Hey, there! Log in / Register
Giant South Boston waterfront project not dead yet
By adamg on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 11:39pm
The Boston Business Journal reports the developers of Seaport Square today submitted revised plans to the BRA for their proposed 23-acre office, retail and residential district next to Fan Pier. The total square footage remains the same, although the shape, design and type of some buildings has changed.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Yippee!
Great news!
Yeah, we all wish he (John Hynes) was as eager to get building on the Filene's site, but this is the next best thing.
Let's get some shovels in the ground. Can't wait to see a whole new neighborhood down in the
South Boston WaterfrontSeaport District.Not to mention, 2.5 million
Not to mention, 2.5 million sqf of residential real estate to sell or rent, right, John?
I'm not a big fan of this style of development. I think that neighborhoods end up being more resilient, more interesting, and more livable when they're developed piecemeal, by an array of different developers, and assembled over time. No single planner, architect, or developer is capable of working through problems as well as the distributed resources of a slowly evolving neighborhood.
That said, the Seaport District (tm) presents some particular challenges. Foremost among them is the first-mover problem - successful development in the district requires a number of things it presently lacks, including basic retail and a degree of residential density. Developing a whole district at once breaks that particular logjam by placing the whole package on the ground at roughly the same time.
At any event, no one particularly cares what I think - it looks like Seaport Square is going to be a reality. And there's no doubting the fact that the latest proposal is a marked improvement over the earlier draft. It now makes some effort to integrate itself with the Fan Pier (or with whatever gets built on adjoining lots) as opposed to developing as if it were a self-contained community. I'm not a big fan of reducing scale - it's adjacent to downtown, for crying out loud - but so be it. The repositioning of the 'entertainment' strip also makes sense. So it's good news, on the whole. Now let's hope that the financing is still there to push this through.
Nop
There's no sense building any residential if there is no one who will pay to live there. I don't care if it's office space or condos / apartments. I'm sure you were just teasing but I am quite sensitive to the accusation that I'd support something out of personal gain. As Joe Biden puts it, question someone's behavior, not his/her motives.
It seems as though the (few) residents in the Fort Point Channel / Seaport District have always been pushing for residential housing, first. This makes no sense to me, and I expressed my view at a community meeting, this past spring. Whatever Mr Hynes thinks will work best should be built first. Instead, they'll be building an apartment complex next to the courthouse and Barking Crab, first. I think it will stick out like a sore thumb and I question its success.
Phase II, where the majority of construction will take place, is a massive undertaking, and quite impressive. I, too, would have liked the neighborhood to develop "organically" with different developers, but it's impractical, given that it's owned by just one person. Of course, if the area becomes wildly desirable, perhaps he'll sell off pieces (or, if it doesn't, perhaps he will, as well, like Archon did). The advantage of building Phase II all at once is that it gives him the ability to put the 6,500(+/-) car garage underground all at one time. Economies of scale.
I'd really like to see that
I'd really like to see that area blossom, especially with infrastructure like the silver line in place, but I don't want it to turn into eastern kendall square - lots of shiny glass condos but nobody walking around.
Nop
There are no shiny condos in Kendall Square.
There are some apartment complexes, like two, or three if you include Archstone, which is more like "East Cambridge".
Mostly those buildings are all offices.