Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

bakgwailo said:
Isn't the Greenway on state land, though? I suppose I could agree with you if the city owned the land itself. The Greenway was also built with state/federal dollars, and on State land, so it is kind of a failing at the State level that they can't fund its maintenance correctly.
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I think you might be right and I stand corrected, however I thought it reverted to city control at some point after it was built and well established.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I don't believe the state and the city should make these businesses in the city be responsible for maintaining the Greenway at this point. These businesses pay city & state taxes to maintain the area there is no reason to double tax them for the maintenance of there areas--- like the BID that our ex-Mayor Menino robbing from the Downtown Businesses.

Does BID expire for the Downtown businesses?

They might need to think of a solution for the Overall non-profit Universities maybe they can start maintaining there areas since they pay no City or State taxes.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Barr Foundation ought to be able to pick up the tab!

Seriously, they could transfer the land to the city with some seed money and then the state can wash its hands of it. Friends of Greenway replaces Conservatory and is entirely funded through donations. For maintenance costs city can then add a few bucks in linkage fees to any new development built facing the Greenway, be it Harbor Garage, Hook lobster, Littlest Bar replacement, the stuff going near and over the highway near the Garden, etc.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Rover said:
Barr Foundation ought to be able to pick up the tab!

Seriously, they could transfer the land to the city with some seed money and then the state can wash its hands of it. Friends of Greenway replaces Conservatory and is entirely funded through donations. For maintenance costs city can then add a few bucks in linkage fees to any new development built facing the Greenway, be it Harbor Garage, Hook lobster, Littlest Bar replacement, the stuff going near and over the highway near the Garden, etc.
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They could also allocate some portion of the increase in property taxes from existing developments along the Greenway. I have to assume all the property valuations went up, since it is a lot nicer facing a park than facing the elevated highway.

Greenway causes property valuation to go up; increased property taxes help fund the Greenway.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

The Barr Foundation isn't about what it says it is about. Never has been. Never will be. It's an 83 year old fanatical, billionaire obstructionist who doesn't want a construction project to spoil his panoramic views on the waterfront during his final days before he departs his mortal coil. ..... He personally dislikes Don Chiofaro and Jon Cronin, and makes little secret of it. ....He's just another rich old bastard who believes his money entitles him to limitless power.

The HL Hunt of Boston.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

bakgwailo said:
Isn't the Greenway on state land, though? I suppose I could agree with you if the city owned the land itself. The Greenway was also built with state/federal dollars, and on State land, so it is kind of a failing at the State level that they can't fund its maintenance correctly.
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The Greenway is state land.

IIRC, the state wanted to give it to the city. But the city (Menino) declined the offer. From Menino's perspective, it would cost too much to maintain. And the city of Boston is notoriously cheap when it comes to parks. That's why the Friends of the Public Garden (a non-profit) maintain the Public Garden, the Common, and the Commonwealth Ave Mall, and why they have the say that they do when it comes to towers and shadows.

From the state's perspective, the city of Boston (and Boston taxpayers) are the ones benefiting from the Greenway (through increased valuations and increased taxes). Why should the Commonwealth, and taxpayers elsewhere, pay for the upkeep of property that financially benefits Boston?
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

stellarfun said:
From the state's perspective, the city of Boston (and Boston taxpayers) are the ones benefiting from the Greenway (through increased valuations and increased taxes). Why should the Commonwealth, and taxpayers elsewhere, pay for the upkeep of property that financially benefits Boston?
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Maybe the businesses of Boston should ask the city & state to look over their bloated budgets, bloated lifetime pension plans and unlimited healthcare and ask why are my taxes not able to keep the location of my business clean and maintained concerning the amount of taxes we pay yearly ?

Also the non-profit Universities are sucking the life out of the city with the lack of real estate taxes they pay by the city of Boston allowing them to gobble up all the real estate in the area. Why would the city of Boston allow this then issue Liberty Mutual 46 Million dollars in tax incentives to develop a building in the backbay with 5% vacancy.

Sorry there is a reason why you pay taxes not create more taxes on the downtown businesses that actually produce and create jobs. Double taxation is MOB Mentality.

You also have Non-profit foundations stopping economic progress by suppressing future tax revenue for the city. Instead of doing what is best for the public. Like the CORRUPT Barr Foundation---Should be investigated concerning their NON-profit status at this point by the IRS.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I'm not in favor of screwing businesses who were there long before the Greenway came about. The fact that they located near the old elevated central artery should count in their favor. However, anybody building there now can be asked to contribute a little as a cost of doing business. Not a never ending contribution in the form of an additional tax because a constant revenue stream just leads to more unemployable relatives of state politicians being hired. But a one time "gift" to a fund for the upkeep of the parks works.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Or the city workers on
the parks and rec department could just do their job.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

TheRifleman said:
Also the non-profit Universities are sucking the life out of the city with the lack of real estate taxes they pay by the city of Boston allowing them to gobble up all the real estate in the area.
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Clearly the tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of thousands of students and enormous sums of research money our universities bring to town are sucking the life out of this city.

Not saying they shouldn't pay PILOTs (Many of them do. And MIT, for one, is by far the biggest taxpayer in Cambridge with its commercial real estate). But let's not get carried away here, eh?
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Man about town said:
Clearly the tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of thousands of students and enormous sums of research money our universities bring to town are sucking the life out of this city.

Not saying they shouldn't pay PILOTs (Many of them do. And MIT, for one, is by far the biggest taxpayer in Cambridge with its commercial real estate). But let's not get carried away here, eh?
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I'm not saying having the Universities is a bad thing for the city. But overall it will continue to push real estate values to the moon because of supply & demand issues.

That is why Boston has become more cosmopolitan and becoming less and less family friendly for the overall middleclass family.

a box in Cambridge Mass costs a million dollars. So basically if your not RICH you can't buy real estate in Cambridge.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Quick question: Does Boston receive more money from the state than it contributes?
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Isn't there a Rose Kennedy Greenway thread somewhere we can punt this convo to?
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

TheRifleman said:
I'm not saying having the Universities is a bad thing for the city. But overall it will continue to push real estate values to the moon because of supply & demand issues.

That is why Boston has become more cosmopolitan and becoming less and less family friendly for the overall middleclass family.

a box in Cambridge Mass costs a million dollars. So basically if your not RICH you can't buy real estate in Cambridge.
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All true, but squeezing more property taxes out of the universities is a completely separate issue and won't do much to help make Boston more affordable to middle class families.
One thing that might - and what the city is doing - is pushing the schools to house more of their students on campus so they're not gobbling up three-deckers in Brighton. But taxing dorms like market-rate apartments will make that harder to do.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

The thread is totally derailed at this point.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Hubman said:
The thread is totally derailed at this point.
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Yep.



At this point, if you're placing a bet, how likely do you feel this tower is to get built in its current proposed form?
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

mass88 said:
Yep.



At this point, if you're placing a bet, how likely do you feel this tower is to get built in its current proposed form?
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I'd say it will get built at at least 750'.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

It will be built between 735' and 750'......

It's in a trough for news....

so the thread is NOT derailed. it's being marshalled about the train yards.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

odurandina said:
It will be built between 735' and 750'......

It's in a trough for news....

so the thread is NOT derailed.
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It is derailed because...

Oh, fuck. We're just derailing it again.
 
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