whighlander
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Re: 111 Federal St. | Formerly Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2
Equilib --things not only seem to be more deliberate here than many other places -- it does really take longer to get from the original idea to a finished project
However, that is OK for a city like Boston which will soon celebrate being 400 years old -- but not just 400 years old -- 400 years of Global Importance -- from the first Public Park to the HQ of the First Digital Industrial Company
So its OK if a decade passes between a concept and a building that will probably still be part of the discussion in 2115
PS: my last year in Austin [1984] was spent watching several downtown developers race to finish empty spec office towers before the real estate market collapsed -- only one of 3 towers on the main downtown street was going to have any chance of any tenants for years -- yet on they came fighting for the finish line. --- One developer made the National News by running an illuminated 2 story fountain in the empty lobby of his empty tower
Is that really true, or does it just seem that way because you're checking those SSC/SSP threads once a month and these threads ten times a day? I ask because I experience the same feeling and often have to remind myself how long it's actually been on those projects.
I mean, Chicago waited many years for Wolf Point and River Point, though 150 North Riverside was pretty sudden - that's not even touching the Spire. Pittsburgh has only had one skyscraper of size recently, and that one moved fast because a company with means was building it for itself (hence removing the "secure financing" and "find an anchor tenant" steps), and it still took 4 years from announcement to opening. According to Wikipedia, the Bow in Calgary was announced in 2006 and completed in 2012. That's not that far off of a Boston timeframe.
There's also the fact that we don't hear about these proposals in other cities until formal documents are filed, which means they're a ways into design. Around here, we're following it from the first possible second.
Equilib --things not only seem to be more deliberate here than many other places -- it does really take longer to get from the original idea to a finished project
However, that is OK for a city like Boston which will soon celebrate being 400 years old -- but not just 400 years old -- 400 years of Global Importance -- from the first Public Park to the HQ of the First Digital Industrial Company
So its OK if a decade passes between a concept and a building that will probably still be part of the discussion in 2115
PS: my last year in Austin [1984] was spent watching several downtown developers race to finish empty spec office towers before the real estate market collapsed -- only one of 3 towers on the main downtown street was going to have any chance of any tenants for years -- yet on they came fighting for the finish line. --- One developer made the National News by running an illuminated 2 story fountain in the empty lobby of his empty tower