Fan Pier

[statler]

Thanks, Van!

Fan Pier finally rises
Megaproject begins decades after plan's birth

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | September 26, 2007

When restaurateur Anthony Athanas bought Fan Pier on the South Boston Waterfront in the 1960s, he believed it could be developed over a decade or two into a mixed-use neighborhood.

"My father thought it would be done in the early 1980s, and he always thought it should have been," said Michael Athanas, who with his three brothers now runs Anthony's Pier 4 restaurant.

Instead, almost three decades later and two owners after Athanas, Fan Pier today will finally have a gala ceremony marking the groundbreaking of a massive multibuilding project of nearly 3 million square feet.

The faltering office markets, declining economies, and bureaucratic roadblocks that dashed hopes of previous Fan Pier owners are in the past. Now, the ambitious mix of office, residential, and retail space is designed, permitted, and financed by a developer who is ready to go at the right moment in the market.

Developer Joseph F. Fallon is taking the land he bought two years ago for $115 million, and the plan approved five years ago by the city and state, and starting to build. A soft-spoken but persistent businessman, Fallon started small in the development world, but recently has been a principal in major waterfront initiatives, including the Park Lane Seaport residences and the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel.

"We knew the timing would be right," Fallon said this week, as he watched tents being erected on the site to accommodate the hundreds of people invited to the groundbreaking this morning.

Development on the South Boston Waterfront has begun to pop in the last couple of years, with the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and new restaurants adding to the mix. Access to the area has been radically improved by the addition of the Ted Williams Tunnel and the MBTA's Silver Line.

"The synergy that exists today didn't exist 10 years ago," Fallon said.

Reflecting the rapid comeback in the city's commercial economy, Fallon is starting a 500,000-square-foot, 18-story office building "on spec," with no major tenant in place. That will be followed next year by five-star hotel and luxury condominiums, Fallon said, with development of another half-dozen blocks of retail, residential, and office space coming over the next 10 to 12 years.

The groundbreaking today comes after decades filled with prolonged permitting, lawsuits, and demands by the city, state, and community groups for extensive public space and access.

"Remember all the fights we had on this one?" Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday. "The day finally has come to see Fan Pier rise out of the ground to become a very important part of the city's economy."

For weeks, a promotional helium-filled balloon, 35 feet in diameter, has been hoisting prospective tenants 200 feet above the asphalt, letting them experience views they could lease if they'll commit to paying the $70 or so per square foot Fan Pier's brokers are asking. CB Richard Ellis is the leasing agent.

Anthony Athanas, who died two years ago at 93, had started a successful restaurant in Lynn. Looking for a new location in about 1960, he saw 35 acres of unused railroad tracks, rundown warehouses, and dilapidated piers on rotted pilings in a largely ignored corner of Boston. Anthony's Pier 4 restaurant opened in 1963.

Athanas wasn't a developer, so two decades later he partnered with the Pritzker family of Chicago, which ran the Hyatt hotel empire. But the partners fell out, and in a prolonged and bitter fight Athanas lost control of the land in the early 1990s. About that time, five acres or so of the fan-shaped parcel closest to downtown were taken for a new federal courthouse, which opened in 1998.

Through the 1990s, the Pritzkers planned their development on the 21 acres of land and water between the courthouse and Pier 4 - through ups and downs in the market, sometimes blocked by City Hall, which had its own specific vision for Fan Pier and the waterfront.

But the project that was finally approved included acres of public space and streets designed to be enlivened by retail stores on first and second floors, a sort of Back Bay in nine closely knit blocks. It features a large park, Harborwalk, and marina. The new Institute of Contemporary Art opened last year on waterfront space.

"The whole Seaport public realm plan was probably the best piece of planning the city has ever done," said Kyle B. Warwick, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, which managed planning for the Pritzkers.

But after years of planning and final approval, the Pritzkers decided in 2004 to sell; several development companies looked at Fan Pier, but Fallon, backed by money from a real estate unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., prevailed.

Fallon engaged David Manfredi of Elkus | Manfredi Architects of Boston to refine the nine-block master plan, and Manfredi designed the first office tower. Fallon also hired HKS Hill Glazier Studio of Palo Alto, Calif., to draw up hotel and condominium buildings.

Far from its gritty industrial beginnings, Fallon said, Fan Pier will now be a place not only to work, live, and shop, but also to have fun.

"You can come to sail," said Fallon. "You can come fly a kite. If your spouse tells you to go fly a kite, come to Fan Pier."

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.
Link (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/09/26/fan_pier_finally_rises/)
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Graphic/2007/09/26/1190781513_9472.jpg

Interactive Graphic (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/05/27/10_years/)

Photo Gallery (http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/fanpier)

[ChunkyMonkey]

Great news! It's about time! Hopefully this will add life to the area.

[statler]

Fan Pier begins as harbor building slows
By Scott Van Voorhis
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Boston developer Joseph Fallon will break ground today on Fan Pier - a $1 billion-plus bet on Boston?s waterfront that comes even as the local real estate and financial landscape is shifting.

The city?s top business and political leaders will gather for the event, which marks the official launch of Boston?s centerpiece harborside development, after a quarter century of planning, debate and false starts.

Fan Pier construction begins as some are taking a more cautious outlook on new development along much of the waterfront, the result of a worsening real estate market and recent turmoil in the capital markets.

In Charlestown, a major Navy Yard condo project recently flopped. After efforts to sell units fizzled, the developers of the new Harborview II complex opted to put the entire building on the market as a rental project.

Meanwhile, in East Boston, a long-anticipated remake of the neighborhood?s waterfront is still pending, despite years of planning and discussion. One big project, East Pier, will move into construction next month, but as apartments, not condos, a spokeswoman said.

Even South Boston?s waterfront, where work is set to begin on Fan Pier, has had its share of ups and downs. While Fallon is moving forward, no work has begun yet on a promised revamp of the neighoring Pier 4 site, a project in the works since the late 1990s.

?The rest of the waterfront is very quiet right now,? said Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association.

Waterfront condo developments were all the rage a few years ago. But developers with plans for new harborside office buildings are now leading the way.

Taking advantage of a booming office market, Fallon will break ground today on a 500,000-square-foot office building, the first phase of a much larger project. Fallon already has serious interest from tenants, and hopes to have lease deals by year?s end, a spokesman said.

Initial office space construction will be followed in the spring by a condo/hotel complex.

At the nearby Russia Wharf site, just across the Fort Point Channel in Boston?s Financial District, Boston Properties is pushing ahead with plans for a new office tower.

But new residential construction faces especially high hurdles on the waterfront, Li said.

Projects ?anywhere in the Greater Boston region face a challenge, but the waterfront especially because construction costs on the waterfront are very expensive,? Li said.

Link (http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1034127)

[palindrome]

Yes i am excited about this news! I can't wait to see this project progress!

[lucky]

So it sounds like the first buildings to go up will be the ones right along Northern Ave. I suppose that's good because I am really concerned about the facades of those cream colored buildings on the water. They look like "Park Lane"...gag.

[awood91]

^ lucky, that rendering doesn't reflect what the actual buildings will look like. it is just a graphic to represent the respective heights and master layout of the project.

[Mike]

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h32/wxmike/FanPierOffice1.jpg

[statler]

Breaking ground at Fan Pier
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/09/26/1190837205_8846.jpg
When you've waited almost 50 years for a groundbreaking, it has to be a memorable one. Fan Pier's kickoff today was a party to remember.

Almost five decades after restaurateur Anthony Athanas bought Fan Pier for development, Joe Fallon today played host to 300-400 guests, as he, his partners at Mass Mutual and Cornerstone Financial Real Estate Advisers, and public officials broke ground on an 18-floor office tower on the South Boston Waterfront.

Little bottles of cold water kept guests cool on a 90-plus day under two large tents -- one for the speeches, and one, on the other side of a spiffy marketing center, for tables and tables of food.

"Today we break ground on the largest waterfront project in the city's history," said Mayor Tom Menino, who charged that it would be the largest green, LEED-certified development in the nation. (Southie Sen. Jack Hart cracked that, to the late South Boston city councilor Jimmy Kelly, "green development would have meant only Irish people would live there.")

"Fan Pier will enhance Boston's reputation as one of the world's great cities," said Menino. Asked about his plan to move City Hall, he vowed again to abandon the lonesome plaza and put it on the waterfront during his tenure.

Everybody thanked Fallon, who two years ago bought Fan Pier's 21 acres for $115 million and got busy making happen what had only been dreamed of for decades. "He's a risk taker with a long-term, big-picture vision," said WCVB-TV's Natalie Jacobson, who emceed the event.

With a loud pop, blue balloons burst overhead, and confetti rained down on the VIPs, who wielded shiny shovels to toss around a little sand that had been hauled in for the occasion.

"Fan Pier is now a reality," said Fallon, noting that it will have more than four acres of parks and a marina with "stern-to" docking, to accommodate the megayachts of those world travelers who might want to live or stay at Fan Pier.

During the entire event, models -- each dressed to symbolize one luxury aspect or another of Fan Pier -- stood motionless on small platforms. For "Food," a woman was poised biting in to a lobster. For "Shopping," one held a bouquet of roses and a red leather purse, surrounded by shopping bags from Neiman Marcus and Jimmy Choo. For " Spa," a blonde reclined in a tub overflowing with rose petals.

A red and white Volvo racing vessel cruised around the harbor, as business people, government officials, media types, and hangers-on listened to the thank-yous and heard the promises of Fan Pier, the 2.9-million-square-foot mixed use center that is slated to materialize on eight blocks along Northern Avenue over the next decade or so.

"I played street hockey on these parking lots," said City Councilor Michael Flaherty. "As a teenager I parked cars. This area has a great history and an even greater future."

Mary Benoit of Sales Directors Inc., who is handling Fan Pier marketing for the Fallon Co., put today's soiree together.
(By Thomas C. Palmer, Jr., Globe staff)
Posted by Boston Globe Business Team at 01:08 PM
Link (http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/09/breaking_ground.html)

[lucky]

^ lucky, that rendering doesn't reflect what the actual buildings will look like. it is just a graphic to represent the respective heights and master layout of the project.

Really, well that's good news.

[statler]

^^ I don't know.
That is the image that is on the Fan Pier site (http://www.fanpierboston.com) and some of them look like the buildings that are shown on the Fallon Company (http://www.falloncompany.com/site/) site (click Project -> Fan Pier -> Office & Residential).

http://www.fanpierboston.com/images/aerial_spotlight_380.jpg

[lucky]

That's what I thought too. What concerns me is that this is the same company that gave us Park Lane and the Renaissance Hotel - and it seems they would be likely to put up more of that crap...unless someone does something.

That they are building the Northern Ave buildings first gives time to stop Fan Pier from looking like Park Lane. If they cover Fan Pier with that junk, I think it would be safe to say it would be huge mistake.

Huge.

[czsz]

Huh, that dock arrangement would really kill the point of the sloped window in the ICA's media room...

[statler]

Yes. yes it would.

WTF?

[Lrfox]

I emailed the ICA regarding the docks in front of the building... I'll post the response when (if?) i get it.

[lexicon506]

Huh, that dock arrangement would really kill the point of the sloped window in the ICA's media room...

I doubt the ICA is gonna let that happen, which is great since it's probably my favorite part of the building.

[statler]

Does the ICA own the land they are sitting on? I thought it was the developer's land. If so, they may not have a say.

[stellarfun]

Does the ICA own the land they are sitting on? I thought it was the developer's land. If so, they may not have a say.
Pritzker "donated" the land to the ICA as part of the deal to secure approval of Fan Pier. I'm pretty sure if you go back to the Pritzker Fan Pier designs you will see the jetty and small marina in them. So ICA knew what the surrounding environment would be like when they designed the museum; indeed, that's probably why the front is so bland.

[shiz02130]

We've seen more detailed renderings of the buildings that are to be built directly behind the ICA (and they looked pretty good, I think). They looked similar (but better) to the ones shown in this rendering of the entire site. I'll bet that those buildings next to the ICA are the only ones that have been designed and that the ones next to the courthouse are only massing studies.

[Rick]

For a much larger version of the rendering, click on the URL below.
On that page, click on high res under the photo section.
(The buildings which have been designed are the 4 along Northern Blvd.)


http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/?epi-content=MULTIMEDIA_GALLERY_PUBLIC_VIEW&eid=5502854&newsLang=en

[statler]

Fallon breaks ground on Fan Pier
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman Journal staff

Banners have been advertising that "Fan Pier is Here" for months.

On Wednesday that statement finally came true when developer Joseph Fallon and local dignitaries held a groundbreaking ceremony for the first 500,000-square-foot office building on the South Boston waterfront site.

The design, permitting and development of Fan Pier has been in the making for 25 years and has been held up as one of the city's most ambitious and promising projects for decades. While the shovels only dug into a pile of dirt set up on pavement, the real digging will begin in several months time, insisted Fallon, who along with his partner, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., bought the property two years ago for $115 million.

Regardless, the fact that real progress is being made on the site, which is currently used as a parking lot, will encourage business to seriously consider locating an office on the harbor's edge.

"The fact of the groundbreaking has increased the pace of tenant activity substantially," said Stephen Lynch of CB Richard Ellis /Lynch Murphy Walsh Advisors, which is leasing the office portion of Fan Pier.

Lynch said since the marketing center opened on May 1 there have been at least two dozen prospective companies that have visited the site. When Lynch was asked if there were any signed leases to announce he said "not that we're reporting today" adding "we will have a tenant soon."

Until the groundbreaking, the public had little faith that Fan Pier would actually happen after years of stalled development, different owners and unfavorable market conditions held up the project. Office tenants, who are reportedly being asked to pay as much as $70 per square foot, wanted assurance Fallon's plan was a reality.

A number of commercial tenants are searching the Boston market for large blocks of space, which is getting harder and harder to come by as the downtown market continues to improve. By breaking ground ahead of other developers who have office projects in the works Fallon has a greater chance of landing an anchor tenant. The only other office building currently under construction in Boston is a 215,000-square-foot tower at Two Financial Center.

"Boston is still a 'show me' town and the start of construction is what a lot of tenants have been waiting to see," said Lynch.

The groundbreaking of the first building is just the beginning for the nearly 3 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail and public uses approved for the 21-acre waterfront parcel. Even still, it seems like a long time in the making, even for Fallon, who's only been involved with the project for two of the 25 years.

"I feel like I should be opening this building instead of starting construction," said Fallon.

Michelle Hillman can be reached at mhillman@bizjournals.com
Link (http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2007/09/24/daily27.html?surround=lfn)

[LeTaureau]

Ahhg, seeing those renderings up close and in hi resolution makes the courthouse building seem like an ever bigger mistake than it actually is. The red break shoulders of the building barely poke above the newer buildings and completely clashes with the new designs. Fan pier is shaping up to be a disaster.

[vanshnookenraggen]

This is the South Boston Waterfront, what did you expect?

[awood91]

Can you guys stop being so pessimistic please? No one wants to come to this forum to get depressed! When your judgments are negative, maybe you should keep them to your self.

[awood91]

$3B Fan Pier Under Way After 20-Year Delay
By Joe Clements

One Fan Pier Blvd.
BOSTON-The human mannequins posing as prospective future occupants proved that no expense was spared for yesterday?s Fan Pier complex groundbreaking here on the city?s waterfront, and few of the dozen or so speakers held back, either. Mayor Thomas Menino declared the three-million-sf project ?the most exciting thing that will happen in Boston in our lifetime,? as he joined others lionizing veteran developer Joseph Fallon for getting the mixed-use venture under way after two decades of frustrating setbacks.


Indeed, while the hyperbole flowed freely throughout the mid-morning event, it might be difficult to underestimate the significance of the ceremony, one marking the start of a 500,000-sf speculative office building that will kick off the commercial portion of Fan Pier?s ambitious platform. The site does have one building open, with the Institute for Contemporary Art a beneficiary of the master-planned development?s civic benefits package. Now, however, Fallon is moving ahead on such elements as 1.5 million sf of office space; a five-star, 175-room hotel; high-end retail and luxury condominiums that some observers predict will set new pricing records for the market.

Offering such an outlook was groundbreaking attendee David Begelfer, executive director of the Naiop Massachusetts chapter. The views of Boston Harbor and mix of amenities to be provided throughout the complex will ensure such an outcome, Begelfer told GlobeSt.com, ?It is a triple-A location,? he said. ?I think they are going to do extremely well on that.? Ditto for the office building, added Begelfer, who supports Fallon?s decision to move forward on a speculative basis. ?Once people see the steel going up, they know its real, and they will react,? said Begelfer. Leasing agent Steven Lynch of CB Richard Ellis agreed with that assessment, and said the long-held mindset of Boston tenants fits into that approach.

?Boston is still very much a ?show-me? kind of town,? said Lynch. ?They are really accustomed to having a project under construction before they commit.? Fallon, who through past ventures such as the nearby Park Lane Condominiums and Boston Westin Hotel has proven he can meet the ?show-me? challenge, responded accordingly with the office building, one which is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2009. Lynch, who is handling the leasing assignment with CBRE/New England president Andrew Hoar, would not discuss rental projections, but observers have been placing it in the $70-per-sf range. Industry icon William McCall Jr., also in attendance yesterday, told GlobeSt.com that he believes the rent level seems ?reasonable,? especially given the time frame for delivery. McCall was among those lauding Fallon for moving the plan along, and said he believes the location could prove popular.
If nothing else, McCall agreed that the decision to move Fan Pier along is generating buzz. ?It?s very exciting,? he said. Lynch said CBRE has met with about 30 prospective tenants, and indicates ?positive? feedback towards the building. The efficient floor plates of about 30,000 sf should meet the needs of the current crop of prospects, he says, and the amount of tenant turnover between 2009 and 2011 also bodes well for the leasing campaign of the 18-story structure, which was designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects of Boston.

As with the other structures, the inaugural office building known as One Fan Pier Blvd. will have new millennium technology and other forward-thinking features, said Lynch, while the entire development aims to gain LEED certification. That, according to Fallon, will make Fan Pier the largest mixed-use development in the country seeking such a distinction. ?Fan Pier will truly have something for everyone,? Fallon told the audience in his speech, with four acres of open space and a 96-slip marina that will be able to accommodate mega-yachts.

Besides Fallon, the ceremony also included speeches from several Boston City Councilors and State Sen. Jack Hart from the South Boston district, whose neighborhood abuts Fan Pier. Fallon?s equity partner, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, was represented by VP Thomas Dudeck, who was among those citing Fallon for his leadership. ?This is an exciting day,? he said. ?But it was not without its challenges, and Joe Fallon was able to overcome them all.?

Besides a labyrinth of regulatory approvals mandated as part of the state?s Chapter 91 law regarding waterfront development, Fallon also had to steer through neighborhood and environmental concerns, plus the expensive prospect of developing a site that has been in disrepair for decades. While the first effort in the mid-1980s to create Fan Pier fell apart as a result of lawsuits between the original partners, the costly renovation and a series of regional economic downturns have subsequently kept the likes of Pritzker Corp. from pulling off Fallon?s feat. ?The dreams of many others is finally being realized,? Menino said in his remarks.

[statler]

^^Where is that from (http://www.archboston.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=945)?

Link (http://www.globest.com/news/1001_1001/boston/164367-1.html)

Also: Criticism is a healthy and useful part of a good discussion.

The South Boston Waterfront is probably the best opportunity this city will have at city planning for a very long time. To throw-up cost effective boxes on suburban street grid is to throw all that potential away.
Boston has a lot of great, unique pedestrian oriented neighborhoods and this could of been another, adding the next chapter into the citiy's history book.
Instead we get an auto-oriented Atlanta/Phoenix/etc redux.
Boston deserves better.

[LeTaureau]

Can you guys stop being so pessimistic please? No one wants to come to this forum to get depressed! When your judgments are negative, maybe you should keep them to your self.

Hey man, life isn't all happy sunshine and fuzzy kittens. The South Boston waterfront is shaping up to be a failure, from an urban and design perspective, and this is the place to talk about it: an internet forum designated to discuss such topics. Maybe you should tell us what you like about it?

[tommym96]

looks very disappointing; it looks sort of miami-ish with even worse colorways.

[awood91]

LeTaureau wrote:
Maybe you should tell us what you like about it?

Well, its the (or at least one of the) biggest LEED certified developments in the country and the office building that broke ground yesterday is designed by Elkus/Manfredi, who, in my opinion, does some very nice stuff. Apart from that, I think its very hard to judge an unfinished product, let alone one that broke ground just yesterday. I think we all know that renderings can be deceiving, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. 500 Atlantic Ave is a good example. I thought its renderings were some of the worst I've ever seen and yet the finished product has turned out very nicely. So yeah, you can be negative, it doesn't actually bother me, but I'm just saying that you can't judge a $3 Billion project by its cover.

[kennedy]

Yeah we've seen like one, distanced and not detailed, Globe rendering. Don't judge it yet, wait until they start building, and have something you can see for real.

[Lrfox]

I don't see what we're complaining about. The only thing i can see that i don't like (on that one rendering) is the pier in front of the ICA. Other than that, after looking at the high res rendering linked on this page, I have to say that with some storefronts and restaurants, it's a great starting point for South Boston.

I like that the rendering has enough open space for residents but it's also clearly an urban neighborhood. The views of the skyline will make this a destination in the summer especially for outdoor dining and lounging. It's a beautiful spot and in my opinion offers better views of the skyline than you can find in most locations.

The renderings don't show the most amazing architecture, no question. It'll probably be mostly pre-cast concrete and boring, but the thing that worries me about these mass developments is the risk of suburbanizing it. I don't see that in these renderings. I think it has the potential to be really nice even with the mediocre architecture.

It'll be the street life, NOT the architecture that defines this development, and from these renderings there is clear potential for something nice.

[JimboJones]

I have cupcakes for anyone who stops calling it the "South Boston" Waterfront District.

I much prefer Seaport District.

South Boston can break off and fall into the ocean, for all I care.

Regardless of its history, I think one area has little to do with the other, so let's cut this off while we still can.

[czsz]

^ AGREED!

[Ron Newman]

Over time, this district and the existing South Boston will blend into each other.

[briv]

I have cupcakes for anyone who stops calling it the "South Boston" Waterfront District.

I much prefer Seaport District.

South Boston can break off and fall into the ocean, for all I care.

Regardless of its history, I think one area has little to do with the other, so let's cut this off while we still can.

No one had a problem calling the place South Boston when it was full of freight cars, warehouses and fishing boats.

It is what it is. I suggest you get over it.

[LeTaureau]

It's not so much the Fan Pier development that I dislike, its the neighborhood itself and how everything is falling into place. Its all too suburban feeling, and yes, I don't think that it's too early to pass judgment. We've seen neighborhoods and developments like this before. Look to Kendall Square, or any southern city for that matter. A true neighborhood ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. the South Boston Waterfront is just the sum of its parts.

[chumbolly]

No one had a problem calling the place South Boston when it was full of freight cars, warehouses and fishing boats.

It is what it is. I suggest you get over it.

Was it really called South Boston in the past? I distinctly remember that there was a concerted effort 5-10 years ago to get this area designated as part of South Boston. Everybody had been calling it the Seaport up to that point. Which is all just semantics unless you're a politician from South Boston proper who wants to leverage bullshit linkage payments out of Seaport developers because their development is in "South Boston." I ran into someone who was at the Fan Pier ground breaking yesterday, and to paraphrase him --"every other word was Menino and South Boston. I've got ten cousins in South Boston who couldn't find Fan Pier if you paid 'em."

[chumbolly]

Over time, this district and the existing South Boston will blend into each other. I disagree, unless by blend, you mean the way the Kendall Square area meets Riverside.

[Ron Newman]

Kendall Square is nowhere near Riverside, so I don't really understand.

[chumbolly]

^Look at a map of Boston, say on Google Maps, and compare the distance and street layout separating Kendall Square from Riverside, and the distance and layout separating Fan Pier from South Boston proper. I think you'll find that Riverside is, in fact, much closer to Kendall Square than most of the Seaport District is from most of South Boston. The fact that Kendall seems nowhere near Riverside is sort of my point.

[whighlander]

Until the recent activity there were 6 names in common use and none had South Boston or Seaport as part of them:

1) Where the court house is located was PAHHking

2) Where the Cruise Terminal and Design Center isd located was AHHmy Base

3) Where the Bank of A Pavilion is located was Navy YAAHHd or Dry Dock

4) Commonwealth Piaahh {where the World Trade Center is located}

5) Piaahh Fouahh {the Restaurant}

6) Fish Piaahh {still the same name}

The only other names that meant much outside of the above names was Papas {as in Brothers warehouses now where the BEC is located}, Atheanas {aka Pier 4} and Doulos {aka Jimmy's Harborside} and of course and that restaurant on the Fish Pier with a {can't seem to remember the name -- oh that's right it had NO Name}


Westy

[Lrfox]

Here's the email i got back from the ICA regarding the dock in the rendering in front of the building:

"Dear Jonathan,



The ICA is a tenant of the Fan Pier Development Company which is
planning the build out of Fan Pier including the marina. Even so the
ICA has registered its concern about the one specific boat slip you
noticed in the site line of the Mediatheque and its implications for the
architectural integrity of the museum. The new Fan Pier developments
will go through many review processes and we will continue to pursue an
appropriate solution. I appreciate your close observations and interest.



Sincerely,

Carrie

Carrie Fitzsimmons
Chief of Staff/Director of Administration"

So it seems like they're on top of it. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.

[PaulC]

That problem with the boat slip was evident long before the building was even started. I could never figure out why they raved about the view from that window when all the plans showed the boat slip. I've felt from day one that everyone was "blinded by the hype" with this building. The lack of experience of the architects is pretty obvious.

[JimboJones]

Wait, what does she mean, "we are a tenant" ...

Who owns the land on which the ICA is built? Who owns the building, for that matter?

[lexicon506]

That problem with the boat slip was evident long before the building was even started. I could never figure out why they raved about the view from that window when all the plans showed the boat slip.

Obviously they felt that plans shown in distant renderings can be changed, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Also, it's clear that they thought the architecture of their building was more important than the dock of some rich man's boat, which I completely agree with. Seeing all the hype around this building, Menino and Boston are clearly gonna support the view from the Mediatheque over the placement of the slip. The architects knew they had that power, and so went ahead with their design, and the city ended up with a much better building IMO.

[stellarfun]

Wait, what does she mean, "we are a tenant" ...

Who owns the land on which the ICA is built? Who owns the building, for that matter?

I believe the land was donated, which probably means that ICA was given the land for a nominal fee (like $1) to have in perpetuity for as long as ICA is located there, but if ICA were to close or move, the land is not theirs to sell.

ICA built and owns the building.

[stellarfun]

An observation. I think the Pritzker approvals mandated the Harborwalk feature that appears in the renderings from the courthouse eastward. I also believe the Pritzker approved plans called for a marina near where it is. I'm not sure whether the approvals dictated that there be a maritime component to the site, which would be filled by the marina. That said, the little pier jutting right out from the ICA could probably be sunk, but I suspect there will be some sort of marina.

What the renderings do not show is Drew's plans for Pier 4, and how these might impact the ICA view.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q199/tahitiplage/1182493679_0539.gif
Graphic courtesy of Boston Globe.

Separate question. I recall one of the financing issues with developing Fan Pier was the claim that all the infrastructure and below ground parking for the entire site had to be constructed before one got to build any buildings. Is Fallon going this route, or is he intending to do the utilities and below ground parking piecemeal?

[czsz]

I doubt whatever happens at Pier 4 would kill the Mediatheque view from the ICA...unless it begins to hook to the west.

[TallIsGood]

He is going to do underground garage and utilities piecemail.

[JimboJones]

This article covers both Fan Pier and Fort Point Channel ... heck, the entire Seaport District, too.

All 100-acres.

ON an empty stretch along the South Boston waterfront, hundreds of guests and dignitaries gathered in late September to celebrate the groundbreaking for Fan Pier, a 21-acre, $3 billion mixed-use development. If you squinted just right, you could almost imagine a vibrant neighborhood of parks, residences, hotels, office buildings and shops rising from the barren landscape there.

A photographic rendering of the planned Fan Pier project (in the foreground left, with the Boston skyline in the background).

For those who have long envisioned a revitalized Seaport District, as the area is known, the groundbreaking marked the end of a decades-long saga filled with almost as many dashed hopes as there have been in Fenway Park across town.

The area ? roughly 1,000 acres of waterfront property across the Fort Point Channel from Boston?s financial district ? served as rail yards for Boston?s working port until about 1955, when heavy industry there dried up. After that, the land was used mostly for parking lots, which have passed through the hands of prominent businessmen including Nicholas Pritzker, the chairman of the Hyatt Development Corporation; Frank H. McCourt Jr., the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation.

As market conditions waxed and waned, this prime waterfront real estate sat untouched, earning it the reputation as the most scenic parking lot in Boston. ?A lot of folks had hopes for 25 years,? said Thomas M. Menino, the mayor of Boston. With the start of construction of Fan Pier, he said, ?that dream has become a reality.?

A confluence of factors has created a more favorable environment for developers. Access to the area has improved with the new Ted Williams Tunnel connecting the Seaport District to Logan International Airport across the harbor, the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority?s new electric bus line, the Silver Line.

Other high-profile developments have brought visitors and a sense of excitement to the area. The Institute of Contemporary Art, the cantilevered glass museum designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro, opened last December on the Fan Pier property, and the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center has been drawing thousands of conventioneers since it opened in 2004.

Fan Pier, a curved stretch of land and piers between the Moakley United States Courthouse and the Institute of Contemporary Art, will eventually include three office buildings, a luxury hotel, more than a million square feet of residential buildings, more than 300,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space, a six-acre deep-water marina and four and a half acres of public park.

It is just one of several development projects planned or under consideration in the Seaport District. Since 2000, more than 8 million square feet has been developed in the area, and an additional 20 million is under construction, approved or proposed, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city?s planning and economic development agency.

The agency is reviewing plans submitted in June by Gale International, a real estate and investment company based in New York, for Seaport Square, on a 24-acre parcel behind Fan Pier. Gale, along with Morgan Stanley, bought the land from the News Corporation in September 2006 for $204 million. (The News Corporation had acquired the property in the sale of the Dodgers to Mr. McCourt, after he failed in a bid to buy the Boston Red Sox and build a new stadium for it on the property.) Gale?s plan envisions 6.5 million square feet of office, residential, retail and park space, including a school, cultural center and shops. If approved by the redevelopment authority, construction on the $3 billion project could start in the fall of 2008.

Next to Seaport Square is Waterside Place, an 11-acre parcel across from the convention center. The Drew Company of Boston has permission to develop a mixed-use retail, hotel and condominium complex totaling more than 1.2 million square feet.

New England Development, a real estate development and management company, eventually plans to build a one-million-square-foot mixed-use project on 9.5 acres along Pier 4. The site abuts Fan Pier and is owned by the Athanas family, which has had a restaurant there, Anthony?s Pier 4, for four decades.

Farther down the waterfront is Harborside Pier, a new development by Cresset Development that will feature retail and outdoor dining facilities, including a new Jimmy?s Harborside restaurant. The nearby Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, a $145 million project developed by Marriott International, is slated to open in January 2008.

The neighborhood rising in the Seaport District is expected to be one of the nation?s ?greenest.? Earlier this year, the city of Boston amended its zoning code to require all private development projects of more than 50,000 square feet to be ?LEED certifiable,? meaning they meet minimum standards of the United States Green Building Council?s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. Many developers plan to go beyond that.

Fan Pier illustrates the Seaport District?s potential. ?It?s a unique opportunity,? said Joseph F. Fallon, president and chief executive of the Fallon Company, which is developing the site. ?We?re creating a new neighborhood.? The plans call for extensive use of glass in the buildings to maximize views of the harbor and to better harmonize with structures like the Institute of Contemporary Art and the convention center.

The Fallon Company ? along with its financial partners, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors ? bought the land from the Pritzker family in 2005, for $115 million. (The Pritzkers, based in Chicago, had been partners with the original owner, Anthony Athanas, who first proposed developing the waterfront area in the 1980s. The Pritzkers won control in the 1990s after a bitter legal battle with the Athanas family.)

FAN PIER is based on a plan developed by the Pritzker family, which, after an arduous process, won approval in 2000 from the city and community groups that had lobbied for more parkland.

?It was a very good compromise,? said Vivien Li, the executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, a waterfront advocacy group. The resulting development, she said, will be ?a gem on the waterfront.?

The first building to rise will be One Fan Pier Boulevard, an 18-story office building designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects of Boston that is being built on speculation. Mr. Fallon believes that the combination of location and eventual LEED certification will be attractive to tenants ? especially given that 80 percent of the city?s office buildings are more than 25 years old, he said. ?In this location, there is not as much risk as you would think,? he said. ?We?ve had a lot of interest.? One Fan Pier is expected to open by early 2010.

Mr. Fallon, an avid sailor and boater, clearly relishes the idea of a world-class marina in Boston that can accommodate anything from small boats to yachts of more than 200 feet.. ?They?ll be lined up just like in Monte Carlo,? he said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/realestate/commercial/07sqft.html?_r=1&ex=1349409600&en=6673f52b8b3f3ace&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

From Empty Lots to Bustling Waterfront - By Amy Cortese, New York Times, October 7

[tocoto]

Does anyone know what happened to World Trade Center South, the office building proposed by Fidelity years ago?

[BostonObserver]

These are some pictures of the proposals for New York's Railyard. Why can't we have this in Boston..oh that's right Menino only likes domes and arches.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/11/24/arts/design/20071124_HUDSON_SLIDESHOW_4.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/arts/design/24huds.html?ref=nyregion

[atlantaden]

^^^^^^^^^^

Because Boston is Boston and NYC is NYC! I read the same article/slideshow this morning as well and thought the same thing. Height matters...both in Boston and NYC, the major difference being that in Boston, lower is better and in NYC, taller is better. Also, the FAA has already put it's foot down on anything tall in the Seaport District. If this sort of project were ever proposed in Boston it would be shot down so quickly it would make head's spin. Just look at the proposals for the Pru or what happened at Columbus Center for examples. Hysterical neighbors and community groups up in arms screaming shadows, winds, traffic, sunlight, views, air quality...the list goes on and on. Even in high rise areas, proposals for height are opposed.

[awood91]

has anyone been down to the site lately? is construction really started or was the groundbreaking party in September just for show?

[Smuttynose]

There's a fairly good chunk of land along Northern Av. that has been cordoned off with some bulldozers on site. Most of the parking lot is still open though.

[tmac9wr]

I was at the parking lot yesterday and didn't really notice anything, but then again I wasn't looking too hard either.

[xec]

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/FP_20071207_081S2.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r289/trixecol/FP_20071207_078S2.jpg

[stellarfun]

Interesting tenant possibility. I would think that discussions must be fairly serious if they are going to the BRA for approval.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals eyes Fan Pier site

By Jay Fitzgerald and Greg Gatlin
Boston Herald
December 19, 2007

Developer Joseph Fallon is in talks with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and other biotechnology firms about building research labs within the new $1 billion Fan Pier complex in South Boston.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority today is expected to vote on Fallon?s request that some research-lab space be allowed within the massive Fan Pier project.

Spokesmen for Fallon and city officials would only say that there?s been ?some interest? expressed about life-science firms moving into the massive Fan Pier project.

But sources say Vertex, which has more than 1,000 workers, many of them at its headquarters in Cambridge, is one firm in talks with Fallon, who broke ground on the first phase of the Fan Pier build-out in September.

A spokesman for Vertex declined comment about any possible negotiations.

But he said Vertex is in the ?early stages of exploring all options? for a future expansion in the Greater Boston area and elsewhere.

?We have not made any commitment to occupy any new space,? said Michael Partridge.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1054920 (http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1054920)

[whighlander]

Wondering if the tourists in the Fan Pier area hotels and tradeshow attendees at the BEC or the World Trade Center would want to be next to Bio/Pharma Labs?

Then again -- I wonder if the Middlesex County judges and associated attorneys know that they are right next to a really big tank of really band stuff {e.g. Arsine gas ? as in kill thousands if the wind is blowing your way} at the Skyworkx Gallium Arsenide semiconductor fab on Sylvan Road in Woburn

Hmmm -- I wonder if I've got a new career as technical advisor to NIMBYs ? no ? no ? no ? {a thousand times no} --- perish the thought

Just -- having some fun on Boxing Day --- with a bit of extra Christmas Cheer thrown in


Westy


I wonder if I'v got a new career as technical advisor to NIMBYs -- no perish the thought

Having fun on Boxing Day with a bit of extra Christmas Cheer}


Westy

[GMACK24]

yeah drove by today looks like they still allow people to park there and there seems to be a lot of steel being put into the ground.

I was going to go take pictures today but ran out of time.
Maybe tomorrow. . . .

[GMACK24]

Took These Around 3PM from the Observation Deck at 470 Atlantic Avenue
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k77/GMACK24/Fort%20Point%20Channel/Picture008.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k77/GMACK24/Fort%20Point%20Channel/Picture006.jpg

[jass]

I guess this means goodbye to the cobblestone and rail tracks

[GMACK24]

ha ha good call. we should probably photograph those too before those go the way of the Re-paved roadways. I am sure they will throw a traffic signal in there for good measure as well.

[whighlander]

Since the combination of Fan Pier and the Seaport Square is comparable to Back Bay in scale and will most likely evolve over a similar timeline {30 years?}

We should make sure to collect a good set of documentation for the future generations of the Forum to have real material to use {for comparison purposes} when harping on the future redevelopment of ........


Westy

[Lrfox]

Since the combination of Fan Pier and the Seaport Square is comparable to Back Bay in scale and will most likely evolve over a similar timeline {30 years?}

We should make sure to collect a good set of documentation for the future generations of the Forum to have real material to use {for comparison purposes} when harping on the future redevelopment of ........


Westy

Always thinking ahead, I like that. As a younger member (at a tender 22 years), I would appreciate that and I think I'll add to the collection.

[JimboJones]

How tender?

[whighlander]

Fox,

Stick around, keep listening, reading, looking and photographing, and posting and then one day soon you too can be an old fogy with reminiscences back to those formative days when the first pilings were driven for the Fan Pier and Seaport Square districts of the New Boston

Westy

[pelhamhall]

"Kendall Square South."

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/Boards-MP-ContextElev.jpg

All this fuss over this crappy little office park?? He should donate those expensive highway billboards to charitable causes.

[statler]

^^ What a disgrace.

[itchy]

truly an unambitious turd of a project.

[stellarfun]

One problem with this horizontal panorama ^^^ is that its missing four buildings on the waterside portion of the fan, it miniaturizes the ICA, and loses the marina.

[czsz]

I don't even see the ICA in there.

Surely none of you were actually expecting the architecture to be ambitious?

[stellarfun]

I don't even see the ICA in there.


Top panel, leftmost building, almost hidden away in the notch.

[jass]

Top panel, leftmost building, almost hidden away in the notch.

No, that seem to be way too far away

[stellarfun]

No, that seem to be way too far away

Not miniaturized in this rendering:
http://www.fanpierboston.com/images/aerial_spotlight_380.jpg

[statler]

Would it be safe to call Fan Pier & the South Boston Waterfront the biggest missed opportunity in Boston since the destruction of the West End?

[BarbaricManchurian]

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/smilies/previous.gif

Not until its built, and if someone else has a better plan.

[type001]

Would it be safe to call Fan Pier & the South Boston Waterfront the biggest missed opportunity in Boston since the destruction of the West End?

I have been actually wondering that same exact thing since I saw Pelhamhall's images posted yesterday. I think that there is naturally going to be heavy criticism of anything that goes on this site, since the expectations are so high (Boston waterfront, need you say more?). Generally speaking, I think the heights and density of the buildings are perfect. The designs could be better, but I am not savy enough to think what would actually work there instead. I just want to see this get developed as soon as possible, because I am very eager to see what it looks like.

Not until its built, and if someone else has a better plan.

That's how I feel too!

[Lrfox]

I have been actually wondering that same exact thing since I saw Pelhamhall's images posted yesterday. I think that there is naturally going to be heavy criticism of anything that goes on this site, since the expectations are so high (Boston waterfront, need you say more?). Generally speaking, I think the heights and density of the buildings are perfect. The designs could be better, but I am not savy enough to think what would actually work there instead. I just want to see this get developed as soon as possible, because I am very eager to see what it looks like.



That's how I feel too!

I've felt this way all along. I actually wish they weren't so uniform, but for that location, the height and density is ideal.

[unterbau]

Those docks in front of the ICA are going to ruin the view from their "education center". I hope they don't put them right there, since the view is one of the most important parts of the building...

[atlantaden]

I hope that a few restaurants would be located on the tops of some of the buildings; the views from the top floors of a few of those buildings facing the city would be spectacular!! Any restaurant/bar utilizing floor to ceiling windows 20 floors up facing the city from the fan pier location would probably be an immediate hit!

[Lrfox]

Those docks in front of the ICA are going to ruin the view from their "education center". I hope they don't put them right there, since the view is one of the most important parts of the building...

The ICA is fighting that. I emailed them about that a few months back, and they're negotiating with the Fan Pier Developers trying to get some sort of compromise. The one dock directly in front of the Media Center will be the biggest target since that one in particular ruins the effect of that window (which in my opinion isn't that profound after seeing it in person, but to each his own). Tough negotiations since the ICA is leasing the land from the Fan Pier developers, so it seems like it'll be an uphill battle.

[pelhamhall]

By the way - the stylized, computer-generated aerial rendering is doctored - making Fan Pier appear closer to the Financial District. It's a very common trick, I'm not accusing them of anything unsavory.

The elevation renderings are for permitting, not sales and marketing purposes, and they show more of the true scope of the project.

[Suffolk 83]

they are doing some work over there I think. here's some cranes and backhoes if you look closely.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa205/jwebbs24/PICT0010.jpg

[type001]

I wouldn't be surprised if this project ends up moving very fast. It's amazing how fast all of the hotels have gone up over in that area, and it is very likely that Fan Pier will start to take shape rather quickly.

[kz1000ps]

Saturday the 19th

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2844/img0501rr9.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4444/img0504di8.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/826/img0507hj7.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1365/img0508ad7.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6702/img0509fq1.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/340/img0510ww9.jpg

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/4530/img0513ng6.jpg

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5377/img0540ee0.jpg

The sales office, out at the tip of the property

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/144/img0541wr7.jpg

some scenes from the office

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/1672/img0543nt0.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/2859/img0549uo9.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6484/img0550ka1.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/549/img0551ct6.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7619/img0552yt2.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/7928/img545wj7.jpg

[czsz]

Sadly that sales office will probably be the best piece of architecture to ever stand on Fan Pier.

[type001]

Sadly that sales office will probably be the best piece of architecture to ever stand on Fan Pier.

ROFL!

[tobyjug]

I can see the advertising motto: "If you lived here you'd be home right now."

[Lrfox]

Looks like college dorms for old people. The architecture sucks, the height/ density is good. The ground level stuff is going to make or break this development.

[palindrome]

that is one of the finest sales offices i have ever seen!

[czsz]

Seriously, it would be nice to see some of that wood incorporated on the new midrises.

[palindrome]

That would be amazing having that wood maybe mixed with some aluminum and glass. Definitely something that would fit the area. The wet wooden look works so well with the casual cloudy gray skies Boston has.

Would look so more classy/high end than the tanish color they have now.

[atlantaden]

That would be amazing having that wood maybe mixed with some aluminum and glass. Definitely something that would fit the area. The wet wooden look works so well with the casual cloudy gray skies Boston has.

Would look so more classy/high end than the tanish color they have now.

Waterside Place Mall, right down the street from Fan Pier, will have a wood front.

[aquaman]

Wood would also knit together the project and the harbor walk as well as the water-side of the ICA.

[kz1000ps]

^ Exactly. It should be apparent by now that the ICA is more or less defining what flavor this first wave of development will have. And since I find the wood/metal/glass combination appealing (not to mention very well suited to this area), I'd have to say that's a good thing.

[nm88]

I remember two of the proposals for this property in the 80s. Though vastly different (one included a canal) they both attempted some big ideas. I am not usually one for iconic architecture (too many times it falls short) but when you have a blank canvas like the Fan Pier, right on the water, why not give it a shot? Honestly, these buildings are not bad, per se. It's just that one might have hoped that the ICA would set the bar a little higher.

[type001]

I remember two of the proposals for this property in the 80s. Though vastly different (one included a canal) they both attempted some big ideas. I am not usually one for iconic architecture (too many times it falls short) but when you have a blank canvas like the Fan Pier, right on the water, why not give it a shot? Honestly, these buildings are not bad, per se. It's just that one might have hoped that the ICA would set the bar a little higher.

Here's an image courtesy of RichardThomas. Is this what you might have been refering to?

http://www.type001.com/AB/FanPier/Fan_Pier_1984.jpg

[TC]

Now that looks like a destination.

However if it was built at that time the high rises probably would have ended up looking like Harbor Towers.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Unfortunately anything marina-like built within the last 20 years is going to have looked straight out of Florida (which may or may not be a bad thing depending on your point of view).

That model had a vision at least. The new plan just looks like Charles River Park 2.

[statler]

I really like what they did with the old Northen Av bridge in that diagram.

[KentXie]

I think in the older forum, there was the rendering of the other proposal. I remember a 50 story miniature version of the Key Tower in Cleveland. In fact I remember someone commenting on how that proposal made Fan Pier look like a small version of the Cleveland skyline. Now that would have been a sight to see.

[nm88]

Yes, 001, that's the earlier version. A subsequent concept (that I liked a little better), when it was owned by our Chicago friends, included designs by Robert Stern, Gehry (if memory serves), and Pelli -- this is the scheme that included the canal. The earlier concept shown in your image, Miami tall buildings around a new marina, didn't seem very Boston-like to me. However, I appreciate they're swinging for the fences.

[Boston02124]

I,m trying to find the 50 storie version ,I have it somewhere,also look to the right of photo,you can see the original Rowes Wharf design,thankfully we got what we have today!

[jass]

Taken today, Feb 1 2008

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2539.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2549.jpg

[jass]

Today, Feb 14.

They were working at 7pm...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2619.jpg

[ablarc]

What a mess.

[kz1000ps]

Before I get to the pics, I did this up to help everyone understand exactly where work is going on. The outline shows where the fence is, and the shaded area is where the slurry wall has been constructed.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/9996/fanpiersj8.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4725/img1758bn0.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2088/img1759le7.jpg

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2512/img1762ol6.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2219/img1763lu2.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/626/img1764kc2.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7521/img1767ou6.jpg

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/2500/img1768md5.jpg

[Suffolk 83]

you da man kz... thanks for pointing out exactly where it was because god knows I wasn't walking over there in the cold. I think I just snapped some pics from across the channel.

[pelhamhall]

Thank you for taking those pics! I work right near here, and I laugh everytime I see that billboard with the 1980s woman in a red dress with her hands up like she is saying "presenting to you... a boxy little office building in windswept hell!"

All those construction scrims with that cheesy stock photography remind me of a Christmas Tree Shops or a Walmart is moving in. I really, really hope the developer will be able to get all the little details, finishes and touches right here - but I'm nervous. Often, the difference between a good development and a great development is in the little details.

[AC]

Hello
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/3370/sb001gv3.jpg
We're tiny. Please let us stay, Mr. Fallon.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/1795/sb038tf8.jpg

[kz1000ps]

How cryptic.

[nedev18]

From April 5:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m306/bostonman2006/4-5-08Avenir1011.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m306/bostonman2006/4-5-08Avenir1013.jpg

There are a couple more shots of Fan Pier here (http://nedev.webs.com/bdblog.htm?blogentryid=3252802).

[jass]

April 12 2007

As seen from far away
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3440.jpg

As seen from the observation deck next to the intercontinental
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3453.jpg


And as seen through the telescope thingy
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_3456.jpg

[kz1000ps]

I was originally going to leave after snapping these two photos, as I didn't feel like walking around the site..

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9562/img5226zt8.jpg

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3074/img5228zg1.jpg

but then a construction worker yelled out, "hey, come here!" and he showed me this:

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/628/img5234zi1.jpg

^ They've erected an observation platform!

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4113/img5229as1.jpg

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/471/img5231yz1.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4871/img5230la0.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1164/img5233wt3.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9664/img5232pp3.jpg

[pelhamhall]

Wow - slow going huh? Didn't this break ground in September? I guess it's hard to excavate waterfront fill, there must be all kinds of construction issues. Still good to see progress though.

[tmac9wr]

I'm getting a lot of Red X's in your last post kz...anyone else seeing the same? Thanks for the pics though. Great to finally see progress on this site...I kept waiting for something to come in and queer the deal and see this remain a parking lot for the next ten years.

Edit: Nevermind about the red x's...I think my internet is just crapping out on me.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Usually when a construction worker yells at you it isn't a good thing. Fantastic addition to the construction site.

[palindrome]

Nice!

When i get some free time i want to head down the the waterfront and check all this out. I love sitting on the ICA steps. Maybe grab some lunch at LTK.

[AC]

Along with the deck, they've given us a couple of windows -
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/7170/yes039do1.jpg
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/2231/yes034nr0.jpg

[Riverworks]

Man these guys are slow. Giddy up.

[kennedy]

Fan Pier will host the Volvo Ocean Racers in May 2009 during their Boston stopover.

http://volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/may/fanpiertoflyflagforboston/index.aspx

[tmac9wr]

I didn't know where else to post this, but I figure since much of Fan Pier will be a Precast Palace, it makes sense.

This: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=469597 , is The Elysian. It's located in Chicago and it has a precast facade....yet the facade looks great...almost as good as the real thing (meaning real stone). I wish some of the Boston developers would look at the different things they can do with precast since they're so insistent in using the material.

[kz1000ps]

^ That's a nice looking throwback.

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/9169/img9350zu2.jpg

[kennedy]

The ICA looks so lonely in that picture, as if no one even visits it. Nor does it have any architecturally significant friends.

[ablarc]

^ Well, it's got plenty of parking.

[Boston02124]

looks like another crane on the skyline soon !

[palindrome]

How many buildings are going up right now? Will they be built one at a time?

[Boston02124]

Just one for now!

[Suffolk 83]

Is this going to be a perfectly square glass box about the height of the Moakley?

[Lrfox]

I know this is asking for trouble, but if they go one building at a time, there's a chance that more changes could be made in the designs of the buildings yet to break ground thus leading to more diversity in the completed project. There's no question this area needs to be developed, but one massive complex of similar looking buildings built at the same time is not an intriguing thought for me.

[ablarc]

^ Maybe if they wait long enough between buildings, the prevailing style will change.

[statler]

Style doesn't matter. A different style of shit is still shit.

Hopefully, with enough time, local attitudes towards city-building will change and we'll get a real urban neighborhood.

[Lrfox]

^ Maybe if they wait long enough between buildings, the prevailing style will change.

That's what I was thinking. I'm just afraid to think that way because longer waits tend to translate into abandoned projects in Boston. And as Statler said, shit is shit, even if it's different, but my hope (wishful thinking, really) would be that the prevailing style would become something a bit nicer.

[Mike]

Fallon was saying last year that construction on the hotel and residential buildings behind the ICA would start this summer. Not sure if that is still the plan though ...

[archcritic]

To clarify some of blatant misconceptions about Fan Pier:

-It will not be a precast palace. The waterfront buildings on the aerial rendering are left-overs from the previous owner's architect. On the contrary, you will see a lot of glass in the project when it's completed.

-It is very much an urban project. The layout is based on an urban street grid with narrow streets and 15' sidewalks. All parking is underground; there is also street parking integrated with street trees. The buildings essentially have 4 front facades with no "service" roads. Almost all the streets are aligned with retail and building entrances. There are two public parks with distinct characteristics. The harborwalk aligns the project and the new marina and the ferry docks will activate the waterfront. If you actually do some real research, you will also find that there is a significant amount of public program in the project.

-The entire project is pursuing LEED certification.

[statler]

If you actually do some real research, you will also find that there is a significant amount of public program in the project.

Rather than chastise us for not doing real research, why don't you share with the class what you know?

You seem to have a lot of inside information, we are just going off what has been made public.

Spill what you got.

[tobyjug]

To clarify some of blatant misconceptions about Fan Pier:

-It will not be a precast palace. The waterfront buildings on the aerial rendering are left-overs from the previous owner's architect. On the contrary, you will see a lot of glass in the project when it's completed.



Care to show us some renderings? And why, exactly, does glass mean it is class?

[GMACK24]

Fan Pier work pushes harbor change forward

By Scott Van Voorhis | Monday, June 9, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate

Photo by Herald file
After decades of planning, and sometimes crushing setbacks, the vision of a new neighborhood along the waterfront near the Moakley courthouse and Fan Pier is starting to finally take hold.

At Fan Pier, longtime waterfront builder Joe Fallon is pushing ahead with plans for roughly 3 million square feet of new development. He has kicked off work on his first building, a 500,000-square-foot office complex, and is busy planning for new condo and hotel high-rises, retail-lined boulevards and parks.

Across Northern Avenue, John Hynes, another longtime city developer, has filed plans with City Hall for an even more ambitious undertaking, Seaport Square. Like Fallon at Fan Pier, Hynes envisions a neighborhood within a neighborhood that would include a school, civic and cultural space, as well as office high-rises, shops and condos and homes for 5,000 residents.

Hynes - whose Gale Co. is also busy developing a new city in South Korea - has just begun the city review process, but hopes to start work later this year on a couple of smaller condo buildings.

If Hynes? project wins approval as proposed, it would be the largest single development in Boston history.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, another longtime veteran of the waterfront development scene, John Drew, hopes to start work soon on his long-planned Waterside Place. That $600 million endeavor calls for 425,000 square feet of retail space, 200 condos and 300 hotel rooms.

The new projects join a growing neighborhood that features a battleship-size convention hall and Fidelity Investments? World Trade Center hotel, office and meeting complex. Not to mention other assorted luxury condo and office buildings and a Fort Point warehouse district that has become a nexus for artists and office and condo developers.

?I think it?s in transition,? said Drew of the waterfront. ?It should be all of the above - a city in the city and an extension of the downtown. Both are appropriate and not at odds with each other.

?There is room for everything and all those everythings are able to mesh pretty nicely together,? he added.

As these megaprojects prepare to move forward, it ends a decades-long chapter of sometimes bitter debate over the area?s future.

As early as the 1980s, City Hall began eyeing the development potential of the sprawling surface parking lots and industrial businesses clustered around a few waterfront icons, such as Anthony?s Pier 4 and Jimmy?s Harborside.

But plans to turn Fan Pier into a new neighorhood collapsed in the late 1980s amid legal feuds among the project?s developers. Chicago?s billionaire Pritzker family, owner of the Hyatt chain, took over Fan Pier and started putting their own plans together in the late 1990s.

But the Pritzkers and their development team got bogged down in battles with neighborhood and environmental activists over the project?s size and design. While the Pritzkers eventually won approval to build, the market went south after the 2001 recession.

A few years later the Pritzkers sold the site and its plans to Fallon, a local developer well-versed in city politics.

Fallon has succeeded where others failed, starting construction on Fan Pier?s first building last year.

Meanwhile, the public sector has entered the waterfront development race.

The FBI has been eyeing a site near the convention center for a large, new Boston headquarters. And Mayor Thomas Menino has proposed building a new city hall farther down the waterfront at the city-owned Marine Industrial Park.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1099542

[archcritic]

For the masterplan and street layout. There is nothing suburban about this:
http://www.fanpierboston.com/#/fanPier/theVision/masterPlan/viewMasterPlan/

For some of the buildings. Nothing ICA level here, but decent looking buildings:
http://www.fanpierboston.com/#/fanPier/theElements/commercial/

[tobyjug]

Doesn't excite me. Thanks for proving the courage of your conviction by posting it!

[atlantaden]

Ah, come on Toby, give the guy a break, compared to Fallon's Park Lane Apartments, these buildings are absolutely stunning! Seriously, if his Fan Pier office, condo's (I really like the residential building), and streetscape look as good as the renderings on the website, the place will be a hit. I do hope that at least one of the office buildings has a restaurant on the top floor to take in the spectactular views of downtown. Lots of glass in this area is a good thing!

[tobyjug]

Den,

I wasn't bustin' on him. He proved he wasn't some cheap "drive by" artist, and manfully showed what he had. I like his style.

OK, its better, no doubt, but you are setting the bar pretty low. The office building looks like the progeny of the JFK Building and the pre-remodel "Little Pru". The yellow buildings look like the pre-dye job project tenements at Columbia Point. I'm looking real close for the GM Motorama architect's stamp on the renderings.

Yeah, the FAA screwed the pooch. Toby don't dig it, but its cool if others do!

[atlantaden]

I wasn't bustin' on him. He proved he wasn't some cheap "drive by" artist, and manfully showed what he had. I like his style.

Phew, it's getting kinda hot in here! LOL

OK, its better, no doubt, but you are setting the bar pretty low.

Considering what Joe built over at Park Lane, I felt like I didn't have a choice. Sorta like anything's better than a parking lot thing.

[tobyjug]

Yeah, I relate.

[Padre Mike]

I actually like the development as presented. I tend not to trust "star" architecture trying to be more than it is. The human scale of the streetscape and the relationship with the "background" architecture are important elements for me, and I think this development addresses these concerns.

[z-money]

i'm also a fan of the current renderings... I'll note, however, I was lucky enough to see an early (2003) rendering, of Park Lane Seaport (which I sadly can't put my hands on right now)... the building as constructed barely resembles the building in the rendering... a few of the differences include: much larger windows with better looking glass, a red brick 'appearance' to much of the building... suffice it to say building materials were of significantly higher quality prior to the (suspected) value engineering...
lets hope that MassMutuals deep pockets will save this project.

[tmac9wr]

None of the buildings look bad in my opinion, but they don't look great either. I'm happy that they're using more glass than many of the other South Boston projects which used a ridiculous amount of precast. The layout of the area looks pretty good, but I wish they would release renderings of each individual tower so we can get a better idea of what we're going to be getting.

The problem with Fan Pier and Seaport Square is that they're only owned by two companies. 7 Buildings are being built in Fan Pier, and something like 14 buildings in Seaport Square...this means there are over 20 buildings being built with only 2 architects. Although I do like both of these projects, I wish more architects could have been hired in order to mix-up the styles a bit more.

However, I feel one advantage of having only two developers being involved in the projects is that they will probably be able to turn this area into a "true" neighborhood, since they already have areas planned out to be their neighborhood center, etc.

[pelhamhall]

I would be more of a fan of Fan Pier... but my problem is that Park Lane looked pretty nice in the renderings and the execution was horrible.

That isn't necessarily just an architect's bad design, Park Lane is the blunder of a developer cutting corners, and cheaping out.

Forgive me for being pessimistic, but just take a look at Park Lane and it's hard not to be pessimistic. There is no attention to detail and the whole thing feels like the Cadillac's of the 1980s: they were just Chevy's with different hood ornaments and extra chrome.

As somebody who's lived in Boston my whole life, I hope Fan Pier is an amazing destination, but I am fearful it wont' be.

[KentXie]

For some of the buildings. Nothing ICA level here, but decent looking buildings


Thank god. I never liked the ICA. Its a glass tetris piece and a lego piece on top of it. I think the outside wall is deteriorating too.

[Beton Brut]

I think the outside wall is deteriorating too.

I believe this finish was supposed to be clad in wood like the underside of the big harborside cantilever. Value engineering.

[tobyjug]

At 2 A.M.
Last call.
Strap on beer goggles,
Size up the "beauties" left in the hall.
It might look smart now,
But in the morning
Its still
A cow.

[AC]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7114/fan001hj0.jpg
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/7776/fan002ez2.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

I like the port-o-johns for scale comparison.

[archcritic]

This is incorrect, at least for Fan Pier. There is a master plan architect, but each building will be designed by a different architect.

None of the buildings look bad in my opinion, but they don't look great either. I'm happy that they're using more glass than many of the other South Boston projects which used a ridiculous amount of precast. The layout of the area looks pretty good, but I wish they would release renderings of each individual tower so we can get a better idea of what we're going to be getting.

The problem with Fan Pier and Seaport Square is that they're only owned by two companies. 7 Buildings are being built in Fan Pier, and something like 14 buildings in Seaport Square...this means there are over 20 buildings being built with only 2 architects. Although I do like both of these projects, I wish more architects could have been hired in order to mix-up the styles a bit more.

However, I feel one advantage of having only two developers being involved in the projects is that they will probably be able to turn this area into a "true" neighborhood, since they already have areas planned out to be their neighborhood center, etc.

[whighlander]

Van

the Mayor for Life calls the facilities -- Pottopotties -- please as the Moderator -- you should be helping us in keeping up with the correct Terminology

After all what did you expect -- Jumbletrons?

Westy

[pelhamhall]

I recently heard Mayuh Memimo speak about the economic strength of downtown and he said that "down at Fan Pier, we got a biotech company gonna sign a lease - will be officially announced in the middla July"

He said it with certainty, so I suppose Vertex has overcome their objections and have settled on the building once and for all. This makes me nervous because Vertex has never posted a profit and may or may not be selling snake oil at he moment - nobody's really sure.

The Mayor followed this statement about Fan Pier up with this:

"Also got Gemzine. Doin Biotech."

[JimboJones]

At the MFA door opening, the Mayor:

"The MFA, which opened in 1972 ..."

"When Roger opened the Huntington Ave doors ..."

Oh, Mumbles, what will we do with you, you're incorrigible!

[tobyjug]

After all what did you expect -- Jumbletrons?

Sumatta fooyoo? It's JumbleTROM!

[Boston02124]

the crane is up! I saw it yesterday when I flew into Logan from Nashville!

[GMACK24]

The Crane is indeed up : )

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/2633863828_63becc2959_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/2633863828/

[palindrome]

that crane is soaring. I oppose it.

[aquaman]

argh! shadows

[GMACK24]

shadows whats wrong with the shadows ?

ha ha

[bostoncitywalk]

It appears that Fan Pier is the most patriotic construction site in Boston...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2635644414_68408a04a9_b.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/2635644414/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2635652968_bec4265089_b.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/2635652968/)

http://flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/

[Suffolk 83]

niiice upside down flag. morons dont know how to put a flag up. ya gotta weight the bottom or something.

[Beton Brut]

The upside down flag is the universal symbol for distress (http://www.fotw.net/flags/xf-flip.html). In considering that, it seems a wholly appropriate emblem for the entire South Boston Waterfront. Maybe the crane operator reads Jane Jacobs.

[tmac9wr]

Wait, so is it too late to get a neighborhood group together to protest this crane?

[PaulC]

The flag isn't upside down, it's the just the camera angle

[Benhamin]

The Flag is fine guys. The field of stars is always displayed to the viewer's top left.

[Ron Newman]

When I rode to the ICA Thursday evening, I had the same reaction: "Why are they flying the flag upside down? And in the rain, too?"

[AC]

Another crane coming soon
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3290/eh001fi3.jpg

And a "new" dock
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7126/eh006um0.jpg

[Boston02124]

Cool,more progress!

[12345]

Fan Pier lands major biotech -- Cambridge's Vertex

One of Cambridge, Mass.?s largest biotech companies has committed to moving to Boston as the anchor tenant at Fan Pier.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has signed a letter of intent to lease at least 500,000 square feet ? with the possibility of an additional 500,000 square feet ? in two buildings.

The letter was signed late last week between the Cambridge pharmaceutical company and Fan Pier developer Joseph Fallon.

A lease between Fallon and Vertex would be critical for the controversial waterfront project: Fallon broke ground on the 21-acre waterfront site last summer and has yet to secure a tenant for the development. Multiple biotech industry sources confirmed the deal, although Fallon would not comment. Vertex CEO Joshua Boger could not be reached for comment because he was on vacation.

A move by Vertex would represent a major victory in Boston?s efforts to lure more biotechs within its borders.

A letter of intent is a significant milestone, but funding to help finance Vertex?s move must be finalized. One source familiar with the negotiations said that city and state incentives are likely under discussion. Also, in order for Fallon to secure construction financing he must show lenders he has a letter of intent signed with a tenant.

Another potential complication: Boger was recently appointed as a board member of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which will help enact much of the $1 billion life sciences economic development initiative signed into law in June. Theoretically, Boger would have to recuse himself were the board to consider allocating any of the incentives to Vertex.

Vertex (NASDAQ;VRTX) currently occupies 500,000 square feet of space in half a dozen buildings in Cambridge. Sources said the company would likely move all of its offices to the waterfront location.

Vertex was founded in 1989 in a 10,000-square-foot building in Cambridge which the company still occupies. Vertex currently employs more than 1,150 people worldwide, with 894 in Cambridge.

The company?s fortunes have improved in recent years thanks to the early clinical trial success of its new hepatitis C treatment, which is slated to begin late stage human clinical trials sometime this fall.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/07/28/daily45.html

[pelhamhall]

So Fallon and Vertex are going to come to taxpayers looking for a hand-out?

Please. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the Fan Pier vanity billboards tells me that not a cent of our money should go to this project. Even if Joey and da' mayuh are buddies.

[kz1000ps]

The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the Fan Pier vanity billboards tells me that not a cent of our money should go to this project.

Don't forget about the hot air balloon or viewing platform...

[Bos77]

So Fallon and Vertex are going to come to taxpayers looking for a hand-out?

yes, but he's a better 'friend' to those in high places, so nobody will cry foul like they did over economic LOANS to Columbus Center.

[pelhamhall]

So help me God, if this developer and this tenant come to the taxpayers asking for our money for Fan Pier at this stage in the game, I will... um... I don't know what I'll do. Probably nothing, this is Boston after all.

Menino probably has another 15-20 years to live and we are going to have to put up with him for that long. It's not like the guy can just retire from politics and make his money on the speaker's circuit, or lecturing. You need to be able to string words together into a sentence to be able to do that. And it's not like he's qualified to actually run anything. Seriously, could he even run an Applebee's? Probably not. City of Boston - sure, that's easy compared to high-stress retail work.

If Joe Fallon and Vertex come with their hands out, and Menino delivers our cash, it would be a vile, vile disgrace. Menino took this project away from Lennar and gave it to his buddy who builds things like Park Lane, saying that Joe had the best chance of getting something done. He didn't add "because I'll give him your tax money to get it done"

[Ron Newman]

but isn't Lennar in financial trouble? Probably just as well they aren't trying to build here.

[pelhamhall]

Lannar is in financial trouble - so is Joe Fallon at this site. Joe can ask his buddy the mayor for some of our taxpayer money, but if Lennar asked, they would be laughed at. This is what has me mad. The double-standard.

[JimboJones]

I assume that Fan Pier will be asking for life sciences money courtesy of the Commonwealth, not $ from the city.

[Batterymarch]

Why do you say Fallon is in trouble. His money partner is Mass Mutual . they paid all cash, no debt. I assume that bldg in ground has a construction loan, but given that the bldg is still a year plus away until delivery, there shouldn't be any current problems

[pelhamhall]

I am making a conjecture that he is trouble because:

- he has no construction financing lined up (according to that article)

- signed a full-building lease to a firm that has never made a profit and needs government hand-outs to get into the building, kind of a tenant-of-last-resort situation if you ask me

- actually was in serious talks with the FBI about locating here, far cry from the luxury destination of the original vision

- has construction going at a snail's pace to convince the public that this is real (groundbreaking was Sept, '07)

- isn't anywhere close to rolling out the whole "Fan Pier", just this one lonely office box in a landscape of parking lots. Resdiential, marina and hotel is on hold

- Has hinted he needs government money to make the deal with Vertex work

So "in trouble" could mean a lot of things, not necessarily "going bankrupt" or anything like that... but there's warning signs. If One Marina Park Drive doesn't fair well, it could doom the plans for Two Marina Park Drive and the Park Lane 2.0 resdiential.

Fan Pier is hugely disappointing to me on so many levels, and I really hope that everything goes well with this, I'm not throwing bombs just for fun. I do believe a built-out Fan Pier will be a real boon to our city if this can get pulled together and work. But building one squat, lonely office block isn't "Fan Pier" and he's having a tough time with just that. I know the financing markets are hell, and I'm praying he pulls through this and it sets up a domino effect for the rest of the buildings at Fan Pier.

[Batterymarch]

well thought out conjecture. do you know what is going on with Batterywharf. i hear condos are "dead in the water"?

[Boston02124]

aug. 7th 2008 from 93 northhttp://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/xxxxxhullseagull2008015.jpg

[AC]

From the ICA
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4355/h010ph2.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2803/h011ov7.jpg

From the windows - the steel has reach ground level
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3005/h013dz9.jpg
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2843/h014cv8.jpg

[Arborway]

Nice progress. I thought they'd be pushing around dirt in that hole for months to come.

[kz1000ps]

Yesterday:

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9914/img7894sy1.jpg

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9995/img7907lp0.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6655/img7909is6.jpg

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/9489/img7910ca2.jpg

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/2323/img7911jh4.jpg

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8915/img7912bj2.jpg

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6139/img7908lw0.jpg

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/2318/img7936df9.jpg

One more of the Harborwalk reconstruction down by the ICA:

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1567/img7928qh7.jpg

Storm clouds are coming!

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/4771/img7935az2.jpg

[SeamusMcFly]

Here's a few camera phone shots from today.
One of these days, I'll remember my real camera and get some from the area on my walks.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2783924807_875193e41c.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2783924759_cc7496efee.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2783924685_10bfa8295e.jpg?v=0

[Tim Jackson]

I didn't really know where to put this, but I thought that, since this is his most prominent current project, this would be the ideal place.

This isn't really news regarding Fan Pier, but it is an interesting article regarding one of the developers, Joe Fallon. Essentially, it talks about what Fallon has accomplished, and some of the impressive feats that he has managed to take on, including being the one to finally get the Fan Pier project off the ground. Call it a character profile, if you will.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Fallon draws kudos for keeping an even keel

Boston Business Journal - by Robert Celaschi Special to the Journal

A third-generation builder from Milton, Joe Fallon learned construction from the ground up. He started out as a laborer for developer Tom Flatley, going on to become a development manager at JMB Realty Corp. before starting The Fallon Co. in 1993.

Since then Fallon has developed more than $4 billion worth of real estate. Among his projects is the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, where he?s scheduled to pick up an award in November on behalf of his company from the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Fallon is a former board member, and still serves on NAIOP?s advisory group.

The likely capstone of Fallon?s career is on the rise now in the form of Fan Pier, 21 acres of parking lot being transformed into 3 million square feet of offices, a hotel, luxury condominiums, a marina and retail space.

What makes the Fan Pier project notable, apart from its size and prominent location, is the fact that Fallon is the one who got it off the ground after a quarter century of stalled efforts by others. He purchased the land in 2005 along with his partner, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., for $115 million. A year ago he started turning dirt. By July this year he had a major tenant, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., which signed a letter of intent to lease at least 500,000 square feet and possibly twice that much.

?Joe is a visionary. He is absolutely able to take a look into property and see the future. He clearly saw the future with the Fan Pier. No one could make sense of it, but he was able to put a deal together,? said David Begelfer, CEO of the state NAIOP chapter in Needham.

While the Fan Pier project is a major piece of land, it also ties into another significant aspect of Fallon?s life: water. Among the many boards he has sat on are Sail Boston, the Boston Harbor Association, the Boston Harbor Island Alliance, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, and the New England Aquarium.

In late August Fallon drove to Newport to take part in a send-off of the Puma team in the Volvo Ocean Race. The Fallon Co. is a sponsor of the team?s boat, Il Mostro, a sleek black-and-red craft designed to look like the Puma sneaker of the same name. Fallon also made sure that when actress Salma Hayek christened Il Mostro in May, the event took place at Fan Pier. The property also will be the only North American stopover during the race in the spring of 2009.

?When he gets involved in a project he always likes to bring to it something that is exciting. That?s really something we?ve seen with Fan Pier. He has the ability to draw attention in a very unique way,? Begelfer said. ?This is something that he knows well and has a great instinct for. He makes things happen. It?s not that you just have a vision, but that you are able to perform.?

At the same time, Fallon himself stays out of the limelight as much as possible, including not being available for interviews for this profile. Those who know him describe Fallon as dogged rather than flashy.

?He just keeps on moving. He doesn?t get overexcited or underexcited,? said Charles Tseckares, CEO of architecture and design firm CBT Childs Bertman Tseckares Inc. ?The ones who really get projects done are the ones who can keep a sense of calm. Everyone is throwing roadblocks at you, and you have to pull up every roadblock. Too many of them get exasperated by the process.

?I think he?s a very thoughtful guy, very strategic in his thinking.?

Fallon also gets credit as a good communicator.

?He?s focused. He doesn?t waste your time. He?s understands well -- not only understands but is able to articulate ? his objectives very well. Those folks trying to support those objectives, the entire development team are able to work effectively,? said David Manfredi of Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston, the architect who refined the Fan Pier master plan and designed its first office tower. ?He delivers on his promises, and for an architect that makes him a pleasure to work with.?

Real estate development covers a wide range of problems, from the beginning of an idea, to getting the entitlements, to building relationships, to securing the financing, to leasing.

?The individual who has expertise in each of those aspects is rare,? Manfredi said.

LINK (http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/09/08/focus5.html)

[kz1000ps]

8/28:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4524/img9082te0.jpg

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2504/img9083gv1.jpg

[Tim Jackson]

Cool, it can finally be seen from the street.

In the second picture, is that wooden staircase leading up to some sort of observation platform for the construction site? I've never seen that before, a staircase from within the construction walls coming right down to the sidewalk.

[AdamBC]

Cool, it can finally be seen from the street.

In the second picture, is that wooden staircase leading up to some sort of observation platform for the construction site? I've never seen that before, a staircase from within the construction walls coming right down to the sidewalk.

I think that's how you're supposed to 'find yourself' at Fan Pier.

[kz1000ps]

Tim, yeah they put up an observation platform. Note in my pictures that most of them (such as those midway down the previous page in this thread) are taken from the same vantage point, at the southwest corner of the site and elevated by about a dozen feet.

Pic from May (on page 12):

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/628/img5234zi1.jpg

[Tim Jackson]

Thanks kz! From an architecture enthusiasts' standpoint, I wish there were more of those.

[SeamusMcFly]

Looks like I got beat to the punch, but here are some from yesterday.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2842959408_cf65513a38.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/2842959346_39319f7046.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2842959278_b03895d815.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2842959236_acee145879.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2842959170_fea2bccbc7.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3251/2842124083_8519f40074.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2842959062_df04d3968b.jpg?v=0
From the Moakley Bridge

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2842959018_90d81690a8.jpg?v=0
And, from the Children's Museum.

Enjoy.

[TheBostonBoy]

Wow, it's awesome to see steel already rising at the site. I am glad this project is moving along at a good pace.

[PaulC]

The steel is also visible from the Mystic/Tobin Bridge.

[SeamusMcFly]

Back to the shabby phone camera today. From Russia Wharf.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2901583805_61bfd19015.jpg?v=0

[SeamusMcFly]

Some more from 10-11-08
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/2938001502_81f4e56cbb.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/2938002528_1d9854db56.jpg?v=0
One from the office

[Patriots_1228]

thats pretty quick i guess. good to see some more construction round here.

[tmac9wr]

I was driving by there today, this thing is rising fast.

[kmp1284]

It better be, that area needs to be buttoned up stat as it will be the dockage and staging area when the Volvo Ocean Race fleet stops in Boston in May. It would be quite the joke in the yachting world if the fleet showed up to a dusty construction site when they were promised a gleaming new yacht harbor and associated amenities. At the rate they're going with Fan Pier at large they should scrap Boston now and give Newport the honor or at the very least stage everything at Rowes Wharf.

[ablarc]

Rowe's Wharf: what keeps its good example from emulation?

[kron]

i agree with kmp1284, but doesn't Joe Fallon have a stake in the US team (is it team puma?) and is hence why they are using his development to dock these boats.

[kmp1284]

I don't know if Fallon has an interest in Puma, he very well may. I'll find out though.

[Boston02124]

today 10 more floors to go! http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/048.jpg

[pelhamhall]

Is this the Vertex building or was this always planned as a spec building? I heard the Vertex deal is now tottering under the weight of Vertex's (un)balance sheet.

[SeamusMcFly]

This one was spec. from the beginning, and then started becoming the Vertex building I believe. Now maybe it's not again....

[Bubbybu]

Boston-Box-Bean-Brick

[JohnJZ]

Hi All,
Long time reader, first time poster! I was in Boston last Friday, 10/17, and captured this shot of Fan Pier and the Waterfront mid-rise buildings from Long Warf...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2959558760_3a511a0507_b.jpg

[Mike]

Your name looks familiar ... did you used to post on the old skyscraperguy board?

Thanks for the updates!

[JohnJZ]

Excellent memory Mike! Yes, I use to post to the old Skyscaperguy page. To bad about that site as it was a good, informative site with some great pictures and posts. Content from site would/could have been a great archive to this site...


Below is a shot of the SB Waterfront to downtown taken while landing at Logan from last March.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/2964274902_38917aa3c4.jpg


John

[Lrfox]

^Wait. You used an approved electronic device BELOW 10,000 ft. and the the plane didn't crash and aircraft elsewhere weren't crashing into each other? How does that happen?

[pelhamhall]

Park Lane. Horrible.

[KentXie]

Even with the mediocre buildings that have been built in SB, I have to say, when all the lots are filled up with buildings of similar height, it will look pretty awesome thanks to the incredible density.

[ablarc]

^ And how will the experience be at street level?

[Beton Brut]

^ Stultifying?

[KentXie]

^ And how will the experience be at street level?

Well aren't they adding restaurants throughout South Boston and planning to build a mall? Stick a movie theater cafes and a supermarket and there's your street level activities.

[czsz]

You mean we can have the street level charm of Route 9 in Natick right in the city?

[Arborway]

Well aren't they adding restaurants throughout South Boston and planning to build a mall? Stick a movie theater cafes and a supermarket and there's your street level activities.

Most of the buildings there present nothing more than blank walls of tinted glass and concrete to the street - which is usually set back behind a few feet of grass.

You either enter through the One Defined Entrance or the parking garage. There is zero incentive to walk around and see what's there. It's a place to designed to be accessed by car.

[KentXie]

Most of the buildings there present nothing more than blank walls of tinted glass and concrete to the street - which is usually set back behind a few feet of grass.

You either enter through the One Defined Entrance or the parking garage. There is zero incentive to walk around and see what's there. It's a place to designed to be accessed by car.

I said adding as in it's not built yet. Give it a few years time. I remember there was an article about it somewhere that had a map showing new restaurants in the mix.

[ablarc]

Most of the buildings there present nothing more than blank walls of tinted glass and concrete to the street - which is usually set back behind a few feet of grass.

You either enter through the One Defined Entrance or the parking garage. There is zero incentive to walk around and see what's there. It's a place to designed to be accessed by car.
Suburbia invades the city.

[Merper]

... i'm just hoping these buildings lend themselves well for future improvements (modifications) at street level...

[kz1000ps]

10/31:

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/5671/img1407mi1.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1153/img1409pf3.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

I wish there could be some unifying plan to deal with the street wall that faces the Fort Point Channel to give the area a face to the rest of Boston.

[ablarc]

Judging from the evidence, there is a unifying plan: you could call it consistent monotony.

[vanshnookenraggen]

zzzzzing!!

[czsz]

That squat cube rising at Fan Pier is already boring me.

[justin]

^I bet it will be even less fun when they put up the facade. Enjoy while you can...

[JimboJones]

Vertex move to Fan Pier hits snag (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/11/03/daily58.html?f=et54&ana=e_du)
Boston Business Journal - by Michelle Hillman

Fan Pier?s Joseph Fallon is the latest Boston developer to struggle to land enough financing to lure a major Cambridge biotech tenant.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VRTX) is close to renewing leases in Cambridge for more than 300,000 square feet, delaying plans to move its headquarters to Fan Pier, according to industry sources.The drug company has not entirely abandoned the idea of moving to the South Boston waterfront, but the deal hinges on the capital markets loosening up and Vertex gaining for approval for a key drug, the sources said.

Vertex continues to negotiate an agreement to move to Fan Pier should Fallon arrange crucial financing needed to move the project forward, according to multiple real estate sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

Vertex will need as much as 1 million square feet of office and lab space in about five years, said one source who asked to remain anonymous because the negotiations are confidential.

The Boston Business Journal first reported in July that Vertex Pharmaceuticals signed a letter of intent to lease an initial 500,000 square feet of office space and was pursuing a deal to lease as much as 1 million square feet in two buildings.

Vertex?s spokesman, Zach Barber, declined to comment on Friday because ?it?s a private process,? he said. However, a real estate source said the pharmaceutical company was forced to renew its Cambridge leases when it became apparent that Fallon would not be able to secure the necessary financing.

Vertex has 300,000 square feet of leases expiring in 2011 in Cambridge buildings known as Fort Washington Research Center 1 and 2. Though Vertex wanted the Fan Pier deal to happen, the collapse of the stock market and subsequent lack of financing had made it very hard for developers to construct new buildings.

Without available financing, construction projects across the city, and country, have stopped dead in their tracks.In another project, the Boston Business Journal reported Thursday that developer John Hynes is taking a ?time out? on the Filene?s project because he cannot secure the $400 million construction loan needed to build the $700 million mixed-use project in the heart of Downtown Crossing. Hynes already has demolished the Filene?s building.

Fallon broke ground on the 21-acre waterfront site last summer and has yet to secure a tenant for the development. Fallon is currently building a 500,000 square-foot office building on a speculative basis or without a tenant. The second, 500,000-square-foot building, intended for Vertex is not underway.

Vertex currently occupies 500,000 square feet of space in half a dozen buildings in Cambridge. Vertex was founded in 1989 in a 10,000-square-foot building in Cambridge which the company still occupies. Vertex currently employs more than 1,150 people worldwide, with 894 in Cambridge.

[ChitchIII]

"Fan Pier work stalls, leaving future tenant Vertex in bind
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | November 11, 2008

A deal to make Vertex Pharmaceuticals the first biotech company to locate its headquarters on the South Boston Waterfront is stalled because Fan Pier developer Joseph F. Fallon can't borrow money to build the drug maker's new home.

The Cambridge company had been negotiating with Fallon for a lease in the second office building proposed for the Fan Pier site. But Fallon, like many other developers, has been unable to obtain financing amid the global credit crisis and slowing economy, an executive involved in the project said.

The delay puts Vertex hard against a deadline for renewing the patchwork of leases it has at multiple offices in Cambridge. Two leases totaling more than 290,000 square feet expire in 2010. With Fallon unable to start construction, the building for Vertex could not be ready until 2011, at the earliest.

Negotiating a short-term extension on those leases could be complicated and potentially costly for Vertex. The company's landlord, BioMed Realty Trust, has already said it would expect two to three years' notice if Vertex is planning to leave its property.

Neither Fallon nor Vertex would comment on their negotiations.

A spokesman for Vertex said the company is exploring its options. "Our current leases afford us the flexibility to make real estate decisions needed to support the business," spokesman Zachry Barber wrote in a statement.

Steven Pellegrino, a spokesman for Fallon, said the developer has received inquiries from numerous tenants interested in moving to the waterfront site. "The Fallon Co. is fully committed to moving Fan Pier forward and making this world-class destination a reality for the city of Boston," he said.

Fallon has one office building under construction at the 21-acre site, and three others planned. The $2.5 billion development would also include three residential buildings, a 175-room hotel, retail space and restaurants, a marina, and public parks.

The development is one many in the city facing delays as a result of the financial crisis at the nation's lending institutions. The $700 million redevelopment of the former Filene's building in Downtown Crossing is on hold as its developer, John B. Hynes III, looks to fill a financing gap of $50 million to $100 million.

Officials with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning arm, said the delays are temporary.

"We are closely monitoring all major projects in the city," said BRA spokeswoman Susan Elsbree. "We have been working with the Fallon Co. on the progress of its second and third buildings at Fan Pier, and we feel confident that once the credit market loosens up, this new construction will commence."

Real estate professionals said the Vertex deal is especially complex because it involves moving a pharmaceutical company to a part of the city that does not have any large biotech tenants. Such tenants require highly specialized and expensive laboratory space, meaning that Fallon and his financial partners would be betting heavily on Vertex's ability to thrive in that location.

If the company doesn't need all of its space or leaves, it could be difficult to find another biotech tenant to replace it.

"It's highly unlikely this deal is going to get financed in today's environment, with even some deals in the city's core locations being put on hold," said Mark Winters, managing partner of the life sciences practice for the real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield.

Still, executives involved in the project said they continue to field inquiries from many biotech firms and other companies interested in moving into Fan Pier's planned 1.5 million square feet of office space.

Though it has yet to turn a profit, Vertex has been expanding rapidly ahead of the launch of Telaprevir, its widely anticipated pill to treat hepatitis C, which analysts believe could potentially generate billions of dollars in annual sales. The company is also developing a drug to treat cystic fibrosis, called VX-770. Based on the hope of those drugs, Vertex has a stock market value of more than $4 billion, making it one of the region's biggest life sciences companies.

But the biotech sector is notoriously difficult; many experimental drugs don't ever make it to market, because they turn out to be unsafe or ineffective.

Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com. Todd Wallack of the Globe staff contributed to this report. "

[Joe_Schmoe]

Well the good news is maybe they'll have time to get a better design :)

[kennedy]

Can anyone name the top few biotech companies in the Boston area? I mean, theres Genzyme, Vertex...but I'm drawing a blank on the others.

[statler]

BioGen, Millennium...

[kennedy]

Whos going in at Blackfan or whatever it was called? Did they ever complete it? I'm going to go find that thread.

[Ron Newman]

Novartis, Biogen Idec

[Beton Brut]

Astra Zeneca (Waltham), Merck (in the LMA).

[czsz]

This site is cursed. I give it 86 years.

[bdurden]

This is unfortunate but not surprising. A better reclaimed infill development on waterfront property is the Liberty Harbor project in Jersey City.

[pelhamhall]

The site is cursed because it is under the jurisdiction of an inept mayor.

The mayor delivered this site from the hands of the rightful winning bidder (a national developer) into his little local buddy's hands.

The same little buddy who crapped Park Lane onto this city. While most people would be banished from every being allowed to develop again, the mayor's little buddy was actually rewarded for that Warsaw replication monstrosity by being handed the reigns to Fan Pier.

And the Mayor will be re-elected. And his little buddy will most likely weasel his way into other major developments.

We get what we deserve. We deserve shitty urban planning, bad architecture and backwards design. We deserve a windswept parking lot with one fecal office stump at so-called "Fan Pier".

At least the egotistical "Joe Fallon Is A Big Shot" billboards for Fan Pier are nice.

Every single thing about this development is just wrong. So the fact that it has failed should be seen as a good thing for the city. The only problem is that Plan B in Boston is always worse than the original bad plan.

[Ron Newman]

was that national developer Lennar? How well are they doing financially right now?

[smw2340]

It is a shame that the city cannot recreate a neighborhood similar to the North End, South End, and Back Bay in the Fan Pier area. The driving force is density and height. The land prices have become too expensive for a developer to come in and create a neighborhood, instead of 20 story residential and office towers.

[pelhamhall]

It's a fair point Ron, but they have a large portfolio of mega-developments, they rightfully won the right to develop this site, they were stalled by the BRA, and forced to sell to somebody with woefully inadequate resources and experience.

Had they bought the site and been able to quickly develop it, construction would be perhaps two years ahead of schedule. The residential buildings would be opening next year and perhaps two office buildings.

Sure Lennar is in trouble, just like all major real estate companies are, but the death by stalling technique employed by Boss Menino was disgusting.

[Lrfox]

It is a shame that the city cannot recreate a neighborhood similar to the North End, South End, and Back Bay in the Fan Pier area. The driving force is density and height. The land prices have become too expensive for a developer to come in and create a neighborhood, instead of 20 story residential and office towers.

There's no reason you can't have density and mixed use blended with height. That being said, it's not likely to happen here.

[kennedy]

I think the Fort Point area is much more likely to become a neighborhood like the North End or South End or Back Bay than Fan Pier would be. In my mind I can see high rises, mega-developments, and the mixed use, dense, "old-style" neighborhoods all combined in the South Boston Waterfront area. It would create a much more lively and diverse area if all these were mixed rather than just one or another. The Courthouse compliments Fan Pier, Fan Pier compliments the BCEC, the BCEC compliments the existing world trade center and hotels, and future development should work to compliment but also vary from the existing developments.

[ChitchIII]

I think the Fort Point area is much more likely to become a neighborhood like the North End or South End or Back Bay than Fan Pier would be. In my mind I can see high rises, mega-developments, and the mixed use, dense, "old-style" neighborhoods all combined in the South Boston Waterfront area. It would create a much more lively and diverse area if all these were mixed rather than just one or another. The Courthouse compliments Fan Pier, Fan Pier compliments the BCEC, the BCEC compliments the existing world trade center and hotels, and future development should work to compliment but also vary from the existing developments.

WOW..... A positive view on things is such a nice thing to hear around here. Sincerely, thank you.

I'd never pretend to know anything about Urban Planning or Architecture for that matter but, I am a self proclaimed ?Construction Geek?. I was a Construction Management major at Wentworth, and before I came to Boston form the sticks of central Mass I was naive enough to think that I would be getting my degree to return home and become a residential developer. Since then I?ve developed a true love for this city and all that it has to offer and I?m just excited to see that something is happening in this area.

[Boston02124]

^ where in central mass? I'm from Fitchburg originally! Today from Logan 11-12-08 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/004.jpg

[ChitchIII]

^ where in central mass? I'm from Fitchburg originally! Today from Logan 11-12-08

I'm from Sterling....... I want to Highschool in Fitchburg at Monty Tech Voc, for House Carpentry. I spent the summer after 8th grade working on a farm in town, spent 1 week at the regional highschool and said now way was I going to spend the next 4 years of my life in some B.S. class room learing about everything I cared nothing about.

Vocational school was probably one of the best choice I had ever made. But sadly I was one of the few who went on to college after that.

[TheRifleman]

The site is cursed because it is under the jurisdiction of an inept mayor.

The mayor delivered this site from the hands of the rightful winning bidder (a national developer) into his little local buddy's hands.

The same little buddy who crapped Park Lane onto this city. While most people would be banished from every being allowed to develop again, the mayor's little buddy was actually rewarded for that Warsaw replication monstrosity by being handed the reigns to Fan Pier.

And the Mayor will be re-elected. And his little buddy will most likely weasel his way into other major developments.

We get what we deserve. We deserve shitty urban planning, bad architecture and backwards design. We deserve a windswept parking lot with one fecal office stump at so-called "Fan Pier".

Every single thing about this development is just wrong. So the fact that it has failed should be seen as a good thing for the city. The only problem is that Plan B in Boston is always worse than the original bad plan.

This post is CLASSIC..................Fan Pier design is absolute DISASTER.

[kennedy]

This post is CLASSIC..................Fan Pier design is absolute DISASTER.

You people are classic, Fan Pier isn't supposed to be a landmark development. Major, yes, but only in terms of volume. The landmark developments in the SBW are the BCEC and the Contemporary Art Museum, which, IMO, were both tremendous successes. Fan Pier is a little ahead of itself, but as the rest of the SBW is developed, it will fall into it's rightful place, as a background solidifier, to strengthen the design of the landmarks that will eventually be constructed. As I said before, it can all work together, and it must, in order to be a successful urban area rather than a weird office park thing accessed only by car and from the hotel next to the BCEC with all the out-of-town conventioneers.