BOSTON | Harbor Square | 600 FT & 537 FT | FLOORS

[Downburst]

I like this proposal a lot. It's KPF but they remind me a lot of something SHoP would do. Hopefully this one will work out- the NIMBYs are already raising a stink.


The Boston Globe

And a zoomed in view...

BostInno

Also from BostInno:

Revised Harbor Garage Project Proposal, New Rendering of Skyscrapers Unveiled

Developer The Chiofaro Company unveiled an updated design concept for the proposed Harbor Garage Project towers Wednesday afternoon. And, if the project, Harbor Square, becomes a reality, in the future, the Boston Waterfront – and the city's skyline – could feature two distinctly innovative skyscrapers.

In June, The Chiofaro Company presented an initial project proposal that called for two 600-plus-foot towers to anchor a 1,300,000-square-foot mixed-use development at the existing Harbor Garage site, adjacent to the residential Harbor Towers.

The revised proposal still includes 700,000 square feet of office space, a 250-300 room luxury hotel, 120 residential condominiums, three levels of retail and restaurant space, and 1,400-space parking lot built underground. The height of the two towers, however, has been reduced to an estimated 600 feet and 537 feet.

The taller of the two skyscrapers would house the development's residential condos, while its smaller counterpart would serve as an office building. And yes, developers still want the towers to be separated by a four-season programmable, open public space that can be covered by a retractable roof.

The earlier proposal the article is referring to was a similar pair of towers connected by a unique skybridge. That proposal reached 780 feet.

[tyleraf]

The towers look nice. I hope they get built. They will make a good centerpiece for the Boston skyline.

[chris08876]

Renderings:





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http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...er_project_for

[chris08876]

Chiofaro presents his new concept for the waterfront

• Video Link
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Boston Herald

[tdawg]

This couldn't be any more in the heart of downtown. How can NIMBYs be opposed to this? The design is spectacular.

[Coldrsx]

Very nice.

[Downburst]

Originally Posted by tdawg

This couldn't be any more in the heart of downtown. How can NIMBYs be opposed to this? The design is spectacular.

The two brutalist concrete towers seen immediately to the left of the new development in the renderings are filled with "concerned residents". That doesn't describe all of them, of course, but the ones against this project are vocal.

The gist of things is that the developer says he needs the height here to subsidize moving the god-awful parking garage currently on site underground. While the residents of the tower (who make heavy use of the garage) agree that the site needs to be developed, they do not want to see "that much" height/density next to them.

I don't really understand their argument as the towers are contextual for the area (600' and 550' towers exist a few hundred yards down the street) and while the towers' FAR would be higher than almost anything in the city, the density issue is largely mitigated by an underutilized subway station two minutes away.

They residents also have concerns about public space around the new towers, which is hilarious because the space around their towers is taken up by a tucked-away car pickup/dropoff lane, a small, underutilized public plaza, and a fenced-in, private lawn and swimming pool. It's all on waterfront property, and it's very hypocritical.

/rant

[chris08876]

Harbor Garage Opponents Present Smaller, Shorter Options

November 21, 2014

The proposals for the big-time redevelopment of the Boston Harbor Garage seem destined to change now because of vociferous community opposition. After an initial burst of optimism last summer that something would finally be built worthy of the prime waterfront location, it looks like the original two-tower plan, including one of more than 600 feet, will be scrapped in favor of something smaller or at least significantly different.

The latest bit adding to the aura of inevitable change comes via a recent presentation hosted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. That presentation included renderings of alternative scopes and designs for the Harbor Garage site (see above image). Several are above (and BostInno's Nick Boroyan has some others as well as a rundown of the presentation). The renderings, from the Municipal Harbor Planning Advisory Committee, basically de-emphasize the height and the scope of the original plans from developer Don Chiofaro. They also offer a smaller footprint for any redevelopment and set it back farther from the waterfront. This is not the first time alternatives have been proffered and it likely will not be the last.

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http://www.harborgarageproject.com/
http://boston.curbed.com/archives/20...ternatives.php
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Original Plan:

[JR Ewing]

Beautiful!

[chris08876]

Developer seeks tax break for waterfront towers

Developer Don Chiofaro has raised the possibility of receiving a tax break from the city to help subsidize the two-tower development he has been trying for years to build on Boston’s downtown waterfront, according to e-mails obtained by the Globe.

The tax break was broached during a meeting in July with Boston Redevelopment Authority officials on his plans to replace the Boston Harbor Garage with a hotel, residential, and office complex. The discussion was detailed in an e-mail sent by a senior BRA official, one of 2,500 messages the Globe obtained through a public records request.

“We met with the Chiofaro team last week and they believe they can make a project work with the height and FAR [floor area ratio] proposed with tax incentives,” BRA waterfront planner Richard McGuinness wrote in an e-mail to colleagues and consultants retained by the city.

[...]

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/...?event=event25

[tdawg]

Those are spectacular!

[Urbannizer]

On thin ice here unfortunately.

Current Harbor Garage Project Appears Dead in the Water

One of Boston's longest-running development sagas appears to be entering its denouement. Recall that the Chiofaro Company has been trying for more than eight years to redevelop the waterfront's Harbor Garage into a major mixed-use project. Various holdups, including opposition from neighboring residents and City Hall, have stymied the effort. The latest Chiofaro proposal called for a pair of towers stretching to 600 and 550 feet and containing 1,300,000 square feet of condos, offices, retail, and hotel rooms, and encompassing a public space capped by a retractable roof. Mayor Marty Walsh's administration demurred, suggesting a single tower instead, and community opposition was particularly harsh in response to the twin-tower plan. Now it appears that that plan is a definite non-starter, suggesting that the project is once again indefinitely on hold.

What happened to suggest such finality? The city made it clear on Wednesday that it would not allow Chiofaro to build to more than 900,000 square feet total or higher than 600 feet, whatever the number of towers. The developer, for its part, "sounded a conciliatory note," according to the Globe's Tim Logan, and promised to "review our options moving forward." It has said it needs to build bigger to make the project financially feasible. Regardless, the city seems to be moving on without Chiofaro, having already met with the developer's financial backer on the project to discuss alternatives and reconnoitering about a long-term plan for that area of the waterfront—a plan that apparently does not include the Chiofaro tower(s) any longer.

[Busy Bee]

What the hell is wrong with this city?

[Downburst]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

What the hell is wrong with this city?

Though the city does have a hand in things, a fair amount of the issues with this tower are actually stemming from state regulations and grumpy (and hypocritical) neighbors.

Chapter 91 of MA state regulations dictates that at least half of waterfront lots are open to public use, and that state has indicated that 1. They don't believe this project's current iteration meets that regulation, and 2. they would enforce those regulations here.

The single 600' tower plan is the compromise proposed by the city to both meet these regulations and allow the developer to make a suitable return on investment.

Neighbors in the Harbor Towers development next to the current site (a garage) have an easement for parking in the garage until 2019 and a permanent easement to hold their buildings' mechanical systems in the garage. Those reasons are valid enough.

However, those neighbors are complaining that the current iteration of this project does not have enough waterfront access, which is laughable given that the Harbor Towers development that they live in is probably the largest such obstacle to public access on the entire Boston waterfront.

I hope this makes sense to you; this project is a mess, there are many, many layers to it, and I get incensed while thinking about it.