What is going on with that 1,000ft tower that Mayor Menino announced back in May?

The RFP's are due in November. I don't expect to hear any news until we get closer to that date. Maybe mid-September/early October we'll start hearing some news. Until they get all the proposals and then see where they're at, there's not going to be much news on this project.

(Watch, something will come out tomorrow and make me look like an idiot.)

^ I appreciate the info. :)

are any of the nice new buildings going up going to be affordable?

Wow, Boston has a lot of classy infill going on. Just thought I'd check to see what's going on at the other end of I-90. I might get the chance to see Boston up close for the first time this Fall, this really excites me.

^ I guarantee you will love it.

Here's a picture of a recently complete residential and hotel tower in Kendall Sq., Cambridge. Approximately 23 stories.

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/2272/kendallyc5.jpg

From: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/08/23/nh_airport_backs_up_its_boston_name_with_shuttle/
__________________
N.H. airport backs up its 'Boston' name with shuttle
By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff | August 23, 2006
New Hampshire's freshly renamed Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is about to get serious about the "Boston" part of its name.

Airport officials are pushing a $500,000 plan to begin offering, as soon as October, free shuttle buses from Boston and Woburn to the airport and back.
They would run as often as every 30 minutes during the morning and afternoon rush hours and at least every 120 minutes during slower times.
The 15- and 25-seat buses, the same kind that bring passengers from the Manchester terminal to parking lots, would stop at the Sullivan Square MBTA Orange Line station in Charlestown and at the Woburn intermodal transit center, both right off Interstate 93. The Charlestown-Woburn-Manchester trips take about an hour.
The service could make it substantially more convenient for Boston-area travelers to take advantage of low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines, which does not fly into Logan International Airport. Southwest offers 28 daily nonstop flights from Manchester to six destinations: Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Chicago's Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Tampa.
``It's part of an overall effort we're making to reach out to a broader market, and we also want to demonstrate to the private sector that there's a very strong market for ground transportation both ways between Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and Boston," airport director Kevin Dillon said.
The airport has committed enough funding for at least six months of shuttle bus operations, hoping that will show enough business to entice a private operator. ``We're excited about it," Dillon added. ``The number one inquiry on our Internet site for the last two years has been: What are the ground transportation alternatives between Manchester and downtown Boston?"
Dillon said the service requires an MBTA permit to use facilities in Charlestown and Woburn, and he is optimistic final approvals could come within 30 days, with service launched quickly after that. T spokesman Joe Pesaturo did not return a call seeking comment.
Even though the new service could steer some travelers away from Logan to Manchester, Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella said officials there aren't fighting it. ``We're not opposing anybody providing bus service to their customers," Orlandella said.
The initial shuttle bus plan probably won't threaten Logan's regional dominance. Logan is on track to serve about 27 million passengers this year, six times the 4.5 million anticipated at Manchester. Slightly over 20 percent of Manchester's passengers come from Massachusetts, Dillon said.
Southwest, which accounts for 53 percent of Manchester's passenger traffic, would be, by far, the strongest factor enticing passengers to shuttle buses. The next biggest airline there is US Airways, with 17 percent of the market, followed by Northwest, United, Delta, and Continental.
In almost every case, those so-called legacy airlines offer more frequent service to more destinations on bigger jets from Logan than Manchester, although competition from Southwest keeps some legacy carrier Manchester fares more competitive than at Logan.
Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger called the planned shuttle bus ``great. It's so fabulous for us, and it's very forward-thinking by the airport."
In April -- despite truth-in-advertising objections from Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino -- Manchester city officials voted to rename the airport Manchester-Boston Regional, after discovering how few Western US residents know the airport is just 55 miles from Boston.
A study conducted for the airport by RKM Research and Communications found that in big cities in Texas and the West, just 16 percent had ever heard of the Manchester airport, and overall barely 1 percent accurately knew where it was, relative to Boston.
Doug Fleener , a Lexington retailing consultant who uses Manchester for about 20 percent of his flights, and Logan for the rest, said: ``The very reason I fly out of Manchester is why I personally wouldn't take a bus there: Unless you drive up in morning rush hour, there is very little traffic, and they have great parking. But I could see the shuttle helping Manchester by giving Boston residents without cars who would like to fly Southwest a great new option."

residential tower U/C in east cambridge

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9644/building1ji1.th.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=building1ji1.jpg)

City pushing megatowers: BRA chief briefs execs on change
By Brett Arends
Boston Herald Business Columnist
Thursday, September 28, 2006


Goodbye Beantown ... hello Bean-hattan?

Downtown Boston could be on the brink of a new era of New York-style skyscraper construction following a policy shift by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Seven months after he grabbed headlines with proposals for a 1,000-foot tower in the Financial District, the mayor tells me he is looking at proposals for similar major skyscrapers in the neighborhood.

And that could mark the biggest change in policy toward the Hub’s skyline in more than two decades.

“Height is appropriate at certain places in the city, and we will take these case by case,” the mayor said. “Some will move forward, and some won’t. We’re just looking at this, and entertaining ideas.”

We spoke after I learned that Mark Maloney, chairman of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, had disclosed the new policy at a private downtown luncheon with Boston executives earlier this week.

According to some present, Maloney essentially told attendees that if companies wanted their own 1,000-foot tower, “Just ask us. Maybe we’ll say no, but maybe we won’t.”

The city is trying to be friendlier to the big employers that have chosen to stay here, he explained.

It was in February that the mayor unveiled plans to build the tallest building in New England, a skyscraper that could rise 80 stories in the Financial District’s historic Winthrop Square.

Menino says that, soon afterwards, other property developers then approached him to see if they could build higher on their plots as well.

What is astonishing is that this new development comes just five years after 9/11. People at the time thought the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers would mark the end of the new super-skyscraper.

Perhaps even more astonishing: that the development could happen in Boston.

“It is fascinating that height is back on the table in Boston,” says David Luberoff, executive director of Harvard’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. “It was really off the table for more than 20 years. There was really a conscious decision in the city in the ‘80s that there was a limit to height.”

What happened?

Boston is fighting to keep businesses from moving to cheaper locations in North Carolina and elsewhere.

And office rents have been recovering steadily for two years.

Some experts say as little as 5 percent of the best space is still vacant.
“What it shows is that office space in the city is a hot item right now,” Menino says.

New buildings would help “create some more vitality” in the city, he added.

But are more skyscrapers a good thing for Boston?

Hub conservationist Henry Lee, of the Friends of the Boston Public Gardens, said the city’s new enthusiasm for high rises “is a cause of some concern.”

While he agreed that the city needed to grow, he urged the mayor to keep new skyscrapers to appropriate places. The tallest buildings cast long shadows and create wind tunnels, he observed.

Lee also urged the mayor to preserve Boston’s distinctive character. “We certainly could build ourselves into becoming another ordinary city, and lose the historic distinction that we have,” he said.

Amen to that. Cities don’t have to choose between 1960s construction eyesores and turning themselves into museums. The Hancock Tower is one of the most beautiful skyscrapers in the world.

If the mayor is looking for a prime site that should be knocked down, and redeveloped into something tall and elegant, he could start with the ugly building he has his office in.

Hey I heard that proposals for Winthrop Square will be released tomarrow. Big day on the forum if that's a fact.

^Unfortunately, we will have to wait 10 more days after tomorrow. The proposals are due Nov. 13, not Nov. 3. Looks like you missed a 1, but its not too long of a wait....:)

My mistake. Now it's the 13th, only a few more hours to go! Renzo Piano is submitting a design. Hopefully it looks more like the Shard than the NYT Tower.

Nope.....looks like the NYTimes Tower with a spine.

I posted the rendering on Urban Planet.

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21989&pid=613062&st=20&#entry613062

I'll just post the rendering here, looks tall but it's still a box. Sad that there is only one bid though...

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Original_Graphic/2006/11/13/1163454847_4706.jpg

Hmm, I'd like to see a more detailed rendering, but offhand I'd say it's 1,000' without the spire, no ?

In fact, taller than 1,000' even without the spire.

I agree, you see the reddish brownish building right next to it is about 600ft and it's only about 1/2 its height and it's going to be across the street from the proposed tower. I'm thinking a 1100-1200ft tower with 1350ft if up the spire

Also, do I detect cross-bracing ?

I could get used to this one.

This one is definitely a keeper. Good design, good location, good fit all around. Congrats to Boston. This is one a few supertalls in the pipelines, yes?

I'd say 1,050 ft. tall to the roof and 1,250 ft. tall to top of spire.
Nice! :D

Over on SSP they appear to be saying this is not the actual design, but is instead only a massing study. But it looks like Piano. What's the deal ?

^^ Maybe it's a "piano" massing. ;)

Pretty sure that it's the actual rendering...someone mentioned over at ArchBoston that both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe gave credit to Piano for the renderings.

http://statler.zoto.com/img/640x480x0/e300c78bf53f94bfcdd85a181654a71b.jpg

Not the best quality scan, but it gives you an idea about the tower's base. Looks like it will be something similar to the Citigroup Center's base in New York, sans the below-grade plaza.

Love the idea of a new mega-tower in the midst of the staid old Financial District:) -- however:

I'm a bit concerned with the emphasis on outdoor gardens
Even with hypothetical warmer and shorter winters -- Winter is still a reality for a solid 3 to 4 months :ohno:

I'm also concerned that with a major development $B price range that there isn't some investment in the T in the downtown area -- see Winter

I'v recently been working on a project that involves me being on Chauncy Street one day a week. So far so good as I can take the T to Downtown Crossing and exit at the corner of Chauncy and Summer Street {a pedestrian mall}. Even in the expected upcoming inclement weather -- I'm only outside for about 2 minutes. I can stroll to more than a dozen places for lunch or snacks in less than 5 minutes.

When 115 Winthrop Square is built:
I expect that lunch will be available in the retail at the base of the building
But 115 will be near to -- but not connected to any subway stations

Winter is coming -- as it always does -- I sometime wonder if the architects from warmer climates are aware

Open to comments

westy

I like the 1000 footer even if it is a box.

I'm glad Boston's getting a nice tall in its downtown. The freedom-toweresque spire is a nice touch to the glassy box too.

It may be a bit out of proportion with it's surroundings, but it "fits". Can't always say that about a new tallest proposal.

^^Excellent point.

Congrats, with the Pru & JH topping things out for decades, it's nice to see another, even taller one, on the way for Boston!

Hi fellows and any ladies! I am in Boston (Haverhill) for a few days and I have to say I love your transit system. Tampa has a really shitty (at best) system, and because of the water table we can not have a subway, but I digress. I would love to know if anyone would like to tell me where the best area in Boston to get a bite to eat that is not too expensive. Also, I would love to see the sites in the city that I have not been to since 9-11, 2001. PM me for help thanks!

Congrats, with the Pru & JH topping things out for decades, it's nice to see another, even taller one, on the way for Boston!

Im not getting too excited yet, after all its still just a proposal. Although Boston would benefit so much from this and it will obviously change the skyline dramatically.
Its funny how most pictures or silhouetes you see of Boston arent of downtown but are of the Back Bay, of course because of the Hancock and Prudential Center.

David Perry, Hines partner and developer for the South Station venture, says the project will break ground in the second quarter of 2007.

Old SST rendering, the recent design has no spire. Height 684' last I heard.

http://www.thephoenix.com/uploadedImages/The_Phoenix/News/News_Stories/SkylineRendering.jpg


Most recent rendering...

http://www.hines.com/toolkit_images/Project%20Photos/South%20Station/South%20Station%20Rendering_lres_web.jpg

Image created of SST and 115 Winthrop Square together - by kz1000ps at archboston

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/3370/bra8rx1.jpg

I wonder why the 2nd rendering show SST to be sleek and slim but the 3rd rendering show SST as a stumpy tower.

^^^ The SST looks thin from one side and wider from the other. The photos aren't real, the one with both buildings is a good attempt to visualize both buildings by melding two renderings with a photo of the existing skyline.

Its funny how most pictures or silhouetes you see of Boston arent of downtown but are of the Back Bay, of course because of the Hancock and Prudential Center.

That plus most photographers would probably rather be in Cambridge than East Boston!

Mayor Menino wants to sell City Hall
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - Updated: 01:38 PM EST


Mayor Thomas M. Menino today unveiled a blockbuster plan to sell Boston City Hall and build a new seat of municipal government on the fast-growing South Boston waterfront.

The sale of City Hall and the plaza in front of it could bring in as much as $300 million to $400 million. The roughly 10-acre former Scollay Square site close to Faneuil Hall has been eyed by developers for years.

City officials have already picked out a 13-plus acre site in the Marine Industrial Park, which is owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Boston’s new City Hall could be open for business in four to five years, city officials say.

Menino proposed a similar plan in the late 1990s, but withdrew it after finding insufficient interest in the real estate development market.
But the new proposal comes as Boston office vacancy rates begin to drop and rents rise, spurring demand for new office towers

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today unveiled a blockbuster plan to sell Boston City Hall and build a new seat of municipal government on the fast-growing South Boston waterfront.

Hmm....very interesting.

Boston, 2020
By Steve Bailey, Globe Columnist | December 20, 2006

Ed Logue and Steve Coyle were by far the most independent directors in the half-century history of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In fact, Logue was more powerful than the mayor he served, John Collins, his pervasive influence a function of his ability to attract federal urban renewal money at a time when Boston needed it most. Coyle had the good fortune to run the place at a time of a building boom and work for a mayor, Ray Flynn, who didn't have strong opinions about development.

Our next BRA director, like our out-going BRA director, will not have the independence Logue and Coyle enjoyed, not as long as our Mayor for Life, Tom Menino, is in charge. But more than at any time in decades, Boston needs a strong hand at the BRA, the city's planning and economic development agency. That is because in the next 10 years, Boston could be poised for its greatest building boom in history.

The man -- or woman -- running the BRA will have a lot to say about how that building boom unfolds.

While we haven't started a downtown office tower in years, all the pieces are in place for a renewed boom. The office vacancy rate has fallen, and office rents have risen. The Big Dig has left behind huge opportunities in the Seaport District and along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Harvard is building a new campus in Allston and the city's wealth of nonprofits -- from the universities to the hospitals to institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts -- are in the middle of a huge building cycle. Developers are quietly assembling parcels all over the city.

MFL got exactly what he wanted in Mark Maloney, who loyally, if uncritically, carried Menino's water for seven years at the BRA. Maloney focused his efforts on what he knows and cares most about, affordable housing. More housing is a good (even critical) thing, of course, but Maloney has not been the guy who could stand up and articulate a vision for Boston. He hasn't even been the go-to guy for developers, who know that person remains Paul McCann, the agency's longtime Mr. Inside.

The early betting is that MFL will look outside the BRA for a new director, just as he has for the new heads of police, education, and public works. The mantra in MFL's fourth term is new blood, new ideas. The inside candidates are Menino favorite Kairos Shen, the well-respected planning director who recently dropped out of the running for the top planning job in San Francisco, a plum of an assignment, and Tom Miller, the BRA's economic development director.

Whoever MFL eventually chooses needs to think as big as the opportunity before him (or her). For instance, if life sciences is the future, Boston has a huge stake in moving forward on the long-discussed Urban Ring to provide a transportation link for the bursting-at-the-seams Longwood Medical Area, Boston University, and Harvard's Allston campus, the natural home for a new generation of expansion of Boston's medical complex. Also on my to-do list: retail and housing for the Seaport, relocating a major city or state agency in Dudley Square, and more affordable housing.

A BRA director needs to inspire us about planning and make the city more business friendly to attract jobs and retain our college graduates. It is a difficult balance: Whether from here or elsewhere, he or she has to understand what distinguishes Boston from every other city, and shove us into the 21st century. We aren't Houston, and don't aspire to be.

Headline-grabbing ideas like a 1,000-foot tower and moving City Hall to Oshkosh don't make for a vision. MFL needs to take a lesson from his predecessor: As mayor, Collins hired Logue, and asked only that he never be surprised. MFL would be wise to find his own Ed Logue, and then allow him to do his job.

City's tallest tower clears first hurdle


Businessman Steve Belkin was designated by the Boston Redevelopment Authority today to build the city's tallest building.

The tower would be on the site of a parking garage in the Financial District.

Belkin has proposed an unusual 1,000-foot tower, perched on columns three stories above Federal Street, with a public park underneath, restaurants, and a gathering area called a town green.

Elevators on the outside of the glass building would whisk tenants and visitors skyward; atop the 80 stories would be a half-acre "look-out park."

"Boston's known for its revolution," Belkin told the BRA board. The building, he said, "will revolutionize skyscrapers. We’re actually creating green space ... We’re giving land back to the community."

Belkin made millions from a network of companies in the travel, financial, and communications businesses, and began plotting to build a tower more than a decade ago when he bought a commercial building adjacent to the city parking lot.

He has hired noted architect Renzo Piano, who spoke of the proposed building's "slender, slim" profile.

The BRA designation is the first hurdle. Belkin has pledged to begin construction in 2008 and finish by 2011.

His initial plans were enthusiastically endorsed by BRA board members. "It's very exciting for the city," said Consuelo Gonzales-Thornell.

Chairman Clarence "Jeep" Jones quipped, “It seems so attractive what are you going to do when everybody in the city wants to be there at the same time?" (By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)


http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/0125_building_005.jpg
Italian architect Renzo Piano (left) and Steve Belkin. (Globe photo)

Link (http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/01/citys_tallest_t.html)

http://www.hines.com/toolkit_images/Project%20Photos/South%20Station/South%20Station%20Rendering_lres_web.jpg

^^ That is one GOOD-LOOKING tower, imo. :yes:
Very nice, indeed. :)
:)

new massive mall called waterside place to be built on the waterfront.
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend2.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-model1.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend4.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend5.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend6.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend7.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend8.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend9.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend10.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/WP-rend11.jpg

the much long awaited Fan Pier...

a barron parking lot, to this...
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1401/fanpiersm2.jpg

Is there a height limit in the neighborhood? Why so squat for such prime property? The architecture leaves alot to be desired IMO, the glass facades should be facing the water at least.

I can not wait to move home. I will be moving to Boston in three weeks.

Is there a height limit in the neighborhood? Why so squat for such prime property? The architecture leaves alot to be desired IMO, the glass facades should be facing the water at least.

I believe there is. It is almost directly in the path of the approach for the runways at Logan Airport. The runway thresholds are only about 2 miles away.

What is the cheapest area of the city to live in? That is still close to the city?

Why did this thread die? Did people in Boston stop caring about development? Or did they just move to SSP?

^^ It's just that there isn't much Boston forumers here and those that do visit here normally post at the main site. Anyways here are some edits to keep it going.

New Rendering for Filene Tower
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4720/filenetower1ug8.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/497/filenetowerfranklinmj4.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6092/filenetowerwashingtonwt4.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b291/Joe_Schmoe/filenes/Filene_Tower___Macy__s.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b291/Joe_Schmoe/filenes/Filene_Tower___Skyline.jpg

120 Kingston St, Boston, MA

Status
Proposed

Architects
Chia-Ming Sze Architect, Inc

Stats
Name: 120 Kingston St
Project Address: 120 Kingston St, Boston MA
Map & Plan Links: 120 Kingston St, Google Maps
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Uses: Retail, Residential, Ownership
Land Sq. Ft.: 14,447 +/- ft
FAR: 18.7
Residential Units: 180 +/-
Applicant: Hudson Group North America LLC
Project Description: The Proponent proposes to redevelop the Auchmuty Building to create a new mixed-use development with up to 180 residential units on floors 4 through 29, ground floor lobby and retail (or possibly restaurant) space, and up to 160 enclosed accessory parking spaces (both above and below grade) within building. The new building will rise behind the preserved portions of the Auchmuty Building, set back diagonally to a depth of 40 feet behind the remaining corner bays. On the Greenway side of the new structure, active retail and residential spaces facing Chinatown Park are proposed. The pedestrian environment along this frontage will be enhanced by new storefronts (retail or restaurant) replacing existing solid brick walls, and boarded-up windows which conceal the current manufacturing and loading functions. A terrace, at the base of the Greenway facade, will allow the park's open space to extend beyond the concrete boundary wall and enhance the overall pedestrian experience.


Sources: http://architecturalboston.com/120_kingston_summary.pdf
http://www.mass.gov/envir/mepa/pdffiles/enfs/041107em/13999.pdf


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/daintydot.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5995/120k1rk0.jpg

A historic six-story brownstone wedged in between Chinatown and the Leather District could soon become a 29-story housing tower.

Developer Ori Ron of Swampscott, Mass., plans to redevelop the old Dainty Dot Hosiery building at 120 Kingston St. into a 180-unit residential high-rise that he says will be "iconic" in its design.

Ron concurrently is proposing to co-develop a 50-unit "affordable-housing project" with the Chinese Economic Development Council closer to Chinatown's business and residential district, off of Oxford Street.

Despite proposing the affordable-housing project, Ron could find difficulty in winning neighborhood support for the 120 Kingston St. tower, which would include 4,000 square feet of retail space and 160 parking spaces. Its proposed height -- at a total of 380 feet -- is about four times that allowed by zoning, and the tower would replace much of the Dainty Dot building, which was built in 1898 and is one of the oldest remaining wholesale buildings in Boston's central business district. In addition, the project would tower over the site of the Chinatown Park, one of the Rose Kennedy Greenway parks that is expected to open this summer.

A vocal segment of Chinatown has opposed several similarly-sized high-rises in recent years, contending that such developments break zoning laws, lead to increasing rents, and chip away Chinatown's cultural and historic character. While virtually all of those luxury apartment complexes won city approvals necessary for construction, some faced strong resistance by residents and activist groups such as the Chinese Progressive Association.

"We're against it because 29 stories of luxury housing isn't going to help Chinatown," said Amy Leung, a community organizer for the Chinese Progressive Association. She said that the high-rise, like others proposed before it, fails to meet the goals of the Chinatown Master Plan, a city-supported planning document created in 2000 to guide the development of the neighborhood and to preserve the area's working-class residents and small businesses.

If approved, Ron's tower will be one of several that, over the next few years, will add hundreds of new units of high-end housing to Chinatown.

Ron's proposal to replace a large portion of the historic Dainty Dot building could also face objections from preservationists who want to keep the brownstone.

"I'll try to keep an open mind until I see the design," said David Seeley, a Leather District resident who assisted in the planning of the Chinatown Park and who has advocated for saving the Dainty Dot building. Seeley suggested that 29 stories seems excessive, and he said that destroying much of Dainty Dot "would be a shame."

Ron said that the redeveloped building would keep and restore some of the original facade.

"On top of that, we will restore the usages that the building had. If you look at the building now, you will see that the first floor is boarded up. You'll see black painted glass. We will restore it to a retail use."

In addition, he has noted that the Dainty Dot was partially knocked down during expressway construction in the 1950s.

Ron maintains that the height would be justified and that he seeks to win community support.

"I think that the number-one issue is that our location is not in the heart of Chinatown. So we're not cutting a wedge into the heart of Chinatown. It's more on the edge or corner of Chinatown," he said, noting its proximity to the Leather District and the Financial District and the 36-story buiding at 1 Lincoln Place.

Building affordable housing would benefit the neighborhood, he said.

Ron has not yet revealed specifics about the nearby affordable-housing development, which would be off of Oxford Street at the site of Sun Sun Market's parking lot and Ping On Alley. He has said that it would range from "deeply affordable" to market rate.

"Apart from other developers..., I am actually taking the steps to develop, and build and deliver, affordable housing -- tangible benefits that you can see. I hope the neighborhood will understand that," he said.

Because the proposed $85 million building would sit near the Chinatown Park, he said, it must be artistically designed, which can be costly.

"We're proposing a creative building -- more of an artwork," he said. "If this location is all about innovation, then our design for this building at 120 Kingston cannot be anything different than an icon -- an absolutely outstanding building. The problem with those buildings is that they are very, very expensive and the only way we can make it happen is if we get a little bit more height."

He also promised to include features that complement the park, such as a public balcony.

"I hope that the neighborhood will understand, and not only support us, but be proud of the fact that we're building an icon on the Chinatown Park, and working on the affordable housing."

Ron publicly displayed the proposal at Chinatown and Leather District neighborhood meetings this month, but it's still too early to tell how a majority of people will react.

A new resident of Lincoln Plaza, across from the Dainty Dot building, said that the proposal is “aesthetically pleasing” and that Ron “seems sensitive to the needs of our neighborhoods.” But the resident, who attended the Leather District meeting and only wanted to be identied as Ogi, expressed concern over the project’s height and its proximity to the park.

A Chinatown business owner, who runs a nonprofit home for the elderly near 120 Kingston Street, said it's too early to decide whether she likes the proposal. "It's a pretty big one," said Ruth Moy, who attended the Chinatown Safety Committee meeting in March at which Ron presented his proposal.

"It's amazing because this area is being transformed," said Moy, who had supported the recently completed 28-story Archstone Boston Common apartment building a few blocks away. "You can't really stop progress."

BU Dorm Tower currently under construction.

http://www.bu.edu/studentvillage2/images/gallery/gallery1.jpg

http://www.bu.edu/studentvillage2/images/gallery/gallery2.jpg

A possible 34 story dorm tower for any college.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/courant_dorm1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/courant_dorm2.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/Grandmarc_rendering.jpg

Northeastern Dorm Tower.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/3.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/1-1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/4-1.jpg

What main site?

The Filene Tower is beautiful....saw the story in the WSJournal last week.

The dorm building is OK, windows are way too small though, almost prison-like.

Why did this thread die? Did people in Boston stop caring about development? Or did they just move to SSP?

Most of the Boston forumers spend their time over here:
http://architecturalboston.com/forum/index.php

This is the first time I've been in this thread in a long, long time...the only reason I came in is because I was looking at the main forum and saw this was the latest thread to be responded to.

The following all under construction.

1330 Boylston
http://www.lunarstudio.com/rendering-gallery/image-illustrations/coex-architectural-renderings/1330-building2.jpg

A small but wonderful redevelopment project of the Paramount Theatre
http://www.emerson.edu/emersontoday/userfiles/image/2005_12/Paramount-Exterior.jpg

303 Third Street, Kendall Square
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/letaureau32/303Kendall.jpg

MFA Expansion
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/mfa/mfa5.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/mfa/mfa2.jpg

BUs Level 4 biolab in the South End
http://graphics.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2006/02/03/1138966880_0671.jpg

And Boston's new mosque in Roxbury
http://graphics.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2006/07/04/1151988254_9140.jpg

Does anyone know when the lastest rendering of CBT's revised scheme for Tommy's Tower (1000 ft) will be released?

looks pretty good

I must say, I looked at alot of Boston's new development.
I am very impressed at how they save so many historical structures unlike knocking them down(like so many US cities).
Keep being amazing Boston!

Buildings that are currently underconstruction or about to breakground.

South Station Tower
Height: 690ft/621ft (height is disputed due to conflicted sources)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/South_station_tower.jpg
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6792/img9113po9.jpg

One Franklin
Height: 495ft
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/497/filenetowerfranklinmj4.jpg


The Clarendon
Height: 336ft
http://www.acmedigital.com/905/Clare-05-Q.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/Clarendon_2007_0920_3.jpg

Russia Wharf
Height:395 ft
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2007/07/12/1184254494_5961.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/CongressSt-20070816-144.jpg

101 Columbus Center
Height: 425ft
http://66.230.220.70/images/post/singer/006.jpg

W Hotel
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/3710/img0211kc3.jpg

45 Province St.
http://www.brunercott.com/library/45Province/45Province040804.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/45Prov_20071007_029.jpg

Fan Pier (8 highrises)
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Graphic/2007/09/26/1190781513_9472.jpg

2 Financial Center
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/nozoning.gif
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2484/img0369lb8.jpg

BU Tower
http://www.bu.edu/studentvillage2/images/branding/branding5.jpg
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7273/img0119ar9.jpg

NU Dorm Tower
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper600/stills/8h43xaj6.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_3889.jpg

Boston Life Science Center
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/148801.jpg
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5233/img0137iw8.jpg

There are still some that needs to be added to the list.

Kennedy Greenway opens above Big Dig tunnels
5 November 2007

BOSTON (AP) - The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a 27-acre corridor of parks on land where the elevated portion of Interstate 93 was torn down and replaced by the Big Dig tunnels, officially opened Monday.

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who was among the litany of speakers for the unveiling of the park between Quincy Market and the city's North End neighborhood, recalled his grandfather lamenting that the North End had no grass.

"Well, there's going to be grass," he said, standing in front of neatly trimmed lawns and water fountains. "The children from the North End, the children from Boston will be able to come here and enjoy spending time with their parents, reading a book, having a picnic, watching the magnificent fountains."

Kennedy said his late mother, who died in 1995 at the age of 104, deeply loved the city and its history. She grew up in the North End, the daughter of Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald.

A year after her death, then-Gov. William Weld signed legislation naming the Greenway in her honor.

The project has had its share of struggles. This year, the plans for an enclosed botanical gardens were dropped because of fundraising problems.

Gov. Deval Patrick called the park a "front porch for the North End."

"I'm happy to add the North End parks to wealth of urban spaces that make Boston the city that it is and the city that it is becoming," he said.

State officials say the remaining wharf parks will officially open in the spring, but said people are already using them.

Anyone know if that building was sold to Harvard? I thought I heard about that. Anyone have a link?

Thanks

For more updated construction info on Boston, check this more active thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=562029

Update on Northeastern University Parcel 18 construction.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3531/img0198th5.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8748/img0199hp9.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1746/img0200kl6.jpg
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/2752/img0201uf1.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4074/img0204hu1.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8599/img0205gw5.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/1312/img0213od9.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/5596/img0218fk7.jpg
http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3002/img0215ye1.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8943/img0214hu0.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1970/img0219pc1.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/241/img0220zz8.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/2142/img0223wg1.jpg
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1709/img0225kz1.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8072/img0226ii0.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/2669/img0230wr1.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7540/img0231vb6.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4816/img0242ht8.jpg

Does anyone know why the interior of the original portion of Filene's was not retained? It is a shame...

The facade is, of course, stunning, but...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/359229369_b2d7b1d94f_b.jpg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boston’s ‘Berlin Wall’ Could Face Wrecking Ball
By Thomas Grillo, Banker & Tradesman


Quote:
The Government Center Garage could be replaced with the city’s latest mixed-use project overlooking the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

A controversial icon of Boston’s urban renewal of the 1960s could face the wrecking ball.

The owners of the Government Center Garage, previously mum on plans for the site’s future, said Monday they want to replace the concrete structure with a mix of hotel, office and retail space as well as condominiums.

Erasing the city’s largest parking lot would reconnect the North End and the Bulfinch Triangle neighborhoods with the downtown, Stephen G. Kasnet, chief executive officer of the Raymond Property Co., the building’s owners, told Banker & Tradesman.

“That building is like the Berlin Wall and we want it demolished to create a destination that fits into the fabric of the city,” Kasnet said.

Last year, Bulfinch Congress Holdings, a subsidiary of the Boston-based developer, paid $132.8 million for the 11-story facility adjacent to the Haymarket MBTA station. It includes 2,310 parking spaces, 275,000 square feet of office space and several retailers.

Kasnet said the timing could be right to demolish the building because the facility’s largest office tenant will end its lease in 2010.

“We have lots of ideas, but nothing is set in concrete,” he said. “The question is what proportions of office, retail, hotel and residential makes the most sense. But if we cannot reach consensus on what is appropriate for the site, we could live happily with a new tenant in that building and reexamine the idea in 10 years.”

The developer has scheduled a community meeting June 18 for residents to share ideas on how the four-acre site should be redeveloped. The session will be held on the 10th floor of the garage at 6 p.m.

How many spots were availiable in the beginning?^^^^

How many spots were availiable in the beginning?^^^^

What do you mean?

How many parking spaces, I should have specified sorry.

Time to update the list. Two new projects are in the work while CC is stalled and 111 Winthrop probably won't go up for at least another 10 years if at all.

A 47 story, 569ft residential tower in Copley:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/copley_tower_bb_sun.jpg

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2344/img5035vv7.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1786/img5028vn4.jpg

Copley Tower closer to reality
by David Solar
MySouthEnd.com Contributor
Thursday Jun 26, 2008

The developers of the proposed 47-story Copley Tower filed a Project Notification Form with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) June 23, taking the next step in making the controversial project a reality. The PNF follows the Letter of Intent Simon Malls filed in March 2008, announcing their intention for the proposed Copley Place renovation.

The project notification further outlines the developer’s plans to build the 47-story tower on top of the existing Neiman Marcus; according to the plans, the developer will add 60,000 square feet of new retail, along with the expansion of the store from 115,000 to 169,000 square feet. Residential housing will accompany this retail space, with 280 condominium units accounting for 660,000 square feet, more than seven times the space used for the initial Copley Place Development.

Originally built in the early 1980s, the Copley Place Development was instrumental in linking together the South End and the Back Bay while stimulating economic growth. The success of the development was retail-based, as only 2.5 percent of the project’s 3.4 million square feet were developed as residential.

The project will also take over the southwest corner of Stuart and Dartmouth Street, now a paved entry plaza to Neiman Marcus featuring outdoor seating and two metal sculptures of horses. The Simon Group hopes this provides a more alluring entrance from, while by extending the sidewalks they can better channel traffic and bring more activity to the area.

"At the heart of our design thinking is the creation of a pedestrian-friendly public realm, which opens up the façade to reveal a new winter garden and the dining and shopping activity within as well as a building that will complement the landmark structures of the Back Bay," said Howard Elkus, principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston and one of the architects for the project, in a press release issued by the developer.

This project also promises several other benefits: construction could lead to around 1700 jobs and, in accordance with the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy, affordable housing units. The proposed expansion could also generate $7.2 million in new annual property taxes for the city of Boston.

Local residents, who are concerned that the 47-story building could cast vast shadows over the city, increase traffic and resident density, and lead to stronger wind gusts, have expressed their anxiety over the project. With the current tallest building in the Copley Place complex being the 36-story Westin Copley Plaza, the expansion would tower above the city’s skyline. Some, like Ted Pietras, a member of the project’s recently convened Citizens Advisory Group and a longtime South End resident and realtor, remain skeptical of the project. Although he says he hasn’t heard enough to make a decision yet, Pietras said, "People ask for the 47 stories, but at the end of the day they know they’re not getting it."

He went on to question the replacing of an outdoor plaza with a glassed-in public garden, as the Simon proposal indicates, saying he doesn’t, "consider [the] winter garden to be a real good public space."

After the submission of the project notification, the project will now be under review until August 8, when the comment period ends. If there are any serious public concerns with the proposed project, the BRA "may require the developer to change the project’s design or to take other measures to reduce those impacts." The BRA will also be hosting a public meeting on July 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Boston Public Library located at 700 Boylston St. in Copley Square. At that time, the Simon Property Group will address the audience and take questions from concerned citizens. Please contact John Fitzgerald at John.Fitzgerald.BRA@cityofboston.gov or call at 617.918.4267 with any questions about the project or the meeting.

A 52 story 706ft office tower and a 42 story 554ft office tower at downtown:

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2008/10/23/1224819760_6012/539w.jpg

High-rises may replace Government Center garage
Developer proposes towers of 42 and 52 floors, hotel, stores

By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | October 24, 2008

Developer Ted Raymond is proposing to build two office towers, 42 and 52 stories high, as part of a massive mixed-used complex on property now dominated by the hulking Government Center garage near Boston City Hall.

The proposal, estimated to cost $2.2 billion, would result in the demolition of the 2,300-space garage. Raymond would replace it with a row of retail stores, restaurants, and a hotel that would hide new garages with space for more than 2,000 cars.

"The thinking is oriented toward people walking along a downtown sidewalk, so it looks very much like a typical Boston streetscape," said Steve Kasnet, the chief executive of Raymond Property Co.

Raymond's proposal would extend the Financial District down Congress Street and open up a corridor whose continuity was interrupted by construction of the garage in the early 1970s.

The complex would be built in stages, with the first buildings estimated to be finished in 2014.

The two towers - one on Congress Street, the other along New Chardon - would add more than 2 million square feet of office space during the next decade. Raymond is betting that demand for office space will be on the upswing when he seeks to proceed with construction in 2010.

The proposal also includes two new residential buildings across Congress Street, along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Those structures would be 12 and 17 stories in height, consistent with the size of buildings that now border the Greenway.

Raymond has previously built Trinity Place in Copley Square and Flagship Wharf in Charlestown. His financial partners in the Government Center development are the $12 billion pension fund of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lewis Trust Group, a British company with worldwide property interests.

The Raymond Co. does not expect to begin construction for about 18 months, when officials hope credit markets will have reopened to help finance the development of large commercial projects.

Kasnet said the firm expects to file a proposal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority within two weeks, though.

In recent months, Raymond Co. officials have been meeting with community members and have created their own website, demolishthegarage.com. Representatives of the company were to meet with neighbors last night to discuss the towers' heights, long a principal point of concern.

Bob O'Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association, said the towers could meet resistance from owners of the nearby Charles River Apartments, whose downtown views could be partially obstructed by the new structures.

But he said Raymond has been generally well received by neighbors, who want to see demolition of the Government Center garage.

"To call it the Berlin Wall disparages Berlin," O'Brien said of the massive gray structure.

Still, Raymond faces considerable obstacles. For one, he doesn't own all of the land he is proposing to use. The city owns property along New Sudbury Street that currently houses a newly renovated police station, and several other structures that would be in the way of the 52-story tower. There is also an NStar substation on the property.

John Palmieri, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said the city must also study the effects of wind and shadows on the Greenway, as well as parking and traffic. "It's a robust development, so the question is whether the city could accommodate it," he said.

Raymond's architect for the project, Chan, Krieger, Sieniewicz of Cambridge, conducted a study that showed there would be shadows from the office towers over the Greenway for no more than one hour a day. They also said the building heights would be similar to those of existing structures near the Greenway, including the Custom House and the 75 State St. tower.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a North End Democrat, and State Representative Marty Walz have raised the possibility of Raymond's setting aside space within the development for Suffolk University, which is seeking to build more student housing.

"I want to have Suffolk brought into the conversation about this site, because it is within one of the school's targeted expansion areas," said Walz, a Back Bay Democrat.

Suffolk is not currently included in the plan, but Kasnet said developers will entertain new ideas as the permitting process moves forward.

Does anyone have any new information regarding the South Station tower?

Does anyone have any new information regarding the South Station tower?

Go visit the Archboston.com website. All the information is there.

~ wakey wakey, sleepy thread!



Prizewinning LEED Gold new residential building in South Boston:

http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/12/bostons-macallen-building-fosters-a-revitalized-green-neighborhood/

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/07/new-64.jpg

Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2010/12/03/fbi_plans_to_move_boston_office_to_chelsea/)

Home /Real estate /Real Estate News
FBI plans to move Hub office to Chelsea
By Casey Ross
Globe Staff / December 3, 2010

The Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation — long a fixture in Government Center — will relocate to a massive new complex in Chelsea that will bring badly needed construction jobs and other economic activity to the city, according to people with knowledge of the relocation.

The size and design of the facility have not been made public, but real estate professionals familiar with the deal said the FBI wants a complex of up to 250,000 square feet, or about the size of two Home Depots. At that size, the Chelsea complex would be able to provide the kind of wide, reinforced perimeters for the law enforcement agency that are more difficult to find in crowded downtown Boston.

Chelsea officials hope that hosting a large, prestigious government agency will amount to a vote of confidence in the city and spur additional redevelopment that had been stalled due to the recession.

“This is a huge shot in the arm,’’ said Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash, who cautioned the city hasn’t been formally notified by the United States of the move. “It helps create a new image for the city where we can promote this type of large-scale development.’’

It is not known when the move will happen. The General Services Administration, the federal agency in charge of property matters, said it has not finalized a lease on the Chelsea site and declined further comment. A spokesman for the FBI also declined to comment.

But several people with knowledge of the deal said GSA officials recently chose the Chelsea site after searching for several years for a new home for Boston’s FBI, which has about 400 employees. Its current offices in the Center Plaza building opposite Boston City Hall are too small and do not have the space for modern security measures required for government offices after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Chelsea location is a vacant site on Maple Street near the Route 1 viaduct and next to the Wyndham Hotel. It is owned by ACS Development, one of Chelsea’s largest property owners. The firm has developed more than a dozen Chelsea properties and was the first real estate company to build in the city following a devastating fire in 1973.

The FBI chose the site over a South Boston location owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority and leased to real estate firm Pappas Enterprises. Pappas did not return calls seeking comment.

Chelsea officials and US Representative Michael Capuano have been pushing for the site off Route 1 for years. Once an industrial hub, Chelsea has struggled for decades with poverty, crime, blight, and a lack of business investment. More recently city officials have worked to burnish its image, particularly through property developments. New projects include Forbes Park, a 300-unit residential complex on a former industrial site, a massive Market Basket and two apartment complexes that house 400 units. Another developer recently won approval to build a hotel near the FBI site.

The city is already home to other significant government agencies, including the federal Transportation Security Administration and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, which has a 450,000-square-foot office building in Chelsea. The FBI offices would be located in the urban renewal district where Chelsea has focused much of its recent redevelopment efforts.

The recession has cut into many of Chelsea’s other redevelopment projects. Officials now hope the FBI facility will bring not only construction jobs but also money to local stores and restaurants from the hundreds of employees who will work there. It was not immediately known how many jobs would be created by the development.

“The FBI is a very large space user that will result in a lot of new traffic, people stopping in coffee shops and other businesses in the area,’’ said Greg Vasil, chief executive of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “And this is a big construction project with a tenant lined up, so it is more likely to move forward.’’

The start date for construction remains unclear, as officials are still working to finalize the deal. Ash, the Chelsea city manager, is optimistic it will get done. “It would be an affirmation of everything we’ve been working on,’’ he said. “The economy has sort of knocked the wind out of us a little bit, but this may be a sign that development is coming back.’’

source: Boston Globe http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boston.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fmassachusetts%2Farticles%2F2010%2F10%2F26%2Fexpansion_of_south_station_gets_big_boost%2F&ei=aUD7TKa8GYGisAPF5bj3DQ&usg=AFQjCNEXRk-KtBVbun4e2h1s58UznrDalQ&sig2=oNRAuiZNxHG4fg7PQIaxLg


Expansion of South Station gets big boost
$32.5m federal award may signal future funds

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | October 26, 2010

The Obama administration awarded $32.5 million to Massachusetts yesterday to plan the expansion of South Station, a project that officials say is needed to relieve commuter rail congestion, restore train service to New Bedford and Fall River, and run additional trains on the Worcester line.

The award bodes well for future federal support to finance construction of the station expansion, as well as to relocate a postal facility that sits on land that would be needed for the project, according to Jeffrey B. Mullan, secretary of the state Department of Transportation.

“What you’re seeing is that the federal government recognizes the importance of South Station . . . and is serious about its commitment to high-speed rail,’’ Mullan said. He called the station “the most important transportation asset in all of New England.’’

South Station is a hub for subway, bus, and rail traffic, bringing thousands of workers and visitors from across the region into downtown Boston. The grand, 111-year-old edifice houses New England’s busiest rail station, where about 48,000 passengers clamber off commuter rail trains every morning and take them home again every evening. Another 3,600 Amtrak passengers come through the station each day, according to the state.

South Station’s 13 platform tracks, the berths where passengers board and disembark, are crowded during peak morning and evening hours, when passenger trains arrive or depart every 60 to 90 seconds, making for what MBTA General Manager Richard A. Davey yesterday called “a very tight choreography.’’ Often those trains must sit idle, with passengers on board, while waiting for a berth.

The expansion would add seven to 11 new platform berths and would improve the system that allows trains from different tracks to come and go in sequence, without colliding.

The work would also be necessary for Amtrak and the federal government to pursue their vision of running faster trains and more frequent service between Boston and Washington.

“This is a 100-year opportunity for us to provide increased high-speed rail service to Boston and really the region,’’ Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray said yesterday in a conference call with reporters. “We think this is great news and really benefits the entire state.’’

The project would be particularly complicated because it would require relocating the US Postal Service’s General Mail Facility, which is adjacent to South Station, to allow expansion of the station along Boston’s Fort Point Channel.

State officials expect the grant to cover the cost of preliminary design and environmental review and permitting for the station’s expansion. Big questions remain: namely, how much the project will cost, how long it will take, and where the postal service will end up.

Local planners, business leaders, and public transportation advocates celebrated the federal grant yesterday. “This is just fantastic news for the Commonwealth,’’ said Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the agency that provides planning assistance to Boston and 100 other area communities.

Draisen said the region’s shared goals — “to improve land use, to increase the number of jobs in the region, to reduce commute times on the roadways, and to cut greenhouse gas emissions’’ — are “literally dependent upon the improvement and the expansion of the South Station facility.’’

Nearly two-thirds of commuter trains begin or end their run at South Station, with the rest bound to or from North Station.

Transportation planners have talked for years about expanding South Station, but the state did not begin to pursue the project aggressively until Governor Deval Patrick was elected four years ago. Patrick has advocated expanding service to Worcester and restoring a Taunton-Fall River-New Bedford line that was eliminated 50 years ago, arguing that more commuter rail will boost the economic standing of the region, take cars off the road, and reduce air pollution.

Patrick’s principal opponent in the Nov. 2 election, Republican Charles D. Baker, has criticized the SouthCoast Rail project, estimated by the state to cost $1.4 billion to $2 billion, as being beyond the state’s means.

The application drew the endorsement of every member of the state’s congressional delegation as well as the Postal Service and the city. State officials and members of Congress made their case to Joseph Szabo, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, during his visit to Boston Oct. 14. The next day, Patrick personally called Szabo’s boss, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, to pitch South Station expansion.

In a statement, US Senator John F. Kerry called the competitive grant award “a victory for Massachusetts commuters that will position our transportation system for the future and put people to work on a critically needed infrastructure project.’’

Postal Service spokesman Dennis Tarmey also welcomed the news, saying the money “not only offers the Commonwealth a unique opportunity to expand high-speed and commuter rail capacity at South Station, but also provides the Postal Service with the opportunity to renew and modernize the facilities serving postal customers.’’

He said the Postal Service is considering a proposal to relocate its general mail facility near the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston, on land owned by the Department of Defense and the Massachusetts Port Authority.

The US Department of Transportation will not release the list of grant recipients until Thursday, but the Patrick administration said that among the other winners is Connecticut’s Department of Transportation, which will be granted $121 million for improvements to rail service between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield. New Hampshire will receive $2.24 million to explore a rail link between Concord and Boston, and Maine will receive $600,000 to plan improvements to the Boston to Portland Downeaster service.

120 Kingston St. May Now be rentals

read about it at: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/print-edition/2010/12/03/soft-condo-market-spurs-rental-activity.html

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/daintydot.jpg

The Intercontinental Hotel

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4927912456_409a32bb06_b_d.jpg

~ Now open.

^^
Wow, what a nice building.

Any updates???? Whats going on in Boston???? any new towers??? I saw that they just started working on the Liberty Mutual Tower in Back Bay.

Any updates???? Whats going on in Boston???? any new towers??? I saw that they just started working on the Liberty Mutual Tower in Back Bay.

Northeastern University will be constructing a 17 story dorm adjacent to the Huntington Ave YMCA. They just finished another dorm tower right next to the Ruggles Orange Line stop a short time ago. I believe the dorm went through some revisions and final renderings aren't out (at least I couldn't find them).


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/Spaulding-Image.jpg

Spaulding Rehab Hospital is moving and building a brand new facility of 9 stories in Charlestown. Work is underway and progressing nicely.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/Cranes%20past%20and%20present/087.jpg


Mass Art is building a new dorm right on Huntington Ave. Construction is well under way.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5265/5636405825_6bcd4bfbbd_b.jpg

Here is a render:

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/MassColl.jpg


Vertex Pharmaceuticals is moving its headquarters from Cambridge to South Boston and it will help jump start further development on the Fan Pier development.

Here is a render:

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/013-20.jpg

Children's Hospital Boston is expanding.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/childrens_hospital_expansion.jpg


Here is the new Liberty Mutual building:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MUujHW3QrDc/TGvy1_0xY_I/AAAAAAAAADg/2rZEtjCPzQM/s1600/Liberty+Mutual+Final.jpg

^^

Great udates!


Looks like an institutional building boom is underway in Boston.

Berklee College of Music is planning on doing some expansion of their campus. Here is a render of on of their buildings that was just approved.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/may2011/168%20Renderings-South.jpg



This building was recently completed not too long ago. Atlantic Wharf.


http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/016-3.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5284560672_5f749c4841_b.jpg


This is a residential development recently approved for China Town.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/Parcel24fromsouth-cropped.jpg

^^
Nice updates!! :)


http://gregcookland.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/picGardnerMarch2011.jpg

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has announced a January 19, 2012 opening date (http://gregcookland.com/journal/2011/05/16/gardner-expansion-to-open-jan-19/) for its new Renzo Piano designed addition.

Boston Fusion

Sustainable green development proposal

http://www.architecture-view.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/boston-fusion-building-design.jpg

http://cdn.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/1290123300-boston11-1000x681.jpg

http://static.worldarchitecturenews.com/news_images/15739_1_boston%20fusion%201.jpg

http://cdn.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/1290123462-seaport-boulevard----copy-1000x666.jpg

The ambitious and successful award-winning architect, MAA Christian Bay-Jorgensen, from the architectural firm, Bay Arch, shared with us this unique and sustainable building at the harbour in Boston, Massachusetts. With affiliates in Ringkobing and Copenhagen and with creativity and energy in the blood, Boston Fusion will contain apartments and offices to create a new, green design in every sense with the help of eco-friendly materials from Icopal. This project also forms part of the plans for a new, green quarter called South Boston. (ArchDaily)

read more about Boston Fusion here: http://www.archdaily.com/90356/boston-fusion-bay-arch/

^^
Definitely a vision and not an official proposal. The location would conflict with the project seen on the 3rd-last render on comment 330, unfortunately.

TRD (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/national-market-report--86/)


Boston

http://nerej.com/images/stories/2007/Fan%20Pier-Aerial_opt.jpg
Fan Pier

Vertex Pharmaceuticals signed a 15-year, $1.1 billion lease to move its base of operations from Cambridge to the South Boston waterfront, according to the Boston Herald. The biotechnology company announced last month that it had finalized a $72.5 million-per-year lease on 1.1 million square feet of office space at South Boston's Fan Pier Complex, where developer Joe Fallon is slated to soon begin construction on two 18-story structures for Vertex. Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston, had angered Cambridge officials in January by offering a $71.8 million package of state and local government incentives to attract Vertex. The deal, however, remains contingent on Vertex gaining necessary approvals for Incivek, a hepatitis C drug.

WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576400004219776450.html)

DEAL OF THE WEEK | JUNE 22, 2011.
Pharma Firm Injects Life

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_G0N9CnT-9R8/TT9IDqaFOXI/AAAAAAAAA9k/_odsk90ywFU/s1600/vertex.jpg

By ELIOT BROWN
A development team is breaking ground on a new Boston headquarters for drug manufacturer Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in one of the largest private construction projects to move forward since the recession.

The $900 million project represents a major step forward for Boston's Fan Pier project, which has been a dream of city planners since the mid-1980s as a new waterfront hub of commercial activity. So far, only one building has been constructed on the site, a 500,000-square-foot office building.

The groundbreaking on the two-building complex, with 1.1 million square feet, shows that sites in key locations can prosper even as the national economy struggles to recover. Overall, private office-building development has trailed, partly due to weak job growth and the difficulty in raising construction financing.

The Fan Pier project, developed by a joint venture of Fallon Co. and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., benefited from the rapid expansion of Vertex, which last month received approval to market a drug that treats hepatitis C. Vertex was also lured, from neighboring Cambridge, Mass., with tens of millions of dollars in incentives from the city and state.

"Vertex needed to consolidate into a campus, and in order to do that, there's not that many sites," says Joseph Fallon, chief executive of Fallon, who says he wooed Vertex executives by taking them up in a hot air balloon on the site to show them the views.

With the Vertex lease in hand, the developers have been able to arrange construction financing—but not from banks, the traditional source of construction loans before the recession.

Instead, investment giant Fortress Investment Group is providing a construction loan of about $355 million, say people familiar with the matter. Also, Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Property Trust Inc. is in a deal to provide a junior loan for about $25 million, these people said.

Boston's success at luring Vertex has stoked some hard feelings. Earlier this year, a group of city council members in Cambridge sent a letter criticizing Boston Mayor Thomas Menino for looking to its neighbors to lure companies.

"For Menino's business-development strategy for Fan Pier, I'd like to see him look beyond Cambridge," Leland Cheung, a Cambridge City Council member said Tuesday. "Nationally, we've seen that paying companies to move around is ultimately a race to the bottom."

A spokeswoman for Mr. Menino said: "As a region, we're very lucky that businesses want to stay and grow here. …Whether it's in Cambridge or Boston, or Waltham or Wellesley, we all benefit from increased businesses."

Fan Pier is a former rail yard on the edge of Boston Harbor. In the mid-1980s, the Pritzker family, then an owner of the site, dreamed up a large mixed-used project. But, like many large-scale urban developments in unproven locations, it experienced false starts amid multiple real-estate cycles and political resistance. It was sold to the Fallon venture in 2005.

Of their total three million square feet in total planned mixed-use development, the new owners managed to get construction on one building underway in 2007. But soon afterward, real-estate values and demand for new office space fell.

"We took the foot off the accelerator," says David Reilly, president of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, which has advised MassMutual on the deal. "If things didn't improve dramatically, we were thinking we'll be sitting on this site for who knows."

With Vertex taking two buildings, Mr. Reilly says the project is back on its initial timetable, averaging a new development parcel about every two years.

The project comes as office rents in Boston have been relatively flat. According to brokerage CB Richard Ellis, asking rents have hovered around $40 a foot each quarter since the start of 2010. Still, commercial real-estate values in cities like Boston, New York and Washington have been climbing as investors eager to be in real estate bid up prices.

For the 23-acre site just south of Fan Pier, a joint venture of Boston Global Investors and Morgan Stanley is hoping to break ground in 2012 on residential projects as well as possible retail and hotel developments, says John Hynes, Boston Global's chief executive. "There seems to be an enormous amount of interest right now in residential," Mr. Hynes says.

A few years ago, Thomas Menino proposed to build a new City Hall in South Boston. A new city hall should not be located in South Boston, but rather, west of the current City Hall site.

Update please

BOSTON | Columbus Center
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=532486

Thanks

Assembly Square In Somerville kicks Off (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/national-market-report--90)

http://members.cox.net/jefnickerson/AssemblySq.jpg


After two decades of delays and false starts, a $1.5 billion revitalization of Assembly Square in Somerville will begin construction this fall, the Boston Globe reported last month. Developer Federal Realty Investment Trust will receive $104 million in federal and state funds for the project, according to the Globe. The project will transform 60 acres of industrial property into office buildings, a hotel, homes and an Ikea store. Work will also begin this fall on the construction of the long-planned Assembly Square Orange Line T-station, and AvalonBay Communities will break ground on the site's first two residential complexes. Initially conceived in the late 1990s, the Assembly Square project drew community opposition and later lost funding in the economic downturn. "We're undoing the mistakes of the past through this project," said Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone.

http://mysticview.org/images/mw-0510bigmap.gif

Update please

BOSTON | Columbus Center
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=532486

Thanks

Died a death due to corruption scandals. Read all about it: http://archboston.org/community/showthread.php?t=970

What could have been:
http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k475/bhpdevelopment/Boston/Columbus%20Center/columbuscenter1ul8.jpg

A few years ago, Thomas Menino proposed to build a new City Hall in South Boston. A new city hall should not be located in South Boston, but rather, west of the current City Hall site.

That would seem a bit of a waist.

Esp during a time of austerity.

The existing City Hall in Government Center is only what?

Less than 45 years old?

^^The current one can still be torn down. What does it represent? Ask I.M. Pei. south Boston does not need a city hall.

Boston.com (http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-17/business/29897405_1_million-project-tower-residential-units)


Developer offers new details on Copley tower

At 47 floors, it would be city’s biggest residential building

August 17, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6218/6270893995_ff3c5979ff_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27006681@N05/6270893995/)
Copley-Tower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27006681@N05/6270893995/) by dT-779988 (http://www.flickr.com/people/27006681@N05/), on Flickr

Simon Property Group is moving forward with plans for a 47-story tower at Copley Place that would be Boston’s largest residential building, saying it would ensure the complex “maintains its status as the most attractive retail destination in the Boston metropolitan area.’’

Documents Simon submitted yesterday to the Boston Redevelopment Authority detail how the developer is trying to address the building’s impact on the neighborhood by, for example, rotating the tower to make it appear slimmer from the Copley Square side and increasing the size of a glass-encased garden with shops and community space.

After pausing development of the $500 million project for several years because of the recession, Simon is trying to move forward with construction. It has not set a start date, however, and still needs approvals from the BRA and state environmental regulators.

The project would fill in Copley Place’s last piece of undeveloped property by extending the Neiman Marcus store into the brick plaza at Dartmouth and Stuart streets. A multitiered residential tower would rise above the store.

“The expansion of Neiman Marcus and Copley Place strengthens our retail destination in the Back Bay and contributes to the city’s economic vitality,’’ Michael E. McCarty, Simon’s executive vice president for development, said in a statement. “The project will enhance the urban fabric of the neighborhood and be a striking addition to the city’s skyline.’’

Simon was ambiguous yesterday about whether the residential units would be rental apartments or condominiums. It had previously described them as condominiums. A spokesman said the company will monitor market conditions to determine how they will be marketed.


[...]


Appears this one will be over 625 feet...

Boston.com (http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-17/business/29897405_1_million-project-tower-residential-units)



Appears this one will be over 625 feet...

Sounds like a good Copley Sq neighbor for the John Hancock Tower.

...If it actually goes up!

Sounds like a good Copley Sq neighbor for the John Hancock Tower.

...If it actually goes up!

This will most likely be the next major project *actually built* in Boston, along with some towers in the Christian Science Center complex (including one as high as 512'). Hopefully by 2015 or so, the Back Bay skyline will be noticeably beefed up!

Construction has apparently begun on Avalon Exter: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/09/23/work_on_28_story_back_bay_tower_to_get_underway/


Here's the details from a year ago:

Patch.com (http://patch.com/A-cRvf)

December 29, 2010
New Prudential Plaza Apartments: Great Project, Perfect Location

http://media.metronews.topscms.com/images/bf/e0/68e16bcf49f8a6d4a806e9c600b8.jpg

Boston Properties and AvalonBay Communities are scheduled to begin construction on a 27-story apartment tower on the Prudential Plaza in 2011. Guess what? I like it.

Construction of a $129-million, 27-story apartment building on the Prudential Plaza is set to commence in early 2011. Located on Exeter Street at the rear of the existing Lord & Taylor store, it will rise approximately 311 feet in height and include as many as 188 rental units. In my opinion, this is a great project that will be located in the perfect location.

[...]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6WTpWuKjooA/TOHRDL29ouI/AAAAAAAAAX0/VWvUn8Cr5Y8/s1600/xxxxxhullseagull2008055.jpg

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k475/bhpdevelopment/Boston/Prudential%20Towers/xxxxxhullseagull2008053.jpg

Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/10/20/west_coast_developer_takes_on_fort_point_channel_tower_project/)


West Coast firm takes on Fort Point

October 20, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

http://bostonrealestateblog.bushari.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Screen-shot-2010-03-18-at-5.00.26-PM.png
The 319 A St. project is similar to a Gerding Edlen project in Portland, Ore.,… (Gerding Edlen Cos.)

The West Coast development firm Gerding Edlen Cos. believes something transformational is happening in American cities.

It views the nation’s urban centers as places to live - not just work - and asserts that a large part of the population is dropping the dream of the suburban picket fence to buy or rent homes on streets bustling with stores, restaurants, and people.

After building large projects based on that idea in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, and other cities, Gerding Edlen is undertaking a similar development in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood, where it plans to begin construction next spring on a 20-story tower at 319 A St. that will be the tallest building in the former industrial district.

---


The site:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4402/aerialaxon.jpg
http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?p=87498

Mass General Hospital's spiffy new front door:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2YiqNZ1q6Zg/TpoLvUOmIDI/AAAAAAAAAfY/hKae34Q2LIc/s1600/IMAG0162.JPG

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogiN9OW7n1o/TpoMOL2w-gI/AAAAAAAAAfg/Y1D_Kssk9Xs/s1600/IMAG0160.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MNDOiyZVYu8/TpoM6i4SfyI/AAAAAAAAAfw/EyYt9rU1AxY/s1600/IMAG0161.JPG
http://restoringtheurbanfabric.blogspot.com/2011/10/mgh-creates-enhanced-front-door-on.html

Great resource for Boston projects: http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/DevelopmentProjects/devprojects.asp?action=ViewProject&ProjectID=1353 :)

From: http://bostonredevelopmentauthoritynews.blogspot.com/2011/01/300million-residential-garden-garage.html


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUujHW3QrDc/TTcZEcPfXOI/AAAAAAAAAG0/vTOdLqXdbjg/s1600/Garden+Garage.png

$300million Residential Garden Garage Project Files Project Notification Form (PNF)

Equity Residential filed a PNF with the BRA for the Garden Garage Project, a $300million, 958,000 sq ft proposed residential project to be built in Boston's West End Neighborhood. The Garden Garage Project will replace the existing Garden Garage with two buildings: the North Tower with appproximately 200 residential units and the South Tower with approximately 300 residential units. 15% of the residential units will be affordable. The proposed project provides approximately 958,000 square feet of development, of which 551,000 square feet is residential, 22,000 square feet is common area and amentiy space for residents and 385,000 square feet is for parking. This project will create 450 construction jobs & is expected to begin in fall 2012.

More on the Liberty Mutual Expansion:

From: http://bostonredevelopmentauthoritynews.blogspot.com/2010/08/liberty-mutual-receives-approval-to.html


Liberty Mutual Receives Approval to Expand Boston Headquarters

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20100707/763f06_LibertyMutual_07082010.jpg

The BRA Board approved plans for a new $300 million Back Bay office building as part of Liberty Mutual’s expansion of its Boston headquarters. The project will create a new 590,000 square foot, 22-story office building located at 157 Berkeley Street. Additionally, the project includes the renovation of approximately 89,000 square feet of existing space at 330 Stuart Street, which will retain the existing office and restaurant uses at that location. A pedestrian bridge over Stuart Street will link the new building with the existing headquarters buildings across Stuart Street.

The project will result in the creation of at least 600 new full-time jobs by Liberty Mutual and the creation of more than 500 construction jobs. Construction is expected to begin in October of 2010 and be ready for occupancy by the end of 2012.

[...]


Construction is now well underway:

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/025-2.jpg

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/027-3.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/briv1/liberty_mutual_jan_2011_1.jpg

Boston Herald (http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view/2011_1115hayward_place_condo_tower_breaks_ground_downtown)


Hayward Place condo tower breaks ground downtown

By Greg Turner
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - Updated 1 day ago

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20111115/c11ce4_111511milenniumar01.jpg

http://www.lrgboston.com/images/custom/condos/956_photo.jpg

Millennium Partners kicked off construction of a $220 million residential tower near Downtown Crossing today with a ground-breaking trumpeted by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

The New York City-based developer and its Boston partners started work on the 15-story Hayward Place that will open in about two years with 256 condominiums and street-level shops. The project will create 450 construction jobs.

[...]


Really liked this version:

http://www.bostoncondoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/haywardplace2st7.jpg
http://www.bostoncondoblog.com/boston-real-estate/hayward-place-project-gets-new-life-in-downtown-crossing/

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6372614827_50b6483822_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372614827/)
Hayward Place - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372614827/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

Hayward Place Nov. 20

I'd kind of like to see Pru Plaza get a re-clad. Or do Bostonians consider its design sacrosanct ?

Somerville's 'Best Brand New Neighborhood in The Eastern US' (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/bring-it-the-eastern-reaches.php)

-read all about it!

http://www.street-works.com/images/portfolio/AS3.jpg
http://www.street-works.com/portfolio-MU-AS.asp

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/rent-check-boston-apartment-construction-booming.php)


Rent Check! Boston Apartment Construction Booming

Thursday, November 17, 2011, by Tom Acitelli

Wowza! It seems the only job around here busier than Red Sox scout is apartment-building developer (hey, it's early). Due to laughably low financing rates and historically high returns—not to mention Boston's perennial popularity with the young and the restless—apartment construction in the city, from the Seaport District to Back Bay to Chinatown to Fenway, is cresting a wave that shows little sign of crashing. Per Casey Ross in The Globe:


"There has never been a better time in the last 40 years to develop a multifamily project in Boston,’’ said George Fantini, chairman of the mortgage banking firm Fantini & Gorga. “The capital markets are awash in interest for this type of development.’’


Fantini said investor returns on rental housing projects in Boston are now promising about 5.5 percent, compared with between 3 and 4.5 percent over the past several decades.

Indeed, this very evening five new projects will go before the city for the green light to build another 1,400 apartments-plus, almost all of them rentals.


· National rental developer AvalonBay Communities wants to build 404 apartments for $125 million at 45 Stuart Street in Chinatown near Bay Village.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k475/bhpdevelopment/Boston/45%20Stuart%20Street/Renderings/4a55a5aec7_ltp_stuart07302008.jpg
45 Stuart St.


· Mega-mall developer Simon Property Group wants to put up 318 condos at Copley Place in Back Bay for $500 million (it would be called Copley Place Tower and would include an expanded Neiman Marcus at the base).

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6218/6270893995_ff3c5979ff_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27006681@N05/6270893995/)
Copley-Tower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27006681@N05/6270893995/) by dT-779988 (http://www.flickr.com/people/27006681@N05/), on Flickr
Copley Place Tower

· Hudson Group North American wants to build 240 apartments and condos at 120 Kingston Street in Chinatown.

http://bostonchinatowngateway.com/__oneclick_uploads/2008/05/3ddaintydot.jpg
120 Kingston St.

· Local developer the Drew Company wants to put up a 236-apartment tower called Waterside Place at Congress Street and World Trade Center Avenue in the Seaport District.

http://hyminvestments.com/images/waterside.jpg
Waterside Place

· The Abbey Group, another local company, wants to build 210 apartments at 1282 Boylston Street (along with office and retail) in Fenway.

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20110707/ce3b73_070711_1282+boylston.jpg
1282 Boylston St

These 1,400 are among the 5,000 apartments either proposed or under way since the start of 2011.

[...]

Boston Herald (http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1381458&srvc=business&position=recent)


Hamilton Co. apartments on way to Downtown Crossing

By Herald Staff
Wednesday, November 16, 2011

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20111116/64bbcc_11161108winterstreet.jpg

The Hamilton Co. has started converting a Downtown Crossing office building into apartments.

The Allston real estate company said today that it expects to start renting its “moderately priced” units in July, following an interior renovation of the 12-story building at 8 Winter St.

The 50,000-square-foot property is located at one of the four corners of Downtown Crossing.

[...]

The Globe (http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2011/11/18/story-copley-tower-gets-ahead/JWw396Vs221IoJiRjkC5MP/story.html)


47-story Copley tower gets go-ahead

Chinatown, Fenway projects also OK’d

By Casey Ross | Globe Staff | November 18, 2011

http://www.bostonglobe.com/rf/image_r/Boston/2011-2020/2011/08/16/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/Copley%20Place%20Tower%204_Page_10.r.jpg

City officials last night approved construction of what would be Boston’s tallest residential building, a 47-story tower at Copley Place with 318 condominiums above a retail base that houses an expanded Neiman Marcus store and other shops.

The board of the Boston Redevelopment Authority OK’d the $500 million project by Simon Property Group, of Indianapolis, after a long debate involving residents, union laborers, and public officials.

Supporters said the tower will be a striking addition to the skyline and will create jobs and improve the neighborhood. Opponents argued it won’t provide enough affordable housing and will worsen traffic and cast shadows on nearby Copley Square. In the end, however, the board voted that the project should move forward. Simon Property Group hopes to begin construction early next year.

The tower was one of several large projects to win approval last night. Others included a 404-unit apartment tower next to the Jacob Wirth Restaurant on Stuart Street near Boston’s Theatre District and a mixed use-project project on Boylston Street that will be developed by Abbey Group. It will have 210 apartments, offices, and stores in a building that will replace a McDonald’s.

[...]

Liberty Mutual Tower rising:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6238/6372618877_5604deca2c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372618877/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372618877/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6216/6372617711_b196b08345_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372617711/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372617711/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6372616459_81de6a376a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372616459/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6372616459/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

Pier 4 residential development in the approval pocess right now:

Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/08/11/construction_set_to_begin_on_pier_4_apartment_tower_in_boston/)



Waterfront in bloom

Developers are set to begin construction on Pier 4, one of several projects gaining traction

August 11, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0qlyZHop1qere4jo1_500.jpg
Pier 4 development plans consist of 3 buildings the tallest of which would be 21 stories.

After years of delay, the developer of Pier 4 in Boston’s Seaport District will build a $170 million apartment and retail tower, adding to a burst of development activity that is rapidly transforming the city’s waterfront.

Executives with property owner New England Development of Newton and its partner on the project, Hanover Co. of Houston, said they expect to begin construction next spring on a 21-story tower that would include 357 apartments, retail stores, and an underground parking garage next to the Institute of Contemporary Art.

[...]

Berklee College of Music had an official groundbreaking for the new 16 story dorm/cafeteria/recording space.

http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-30/yourtown/30459618_1_dorm-student-housing-project-moves

http://articles.boston.com/2011-11-30/business/30459447_1_new-buildings-mit-construction-plan

MIT has some nice plans for Kendal Square in Cambridge.

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Graphic/2011/11/30/globegiftastic__1322641339_7785.gif

Mass Art dorm continues to progress and will be done fairly soon.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6421279403_9a9e078f2a_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6421440053_51e8769f8e_b.jpg

Novartis is expanding its presence in Cambridge in a nice way.

http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2011/12/08/novartis_mixing_art_with_science/?p1=News_links

This will help increase their space, which is the worldwide research headquarters.

3 buildings, $600 million. The brain research unit of Novartis is also being moved from Switzerland to Cambridge.

Some better photos of the Novartis expansion in Cambridge.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2011/12/08/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/edited181_mass_ave.jpg

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2011/12/08/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/edited22_osborn.jpg

Construction pic...I like it :)

Some better photos of the Novartis expansion in Cambridge.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2011/12/08/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/edited181_mass_ave.jpg

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2011/12/08/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/edited22_osborn.jpg


Love it, it's cool. And don't take this as in insult in anyway. We have some proposals like this in Toronto. Does anybody else feel like we've gone back to the 60's with these proposals? I'm loving the style over function in the shells of these buildings.

Tata Hall at Harvard, named after the founder of Tata who is a Harvard Grad, has been approved.

http://www.construction.harvard.edu/images/content/HBS/Model.jpg


http://www.construction.harvard.edu/images/content/HBS/Tata%20River.jpg

Bizjournals (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2011/12/19/td-garden-owner-to-sell-development.html)


TD Garden owner to sell development rights for apt tower

Boston Business Journal by Thomas Grillo, Real Estate Editor
Date: Monday, December 19, 2011, 3:04pm EST - Last Modified: Monday, December 19, 2011, 3:26pm EST..

Thomas GrilloReal Estate Editor - Boston Business JournalEmail
Delaware North .... , TD Garden’s owner, intends to sell its permits for a 37-story residential tower in the West End to Avalon Bay Communities .. , the Arlington, Va.-based developer of apartment communities with offices in Quincy, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Nashua Street Residences, a 375-unit residential community, is to be built on land behind the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. federal building and next to the TD Garden, down the street from the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital .. and the Suffolk County Jail. In 2005, the Boston Garden Development Corp. won approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority .. for the project.

Scott Dale, vice president of development for Avalon Bay, did not return a call seeking comment. Christopher Maher, Delaware North’s vice president of development, declined to be interviewed.

But a source familiar with the deal, which is expected to close with days, told the Business Journal Delaware North will use the proceeds of the sale to help fund its project slated for Causeway Street. The TD Garden owners have approval for a pair of 400-foot towers with 1 million square feet of apartments, office space, a hotel and ground-floor retail on the site of the former Boston Garden. Boston Properties .. , the developer of the $500 million Atlantic Wharf, is working with TD Garden owner Jeremy Jacobs to get the project started. Bryan Koop at Boston Properties did not return calls seeking comment.

[...]

Hey guys, I'm student from Poland and I'm looking for some materials and pages about Boston city development history - from the day the city was founded till now. Thank you :)

Liberty Mutual Tower Rising:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6616915913_ea51ab88f2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616915913/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616915913/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6616913605_b632f55301_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616913605/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616913605/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6616914773_b9d8dce7ee_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616914773/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6616914773/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

Hayward Place gets going:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6624412793_a7a81f5708_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6624412793/)
Hayward Place - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6624412793/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6624414565_0061cc0a35_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6624414565/)
Hayward Place - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6624414565/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

Boston Globe (http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/01/02/state-hopes-create-southern-gateway-boston/j8kPdlAIxfj29F2BRZ1wJK/story.html)


State hopes to create Southern gateway to Boston
Bids to redevelop Big Dig lots sought

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Graphic/2012/01/02/bigdig__1325490473_5243.gif

Massachusetts officials are moving ahead on development of a large swath of state-owned property between Chinatown and South Boston in hopes it could eventually become a southern gateway to the city, akin to the Zakim Bridge area to the north.

The development - housing, offices, stores, and public parks - would take place in a 20-acre canyon of weed-strewn lots freed up by the Big Dig, which moved the elevated Interstate 93 expressway underground and created an opportunity to build a new city neighborhood.

Officials stressed that such a massive undertaking is sure to take many years, especially given lingering weakness in the economy. But they are taking the first step by seeking proposals for 1.7 acres along Kneeland Street that are seen as an entry to the rest of the property.

Even before completion of the Big Dig, the land became a magnet for development ideas, including a signature park that would tie into the nearby Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and large buildings with striking architectural features.

[...]

BostonGlobe (http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/01/17/beal-cos-signs-quincy-center-redevelopment/LWVYQOxRkTVkHJWTIpnP5K/story.html)


Revitalized Quincy Center takes a large step forward
January 14, 2012|By Casey Ross

http://media.townonline.com/patriotledger/logos/develop-quincy-logo.jpg

In newly minted blueprints, a revitalized downtown Quincy looks like this: A pair of high-rise office buildings soar above city streets bustling with workers, tourists, and residents. There’s a farmer’s market, 30 new restaurants, and a sweeping public green.

At a cost of $1.6 billion, the project will not be easy to finance and build. But after years of planning, the Quincy Center redevelopment is taking a large step forward - the Beal Cos. is signing on as codeveloper, bringing to Quincy its long experience in building and managing large urban properties in Boston, Cambridge, and other Massachusetts communities.

[...]

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/seaport-districts-big-new-apartment-tower-sets-a-date.php)


Seaport District's Big New Apartment Tower Sets a Date
Friday, February 10, 2012, by Tom Acitelli

http://www.arrowstreet.com/images/project/upload/302037487.jpg

Construction of the first new apartment building in the Seaport District in years, a 1 million-square-foot tower on Pier 4 that could also include hotel and retail space, is set to start this summer. The lead developer, New England Development, is expected to finalize the deal for the 9.5-acre site (pictured) within weeks so the project, which has planning roots stretching to before the Great Recession, can finally get under way.

It, of course, joins a slew of Boston apartment projects either planned or under construction, including the just-announced mother of all recent Boston towers, the approximately 39-story complex at the old Filene's site in Downtown Crossing. Taken together, these new projects will add at least 5,000 new apartments to the city (the Pier 4 project will reportedly have 357). Whether that tampers rents at all is anyone's guess.

---

Boston Globe (http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/02/03/proposed-downtown-crossing-tower-could-feet-high/UVPfqJIGuILbXAlHv1D7RM/story.html)


Developer plans 600-foot tower for Filene’s site
By Casey Ross | Globe Staff February 03, 2012

http://retailtrafficmag.com/development/newdevelopment/downtown-crossing-300.jpg

The development firm taking control of the former Filene’s property in downtown Boston said it will build a tower of up to 600 feet, rivaling the tallest buildings in the city’s Financial District.

A tower of that height would be roughly the size of the Federal Reserve building or One International Place, creating a new center gravity in the city’s skyline and filling a giant hole in its central shopping district. The new building will be substantially taller than the 39-tower previously proposed for the Filene’s site at Downtown Crossing.

Speaking at a press conference today, principals of Millennium Partners said the tower will cost about $500 million and include a mix of uses, from offices to residences to new shops and restaurants along the street. “It will really target all the potential uses that could add vitality to this critical corner,” said Philip Aarons, a founding partner of Millennium. “It will again become the center of downtown.”

Mayor Thomas M. Menino expressed confidence the firm will begin construction within a year, ending the work stoppage that has left a construction crater on the site for 3 ½ years.

[...]



* * * * *


Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/filenes-site-to-be-filled-ritz-developer-behind-new-tower.php)


Filene's Site to Be Filled! Ritz Developer Behind New 39 Story Tower
Friday, February 3, 2012, by Tom Acitelli

http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2010/10/16/1287278458_0230/539w.jpg

Ritz Carlton and Hayward Place developer Millennium Partners will partner with Vornado Realty Trust to build a large mixed-use tower at the old Filene's site in Downtown Crossing, thus ending one of the biggest brouhahas in recent city memory and perhaps paving the way for a $1 billion casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston. The Globe's Casey Ross has the details on the mother of all recent Boston towers:

City officials said several retail stores and restaurants will be built at the base of the building, with offices and residences above. The broad outlines suggest a project of similar scale to the original 39-story complex Vornado tried to build, although officials said it will probably be slimmer and taller. ...
With Millennium in charge, city officials said they expect a revised development plan for the property will be submitted for approval within 60 days, and that they hope construction will resume within a year. ...

The new building by Millennium will be designed by architect Gary Handel, who also drafted plans for the Hayward Place building. His firm, Handel Architects LLP of New York, has designed skyscrapers around the globe, including the Aire residential building, a striking 42-story on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami, and The Trump Soho Hotel in New York [and the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan].

The Vornado-controlled vacant site has been a pebble in the shoe of Mayor Menino since development there froze amid the credit crisis in 2008, mucking up Hizzoner's touting of the renaissance going on in Downtown Crossing (a renaissance partly due to Hayward Place). Menino has heaped opprobrium upon Vornado chairman Steve Roth, who once bragged to a New York audience that he was letting the site lay fallow to spur public incentives for development. The new deal, set to be announced this morning, puts Millennium Partners clearly in charge, with Vornado in a junior role and its old partner, JPMorgan Chase, getting bought out.

[...]

Work progresses on the Liberty Mutual Tower

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7205/6866258281_7eabe46768_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6866258281/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6866258281/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7204/6866259251_5659e5af5d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6866259251/)
Liberty Mutual Tower - Boston - Construction (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/6866259251/) by BostonCityWalk (http://www.flickr.com/people/bostoncitywalk/), on Flickr

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/02/another-one-jamaica-plain-apartment-building-to-join-the-boom.php)


Another One! Jamaica Plain's Big New Apartment Building
Feb. 13 2012

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/wanderer-thumb-thumb.jpg

Add another new apartment building to the Boston docket. Developer Boston Residential Group signed a deal today to buy the 3.5-acre site of the Home for Little Wanderers in Jamaica Plain to build a full-service apartment building of around 200 units, plus, of course, underground parking. Whether the 98-year-old special ed building goes to make room for the apartment complex remains to be seen, though the developer's plans call for all-new construction.

The building, at 161 South Huntington Avenue, would be mostly studios and one-bedrooms, with some two-bedrooms scattered about, and there would be some set aside for affordable housing. Construction could start early next year if the Boston Redevelopment Authority signs off, and the architect on the project, local concern ADD Inc., is the same one behind the Goldman Sachs-backed, Portlandia-inspired 319 A Street in South Boston.


[...]

Great updates!

FENWAY CENTER LANDS!

Boston Herald (http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1408818&position=0)


Fenway Center hits home run

Court victory moves $450M plan forward

By Greg Turner
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - Updated 1 hour ago

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20120306/3c75d8_030712_FenwayCenterRenderin.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/Ned_Flaherty/Fenway-1.jpg

Developer John Rosenthal said he’s primed to secure financing on his $450 million Fenway Center project, after a state court tossed out a lawsuit blocking the five-building complex near the ballpark.

Land Court Judge Harry Grossman rejected a 2009 challenge of Boston zoning approvals by HRPT Medical Buildings Realty Trust, saying in a ruling Monday that the company “can have no expectation of proving its case at trial.”

“It means our project can go forward,” said Rosenthal, president of Meredith Management Corp. in Newton. “It’s been three long years waiting for a decision, and now it’s a race to the finish to complete our negotiations with equity partners.”

HRPT claimed that public street extensions — connecting to the MBTA’s new Yawkey Station at Fenway Center — would slice across its adjacent property, a large office building at 109 Brookline Ave.

Tim Bonang, spokesman for HRPT parent CommonWealth REIT, said the Newton company has not yet determined whether it will appeal. He added the real estate investment trust could still be in line for a payout if any of its land is taken by eminent domain.

“The decision doesn’t deny HRPT’s damages claims, which we think are substantial,” Bonang said.

Rosenthal said he expects to start construction by early next year on Fenway Center’s first phase: a 102-unit apartment building along Brookline Avenue, a 750-space parking garage on a deck over the Mass Pike, and a pair of apartment buildings with 316 units along Beacon Street, where organic grocer Harvest Co-op has signed a letter of intent to open a store.

“We’re going to create a neighborhood out of surface parking lots and windswept bridges,” he said.

Work continues on the state-funded, $13.5 million reconstruction of Yawkey Station, which started in November 2010. The 1.3-million-square-foot Fenway Center’s final piece, a striking 27-story office and residential tower over the Pike, would be done by 2016.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino lauded the Land Court ruling. “It is great news that this lawsuit has been decided,” he said. “I am pleased that the $450 million Fenway Center can now move forward and put 1,700 construction workers back on the job.”

[...]



http://www.allaccessboston.com/blog/files/2011/12/Kenmore-View.jpg
http://www.allaccessboston.com/blog/fenway-center-apartments-project/

http://fenwaycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Rendering-Beacon-St-12-08.jpg
http://fenwaycenter.com/

http://fenwaycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/BUILDING-HEIGHTS-12-08.jpg
http://fenwaycenter.com/

Pier 4 residential tower renders:

Hanover Pier 4

http://hanoverco.com/media/17375/pier_4_rendering.jpg
http://hanoverco.com/capital-markets/hanover-pier-4


http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthoritynews.org/2011/12/15/bra-board-approves-projects-across-boston/

BRA Board Approves Pier 4

Private investment / project cost, phase I: $150 million

Total square footage, phase I: 373,000 square feet

Construction jobs, phase I: 400

Housing, phase I: 383 residential units, 35 on site affordable housing units in phase 1, and 50 on site innovation units

The Innovation District’s momentum continues with the BRA Board’s unanimous approval of phase 1 of the Pier 4 project, a three phase project located at 136-146 Northern Avenue on 9.5 acres. Phase 2 and 3 will be approved as specific projects are submitted to the BRA Board for review. The approval of Pier 4 just one month after the approval of 319 A Street answers the call for housing in the area.

Phase 1 is a $150 million project that will transform an existing restaurant, patio, surface parking, and deteriorating pier into a vibrant, waterfront mixed-use complex with 625,000 square feet of residential space, 20,000 square feet of public civic space, and 20,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Thirty-five of the residential units created in phase 1 will be affordable, and 50 of the residential units will be innovation housing. When phases 2 and 3 are submitted to the BRA for review, there will be additional affordable housing.

Pier 4 will enhance the public’s interaction with the harbor by creating new waterfront open space areas, including a one-acre Waterfront Park, Waterfront Plaza, 1,800 feet of Harborwalk, the Water Commons consisting of a water taxi landing area and covered waiting area, public restrooms, and the All-Seasons Gathering Area linking to the civic space. The deteriorating pier will undergo significant repairs, and the area will house a “touch and go” dock, fish cleaning station and bait and tackle shop. Additionally, approximately $2 million will be contributed to improved water transportation services in the District.

As part of the District’s development into a 24-hour neighborhood, Pier 4 will bring residential, hotel, retail/restaurant, civic, and commercial uses to the waterfront. Boston’s waterfront economy will be strengthened, and the Pier 4 project will create a new community on Boston’s waterfront. Parking will move below ground opening surface area space for pedestrian use. Community activities in new, open waterfront space will be created, and a pedestrian and vehicular network across the 9.5 acres will be built improving the physical and visual access of the public to the harbor.

---

Fan Pier going gangbusters:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals HQ

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6822057441_ec05944f6d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/6822057441/)
IMG_3643 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/6822057441/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6822014695_f63598c6ef_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/6822014695/)
IMG_3638 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/6822014695/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://www.boston.com/partners/greader/prfmkt/images/18massmover.jpg
http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-18/business/31071647_1_gilead-shares-idenix-pharmaceuticals-hepatitis

The great weather this year in Boston during the Winter has allowed a lot of projects to progress and make great progress. Barely any snow and warmer weather has been a great aid for the crews.

The great weather this year in Boston during the Winter has allowed a lot of projects to progress and make great progress. Barely any snow and warmer weather has been a great aid for the crews.

It's so awesome seeing Boston swing into high gear. I think after New York and San Francisco, Boston is everyone's favorite US city at this site! :cheers:

Great string of projects.. :cheers:

Some people have complained that Boston is one of the most NIMBY cities in the country, but I guess that was overblown.

Some people have complained that Boston is one of the most NIMBY cities in the country, but I guess that was overblown.

Boston definitely has a ton of NIMBYs that love to complain about projects. That is one of the biggest reasons you don't see a lot of tall tower projects getting built in Boston. The proximity of Logan Airport is another reason for example.

Boston is no a nice tear right now with projects that are either under construction, or have been approved and work is set to begin soon. Across the Charles River in Cambridge, there are also several projects that are underway or about to begin.

Hello! Another Elkus Manfredi classic:

bostonglobe (http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/03/10/apartment-tower-set-rise-chinatown-dainty-dot-site/xC2w5mY1Zy9onskcpg8WXP/story.html)


Tower set to rise in Chinatown
March 10, 2012|By Casey Ross

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/chinatowntower.jpg

Developers of a 26-story residential tower at the edge of Chinatown said they will start construction in the next few months, adding to a flurry of apartment buildings getting underway across the city. The project by Hudson Group North America and Forest City Enterprises Inc. will result in 240 apartments and a new restaurant on the site of the vacant Dainty Dot building at 120 Kingston St.

Demolition of the Dainty Dot is scheduled to begin in weeks, with construction of the tower to follow shortly afterward. The developers are hoping to open the building by spring 2014.


-----

The $130 million project will also add about 2,200 square feet of outdoor space along the Chinatown section of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. The park will be widened and the new building will feature a large outdoor patio connected to a 5,000-square-foot restaurant.

The 120 Kingston project, delayed for years by the soft economy, was jump-started recently by the entry of Forest City, a Cleveland-based firm that will make its Boston debut with the building. Forest City is a national developer that has been operating in the region since 1984. It built University Park in Cambridge, a 2.3 million-square-foot complex of labs, residences, and stores. It recently partnered in the development of Manhattan’s tallest residential building, a 76-story tower at 8 Spruce St.

[...]

The Ink Block Is Going Up (http://southend.patch.com/articles/landmark-commission-approves-demolition-of-former-boston-herald-building)

Project at the former Boston Herald Building site approved.

http://bosguydotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ink-block-courtesy-of-bra.png
http://bosguy.com/2012/03/04/ink-block/

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/seaport-developer-woos-google-as-facebook-looks-in-kendall.php)


Seaport Developer Woos Google as Facebook Looks in Kendall
Mar. 9 2012

http://www.kpf.com/imgs/news/14830_hr.jpg

http://seaportinnovationdistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/seaport-square-south-boston-ma_1.jpg
http://seaportinnovationdistrict.com/2011/seaport-square-boston-ma/

http://bostonrealestatehub.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/seaport-square.jpg
http://bostonrealestatehub.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/waterfront-continues-to-grow-watermark-seaport-to-be-developed/


Googlegate thickens! The search engine giant, stymied in its bid to expand in Cambridge's Kendall Square, is now being aggressively wooed by Boston—and not just by City Hall. Seaport Square developer John Hynes III tells The Herald's Jessica Van Sack that the three commercial buildings there offer more than enough space for, say, a rapacious tech company. The buildings will total nearly 1.5 million square feet, and will eventually be ensconced amid new parks, restaurants, shops and apartment towers. And there will be ferries, probably, maybe, to get everyone to and fro.

Meanwhile! The head of the Kendall Square Association, a nonprofit in the business of boosting the area's business, said that Facebook is shopping for an office there, just as Amazon prepares to open one. The thing he's most worried about? A 19th-century technology. "It's critical for this district that we figure out how to properly fund and sustain the MBTA in the future," Travis McCready told The Herald. "We have 5 million more square feet in the pipeline, so naturally we're nervous about any talk of service cuts.

[...]

New Longfellow Bridge designs are out: http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/httpwwwheraldnewscomnewsx1957361631flanaganlookstoenticegoogletobuildnewfacilityinfallriver.php

http://www.livablestreets.info/files/homepage%20longfellow%20bridge.JPG
http://livablestreets.info/streetlife/issue-61-february-2012

http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/boston/17278892666/1/tumblr_lz393lPbP71qewb27
http://boston.tumblr.com/post/17278892666/longfellow-bridge-loses-outbound-car-lane-in-new

Liberty Mutual greets the skyline

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6229/6996778939_ca111e630a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/6996778939/)
Liberty Mutual Boston 3/18 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/6996778939/) by snagshead67 (http://www.flickr.com/people/beelinebos/), on Flickr

610 Main in Cambridge gets busy:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6976126521_55335747f8_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/6976126521/)
610 Main Cambridge MA (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/6976126521/) by snagshead67 (http://www.flickr.com/people/beelinebos/), on Flickr

Nice pictures guys :D.

New Balance corporate headquarters expansion/Brighton Landing development.

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20120321/e3f614_032112newbalance.jpg

http://assets.bizjournals.com/boston/news/New-Balance-Brighton-Plan.pdf

http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1061119052&srvc=business&position=2



Will include a hotel, a new corporate headquarters for New Balance, a couple of addition office buildings and a sports facility that will supposedly have the Boston Bruins use it as their practice facility.

^


The Big Details on Brighton's Big New Balance Project

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20120321/e3f614_032112newbalance.jpg

Details aplenty are out re: the New Balance Landing project in Brighton, thanks to a filing yesterday with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Here's the gist and why it matters:

· There will be four buildings along Guest Street.

· These will include a new, 250,000-square-foot world headquarters and a 175-room hotel rising as high as 20 stories.

· There would be 650,000 square feet of office space on an almost 10-acre site along the Mass Pike.

· And there is supposed be a 345,000-square-foot sports complex with ice rink and track across Guest.

· Amongst it all would be 65,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and service space.

· And, underneath it all, 1,750 parking spaces.

Curbed http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/big-details-on-brightons-big-new-balance-project.php



More details:

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz21/esb1250/New20Balance202_900.jpg
http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?p=139278

http://www.brightonlanding.com/images/map_2x.gif
http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?p=139335

Cambridge Approves Google Expansion At Kendall Square (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/cambridge-hits-ctrlaltdlt-on-google-expansion-okd-w-caveats.php)

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/images/uploads/articles/Google590(3329).jpg
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/search_results_google_and_the_boston_tech_scene/

~ 300,000 additional sq ft + 180 apartments in a 200,000 sq ft building sealed the deal.


...The City Council voted 7-2 to approve Google's expansion in Kendall Square. The company will grow to 300,000 square feet, mostly from two connectors amid Three, Four and Five Cambridge Center. Its workforce, which numbered 40 five years ago and now totals about 800, will grow along with the expansion.

In exchange! Google and its landlord, Boston Properties, agreed to bump up the amount of new parkland that will replace that which will be lopped off by the expansion. The pair also pledged $2 million toward its design and construction; and Boston Properties said it would come with plans for about 180 apartments in the area after the expansion's done in mid-2013.

The old Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge won't be converted to apartments anytime soon (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2012/03/state-rejects-cambridge-courthouse-bids.html).

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/edwardjsullivancourthouse.jpg

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/two-big-apartment-buildings-are.php)


Somerville's Big New Assembly Row Focuses First on Small
Mar. 29 2012

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/29assembly_photo2.jpg

Two big apartment buildings are getting under way at one big residential and commercial complex in Somerville. Along the banks of the Mystic (cue wistful music), on the site of a former Ford plant, will rise 2,050 housing units; a 200-room hotel; 1.75 million square feet of office space; 830,000 square feet of retail, including the sort for big-box; and an Orange Line station. It is to be called Assembly Row, what Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone has labeled "the best brand-new neighborhood on the Eastern Seaboard."

The first two buildings, which started construction yesterday, will have 448 apartments over 470,000 square feet. One will have 195 rentals in what The Globe described as "a more traditional apartment complex" while the other will have 253 rentals of smaller size geared toward younger people.

[...]



http://bosguydotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/assembly-row-project.png
http://bosguy.com/tag/the-boston-globe/

Wegman's Eyeing South End Fenway For New Supermarket (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/03/not-downtown-crossing-wegmans-eying-south-end-fenway.php)

http://boston.eater.com/uploads/wegmans2.jpg


When news broke yesterday that Wegmans wanted to open a store in Boston, it conjured memories of the epic opening of the first Wegmans in New England in Northborough late last year. Crushes of people, effusive praise, cats and dogs living together in some retail Valhalla. Well, such might come to one of two neighborhoods, according to The Globe's Jenn Abelson, who broke yesterday's news:

Wegmans’ officials on Wednesday toured sites in the Fenway, including those owned by Samuels & Associates, one of the neighborhood’s major developers, as well as the former Boston Herald location in the South End, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The South End property, near the Southeast Expressway, will have 85,000 square feet of retail. Whole Foods had kicked the tires there, but passed after opening in Jamaica Plain.

Humble beginnings for the 28 story Residences at Kensington:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7134/6883870712_ae627bc7bf_b_d.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72904627@N02/

Chanel, $6 Million Condos Going Up On Newbury St. (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/chanel-no-6-details-on-new-newbury-street-condos.php)



http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/newburyrendering.jpg

The new condos slated for 4-6 Newbury Street, where a garage currently stands and where a 10,000-square-foot Chanel store will stand as well, are expected to ask $3.5 million to $6 million each, depending on their sizes and design requests. That would make them among the most expensive listings in Boston when they come online next winter.

News of the project, which its developers, including Irish investor Aidan Brooks, are calling No. 6 Newbury (but that we will henceforth call Chanel No. 6), emerged last week after its approval by the city. The Chanel store will take up the first two floors. Above that will be the six condos: two 2-BR duplexes and four 3-BR and 4-BR units.

[...]

Google Reveals Kendall Sq Plans (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/google-obviously-feeling-lucky-in-kendall-square.php)


http://www.tumblr.com/photo/1280/boston/20407069410/1/tumblr_m1woq9vYaB1qewb27
Boston.com

Google is wasting no time marking its territory in Kendall Square. Details are emerging, along with speculation, as to what the Internet hegemon plans to do with the extra space it got approval for last month after weeks of uncertainty that included a push by Boston to pull it across the Charles. We knew about that Google would nearly double in size to 300,000 square feet with two new glass connectors. It might also have:

· retail and space for the public in those connectors;
· more classes for the public;
· soundproof nap rooms; aquarium relaxation rooms; and on-site doctors for employees;
· 500 more employees, who currently work half a mile away;
· and the largest Google campus outside of Mountain View, Calif.; San Francisco and New York.

Construction is expected to start this year and be done by mid-2013.

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Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/might-the-epic-fenway-center.php)


Of Course: 5-Building Fenway Center Hits Legal Bump
Thursday, April 5, 2012, by Tom Acitelli

http://fenwaycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Fenway-Center-Solar-Arrays-2-700x320.jpg

Might the epic Fenway Center have hit a legal roadblock? It looks like it. Greg Turner at The Herald reports that a real estate firm has appealed a ruling against it last month that seemed to pave the way for the five-building, $450 million project near the ballpark of similar name. Last go-round, the firm had claimed the public extensions for Fenway Center would slice across its adjoining property. A judge ruled otherwise, and everyone thought the project, with its solar-powered exuberance, was a sure thing. But, this being the Hub (Boston in particular), development (residential development in particular) can't be allowed to be a sure thing.

Fenway Center's first phase is supposed to have a 102-unit apartment building along Brookline Avenue; a 750-space parking garage on a deck over the Mass. Pike; a pair of apartment building with 316 units total along Beacon Street; and retail that will include the organic grocer Harvest Co-op.

It's not entirely clear how viable the latest legal action is—a spokesman for the adjoining landlord said its position in the appeal will become clearer in subsequent filings—but it's the first bump since last month's green light.

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/here-comes-harvard-w-6b-to-finish-allston-plan.php)


Here Comes Harvard to Finish Allston Plan—Eventually
April 9,2012

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/allston.jpg

The Harvard Mafia plans to start a capital campaign next year to raise at least $6 billion, some of which will surely be spent to jumpstart construction in Allston that the Great Recession building-blocked. University officials are being coy on the details, with the campaign having entered a so-called quiet phase of reaching out to major benefactors. Once that phase is over, then we'll know more about the money amounts and where they'd go.

One place being bandied about, though, already is Allston. The university had jumped across the Charles from Cambridge into the Boston neighborhood in a big way in 2009, having bought 350 acres and broken ground on a $1 billion science center. The center was to be a linchpin of larger development in Allston, including apartments at Barry's Corner. For now, though, the biggest feature of the development is a 6-acre abandoned construction site.

[...]

http://www.pgal.com/portfolio/boston-logan-international-airport-bos-consolida-2/

The consolidated car rental facility for Logan Airport. Construction has already begun and is expected to be completed by October 2013.

Bizjournals (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2012/04/developer-proposes-tremont-crossing.html?ana=twt)


1M square-foot 'Tremont Crossing' proposed for Roxbury

Friday, April 20, 2012

http://www.baystatebanner.com/files/local11-2012-04-26/local11a.jpg
Bay State Banner

Elma Lewis Partners and Feldco Development have proposed "Tremont Crossing," a 1-million-square-foot, mixed-use development in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood.

If approved by the city, the $300 million project would include 500,000 square feet of retail with smaller shops and boutiques along Tremont Street, 200,000 square feet of office space, an 11-story apartment building with 240 units, and a new museum for the National Center for Afro-American Artists. The development will also include a large public plaza and a multi-level parking garage with 1,700 spaces.

Located on an 8-acre parcel bounded by Tremont, Whittier and Downing streets, the project seeks to integrate its mix of uses in a “highly-functional, urban context creating a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly environment that is conducive to the success of its commercial and cultural tenants, as well as enhancing the quality of life in the neighborhood of which it will become a part,” according to the filing with the Boston Redevelopment Authority .

The museum and cultural space will be at the center of the development with a public plaza to include sculptures and outdoor seating. The office tower will rise above the museum, but will maintain its pedestrian access on Tremont Street and offer unobstructed views of downtown Boston.

[...]

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/might-fenway-get-its-own-flatiron-building-23story-proposal.php)


Might Fenway Get Its Own Flatiron Building? 23-Story Proposal

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/353477321_07fa53edf9.jpg
http://blog.flickr.net/en/2008/11/16/flatiron/

Fenway is hot. Not the ballpark—nothing going there—but the surrounding neighborhood. We told you last week when the Red Sox opened that development in Fenway (or the Fenway for purists) was booming even by Boston's current booming standards: hundreds of new apartments and parking spaces; the first new hotel in more than a decade; thousands of square feet of commercial space; dozens of beer taps; an organic grocery store; and, perhaps most importantly, the conventional wisdom that Fenway has the potential to become—and stay—a 24-7 neighborhood.

Add one more to the proof: Samuels & Associates, the developer of Fenway's 1330 Boylston and the Trilogy apartment-and-retail buildings, has proposed another such building at the intersection of Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue, where the D'Angelo sub shop and an Ace Ticket office now stand. The 23-story building at the so-called Point would have 200 apartments, 50 condos and two floors of retail. Some residents are peeved at the scope, but zoning allows for up to about 25 stories because The Point lay at the de facto gateway to the neighborhood.

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Boston's Tastiest Development Fight Grinds On In Southie (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/bostonstastiest-development-fight-grinds-on-in-southie.php)


http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/new_congress_street_1.jpg

South Boston's booming, no doubt about that. The city and private developers are together working to add thousands of new apartments, including micro ones geared toward techies, as well as hundreds of hotel rooms and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial space. You might say, in fact, that Southie is changing forever this annum. But there is one site that seems encased in a battle that appears to go all the way back to before the Great Recession.

Basically, it goes like this, per Paul McMorrow of CommonWealth magazine writing in today's Globe:

· The 30,437-square-foot site, called the Sausage Parcel because of its unusual, narrow shape, is owned by Madison Properties, which has had the O.K. to build a hotel of up to 500 rooms since it bought the site from NStar in 2006.
· Then the economy tanked, and Madison couldn't get any financing for the hotel.
· The hotel might not work anyway because the site's so small—90 feet at its widest point—and how do you put a ballroom and such in a space like that?
· So Madison went back to the city with plans for a 400-unit apartment tower, plus the financing to pull it off.
· The city, via the Boston Redevelopment Authority, has stuck its fingers in its ears and made that lalalala sound in response to Madison's proposal. It wants a hotel, not an apartment tower. Why? Because the convention center in Southie needs more hotel rooms, including as a justification for any expansion, even though no hotelier can afford to build in the booming neighborhood right now.

Madison's apartment-tower proposal has been with the city for eight months now; and the city appears to be waiting things out in the hopes of a hotel against the odds

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Newly OK'd Southie Complex To Include Microapartments (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/newly-okd-southie-complex-to-include-microapartments.php)

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And the development boom goes echoing on. The Boston Redevelopment Authority has approved the development of a 197-unit apartment complex at 411 D Street near the convention center in South Boston. The approval comes after the developers tweaked their plans to sooth the concerns of a neighboring condo building that worried that some of their views would be blocked.

More importantly, we think, 411 D Street will include 26 so-called "innovation units," which the BRA defines as apartments for those who make too much to qualify for affordable housing but who don't make enough to rent anything decent in this town; the units are smaller, with more flexible layouts, and the building's they're in have common areas that are suppose to encourage brainstorming over artisanal coffee, Ultimate Frisbee, etc. Basically, they're city-encouraged micro-apartments for the tech set.

The $60 million project will replace three warehouses in what one resident called "a wasteland." Architect David Manfredi (who else?) told the BRA, per Greg Turner at The Herald, that the new complex, including its retail and covered parking, is designed to “have a sense of the organic growth of the city.”

Anybody knows what are they building in the two construction sites at Binney St. (close to the 6th St.) in Cambridge? I walk close by every day and I wonder what are they going to be.

PS I just found this section of the forums (coming from the Spanish one). Great work! It's a pleasure to discover what is going on in this city.

Boston Globe (http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/05/04/new-office-tower-planned-channel-center-boston-seaport-new-office-tower-planned-boston-seaport/oeCpomY0Aio9Y0ZwCoI8RO/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw)


Seaport District to get new office tower

State Street Corp. is in, sources say

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By Casey Ross | GLOBE STAFF MAY 05, 2012

The developer of the massive Channel Center complex in Boston’s Seaport District is proposing construction of an 11-story office building, public parks, and a parking garage, adding to the rapid redevelopment of the waterfront in recent years.

No major office tenant was named in plans released by the city on Friday. But sources with knowledge of the project have said State Street Corp. is negotiating a deal to move into the office building, which would be located at One Channel Center.

A spokeswoman for State Street said in a prepared statement Friday that the company has several leases expiring soon and is “pursuing various options to meet our business and workplace needs.’’

The developer of Channel Center, Commonwealth Ventures, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The company filed plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority calling for a 525,000-square-foot office building, a nine-story parking garage, and two public parks. The firm said it hopes to begin construction by the end of year.

The complex, located off A Street, already includes more than 200 residential units, restaurants, stores, and offices in a series of former Boston Wharf Co. warehouses. The development of a large new office building would be a major boost for the complex and for the neighborhood, which has been renamed the Innovation District by Boston’s mayor, Thomas M. Menino.

The area has attracted scores of new businesses in the past two years, and continues to generate interest from a broad range of companies that want to relocate there. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is building a pair of large office buildings nearby at Fan Pier, one of the largest privately funded construction projects in the country.

A new building for State Street would also add considerable momentum to the office construction market in Boston, which all but died out during the recent economic downturn.

[...]

Steel up over at Six Ten @ MIT:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7102915343_bce32e20d0_b.jpg
by Crash575 at http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?p=141761

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/-last-week-we-saw.php)


One Word: Transit-Oriented—JP's Jackson Square Is the Future

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/jaxsq_view1small.jpg

Last week, we saw the future of Hub apartment development in the newly opened Maxwell's Green on Lowell Street in Somerville. Someday, when coffee cups of gasoline cost more than rigging a Fenway sellout, when driving becomes as taboo as simple human decency on the T, it will behoove people to rent or to buy in residential buildings near mass transit stops. Maxwell's Green is one of those. The newly under-construction 225 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain is another. An official ground-breaking is now scheduled for it for May 12, a week from tomorrow.

Two-twenty-five Centre Street is the first and largest component of the city-backed, 14-building Jackson Square redevelopment, where JP meets Roxbury, that's been at least 10 years in the making. This largest component will have 103 rental units, including 35 affordable ones; more than 16,000 square feet of commercial and retail space; an off-street parking structure; and what its blog (it has a blog) calls "dramatic landscape improvements." Ten of the affordable rental units will be reserved for extremely low-income families, and the overall project costs are an estimated $50 million.

Most importantly, perhaps (no, not perhaps, just most importantly), is that the new building—the entire Jackson Square project, really—rests next to the Orange Line stop at Jackson Square. Limitless transit in a car-less future.

[...]

Please go to this page, it may interest you

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1511809

Vertex at Fan Pier making a skyline impact:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7159529990_14fb752b85_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-a-x/7159529990/)
Boston Skyline HDR (http://www.flickr.com/photos/j-a-x/7159529990/) by J-a-x (http://www.flickr.com/people/j-a-x/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7240/7193998948_fcc63af2ee_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193998948/)
IMG_1251 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193998948/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8026/7194008594_ef0e77575b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194008594/)
IMG_1240 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194008594/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5467/7194027562_20defee8a5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194027562/)
IMG_1218 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194027562/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/7194029826_ac3e5f6d5e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194029826/)
IMG_1217 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7194029826/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

Liberty Mutual topping out:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5454/7193801190_70b03d63b4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193801190/)
IMG_1295 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193801190/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7101/7193798660_fbef81e654_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193798660/)
IMG_1296 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193798660/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5443/7193808246_387e7d12c3_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193808246/)
IMG_1292 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193808246/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/7193836484_c66fea55e2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193836484/)
IMG_0893 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193836484/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

Boston University East Campus Center nearing completion:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7193872204_50ac1be488_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193872204/)
IMG_1650 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193872204/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7216/7193867978_a813dd47ea_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193867978/)
IMG_1652 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193867978/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7193860346_1d47b5745f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193860346/)
IMG_1658 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7193860346/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

Spaulding Rehab Hospital in Charlestown also finishing up:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7155091812_2393cfb1d2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7155091812/)
Spaulding Rehab (new) 5/7 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7155091812/) by snagshead67 (http://www.flickr.com/people/beelinebos/), on Flickr

The Victor is on its way:

http://www.cpexecutive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/111611-The-Victor-Portal-Park-View.jpg
http://www.cpexecutive.com/regions/northeast/bostons-92m-victor-apartments-break-ground/

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7090/7185375296_5aec5d9391_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7185375296/)
IMG_0723 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27672048@N00/7185375296/) by kz1000ps (http://www.flickr.com/people/27672048@N00/), on Flickr

Curbed (http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/microrooms-3story-videos-its-the-new-theater-district-gateway.php)


Micro-Rooms, 3-Story Videos? New Theater District Gateway

http://boston.curbed.com/uploads/theaterdistrictgateway.jpg

The Theater District's longest-running drama has taken a fresh twist: The long-empty site at 240 Tremont Street has a new development team in place and a new vision for what it might look like if it ever gets built. The new developers, led by Amherst Media and Robert Gatnick, now see a “tall and slender,” 19-story hotel with 240 rooms, up from 16 stories with 200 rooms, per The Herald's Greg Turner. Tall and slender? No problem!

The $66 million hotel would offer “micro-rooms,” smaller, cheaper accommodations in a first for Boston. Recently filed plans detail “operable glass panels” along a ground-floor restaurant, three-story electronic video boards and “linear strips” of LED fixtures highlighting the architecture.

Not only that, but the hotel would be connected to the neighboring Wilbur Theater's Cure Lounge nightclub by a 12-foot-wide alley all done up like Shubert Alley in New York City. Action!

Actually, given that developers and the city have been trying to get something built at the site since the 1990s, don't hit the box office just yet. The new developers do plan to break ground soon and be done in 2014. Just nobody say, "Macbeth."

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Liberty Mutual

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7241062224_d24512cedc_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7241062224/)
Liberty Mutual Crown 5/20 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7241062224/) by snagshead67 (http://www.flickr.com/people/beelinebos/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7081/7241968288_ed6b4f7e61_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7241968288/)
Liberty Mutual Skybridge 5/20 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelinebos/7241968288/) by snagshead67 (http://www.flickr.com/people/beelinebos/), on Flickr