Universal Hub - development

Goodness: You hope the Phantom of the Hole isn't still up there

adamg — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:09:36 +0000

When workers on the Hole restoration project took down the Christo wrapping on the old Burnham building last week, they revealed this plaintive message, still up there after all these years.

Meanwhile, on the back side of the remains of the Burnham buidling, you can see the engineers working on the project to build a 50+ story building on the site have no shortage of fire extinguishers:

Actual work being done at the Hole

adamg — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:58:11 +0000

Holey moley.

Kelly photographed workers doing something at the Filene's Memorial Hole this morning.

Downtown Crossing's future no longer quite so shrouded

adamg — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:07:04 +0000

Lori Magno photographed work this morning to remove the shroud covering the remains of the Filene's building, as part of site preparation to build the new skyscraper atop the Hole.

City's largest hole digger finally walks away from Hole

adamg — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:17:28 +0000

The Boston Business Journal reports Vornado Realty Trust has washed its hands of the Filene's project, with the help of $45 million from Millennium Partners, which bought its 50% share of the project. Under Millennium Partners' control, the project is actually back underway.

Filene's replacement gets first major tenant

adamg — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:24:40 +0000

The Globe reports that ad agency Arnold Worldwide will "occupy a large chunk" of the skyscraper expected to rise above The Hole.

Study: Orange Line needs $1 billion worth of new trains to keep pace with new ridership

adamg — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:50:12 +0000

A study by a regional planning group says development along the Orange Line will means thousands of new jobs and housing units over the coming years, which could put thousands of more riders on a line that is already crammed to the gills and dependent on an increasingly cranky collection of past-their-expiration-date cars.

In its Orange Line Opportunity Corridor Study, released this week, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council writes:

Fenway smells like hell

adamg — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:57:52 +0000

For the last week or so, people who live or work along Boylston Street have reported an annoying sulfur smell - possibly caused by construction of the street's latest big project hitting either sulfur pockets or a hellmouth.

Drew Starr tweets:

The sulfur smells bad, but isn't toxic at those levels. Cost of building in the Fens. Better after digging stops.

That can't come soon enough for folks who work in the Fenway Health building. Andrea Karis reports:

The smell is getting into the buildings. A few people went home sick today, headaches, stomach aches.

In the New Boston, underground parking garages and rooftop pool decks become 'edgy'

adamg — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:59:07 +0000

Think Ink from Ink Block on Vimeo.

This is a promotional video for Ink Block South End, the mixed-use development being built atop the remains of Wingo Square. From the blurb:

From the city block that was once the home of the old Boston Herald building will rise the INK BLOCK South End, Boston's edgiest new neighborhood. Street life at INK BLOCK South End will be alive with a flagship Whole Foods Market, trend-setting new restaurants and exciting shops. Four new residential buildings will each bring a unique South End style to the INK BLOCK. Lounge on a rooftop pool deck, relax in the theater, enjoy a workout in the fitness center, spin your wheels in Bike Central or enjoy the luxury of underground parking. All this and more make INK BLOCK South End Boston's hottest new place to live and play.

Bonus points for appropriating images and music from the black community to sell expensive housing to white people.

H/t Chris, who adds, "That video, man. . . so it's edgy. . . like Boston Herald edgy. . . like yellow lab edgy. . . like use-the-same-two-CGI-skyline shots-over-and-over edgy. . . no it's Whole Foods edgy. . . no wait it's South End Buttery edgy."

Court rules end of Long Wharf not a park, which could pave way for restaurant there

adamg — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:32:05 +0000

It may look like a park and have people walk in it like it's a park, but the far end of Long Wharf isn't a park, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled today.

The ruling is a victory for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which wants to turn an open-air kiosk-like structure there into a restaurant.

A group of ten North End residents has fought the idea for years - and won a victory in Suffolk Superior Court, when a judge ruled that end of Long Wharf was a park on which a restaurant could not be built without a two-thirds vote of the state legislature, under a section of the state constitution that pertains to the preservation of parkland and open space.

But the state's highest court ruled today that intent is everything, and that the BRA took over the wharf in 1970 under its authority to revitalize the area and promote real-estate development - as part of an urban-renewal plan dating to 1964 - rather than to put a park in. Therefore, the court concluded, the area is not subject to the constitutional restriction, known as Article 97:

Gap in Fenway skyline to be filled in

adamg — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:53:38 +0000

The Herald reports the BRA last night approved plans for a $305-million, 350-apartment complex on the site of an old McDonald's on Boylston Street.