotiation. If NEAQ board does not have flexibility, well, hard to say how that gets solved.

This has real potential for the waterfront, the NEAQ, the garage site; has serious hurdles still, too, but really great potential.
 
Just to be clear - is the idea that chiafarro pays for a major portion of the NEAQ work and then gets to count that against the public facilities requirement for the harbor garage project, thereby increasing the ROI on the footprint of the garage itself?
 
CSTH said:
Just to be clear - is the idea that chiafarro pays for a major portion of the NEAQ work and then gets to count that against the public facilities requirement for the harbor garage project, thereby increasing the ROI on the footprint of the garage itself?
Click to expand...

I think they are asking him to pay for the Blue Way -- the park space, but NOT the actual Aquarium expansion. That gets him Chapter 91 aircover, in my understanding.

They are also asking for the open space to be all on their side of his property so it benefits both complexes.
 
West said:
I like this render, and I REALLY like the way this proposal jumps the entire NEAQ and Harbor Garage conversation onto a new path. Hopefully Chiofaro and Prudential have the sense to let any leftover rancor to the side and engage with it. "Engage with it" in my book does not equate "accept it hook, line, and sinker", negotiations don't work that way. But if the NEAQ and Chiofaro could come to terms on a joint plan that also got the Harbor Island Alliance type organizations on board, they could get some real momentum going. The Harbor Towers' parking easement burns off in the not far future, the A/C easement can be worked around, I think public opinion has minimal sympathy for them losing their landward views. North End NIMBYs strike me as collectively more of a hurdle, but a Chiofaro / NEAQ / Harbor Island Alliance would be formidable.

Chiofaro would have to actually, you know, compromise during such negotiations. As would NEAQ. I hope both sides have it in them. If Chiofaro doesn't, I hope Prudential throws him overboard and takes over the negotiation. If NEAQ board does not have flexibility, well, hard to say how that gets solved.

This has real potential for the waterfront, the NEAQ, the garage site; has serious hurdles still, too, but really great potential.
Click to expand...

I do believe if Chiofaro/Pru start negotiating this will gain serious momentum. That being said---The Aquarium has flipped the Harbor Garage Development into their own personal gain for the Aquarium expansion along with upgrading the area to the Blueway.

If I was the developer I would work with the Aquarium but I would not be as giving as I would have been from the beginning of the project.

The Aquarium needs to fess up there own in finances at this point.
Also the BLUEWAY name is STUPID. --Aquarium Park or Aquarium Place-

Good luck to the developer at this point. It's long overdue to knock this garage down and make this area priceless.
 
JeffDowntown said:
I think they are asking him to pay for the Blue Way -- the park space, but NOT the actual Aquarium expansion. That gets him Chapter 91 aircover, in my understanding.

They are also asking for the open space to be all on their side of his property so it benefits both complexes.
Click to expand...

That's how I read it too. Makes conceptual sense to have the open space on the water side; the landward side has the greenway already and a whole bunch of roadway. I wouldn't see much point to inserting open space between the new building and the road.

Paying for the Blue Way might cost him less than some of the iterations he's shown before, the atrium and so on. Maybe not, I don't know. But he'd have less of a political fight over it if the aquarium folks were on board, and it'd just become a known $ number to plug into his pro forma.

If he and NEAQ could come to terms and then get through approvals process (big IF), I'm guessing NEAQ can raise the money. I'd start down the street at GE: "hey, guys, want to make a really big splash in your newly adopted home town?" GE would not likely foot the whole bill, but might kick it off to a good start.
 
Looks like a win-win proposal and far more ambitious than I would have expected. Really could take the waterfront and the aquarium to the next level.
 
What a fantastic proposal - this would completely revitalize the NEA.
 
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