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Large replacement for Boston Flower Exchange approved

By adamg on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 10:16am
Architect's rendering of South End project

Architect's rendering.

The BPDA board has approved a developer's plan to replace the Boston Flower Exchange at 540 Albany St. with a new office and R&D complex with 1.6 million square feet of space.

Exchange South End will include a $12.5 million payment to the BPDA's fund for building or acquiring affordable housing, and $2.5 million to a city job-training program.

The 5.6-acre project will include four buildings, from 6 to 20 stories, arranged around a public square.

Exchange South End project impact report (176M PDF).

Neighborhoods: 
South End
Topics: 
Development
Free tagging: 
BPDA


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Comments

By anon on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 10:26am.

Less than a half mile away urban refugees are living in storage containers, under Newmarket station in Silver Line bus stops and under bridges.

By anon on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 10:33am.

More office space, Walsh is really tone deaf on the housing crisis in Boston. Boston I'd very slow compared to other cities like Seattle that are dealing with a housing crisis, but Walsh keeps prioritizing office space like Menino. That's a lot more cars (1,100 parking spaces plus lots of uber and lyfts) of people that increasing have to move farther and farther away from Boston due to lack of housing.

By adamg on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 12:27pm.

About the 1,300 or so residential units proposed for South Boston.

By Waquiot on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 3:00pm.

As opposed to the city's entire housing plan.

By Stevil on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 4:52pm.

He or she has been sound asleep for 6 years if they think Walsh is ignoring housing in favor of offices.

By Robert David Sullivan on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 11:17am.

This architect's rendering would look so much nicer without cars in it.

By John Costello on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 5:14pm.

You could take the reliable MBTA service to it...right, the one bus to it.

Not everyone lives within walking distance of their job FYI.

I will say this, the City's next light rail line should run from Dudley, up Albany, across W 4th and up the completely unnecessary Haul Road.

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 5:49pm.

It isn't their presence so much as they seem to be randomly assorted in varying configurations on a paved over space with no clear purpose (and lots of stripes).

I don't know about you, but when we drive to work, the car goes in a lot or a garage. We don't just randomly leave it in the middle of a plaza.

Which makes me wonder about that plaza in the rendering - doesn't seem to gel with the stated goals of the BRA or the city when it comes to minimizing heat retaining and runoff-generating surfaces.

By Percy on Sun, 08/19/2018 - 2:24pm.

If you look at the plantings & bollards, you'll see it's actually an intra-complex street. They will need that for deliveries, pickups, dropoffs, et cet. The cars were intentionally included in the illustration to indicate that functionality.

By anon on Sat, 08/18/2018 - 11:52am.

I know that when I'm looking for a job or apartment, I want it to be right next door to the BU infectious disease lab. Just imagine-Ebola, anthrax, TB, and a whole lot of other stuff being stored and cultivated right next door. How convenient!

According to the advocates for the lab, it is safe, which may be true, of course, until it isn't.

By anon on Sun, 08/19/2018 - 8:27am.

this isnt housing

By Lanny Budd on Sun, 08/19/2018 - 12:54pm.

Don't forget all the radioactivity across the street.

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/27/blaze_damages_s...

By tedpk on Mon, 08/20/2018 - 8:09am.

Anon -- I suppose any Anon --why do we always hear about the highly protected knowns such as the BU lab, or the MIT nuclear reactor -- left to the lefty reader to find it with Google Maps

  1. The first one -- BU Infectious Disease Lab -- many millions of $, hundreds of experts reviewing and ten years plus in the making -- with air exiting that is much cleaner than what come in from the surrounding streets
  3. The second one -- working without incident since your father or in some case grandfather was young -- protected by layers of sensors and lots of trained people

Versus -- of I don't know -- how about these::

  1. the Meth Lab in one of the nextdoor condos, apartments or hotel rooms
  2. the terrorist living in your midst cooking up several pressure cooker bombs
  3. MS-13 gang members plotting a gruesome murder spree
  4. a fully armed bank robber preparing for a hyst
  5. someones house that just blows up because of a natural gas leak, or catches fire because of an unattended cooker on a covered porch
  6. a nice university faculty club that just blows up due to a contractor working behind it who hit a natural gas pipe

All of the above in the 2nd list have happened in the recent past and will continue to exist and the resultant will happen in "nice places" as well as the "not so nice places" in the inner city and sometimes the suburbs