Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

1. Belkin DOES NOT OWN THE PROPERTY so this is just a nice looking rendering so far.

2. 133 Federal will NOT be torn down in this plan. Word.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

The other forum member who makes the renderings and puts them in google earth definitely needs to make one of this with the pictures showing the shape of the tower in that link.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Can they just add an observation deck + a spire and make it 840 ft?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

For the love of God please rise to 740 feet so we can break this stupid plateau once and for all...no 600-ish BS please. Here's hoping condo sales at Millennium Tower, 22 Liberty and Copley Place go reeeal well so we see that added here.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

The choice of CBT as architects of record doesn't fill me with great hope for something iconic.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

The ground floor looks amazing the top needs something that sets it apart seeing as it will stand taller than anything else downtown.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Can we pull a Menino? Flat roofs don't cut it, guys. Not here.

I'm hoping that the city will stipulate that an observation deck is added as part of the necessary land transfer to Belkin (or any other developer)
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Globe
Proposed Financial District tower could alter Boston’s skyline
By Casey Ross
| Globe Staff September 25, 2014
tower-big.jpg

A view of the proposed tower from Federal Street.

Entrepreneur Steve Belkin is resurrecting his plan to build one of Boston’s tallest buildings, a glass tower of up to 740 feet that would be a new centerpiece on the city’s rapidly changing skyline.

The building would occupy one of the last major development sites in the Financial District, replacing a decrepit city-owned parking garage at Winthrop Square with a skyscraper that could cost as much as $900 million to build.

Originally, Belkin proposed a 1,000-foot office tower that drew regulatory objections because it would have interfered with air traffic. He shelved the project during the economic downturn.

Now he is back with a scaled-down version, at least 260 feet shorter. The complex, called 111 Federal St., would contain a wider range of uses, including a 300-room hotel, retail space, offices, and possibly 150 condominiums on the upper floors.

In an interview with the Globe, Belkin said he had not decided whether to build the condominiums. Without them, the building would rise to 650 feet but still be the tallest building in the downtown area.

If built to 740 feet, the angular glass skyscraper would be Boston’s third-tallest, behind the 750-foot Prudential building and the 790-foot Hancock Tower, both in the Back Bay.

“Now is the time to build a project like this,” said Belkin, founder of Trans National Properties, which sells travel and tourism services. His company owns an office building next door at 133 Federal St. “I think it can really make a difference in Boston. Being an entrepreneur I love to create, and this is really creating something.”

Before work can proceed, Belkin must secure development rights to the property from the city. In 2006, then-Mayor Thomas M. Menino selected him to redevelop the property, but the project failed to attract enough tenants and funding amid the economic downturn.

On Tuesday, Belkin said he is negotiating a deal to buy the property from the city, a step in the process he failed to reach the last time. Approval is also needed from the Boston Redevelopment Authority for the new design and proposed uses for the property. The site currently hosts a 550-space parking garage that was closed in 2013 due to structural problems.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh said the city has allocated funds to keep the garage safe while it considers what to do with the property. “As a direct abutter to the garage, Mr. Belkin has a vested interest in its redevelopment, and we look forward to learning more about his proposal,” Kate Norton said. “We will work with city agencies to make sure there is a sufficient public process for what takes shape.”

Belkin’s revised proposal comes amid one of the most active periods of construction in the city’s history. Several developers are proposing dramatic skyscrapers. Donald Chiofaro, for example, wants to build a pair of towers at the site of the Harbor Garage, near the New England Aquarium. Richard Friedman has won approval for a 699-foot skyscraper at the edge of the Christian Science Plaza. And Millennium Partners is building a 625-foot condominium tower in Downtown Crossing.

Belkin’s building, if built to 740 feet, might become the biggest of the new generation of projects on the drawing board.

Unlike under the previous version of his plan, Belkin would not demolish the office building he owns at 133 Federal St. Instead, it would be combined with the new tower at ground level to create a 72,000-square-foot lobby with restaurants and shops.

tower1-4582.jpg

The tower could reach up to 740 feet.

Belkin said he hopes to start construction in the fall of 2015.

While his building would put a major new peak on the skyline, changes at street level would be equally dramatic, he said. His plan would replace the crumbling concrete garage with glass-walled storefronts and modern lobbies for the offices and a luxury hotel.

“The one thing that’s lacking in the area is activity on the ground level and connectivity, and that’s what this building does,” Belkin said. “It’s really not about height as much it was when it was 1,000 feet.”

A renowned Italian architect, Renzo Piano, developed the design concept for the building. Piano also designed the original 1,000-foot tower but parted ways with Belkin after a difference of opinion on the width of the floors in the building. CBT Architects of Boston is working to finalize the revised version of the building.

In coming weeks, Belkin said, he intends to hire a co- developer to help carry out the project, which would be one of only a few towers built in the densely packed Financial District since the 1980s.

In recent years, the arrival of technology companies, retailers, and restaurants has brought new life to the area, especially after dark. Belkin said he hopes to add to that activity with his hotel and at least one large restaurant.

Belkin said he is in talks with a major tenant to anchor the 900,000 square feet of office space in the tower. He declined to name the potential tenant but expressed optimism a deal can be reached soon.

“A lot of people are going to want to be in a green-technology building in such a prime location,” he said. “Our educational base has made this an exceptionally vibrant community. Large global corporations, more and more, are locating offices here because of that.”

BELKIN.jpg


ViewFromDevonshireSt(1)-4611.jpg

A view of the proposed building from Devonshire Street.

tower1-4580.jpg

The tower could reach up to 740 feet with a hotel, offices and possibly 150 condominiums

ViewfromFederalS(1).jpg

The view from Federal Street.
Click to expand...
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Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

They talk about Harbor Garage Shadows-------This will cast shadows everywhere.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

another flat topped building yay!
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

While I am happy about news on this I am not happy about the design. I am just hoping that this is not the final rendering.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Can't we get this thing to 800 feet please? I'm sure the FAA wouldn't have any problems with that! Glad Piano is on this thing, not sure if i'm in the minority here but I loved his design on the original proposal.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Personally, I don't mind the flat tops all that much. They give off a powerful look. Spires are fine, but I'd rather have a 740' flat top building, than a 740' building with a 540' roof and 200' pole on top.

When the NYTT is considered to be a supertall, you know that the Council of Tall Buildings' method for recognizing official height is complete BS anyway. If smaller cities with smaller buildings, such as Indianapolis, want to pretend that they have taller buildings than we do, then let them. But let's not stoop to "surpassing" the JHT by nothing more than a technicality.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Assuming 740 feet is the top occupiable floor and that is a pent house condo that's probably puts the roof in the 755 to 760 range and then does 40 feet of mechanicals sound about right for a tower this tall?

I have a feeling 740 is the height because 800 is the maximum for the spot and they will need just about ~60 feet of buffer from the last floor plate to the very top.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

A "non-flat" roof doesn't exclusively refer to spires. Although I wouldn't mind one here, I'd be much happier with a distinctive crown, to be honest. We need a little variety and I'm not sure how much we can depend on other projects (i.e., Harbor Square) to bring that to the table.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Blackbird said:
He's not on this thing.... :\
Click to expand...

Yeah, the article was a little confusing, but I took away that Piano was out even on the old design and has nothing to do with the new design.
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Blackbird said:
He's not on this thing.... :\
Click to expand...

Yeah this sentence is a little weird and misleading:
Globe said:
A renowned Italian architect, Renzo Piano, developed the design concept for the building. Piano also designed the original 1,000-foot tower but parted ways with Belkin after a difference of opinion on the width of the floors in the building. CBT Architects of Boston is working to finalize the revised version of the building.
Click to expand...

What this paragraph is trying to say is that he developed the parti/concept/massing for the site and then actually designed the original 1,000 foot tower. I suspect that the Globe reporter misunderstood this when they were discussing Renzo's involvement in the project. The first sentence should swap "building" with "site."
 
Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

If they don't take down the other Belkin building, at least the tower will be sleek and slim no matter what they height. That said, I hope its the 740+ to get break the downtown plateau.
 
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