CAMBRIDGE | Volpe Center Redevelopment | FT | FLOORS |

[scalziand]

So many Volpe unknowns, but councillors prioritize housing, open space (and tower)
By Marc Levy
Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Landmark tower

One way to put more onto a site constrained by a large park: build higher around it.

Councillor Leland Cheung’s suggestion to build high also painted a tower as a way to ensure people around the world better identified Cambridge and Kendall Square as distinct from Boston.

“If there’s ever been a site in Cambridge for a tall building that says ‘That’s where Cambridge is,’ I think this is it. [The John Hancock Tower] is 800-and-something feet tall? Let’s go over 1,000,” Cheung said, “and say this is where Cambridge is, this is the heart of innovation in Massachusetts.”

Other councillors didn’t seem entirely sure how serious Cheung was, with Kelley saying 1,000 feet was too high but Mayor David Maher acknowledging that “if there’s a place for height in this city, this is probably the place.”

http://www.cambridgeday.com/2015/04/...ace-and-tower/

It's probably a bit early to make this thread, but eventually there will be a significant development here.

[Zapatan]

Cool!

If built it wouldn't have an immediate impact on the Boston skyline but still would be visible from a distance.

I take it's more just a vision though...

[chris08876]

I believe this area is good for the height as it does not follow any direct flight paths. Would add a nice touch to the overall Greater Boston skyline.

[scalziand]

Yes, the site is shielded from Logan flight paths by the Financial District skyscrapers, so the eastern part of the site does have a 1000ft AMSL limit, which should be fairly reasonable to get expanded to the rest of the site.



Even if the height limits aren't negotiable, the portion with the 1000' limit is ~200' by ~400', still plenty of room for a supertall, with the remainder of the site housing a couple 500' towers, still taller than anything else in Cambridge.

[scalziand]

You've heard of Tommy's Tower, here's Cheung's Tower.

In council zoning for redeveloping Volpe, sky-high ‘Cheung Tower’ put on the table
By John Hawkinson
Thursday, June 4, 2015

The board recommended that “one building that is of exceptional architectural quality” could attain a height of 500 feet, dramatically taller than the 250-foot buildings now permitted in Kendall Square.

When it met May 5, the language before the board reflected a 350-foot limit. But members were inspired by city councillor Leland Cheung, who had previously asked why Cambridge could not have a signature, landmark tower, taller than Boston’s 800-foot John Hancock Tower and Prudential Building. Cheung pointed out that the Volpe parcel remains the last undeveloped land in the region that could accommodate height like that, and said it fell in a unique area between Logan Airport flight paths, so a building could rise to 1,000 feet without running afoul of the air traffic regulations.

H Theodore Cohen, the board chairman, summarized its thinking about Cheung Tower: “I’m glad we all seem comfortable with 350. Maybe that is the presumed limit, but the Planning Board would have the discretion in certain circumstances to go above that to 400, 500, whatever the City Council might ultimately think. It might not be a bad idea. So if somebody came in with a spectacular building, it could happen.”

While the board permitted that substantial height, it did not increase the density associated with the area, which remains at a floor area ratio of 4.5 ≠ so in the current conception, any tower of such height would be exceedingly narrow and thin.

http://www.cambridgeday.com/2015/06/...-on-the-table/

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Could Kendall Square soon be home to the tallest building in New England?
Jun 19, 2015, 2:32pm EDT
Catherine Carlock
Boston Business Journal

Tops among the proposed changes to the Volpe site is a proposal to build a towering skyscraper. The planning board has discussed a 500-foot tower, while limiting other development at the site to 350 feet. But Cambridge City Councillor Leland Cheung has proposed rezoning to allow for a 1,000-foot tower. Comparatively, the 60-story John Hancock Tower — currently the tallest building in New England — tops out at just under 800 feet.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/re...allest.html#i1

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[emathias]

Tops among the proposed changes to the Volpe site is a proposal to build a towering skyscraper. The planning board has discussed a 500-foot tower, while limiting other development at the site to 350 feet. But Cambridge City Councillor Leland Cheung has proposed rezoning to allow for a 1,000-foot tower. Comparatively, the 60-story John Hancock Tower — currently the tallest building in New England — tops out at just under 800 feet.

--BizJournal

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/re...t.html?ana=twt

http://boston.curbed.com/archives/20...all-square.php

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/20...ge-skyscraper/

[McBane]

Good news for Boston-Cambridge. But is a city council idea to rezone for 1,000 feet an actual proposal? It might be a bit premature for its own thread.

[chris08876]

Nevermind.

PDF at bottom with zoning and mass diagrams. Article was just a re branded version of a previous one.

[chris08876]

PUD‐KS (Volpe Site) Rezoning Proposal

PDF: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/zonin...4E2BC53F5.ashx

[Urbannizer]

June, 2016 update. No mention of rezoning to 1,000 ft.

US seeks formal bids to redevelop Volpe Center in Kendall Square

The race is officially on for one of the hottest development sites in Greater Boston.

The federal government on Wednesday issued a formal request for proposals for the 14-acre campus of the Volpe Transportation Center in Kendall Square, offering up a rare swath of open land in one of the tightest real estate markets on the East Coast. Developers will have 90 days to respond with their plans, and the General Services Administration hopes to award the site to one of them by year’s end.

It’s not clear what form that development might take, or how big it could be. Late last year, Cambridge officials halted a plan to rezone the Volpe site for the new project until a developer was selected. The city was considering allowing a building as high as 500 feet, which would be the tallest in Cambridge, along with adopting steep requirements for affordable housing and open space.

[odurandina]

As currently planned, the tower would reach ~475' to the top of the mechanical floor/s.
If a mechanical screen is added, a bit taller to the tippity top.
In any case, getting closer and closer to becoming a real project.

*btw, about if and around the time this goes u/c, as proposed, expect it to be taller
than anything proposed or u/c in Boston (and possibly become a not-unusual thing).



**Oh: is there a way to post in reduced/expandable format?