Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

chrisbrat said:
weird. i mean, i'm excited about this, sure, but of the three you mentioned i feel like this design is by far the most uninspired. it has (time will tell...) a lit crown and that makes it neat and unique for boston, but it looks like it came straight out of 1971 cincinnati.
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Yea I didnt say its going to be the main event because it my favorite tower. I wouldnt know, because its not built yet. Its going to be cool to find the new sight lines and see how it changes the skyline and everything, and it does look pretty good, so I am excited to see how it stacks up and its effect on the skyline.

The reason why I said its the main event is because of its location. This has always been the location that was going to change the city forever, the coveted icon parcel, Tommys tower, etc. It got chopped down a lot in the years since, and its gone through many iterations, but its still going to be downtown Bostons tallest tower ever built, and the tallest tower in downtown for the forseeable future. Something may pass it one day, I hope, but whatever that is is not proposed yet and its been 20 years to get this going, 15 for SST and thats still not up, like 10 for MT, so its going to be the tallest for a while. Its the main event because of that, once its completed everything else is shorter and part of the supporting cast until hopefully some day in my lifetime where something taller goes up. Until then though this is the “main event” of this cycle and for downtown.
 
stick n move said:
The reason why I said its the main event is because of its location. This has always been the location that was going to change the city forever, the coveted icon parcel, Tommys tower, etc. It got chopped down a lot in the years since, and its gone through many iterations, but its still going to be downtown Bostons tallest tower ever built, and the tallest tower in downtown for the forseeable future.
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We should be able to get something taller in many other locations. 1 Bromfield, Pi Alley Garage, the parcel across from the Congress Garage office tower, and pretty much anywhere between Government Center and North Station are potential sites. We are just unlucky in the sense that some of the FAA's most serious restrictions are for the financial district itself.
 
stick n move said:
......its the main event is because of its location. This has always been the location that was going to change the city forever, the coveted icon parcel.... chopped down a lot in the years since, and its gone through many iterations, but its still going to be downtown Bostons tallest tower ever built, and the tallest tower in downtown for the foreseeable future..... Its the “main event” of this cycle and for downtown.
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Yes, yes & yes it is. A 2nd tall Downtown peak + a high a/r twin above a massive podium structure with a passageway food court.... no more holes in the Downtown. Getting very close to having an iconic skyline to go along with a great City at the ground level/s.

And what DZ said.
 
DZH22 said:
We should be able to get something taller in many other locations. 1 Bromfield, Pi Alley Garage, the parcel across from the Congress Garage office tower, and pretty much anywhere between Government Center and North Station are potential sites. We are just unlucky in the sense that some of the FAA's most serious restrictions are for the financial district itself.
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Yea I think we will, my only point was that this will be the tallest tower built downtown this cycle and its going to be the tallest for a while before something surpasses it. That doesnt mean it will be the tallest downtown forever, although it could be but I hope not. There isnt anything proposed yet though, and the ones that were are still pushing up to 20 years from proposal to completion. It takes a long time for new tall buildings to be built here, even with a proposal, and nothing is proposed as of now... so if it happens its gonna be a bit. Even the more recent proposals like the much shorter “christian science tower” proposal from around 2011 is still just now wrapping up.

Anyways its definitely possible to go taller, but its going to take a small miracle and cooperation from everybody with a common goal of finally getting an icon. In the downtown area the last spot for something taller than this is over by north station tower where the FAA limit gets into the 800s. Trying to put up an 800+ footer in that area near the west end is going to cause a hell of a lot of backlash, so thats why I was saying it will take a lot of cooperation and a real want in the city of something iconic. Though by then with north station tower, hub on causeway, and the garden garage tower the ice will be well broken by the time this would come around so that should help, but its going to take a culture shift and a real want for this to happen for it to happen and not get chopped down. All of the development of this cycle and in that area will definitely help a lot though. Im excited to see what happens in the future. Already since this cycle started Ive seen a shift so hopefully by then the cards will fall into place, people will be more pro-development, and well get a new tallest in the city.
 
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Hadnt heard this before, this is good news.

“The BPDA, Greeley said, will keep a close eye on the Connector, which could serve as a model for public space in other big buildings. The agency aims to have a place that draws in all kinds of people, and, once open, will require ongoing review of how it’s working — or isn’t working. “We’re setting a really high bar for how this is going to be done,” he said.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/04/01/hall/Ymu84WBfCENL7mT7liF2HO/story.html%3foutputType=amp
 
stick n move said:
Hadnt heard this before, this is good news.

“The BPDA, Greeley said, will keep a close eye on the Connector, which could serve as a model for public space in other big buildings. The agency aims to have a place that draws in all kinds of people, and, once open, will require ongoing review of how it’s working — or isn’t working. “We’re setting a really high bar for how this is going to be done,” he said.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/04/01/hall/Ymu84WBfCENL7mT7liF2HO/story.html%3foutputType=amp
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Theoretically it is, but if they were actually setting a high bar they wouldn't have let Millennium turn it into an oversized lobby to begin with. And they would have held developers to the observation deck they initially demanded in the RFP.
 
UZACFXCUUMI6TKVE2RURKBLIPM.jpg


^^^Current, from the April 1 (April Fools) Globe article cited by Stick.

TTRKTMSUUMI6TKVE2RURKBLIPM.jpg


^^^ The 2016 version, also from the April 1 Globe article.
 
Reminder that the 2016 renderings were very conceptual, and failed to reflect the elevation variation of the site.
 
Anyone know how far the pile installations are progressing?
Anyone know how far the slurry wall construction has advanced?
_______________________________________
Remember: it's the people who'll make the Great Hallway great! 8)
 
Couple new shots from the official site

Federal st


Walking toward Devonshire st
 
odurandina said:
Anyone know how far the pile installations are progressing?
Anyone know how far the slurry wall construction has advanced?
_______________________________________
Remember: it's the people who'll make the Great Hallway great! 8)
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Went by this morning and my uneducated guess is that the perimeter is 90% completed. SSW corner looks incomplete.

The piles I can't tell,, because i don't know where they should be located. I know the largest slurry rig has been working the western leg of the site.

At one time they had 4 slurry rigs working the site. Today only 2 rigs were active.

Hope this helps. Now for some photos.

https://flic.kr/p/2gGfWSE

https://flic.kr/p/2gGfX7H

https://flic.kr/p/2gGgCLD

https://flic.kr/p/2gGfXw5

https://flic.kr/p/2gGgBpa

This is the SSW corner.
https://flic.kr/p/2gGgDbr

https://flic.kr/p/2gGfXXL

https://flic.kr/p/2gGgBC1
 
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All the trees have been removed from Winthrop Square. The Burns statue is fenced off with a sign saying it will be removed this weekend (Aug 10-11) and put back up in the Fens "in the Fall of 2019."

It's sad to see that park go... The corporate-looking plaza slated to replace it is a step in the wrong direction.
 
JumboBuc said:
All the trees have been removed from Winthrop Square. The Burns statue is fenced off with a sign saying it will be removed this weekend (Aug 10-11) and put back up in the Fens "in the Fall of 2019."

It's sad to see that park go... The corporate-looking plaza slated to replace it is a step in the wrong direction.
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Are you fucking kidding? I've hated this project all along because it would bring throngs into what was quiet oasis of the city... but I assumed the trees would be replanted and the statue wasn't going anywhere. How utterly fucking disgusting. I truly hate this project.
 
FK4 said:
Are you fucking kidding? I've hated this project all along because it would bring throngs into what was quiet oasis of the city... but I assumed the trees would be replanted and the statue wasn't going anywhere. How utterly fucking disgusting. I truly hate this project.
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This has been known for a while. I'm disappointed about the trees and landscaping, but not the statue. The statue's "rightful place" was always in the Fens. I wish Millennium could have left the trees as is and commissioned a new statue of Winthrop to replace Burns.
 
JumboBuc said:
This has been known for a while. I'm disappointed about the trees and landscaping, but not the statue. The statue's "rightful place" was always in the Fens. I wish Millennium could have left the trees as is and commissioned a new statue of Winthrop to replace Burns.
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I’m sure it has been known for awhile, I’ve mostly avoided this thread cuz I was never wild about a residential building here and I detest the design of what we’re gonna get. I don’t know the history of the statue, only that the square, in front of that grand old building (don’t know what it is), deserves a statue and a fountain... and trees. Not some plaza doorstep for a commercial playground for the entitled nonlocal garbage that will inevitably fill this space up from here on out.
 
FK4 said:
I’m sure it has been known for awhile, I’ve mostly avoided this thread cuz I was never wild about a residential building here and I detest the design of what we’re gonna get. I don’t know the history of the statue, only that the square, in front of that grand old building (don’t know what it is), deserves a statue and a fountain... and trees. Not some plaza doorstep for a commercial playground for the entitled nonlocal garbage that will inevitably fill this space up from here on out.
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Consolation prize: it is getting a fountain.
 
FK4 said:
Are you fucking kidding? I've hated this project all along because it would bring throngs into what was quiet oasis of the city... but I assumed the trees would be replanted and the statue wasn't going anywhere. How utterly fucking disgusting. I truly hate this project.
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The project is quite good in quite a few aspects.
It sure isn't great. It should have been great. It sure seems tough to get "great" in Boston!
The "abomination of desolation" park plan absolutely sucks.
It almost appears like they're planning pedestrian activity in the
"trampled under foot" category--designing it like the Greenway (collateral damage of developing the square).
 
Can someone point out anything we can see in the pictures? I done see a slurry wall going around the lot, piles, columns... I really dont see anything. I know theyve been working here for a while so theyve definitely been doing things, I just cant see what. Looking at the pictures it just looks like a couple machines, some rebar, and other misc items scattered around the lot.
 
stick n move said:
Can someone point out anything we can see in the pictures? I done see a slurry wall going around the lot, piles, columns... I really dont see anything. I know theyve been working here for a while so theyve definitely been doing things, I just cant see what. Looking at the pictures it just looks like a couple machines, some rebar, and other misc items scattered around the lot.
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There really isn't much to see at this point. The slurry walls are flush with the dirt in most spots. No excavation has occurred yet. If you look closely you can just barely see some of them around the perimeter especially up against 100 Summer.
 
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