Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

bigpicture7 said:
Apologies, my comment did not address certain nuances within the decade-long process of putting a tower on this site, which -yes- included fleeting moments of horrible. But you knew that wasn't what I was referring to.
Click to expand...

No need to apologize, and no offense taken. I tend to agree that a lot of the voices of opposition over early morning shadows on the Common and Public Garden in February are absurd. This sort of opposition does more to undermine the credibility of urban activists and preservationists than it does to the betterment of our parks, streets, and other elements of the built environment.

My other concerns on this project (away from aesthetics) is Millennium's seeming monopoly for development at this scale in downtown Boston. True, they put the most chips on the table by a very wide margin. Seems like they know something the others didn't. I'm not suggesting anything dishonest took place here, but it is worth taking note of...
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Justin7 said:
My opinion of this building will come down to how the lobby functions.
Click to expand...

i saw a humongous visual model of the Great Lobby. Possibly, a tubular shopping equivalent of Copley Place. Pardon if that sounds bad. i don't mean to make it sound that way. i liked it. And i weigh the parts in perspective of the whole: i'm absolutely thrilled they've solved the earlier problems, worked out the height, massing and have begun construction. When i think of the long list of economic, political and design challenges, Bostonification, etc.... with the project's decent ground level, and odd parcel, and upper massing split into two attractive peaks.... i'm fairly certain only Millennium/ Joe Larkin could have gotten it all this far–this soon.

A new Boston Athenaeum is required. i'm ok with that we're not getting it here. We can save it for a future battle. The less-than-perfect base of this tower may be offset by the increasing relevancy and activation of Downtown Crossing.
 
Last edited:
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

^ I think devoting this space to exclusively retail use would violate the City's requirements for "civic space" as outlined in the original RFP, and Millennium's original response.

I'm with Justin7: the way this tower meets the street and engages the public realm will define entire project, and lend credibility to the City's bizarre kabuki dance to monetize this site. If the promised Great Hall turns out to be a shopping arcade, it's a fail.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I agree that the city should be much more specific and forthright regarding how future bid assessments for parcels they intend to monetize will be evaluated.

In this case, there were other compelling proposals, but the city ostensibly weighted revenue as a primary driver. If that was the case, it should have been made more clear to the proposers.

However, this is tricky, because, for example, if the city "anchored low" by saying "any qualifying bid must produce at least $50m for the city," then we may never have seen a bid as high as Millennium's. If they anchored too high, they might not have gotten as much (or any) participation.

Maybe one way to have handled this would have been to outline all of the non-monetary criteria, and then separately held an open bidding session for the parcel...where it is made clear that among X finalists "whose designs are considered valid", there is then a separate auction for the property.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

this is going to be such a great project and outcome that will

win over the haters.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Spotted today at the construction site while munching on a lunchtime burrito on the Boloco pavilion at 133 Federal St.:

--1 Bobcat
--1 roving streetsweeper cleaning dirt/mud off Federal St.
--3 Boston Sand & Gravel slurry pouring trucks
--4 backhoe excavators
--1 pile-driver

The site was in deep shade already so the photos were too dark. Nevertheless the tally above indicates what a righteous lather of frenetic activity this project has ramped-up to since Millennium got control of the parcel last week.
 
Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I also went by there today and noticed how flat the site was , did the garage have no lower levels?
 
I'm just glad it's not WYNTRP CXR or some dumb bullshit like that.
 
statler said:
I'm just glad it's not WYNTRP CXR or some dumb bullshit like that.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree, there's some very stupid names being bandied around lately, way too much money being wasted on marketing and branding efforts!
 
I hate it. Columbus Center, Lincoln Center, World Trade Center sound good.

For some reason, Winthrop Square sounds better to me than everything else, imo.

2nd choice 115 Federal Street

but, it's u/c;

a milestone.
 
Name is dumb, project is still great, I wish they’d pull their construction permit so Boston doesn’t miss its units approved goal for the 2nd quarter in a row
 
tobyjug said:
Winthorp Center would be better.
Click to expand...

trading+places+3.jpg
 
The name Winthrop Center makes perfect sense. Its just new. In 3 days it will have always been.

Oh yea -crown lighting on downtowns tallest... win.

Looking up and seeing this for the rest of Boston history, priceless.



 
Not crazy about the name, but hey, it's finally going up, so I can't complain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top