Filene's
Holey moley: Developer that actually builds things downtown to take lead on Filene's project
By adamg - 2/3/12 - 6:37 am
The lights were on but nobody was home the other night, CKP reports.
The Globe reports Millennium Partners has struck a deal with the owner of the Hole to actually build a tower on the negative space on Washington Street.
Millennium Partners built the Ritz and is currently building a new residential tower on the other side of Washington Street. Vornado Realty Trust of New York tore down most of Filene's - it will remain a "passive" partner in the new project.
Details of the plan - such as the exact specs of the tower and whether the city sweetened the deal with promises of Liberty Mutual-style tax breaks - remain unknown. The Globe says Millennium Partners expects to file its proposal within two months.
Imagine the Hole full of college students
By adamg - 1/25/12 - 5:33 pmThe Globe reports Suffolk University is looking at possibly becoming even more of a presence in Downtown Crossing - where it already butts up against Emerson College - by selling off four Beacon Hill buildings and doing something interesting with either the abandoned Border's building, the Filene's Hole or both.
City Council may try to raise stakes in Filene's Hole battle
By adamg - 1/3/12 - 8:55 amThe Herald reports the City Council has formed a special committee on gambling. Part of its role will be to figure out if everybody in Boston should vote on allowing a casino at Suffolk Downs, but it may also attempt to leverage Vornado Realty Trust's 20% ownership of Suffolk Downs into getting it to do something about the Hole, of which it is the majority owner.
Citizen complaint of the day: A large hole
By adamg - 10/6/11 - 6:54 amA puckish citizen complains about a large hole off Washington Street in Downtown Crossing that has gone unfilled despite numerous past complaints.
How about a Target next to the Hole?
By adamg - 9/8/11 - 6:50 amThe Herald reports the chain is now eying part of what's left of the old Filene's building. Of course, the question is whether Tornado, um, Vornado would want to sell.
New signage at the Hole
By adamg - 9/7/11 - 7:33 pm
Look what showed up at Downtown Crossing's best known negative space today. Who's the wise guy?
Copyright BostonUrbEx. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Planting an idea: Throw some topsoil in the Hole
By adamg - 8/31/11 - 8:23 amJeremy Marin notes that an ugly, vacant construction site in Manhattan is now an urban farm:
The farm is comprised of roughly 6,000 plants growing in easily transportable black milk crates. There's eggplant in shades of white and purple, an array of squash, tomatoes, salad greens - even okra, a southern crop rarely seen on farms in the Northeast. The produce regularly sells out in the Riverpark restaurant.
Citizen complaint of the day: The Filene's Memorial Hole not looking so hot
By adamg - 8/25/11 - 8:45 amJust in case somebody at City Hall didn't already know about it, an alert citizen used Citizens Connect to report there are now holes in the canvas covering what's left of the old Filene's building.
Menino: Leave that frickin' hole there - that'll teach those New Yorkers!
By adamg - 4/14/11 - 6:21 amThe Herald seems to have captured Menino saying the Hole can stay a hole until those goddamn New Yorkers learn Boston means business. Or something:
People say to me: 'Oh, you've got a hole there - so what! The hole is going to be there until those folks from New York understand we in Boston know how to do development. And just because they can't get development done, that's not my fault.
Mr. Chiofaro, it's Barry Bluestone for you on line 2
By adamg - 12/1/10 - 7:21 amBrian McGrory reports this morning that Don Chiofaro's latest plans for the Aquarium garage would keep the garage in place (no word on the stupid red ribbon) and stick 12 stories of condos and apartments on top of it. That would keep the thing at the 200-foot level Mayor Menino insists is the tallest anybody can build along the Greenway (and a far cry from the 48-story complex Chiofaro proposed a couple months back).
But here's an idea:
Just yesterday, Barry Bluestone proposed a multi-university student village in Downtown Crossing aimed at grad students. And City Councilor Mike Ross marveled at Harvard at Trilogy, which provides housing for Harvard types who want to be near the medical area in one of the city's more successful recent residential projects.
Now where could you find the land for a place to house a few hundred grad students in Downtown Crossing? Yep. Why not get Bluestone, Chiofaro and Ross in a room with the BRA to work out a land swap: the Filene's Memorial Hole for what will become the Menino Memorial Park Next to the Other Park. Bonus for Chiofaro: Bluestone's proposal calls for some luxo-units for rich foreign students.
Then again, this is Don Chiofaro and Tom Menino we're talking about. The city would take ownership of the garage and then the BRA would promptly enact emergency regulations barring any projects taller than two stories along Washington Street.
