Hancock of the day...

[justin]

I posted this one on the Photo of the day thread, but Boston's most photogenic building deserves its own. I have a handful of old ones to throw out; everybody else is invited to contribute.
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/15/bb24tt.jpg
justin

[ezcheese]

http://www.paranoiaisparamount.com/images/ab/IMG_0750.jpg

[justin]

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5591/bb32yb.jpg

[bowesst]

https://wfs.bc.edu/bowesst/ab/hancock/IMG_7428.jpg

https://wfs.bc.edu/bowesst/ab/hancock/IMG_7505.jpg

[justin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/justin_justout/hancock/IMG_1684.jpg

[quadratdackel]

Ahh, to think that this building was met with community opposition. It is, after all, completely out of scale with the surrounding area, and so radically modernist in such a historic place.

Question: How many of the smaller skyscrapers in, say, bowesst's pic from Cambridge existed when the Hancock was built?

[Merper]

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/old_hancock.jpg

... oops! wrong one.

here are some others...

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/Back-Bay-Towers-2.jpg

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/Hancock-and-Trinity.jpg

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/Hancock-over-Hotel.jpg

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/John-Glover.jpg

http://web.mit.edu/merper/www/ArchBoston/Hancock-over-ledge.jpg

[kz1000ps]

These are from May 11th

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6396/52811oq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4215/52828yu.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/72/52834nd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[justin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/justin_justout/skyline/hansky.jpg

[justin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/justin_justout/hancock/IMG_0830.jpg

[justin]

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6712/bb140bj.jpg

[DowntownDave]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/RandomBoston/TowerReflect-01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/RandomBoston/HancockVertCloud-01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/RandomBoston/HancockSails-01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/RandomBoston/HancockCloud-01.jpg

[justin]

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/7083/bb14ex.jpg

[Merper]

good one justin.

i'm a sucker for cool shots that somehow manage to have the place name in them.

[castevens]

It always amazes me how TALL that tower really is when I'm standing next to it, or even just seeing a picture like that. Even 111 Huntington (and obviously the pru) are SO tall when you take away the building in front of them. Just look at a picture of 111 and imagine the lines of the building continuing down to ground level.

What also amazes me is how tall other buildings are. I once drew with a ruler a comparison of large buildings. I made 1 inch = 100 meters, and I put the Pru and Hancock towers (along with Northeastern's West Village H) next to the Empire State Building and Dubai's Burj Dubai, and other such buildings. The HUGE Hancock tower is about a third the height of the Burj Dubai.

[kz1000ps]

Are there any pictures of the Hancock during its "plywood palace" days? For all its notoriety, I haven't seen and can't seem to find a single picture of it that way...nothing turns up on Google.

[laramaro]

From "When Bad Things Happen to Good Buildings" by Thomas A. Schwartz, ArchitectureWeek No. 44, 2001.0404 found at http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0425/building_3-2.html[url]:



http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0425/images/11356_image_7.150.jpg
John Hancock Tower with much of its curtain wall glazing temporarily replaced with plywood.
Photo: Michael Shellenbarger/ University of Oregon Library

http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0425/images/11356_image_8.150.jpgNear ground level, most of the John Hancock Tower curtain wall was replaced with plywood.
Photo: Michael Shellenbarger/ University of Oregon Library

[kz1000ps]

How craptacular...thanks for the find. And was the original glass that much darker in tint, or is it just the exposure/film used?

[KentXie]

Wow. The JHT looks terrible back then.

[justin]

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6033/bb55ma.jpg

[justin]

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1246/bb171cd.jpg

[castevens]

I always see the JHT from the south, and I forget that there is a side that doesnt have the black bar on top. It's interesting, really

[bowesst]

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/9803/jh19766bs.jpg

[justin]

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/4249/hancockmiddle8at.jpg

[justin]

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9231/copleyhancock9lx.jpg

[castevens]

Similar photo

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i52/castevens12/DSC_0037.jpg

[DowntownDave]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/NelsonAndBronte/Misc/Hancock-03.jpg

[justin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/justin_justout/hancock/IMG_1656.jpg

[kz1000ps]

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6893/dscf0113wh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[bosdevelopment]

Tower talk: Sky?s limit on Hancock price
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Friday, August 11, 2006 - Updated: 02:08 AM EST

Boston?s next big blockbuster business story may be staring you in the face at the center of the Hub?s towering skyline.
The local wise guys and gals of the city?s real estate business are betting the shimmering blue Hancock tower has a good chance of hitting the sales block in the next year or so.
And if it does, it could be a sale price for a skyscraper like Boston has never seen before.
Boston-bred real estate magnate Alan Leventhal bought the Hancock tower and a portfolio of related Copley Square properties for over $900 million three years ago.


And you can bet he won?t settle for anything less than $1 billion, and likely much more, if he opts to pull the trigger.
Not that he would have to worry much about bargain hunters.
A surge of investor enthusiasm in big towers now rivals the tech stock run-up of the late 1990s.
Office towers, not long ago half empty across Boston, are hot again.
Investors, meanwhile, are ready to spend silly money to take that office tower off your hands - that is, if you happen to be so lucky as to be an owner.
How silly?
Try $500 to $700 a square foot.
Enough to push the Hancock tower and a portfolio of nearby buildings past the $1.1 billion mark - promising a $200 million-plus premium for a few years? work.
?It?s a fabulous time to be a seller,? noted Lisa Campoli, executive vice president at Boston-based commercial real estate firm Meredith & Grew.
Could this all be wishful thinking on the part of some deal-hungry executives?
The tea leaves have a different story to tell.
Three years doesn?t sound like a long time to own an office building, but it?s nearly a lifetime for an outfit like Leventhal?s Beacon Capital.
The firm takes a high-flying, Trump-style approach to real estate, buying, pumping up value, and then selling again - all in a few years.
Now some executives believe they hear a time-to-sell alarm clock buzzing in Leventhal?s Financial District office.
The amount of empty space at the Hancock tower has plunged by nearly half in less than a year, while rents for its top floors are soaring.
A key decision point may now be looming.
If Leventhal and Beacon win a high-profile lease renewal battle for prestigious ad giant Hill Holliday, one top Boston real estate executive said he knows what to expect next.
?They will sell it,? the executive predicts. ?It?s time for them to sell.?
After a flurry of nervous calls back and forth, a Beacon spokesman underscored the obvious. No ?for sale? signs out front now, and, he insisted, no discussions about it either.
As for addressing Beacon?s future plans for the Hancock, the company simply doesn?t engage in such discussions.
Too bad, because everyone else in this market already is.
The Hancock tower?s glass and the sun yield an image of Copley Square?s historic Trinity Church yesterday. (Staff photo by Renee Dekona


Link

http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=152348

[kz1000ps]

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5481/img11045jl.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[briv]

Reviving the old Hancock of the day thread -- and from the Cathedral Projects, nonetheless?

[kz1000ps]

Yessir!

[z-money]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/zachgreene/PB300237.jpg

[lexicon506]

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/56429/boston.jpg


http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/5303/copley00752.jpg

[kz1000ps]

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/5161/img2007hw5.jpg

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/6461/img2008bg7.jpg

[Cojapo]

I took these last weekend...
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/cojapo/81440014-2.jpg
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w294/cojapo/81440016-1.jpg

[rayray07]

Can somebody tell me how to post pics because I have some very interesting ones!!!

[AdamBC]

rayray

Upload the pictures to a service like ImageShack or PhotoBucket. They will give you a URL where the picture 'is' and copy that. Hit the IMG button in the Post area and paste that URL. Hit the IMG button again. Preview and submit.

Looking forward to your photos!

[justin]

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/320/boston1107143yu1.jpg

Has this statue of Copley been there forever?

[vanshnookenraggen]

Yeah, the natives used to use it as a place to catch fish ;)

It's been there for a long time though, not sure how long.

[dirtywater]

The statue was dedicated in October of 2002. From the Daily Free Press, the BU student newspaper (http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2002/10/24/News/Colonial.Artist.Honored.By.Statue.In.Copley.Square-305665.shtml):

Colonial artist honored by statue in Copley Square
Aaron Kellogg
Issue date: 10/24/02 Section: News
PrintEmail DoubleClick Any Word Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: Betsy Croft
Mayor Thomas Menino speaks yesterday at the unveiling of a statue in Copley Square representing one of Boston?s Colonial artists.


One of America's foremost colonial artists was honored by a statue unveiled yesterday at a ceremony in Copley Square, the only square in America named after an artist.

The statue of John Singleton Copley, who was a Boston resident, was donated to the City of Boston by the Friends of Copley Square. The unveiling kicked off a week of city-wide events to honor Copley.

A colonial drum-and-bagpipe corps entertained the public before the official ceremony got underway. The event formally began at 2 p.m. with the tolling of the bells at the Old South Church in Copley Square.

Donald Kissel, chairman of the Friends of Copley Square, welcomed guests and explained why the Friends of Copley Square chose five years ago to erect a statue in this location.

"The purpose of public art is to educate, to inspire, to create a sense of awe and pride in the viewer and I am told Copley Square is the only square in America that is named after an artist," said Kissel. "The Friends of Copley Square, knowing this, decided five years ago to get serious about [incorporating art into the plaza]."

Stella Trafford, vice president of the Friends of Copley Square, thanked those involved with the project, including sculptor Lewis Cohen. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino followed Trafford and praised the Friends' effort.

"This is truly another great step in [the Copley Square improvement project]," he said. Menino pointed out how the square is currently undergoing a project to re-route traffic, making the plaza more pedestrian-friendly.

"Someday we will have the greatest plaza in the world. I love plazas and the open space. They are what make Boston a unique city," he said.

Menino then unveiled the bronze statue of Copley and turned the podium over to the statue's creator, Lewis Cohen, who spoke on the pride associated with replicating such a famous figure.

"I am profoundly grateful and honored to have been given this opportunity to make the sculpture of John Singleton Copley. I have felt a deep sense of purpose and responsibility," said Cohen.

However, Cohen's success didn't come at an easy price, he said.

"From the onset, I have been keenly aware of the responsibility of placing a sculpture, a personal vision, into a public space," he said. "At times I have been overwhelmed by the daunting demands and enormity of this project and what it means. At many junctures I struggled to avoid having the sheer power and importance of Copley overpower and intimidate my own vision. The historical and aesthetic restraints have been demanding. The genre of historical personage sculpture does not afford great latitude for interpretation and one is obliged to faithfully represent as one should the period with accuracy and fidelity."

The statue is located to the left of Trinity Church in Copley Square.

[kz1000ps]

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/893/img8566mm9.jpg

From Peter Blake's 1978 book, "Form Follows Fiasco."

[Boston02124]

Hancock of the nite! http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/hancockatnite05-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/hancockfrommassavebridge04.jpg 2 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/swanschelsea1250828htu.jpg 3 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/Bostonfebuary10th2008nn22.jpg 2http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/backbaytopsboston04.jpg 5http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/bostonstallest03.jpg 7http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/Bostonfebuary15th2008RonT007.jpg 11 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/JohnHancocktower.jpg 12 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/bostonstallest03.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/101_0036.jpg last one! http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/proposed%20and%20then%20what%20was%20built/CranesBRAmaps53008Boscomcc.jpg

[TheBostonBoy]

Seeing pictures of the Hancock never gets old

[PaulC]

Can someone with a subscription to Banker & Tradesman post this article:

Nothing to See Here
By Thomas Grillo
Manulife Financial Corp., one of the world?s largest life insurance companies, is forfeiting millions annually by keeping the John Hancock Tower Observatory closed.

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/

[vanshnookenraggen]

Nothing to See Here

Owner of Hancock Tower To Keep Observation Deck Out of Public Eye
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter


Manulife Financial Corp., one of the world?s largest life insurance companies, is forfeiting millions annually by keeping the John Hancock Tower Observatory closed.

New York City?s tallest structure, the Empire State Building, attracts more than 2 million visitors to its observation deck annually and rakes in $34 million in ticket fees. Chicago?s tallest, the Sears Tower, sees 1.3 million visitors and nets $18 million in revenues.

But Boston?s tallest building has been closed for almost seven years ? and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitor?s Bureau president says that?s just fine.

The parent company of John Hancock Financial Services said security concerns prompted the company to shut down the observation deck after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

?The terror attack made the closure more pressing as the company?s first responsibility was to the safety of its employees and the building?s tenants and guests,? Tina Acranis, a spokes-woman for Manulife?s real estate division, said in an e-mail. ?These concerns continue to warrant the return of the 60th floor to its originally intended use, that is, office space.?

Patrick Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the city does not need the John Hancock Observatory because the Hub has another observation deck atop the Prudential Building.

?We don?t need two observatories,? he said. ?I?ve never heard anyone raise the concern that we only have one; most cities do not have multiple observation decks. We have the Pru Skywalk, and it fills the need for visitors.?

The Prudential Skywalk attracts more then 200,000 visitors annually with an average ticket price of $10, earning an estimated $2 million in revenues.

But at least one Boston City Councilor is angry that the Hancock observation deck remains shuttered.

?Every other observatory across the U.S. has been reopened with increased security, and the fact that the Hancock Tower is still closed is unfair and a mistake,? Boston City Councilor Michael Ross told Banker & Tradesman.

The Empire State Building closed briefly in the wake of 9/11, but opened within weeks. The Sears Towers closed for a short time following the terrorist attacks, but later reopened.

?The observatory was something that most Bostonians remember fondly and they?re upset that it remains closed. I couldn?t agree more. This was a very important public space that?s been lost,? Ross said.

John Hancock sold the Hancock Tower and two nearby buildings ? at 197 Clarendon St. and 200 Berkeley St. ? to Beacon Capital Partners in 2003 for $910 million. In 2006, Beacon sold the city?s tallest skyscraper and nine smaller properties in other cities to Broadway Real Estate Partners in a $3.3 billion deal.

Allan Rubenstein, director of asset management for Broadway Partners, did not return calls seeking comment.

Susan Elsbree, a spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said it was her understanding there was agreement with the owners when the tower was built in the 1970s to keep the top floor open to the public. But she said staff has been unable to find any documents that could be used by the BRA?s attorneys to persuade Broadway Partners to open the observatory to the public.

?Without those documents, the attorney?s hands are tied,? she said.



Link (http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/issues/5_344/commercial/200194-1.html)

I've always found the closure ridiculous, especially since the JHT had a nicer obs deck.

[Pierce]

i wish these people would be as adamant about every other stupid post-9/11 security overreaction in this city. Particularly those around city and state government buildings. Maybe a ban on jersey barriers outside of highways...

[PaulC]

In order to build this building at this location Hancock promised the city an observation deck. If they renege on their legal commitment then it's time to tear the building down.

[Pierce]

In order to build this building at this location Hancock promised the city an observation deck. If they renege on their legal commitment then it's time to tear the building down.

Did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Law School too?

[PaulC]

There seems to be a sarcasm gap on this forum recently.

[Pierce]

thus is life in a world of no emoticons

[GMACK24]

I just got off the phone with my cousin who just moved into the Hancock he said its a "dump" inside. : o )

[KentXie]

We can always add a =D or a =P or a ;) to symbolize sarcasm?

[statler]

^^ That's a stupid idea.





;)

[Suffolk 83]

I just got off the phone with my cousin who just moved into the Hancock he said its a "dump" inside. : o )

Funny you say that because my cousin, er his wife, works in the Hancock and she said her law firm just renovated this area into a rediculous lounge complete with a spa and mohagony throughout, pool tables and a working fireplace! in the Hancock! don't know how that works, exactly. I'm sure your cousin is right, it probably all depends on what floor your on and if the company has remodeled recently.

[pelhamhall]

It's been a while...

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC00567.jpg

Modernist perfection, marred by one street light and the Clarendon's crane.

A friend of mine toured the property recently and took a TON of pics inside and out... more to come.

[pelhamhall]

more from my friend who recently toured the property:


INSIDE OUT:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC00555.jpg

[J6P]

I used to work on 42 there. You'd be amazed at the things that fly by the window at 400 feet.

Do the doors still creak when it's windy?

I had a job that required me to work on the Fourth. Looking down on the fireworks was fun.

Not a fan of the way it slams into the street, or focuses wind. By I do have fond memories.

[bosma]

I just got off the phone with my cousin who just moved into the Hancock he said its a "dump" inside. : o )

Your cousin must work for a dump of a company. I have seen the most impressive floors in Boston at the Hancock to the ugliest floors in boston (usually the John Hancock floors). As said previously it all depends on the what the tenant builds.

[Boston02124]

2-09-09 http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-18.jpg

[Ron Newman]

Way cool.

[kz1000ps]

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8590/dscf0103z.jpg

[Boston02124]

^this is what happen's when you try toget the above pix while driveing! http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/034-10.jpg

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Boston%20from%20Parking%20garages%20etc%20Aug%2009/IMG_1868.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Boston%20from%20Parking%20garages%20etc%20Aug%2009/IMG_1898.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Boston%20from%20Parking%20garages%20etc%20Aug%2009/IMG_1876.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Boston%20from%20Parking%20garages%20etc%20Aug%2009/IMG_1901.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hancock3.jpg

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hancock1.jpg

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hank21.jpg

[Boston02124]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/100_1946.jpg

[pelhamhall]

Haunted. That's a great halloween shot!

[DZH22]

^^ Excellent night shot. Unfortunately I still struggle with those. Did you use a tripod?

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/LONG%20WALK%20AUGUST%2009/Maybe/IMG_2299.jpg

[Boston02124]

^ thanks I like a lot of your pix's also! I don't don't use a tripod and am also not very good at takeing nite shots,just got lucky on this one!

[Boston02124]

^ thanks I like a lot of your pix's also! I don't use a tripod and I'm also not very good at takeing nite shots,just got lucky on this one!

[kz1000ps]

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7231/img0173lhs.jpg

[DZH22]

^^ That's excellent. In fact, it looked so familiar to me that I went back and looked, and it turns out I had taken almost the exact same picture!

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/LONG%20WALK%20AUGUST%2009/IMG_2338.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Wow! That's as close as it gets.

[JohnAKeith]

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rev_hancock.jpg

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rev_hancock2.jpg

http://www.johnakeith.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rev_hancock4.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

I know this isn't a picture but I didn't want to start another Hancock thread.

From Slate by Danniel Gross (http://www.slate.com/id/2227237/pagenum/all/#p2)


The Skyscraper That Ate a Billion Dollars
Boston's Hancock Tower and the coming commercial real estate crisis.
By Daniel GrossPosted Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, at 7:37 AM ET
The John Hancock Tower For most of its 34-year life, the Hancock Tower, which looms above its brick neighbors in Boston's Back Bay, has been the sort of place where money comes to be managed and protected. Its tenants include Ernst & Young and the investment firm Highfields Capital. The I.M. Pei-designed sliver of glass doesn't seem like a place where several hundred million dollars can vanish in a few months.

But that's exactly what happened at the 62-story building, now under its fourth owner in six years. In January, an aggressive young wheeler-dealer defaulted on a portion of the building's $1.3 billion mortgage just 24 months after buying it. In March, two firms that had purchased chunks of the tower's second mortgage for pennies on the dollar assumed control, essentially rendering up to $400 million of debt worthless. The Hancock's market value is now about $700 million?half what it appraised for less than two years ago.

Scott Lawlor, the entrepreneur who was forced to concede control of the Hancock Tower, could be called a "poster boy for everything that went wrong," as one well-placed real estate expert put it. But the trim, straightforward executive is more like a whipping boy. For the tale of the Hancock Tower isn't a morality play or an example of a bubble-era rise and fall. Rather, it's an omen. During the credit boom, the same forces that led to $600,000 subprime loans on tract houses in Modesto, Calif., spurred billions of dollars of reckless lending on urban office towers and suburban strip malls. As a result, the nation's offices, hotels, and malls now carry about $3.5 trillion in debt. Three years after the housing market peaked, falling rents and rising defaults?no surprise given the economy has lost 7 million jobs since December 2007?are posing a new threat to the still-fragile banking system and could inflict billions of dollars in fresh losses. The Hancock Tower was one of the first high-profile deals to go sour?but it won't be the last. The Blackstone Group, one of the nation's leading private-equity firms, has written down the value of its mammoth real estate portfolio by an average of 45 percent from the original cost. General Growth Properties, a pioneer of the shopping mall that carried $27 billion in debt, filed for Chapter 11 in April.

From its completion in 1975 until 2003, the Hancock Tower was owned by life-insurer John Hancock. In September 2003, local developer Alan Leventhal paid the then-stunning price of $910 million for the Hancock complex, which included two adjacent buildings and a parking garage. While the price was rich, the deal was structured conservatively. Leventhal put down about one-third of the purchase price?$300 million in cash?and borrowed about $620 million, a standard mix for 2003.

But the climate quickly changed, as the low interest rates and rising prices that fueled the housing boom crossed over into commercial properties. The shadow banking system?unregulated financial institutions like Wall Street banks, hedge funds, and private-equity firms?flooded into the sector. Just as residential mortgages were gathered together, chopped up, and sold to investors, so, too, were commercial mortgages. The easy money allowed investors to buy buildings with less money down?borrowing 80 percent for a first mortgage instead of 65 percent, and perhaps tacking on a second mortgage. Newly minted "opportunity funds" began prowling the landscape for deals; their assets rose from $100 billion in 2004 to nearly $300 billion by mid-2008, according to Townsend Group. One of the newly prominent operators riding the rising debt wave was Scott Lawlor. The Queens, N.Y.-raised son of a cab driver, Lawlor got an MBA from Columbia University in 1993 and worked in the investment industry for several years, including a stint at Fortress Investment Group, a large hedge fund. In 2000, he was a successful, yet anonymous, finance jockey.

That year, Lawlor struck out on his own. His first deal was the 2000 acquisition of a $4.8 million office building in Westchester County, N.Y.?tiny and irrelevant by industry standards. Just as many shows debut in regional theater before moving to Broadway, Lawlor worked in the suburbs before assuming a more prominent role. In 2005 Lawlor formed a fund?Broadway Partners?and began buying larger properties in major cities. Between 2000 and 2007, Lawlor's firm bought $15 billion in real estate, and he began to amass the trappings of a real estate mogul: Lucite tombstones memorializing consummated deals lined shelves in his office in the Seagram Building, the Mies van der Rohe office tower on Park Avenue that is one of Manhattan's original trophy office buildings. Lawlor's deals made money, producing returns of more than 40 percent a year for investors from 2000 to 2007. In 2003, to take one example, Broadway Partners purchased an office building in hedge-fund haven Greenwich, Conn.; brought in tenants at higher rents; and sold it for twice the purchase price in 2006. Such deals led industry veterans to dismiss Lawlor as a flipper.

Everybody was doing it, though. Rising rents alone didn't explain the boom in commercial-real-estate values. In the Alan Greenspan-inspired period of low rates and nonexistent inflation, investors became more willing to accept lower rates of return on all assets, including real estate. Increasingly, owners weren't interested in the rents that buildings would produce. Rather, like those speculating in housing, they'd make their money by flipping the property to a new owner or by refinancing on favorable terms. Between 2005 and 2007, $1.15 trillion in commercial property traded hands. The volume of sales soared from $78 billion in 2001 to $498 billion in 2007. Between 2005 and 2008, nearly three-quarters of San Francisco's top downtown office buildings were bought and sold.

Broadway bid aggressively on many properties. But Lawlor almost always lost out to players with deeper pockets. On one building?350 Park Ave., an office tower that the savvy giant Vornado bought for $542 million in 2006?Lawlor's bid was the lowest.

Even though Broadway Partners was making good money, its founder longed to bag a career-defining, home-run deal.

It would come in December 2006. By then, financing was becoming available for ever-larger leveraged buyouts?$20 billion, $30 billion?and rather than buy individual buildings, investors began scooping up huge collections of properties and swiftly selling off pieces of the deal. In the fall of 2006, Sam Zell, the Chicago-based investor whose reputation would take a nick with his disastrous ownership of the Tribune Co., agreed to sell his collection of 543 buildings to the Blackstone Group for $39 billion, including the value of assumed debt. Blackstone began flipping the properties immediately.

Broadway Partners sought to pull off a similar feat?buying a portfolio wholesale and selling it into a hot retail market?by agreeing to pay $3.3 billion for nine properties offered by Beacon Properties, including the Hancock Tower. Lawlor immediately sold three of the buildings for a profit of $180 million and took possession of six properties valued at $2.5 billion. By the time Lawlor became its owner, the Hancock Tower was effectively saddled with two mortgages totaling $1.36 billion.

Lawlor rejected several unsolicited offers for the remaining buildings, figuring he could either sell at higher prices down the road, or do better by managing the properties and raising rents. The office markets in downtown cities were white hot, and Lawlor believed the Hancock Tower's top floors could command rents of $70 per square foot, up from the $50 or so paid by existing tenants. The price hikes would help generate enough cash to pay off?or refinance?the second mortgage, known as a mezzanine loan, when it came due in January 2009.

Throughout 2007, as subprime lenders failed and housing tanked, commercial real estate held up remarkably well. In the summer of 2007, Broadway was negotiating with a blue-chip Wall Street firm to sell a huge chunk of its holdings in a deal that would have valued the Hancock Tower at $1.7 billion and given Broadway Partners a profit of several hundred million dollars. But in late July, when credit markets seized up in the wake of subprime losses, the buyer disappeared. And then a strange thing happened. Throughout 2007 and most of 2008, as job losses mounted and the world's financial house of cards crumbled, commercial real estate hung in there. "The commercial property market is a lagging indicator," said Jim Costello, principal with Torto Wheaton Research, based in Boston. That's because companies tend to lay off employees only after suffering a few quarters of losses, and it takes them even longer to cut back on their office space.

Over the course of 2008, however, the three interlocking forces that drove real estate prices up?cheap credit, strong fundamentals, and exuberant sentiment?weakened. The tipping point came in September 2008 with the failure of Lehman Bros. Lehman had been both a prolific lender to and purchaser of commercial real estate, with some $43 billion of real estate assets on its books. With Lehman gone and banks in free-fall, the commercial market collapsed. Tenants began to expect lower rents. Lenders and investors began to expect lower prices and to demand tougher credit terms. Instantly, the investment thesis behind so many bubble-era deals changed. And the financial-services companies that had been the mainstay of Boston's?and the nation's?high-end office market began to contract. The advertising agency Hill Holliday, balking at higher rents, had vacated its four floors at the Hancock Tower in March 2008.

Pivoting quickly from an offensive to a defensive posture, Broadway Partners began to market other buildings in its portfolio, aiming to raise money to pay off the $733 million mezzanine loan tied to the Hancock Tower that would come due in January 2009. The Hancock Tower had been appraised at $1.4 billion in June 2008, but now prices were falling. "Since September 2008, sales prices of office buildings fell at least 30 percent," said John Powers of CB Richard Ellis. And there were no buyers. According to research outfit Real Capital Analytics, commercial property sales slumped to $9.8 billion in the first quarter of 2009, from $120 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007.

As prices fell, two investors?Normandy Real Estate Partners, a New Jersey-based landlord, and Connecticut-based Five Mile Capital?began buying up chunks of the Hancock mezzanine loan, at a sharp discount, eventually amassing enough to put them in the driver's seat if Broadway were to default. In January 2009, with the loan balance paid down to $525 million, Broadway Partners defaulted.

On the morning of March 31, a few dozen people showed up at an anti-climactic foreclosure auction staged in a large conference room at the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. While several parties had expressed an interest in the Hancock Tower, only a single bid was offered?by Normandy and Five Mile. The new owners formally took control of the property, largely by agreeing to assume the existing mortgage. People familiar with the situation believe that somewhere between $350 million and $400 million of the building's debt was written off. By this spring, the building's market value had fallen to about $700 million, losing about half its value in a year.

The saga of the Hancock Tower may seem like a classic case of the difference between genius and idiocy being a matter of luck and timing when you're using lots of debt. Highly leveraged bull-market traders always get caught out when there's a swift correction. But among property magnates, Lawlor was merely the first?and he wasn't doing anything the lions of the industry weren't. Goldman Sachs, long considered the sharpest operator on Wall Street, has taken big losses in its real estate-heavy Whitehall Funds. Macroeconomic changes have upset the thesis of pretty much every purchaser of office space in the last few years. In June, according to CB Richard Ellis, the average asking rent in Midtown Manhattan was off 30 percent from a year earlier?to $60.45 per square foot from $86.57. With job losses continuing, nearly 15 percent of the nation's offices are vacant today, and Jim Costello of Torto Research believes the vacancy rate will rise to nearly 20 percent through 2011?the highest level since 1991, "Even when we start to get some job growth, occupancy levels won't pick up right away."

All of which means more building owners will face the same dilemma that Broadway Partners did earlier this year. In the next few years, nearly $1 trillion in acquisitions concluded between 2005 and 2007, mostly with short-term debt, will have to be refinanced. But owners won't be able to refinance or flip their way out of trouble. The nation's banks, for their part, have about $1.5 trillion of commercial real estate loans on their books. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., whose troubled bank list has expanded to 416 from 90 in March 2008, the value of real estate loans on which borrowers were more than 90 days or more past due spiked to $67.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009 from about $13 billion in the second quarter of 2007. In the coming months, the recovering banking industry will probably report billions of dollars in losses tied to commercial real estate loans. In the case of the Hancock Tower, the damage has already been done. Investors have written down the value of their holdings, and Scott Lawlor has shored up his operations. In July, he reached an agreement with lenders to cede control of a portion of Broadway Partners' remaining office buildings in exchange for restructuring debt. In Boston, the new owners are seeking tenants to occupy the Hancock Tower's eight empty floors.

This spring Michael Loughlin, the new manager, was learning his way around the building, He led a visitor past the coffee station near the entrance, through the marble lobby, and up to the vacant 39th floor. Free of desks, cubicles, and partitions, the floor offers stunning 360-degree views of Boston Harbor to the east and the State House and Beacon Hill to the northeast. "There's the Citgo sign," Loughlin noted reverentially, pointing to the billboard that looms over Fenway Park. Without tenants to block the sightlines, the views are priceless. Visitors could be enjoying these vistas for some time.

Newsweek's Stuart Johnson contributed to the reporting for this story, which also appears in this week's issue of Newsweek.

Let's hope they bring back the Observation Deck.

[KentXie]

Someone posted this picture at SCC of the Hancock Tower when it was being built. I never saw this one before:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/439993175_b7c8970311.jpg?v=0

[vanshnookenraggen]

How awesome would it have been if they had covered that with some pre-cast faux brick?

[JohnAKeith]

Opportune time for this photo, then.

The same (approximate) view of the Hancock as the 1970's one.

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/hancock2.jpg

[statler]

How awesome would it have been if they had covered that with some pre-cast faux brick?

But only on the broad sides, they could have covered the skinny sides with alcuobond!

[kz1000ps]

Someone posted this picture at SCC of the Hancock Tower when it was being built. I never saw this one before:

Ah, then you musn't have seen this thread before: http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?t=1920

[atlrvr]

I miss Boston. This is from spring 08....not much has changed I suppose.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/3976109414_ee60a82f25_b.jpg

[Mike02125]

Hi - I am new to posting on this site, but have been checking it out for months (more important than just architecture news, this is where I get the good gossip)

I was on the roof of the Hancock Tower and was lucky enough to have 1) a clear day and 2) a camera. I took a bunch of great shots and a few video clips that I will upload and post later. These below are just from my camera phone (the ones to come will be much clearer and better).

It was quite an experience, the 'rail road tracks' are what the window-washing unit travels on. It wasn't that windy, and I didn't get too nauseous until I got close to the edge and looked down!

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/IMG_0783.jpg

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/IMG_0781.jpg

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/IMG_0787.jpg

[Boston02124]

great pixs, looking forward to more!

[vanshnookenraggen]

Awesome! Great first post. I could not have been up there, waaaaaaay too much vertigo. Glad I can live vicariously through others.

[Mike02125]

Thanks - I am working on the marketing of the tower so I've been able to explore the entire building - it truly is a magnificent, amazing structure completely unlike anything in the world. Since it was built for institutional use, it has features that a REIT could never financially conceive of creating, starting with the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall glass. I was on the roof with a professional photographer, I can only imagine what his pictures are going to look like!

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/Cornerdetail.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/Pru.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/SeaportView.jpg

And one from the garage:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/GlassFactor.jpg

Many, many, many more to come. I also have two short video clips but am not quite sure how to post them yet.

[Mike02125]

Here are two clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdGKMg6XPmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQkFlWVrJKM

[pelhamhall]

I'm embarrassed to say, the second video made me throw up in my mouth a little.

[Lrfox]

The first shot in that second set of photos you posted, Mike, is absolutely stunning.

[vanshnookenraggen]

I'm embarrassed to say, the second video made me throw up in my mouth a little.

Yeah I jumped out of my seat. Love the shadow from that angle tho.

[Mike02125]

It was a really cool experience... I think I will be up there again next week (weather permitting) b/c we want to get dusk/evening shots of the city. I'll be sure to bring my camera along too! The video clips are short because it's too scary to have the camera up to your eye and move around. The still shots are much more manageable because it's much more manageable to be still while up there.

The South End through the southern 'nook' on the skinny side:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/SouthEndV.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

Best Photo 2009.

[Beton Brut]

Photo caption: "Hi Ned!"

[kz1000ps]

Mike my man, thank you so much for sharing all this (and I love how it's trickling out -- keeps me wanting more!). I don't think there'd be a more appreciative audience out there than the people right here.

[Mike02125]

A few more - I posted the real interesting ones first, all I have now are more straight-forward view shots:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/BostonProper.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/FinancialDistrictview.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/Dorchester.jpg

I think I'll be back up there next week, weather permitting for dusk/evening shots, should be really neat.

[statler]

I'm just going to assume that what you will be marketing is the new public deck that they will opening on the roof, right?

(pleasetellmeI'mrightpleasetellmeI'mrightpleasetel lmeI'mrightpleasetellmeI'mright)

[Mike02125]

Some of the last ones...

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/DSC01717.jpg

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/DSC01702.jpg

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/DSC01713.jpg

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/DSC01734.jpg

[Corey]

Thanks for sharing!

[tmac9wr]

Get off my roof you crazy kids!

[Mike02125]

Thanks - I'll be sure to post any more that I get next week. Also, once I see the professional photographer's shots, I'll ask him about posting some here (his should be truly outstanding compared to mine)

Standing on the roof really made the tower's marketing line feel very appropriate:

"The height of business, the heart of Boston"

[atlantaden]

Wish they would open the top floor observatory again!

[JohnAKeith]

Photographer, unknown.

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/hancock.jpg

[Shepard]

The crown is lit

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/999/hancockgolden2.jpg

[Justin7]

Cool shot.

[bosma]

You got some balls, i was on the roof before, I am not afraid of heights and its a little scary because the roof is totally flat and seems like nothing is holding you back from blowing away. I assume your harness was on!!!

The floor to ceiling glass is amazing when the radiators in front of the windows are removed and the ceiling is pushed up to the height of the floor above.

[DZH22]

Oooooooooh, I need a tripod. And some skills...

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Random/IMG_3227.jpg

[Boston02124]

looks alot like my nite-time pixs! one of these pro's needs to do a nite time shoot and learn lesson! I'd be the 1st to sign up!

[Pierce]

Oooooooooh, I need a tripod. And some skills...

some tricks until you do:

-control your breathing and take the shot on an exhale
-pull your elbows into your torso and/or sit down if possible
-find something to steady the camera, your body, or both, against: a streetpole, a parked car, a building, the sidewalk.

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hancock.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hancock2.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hancock31.jpg

[Boston02124]

not sure I like this angle,different?
!

[JohnAKeith]

Mine? Yeah, don't think I've ever seen that view, it's from Warren Ave in the South End.

Here are a couple more. Go here for full-sized: http://thelifeofacity.com/2009/11/john-hancock-tower-and-the-clarendon-in-photos/

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hancock5-225x300.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hancock4-225x300.jpg

[pelhamhall]

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC01791.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC01787.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC01800.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn302/pelhamhall/DSC01782.jpg

[Boston02124]

like the last one too bad for the sticker!

[JohnAKeith]

Both from a window at 500 Harrison Ave, in Boston's South End

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hancock2.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hancock1.jpg

[swampass2]

http://www.pbase.com/ron7777/image/120016981.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/ron7777/image/120022466.jpg

[Mike02125]

Swampass2: I don't know if you're a pro photographer or not, but message me if you would be interested in allowing us to use your first image for the Hancock Tower's marketing materials.

[Boston02124]

I think swampass2 is the guy I met at Mt Aburn 2 weeks ago and told him to join this site!

[swampass2]

Guilty as charged. Kinda wondering how you figured that one out, but I don't want to hijack this thread. Nice forum here by the way.

[Boston02124]

^Because the day after we met you posted a great pix and I just assumed it was you! Hijack all you want your a good photogragher!

[JohnAKeith]

So, for the past month, I've been working at 500 Harrison Ave in an office. Each day around noon, I take a camera photo of the view out the window.

Today was my last day. Back to real estate.

I thought there would be more of a "wow" factor to these, but, alas, no. Still, a worthy idea.

Click on image or link for a slideshow of 26 days in the life of the John Hancock Tower.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/KermitKeith/John%20Hancock%20Boston%20Tower%20-%2028%20Days/th_20091218-1224.jpg (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/KermitKeith/John%20Hancock%20Boston%20Tower%20-%2028%20Days/?albumview=slideshow)

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/KermitKeith/John%20Hancock%20Boston%20Tower%20-%2028%20Days/?albumview=slideshow

[vanshnookenraggen]

If you did it everyday and sped it up it might be cool (it still is a cool idea.)

[Boston02124]

lots of sunny days!

[ablarc]

Taken more or less the same time every day?

[PlanBoston]

Nice work John. It makes me hate the Clarendon even more - and thanks to this board I keep seeing a dollar $ sign.

ablarc - he said it was around noon, you can tell the relative time of day in many of the shots from the shadow that the Clarendon casts on 500 Boylston.

[Shepard]

Every day you took a picture, and every day it showed the Clarendon was still there. What's that quote again about insanity... something about repetition and expecting a different result?

[DZH22]

I'm surprised I never posted this one

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Best%20of%202009ish/Part%202/IMG_2297.jpg

[Mike02125]

Hello - I'm the guy that posted the pictures from the roof of the Hancock Tower, I work for the agency handling the marketing of the property. I am in a little bit of a bind at the moment - I need a picture of the Mass Pike entrance off the Hancock Garage, but am a lousy photographer. Does anybody have anything? If anybody can take a really cool pic (you know the kind that show the stripes of red auto lights like neon??) I can probably get my client to buy it off you. Private message or post something here. It's for the Hancock Tower's new website, to be launched in the next 3-4 weeks.

As promised, I will also upload to here all the professional pictures we've had done - very cool stuff - but I need to get the photographer's approval first.

This is what we're looking for - but not shitty. Anybody want to make $150? (has to be the cost of a royalty-free stock image or the client won't bite)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/m617boston/IMG_1253.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

Any luck on this? I can try it one night this week with a digital camera. I tried it with a camera phone; the trouble wasn't the crappy quality, it was that few cars go in this entrance in the evening so it's hard to get anything artistic.

I thought a "tilt shift" might work but it comes out uninteresting.

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Best%20of%202009ish/Part%202/IMG_3414.jpg

[Shepard]

How slender a profile from some angles becomes an offensive and menacing wall of glass when viewed from others... the Jekyll and Hyde tower.

[Lrfox]

How slender a profile from some angels becomes an offensive and menacing wall of glass when viewed from others... the Jekyll and Hyde tower.

When I used to drive in/out of Boston a few times a week, there was a spot on I-93 South of the city where you used to have JUUUUST the right angle so you couldn't see either of the "fat" facades and it looked just like a slender, narrow blue arrow jutting skyward. That's my favorite vista.

Anyway, I was browsing Wikipedia and noticed that the "official" name for the Hancock was "Hancock Place." Does anyone call it this? I'm sort of embarrassed that I didn't know that.

[Boston02124]

bill board over the pike http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/095-7.jpg

[pelhamhall]

I wish they had wrapped the entire ugly garage.

[kz1000ps]

Two Hancocks for the price of one:

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7711/img6315i.jpg

[kz1000ps]

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/6983/img0817t.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

Yet another building that would look better with 20 more (slimmer) floors.

[Boston02124]

I know could u imagine how nice that would look!

[kennedy]

Eh, it would need a bit more play with the concave/convex space if it were that much taller I think. But overall, yes, wholeheartedly agree. Boston's own Empire State.

[czsz]

God, that old JHB is just a damn Curley stub!

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hancock.jpg

[ablarc]

^ Nice interplay of diagonals.

[kz1000ps]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2754/4359888165_4b429e45cf_b.jpg

[czsz]

^ The Ned Flaherty Trench

[bosma]

I wish they had wrapped the entire ugly garage.

That would look better! I would be happy if they at least gave the garage a power washing!

[kennedy]

From the weekend.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4379961409_20e8de05d6_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4380714872_653a2479fa_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4380703624_885c0465ae_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2734/4380702556_0494e41fef_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/4379946933_e0515c186c_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2792/4380700082_e063d9e483_b.jpg

[Pierce]

From the weekend.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/4379946933_e0515c186c_b.jpg



Great Capture!!! Just need to crop that little tumor out of the top

[kennedy]

That was one of my favorites - I never even noticed that little bit up there. I'll try to get around to cropping - well, the re-uploading is the tedious part.

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hancock2.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hancock1.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Foggy John

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4401716961_e9457c075b_b.jpg

[kennedy]

John: Those look like renderings, very odd.

KZ: Sweet shot. I can't decide if the traffic light ruins it, or if it adds to it. I like the Mass. Ave sign. I dunno.

[Lrfox]

Really liked this perspective:

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy139/jfoahs04/Boston/P3052603.jpg


A few more from elsewhere:

Typical:
http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy139/jfoahs04/Boston/P3052589.jpg

From the roof of the 100 Clarendon Garage:
http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy139/jfoahs04/Boston/P3062667.jpg

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy139/jfoahs04/Boston/P3062673.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hancock_clarendon.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Damn you, Clarendon -- get out of John's picture!

[stick n move]

if anything can be credited to the clarendon it should be that it gives good scale to the hancock

[KentXie]

Had CC been built, it would also have created a small cluster of high-rises.

[bosma]

Anyone have pics of the hancock when first building? Was wondering if those cooling tower vents near the top of the west side always stood out from the rest of the building so much. Almost looks like they are white.

[kz1000ps]

Check out the Flickr Finds (http://www.archboston.com/community/showthread.php?t=1920) thread. There's a whole bunch of Hancock construction pics in it.

And the vents are showing weirdly because of the direct sunlight hitting it and the angle John happened to be shooting from. Also note how that harsh lighting is making the window frames appear white (and almost dirty).

[Boston02124]

from the tobin loop http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/Cranes%20past%20and%20present/179.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/handcock.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

The photo above doesn't seem to be coming up; maybe I didn't pay my hosting bill? Here's another.

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/handcock2.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/stubby_hancock1.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/hankock23.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

BTW is there a way to do resizing of images on here by adding code to the link?

[img]http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/IMG_01781.jpg

[kennedy]

Don't think so, I'm pretty sure you have to resize it before you upload it to a hosting site. Cool angle, by the way.

[kz1000ps]

John, I'm not familiar with how Blogger hosts/sizes their images, but with Flickr and Imageshack you're given a host of options.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4458734280_0da9e879f1_b.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

Nopee, all I want to do is leave my original in its mega-size but resize it on archBoston so I don't get the "image has been resized". I always forget to resize the original so when I come here and post, it's too big then I have to go back and resize it and reload it.

Maybe it's just another thing post-40 year olds don't get. Apparently, we're stupid and can't comprehend the internet or the lingo of the day, i.e., "hipster". <sarcasm>

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hancock_clarendon.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hancock11.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hancock21.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hancock31.jpg

[Lrfox]

I love the first one you posted. A tower of glass rising from a sea of brick.

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/multi_bldgs.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

These photos suck but it's not like you got anything else to do but look at these.

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/downtown1.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pointy2.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pointy.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/turnpike3.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ugh.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

Not by me.

http://web11.twitpic.com/img/87957360-22dc818184dddb3c1c29e8d928166c69.4bca2718-full.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pretty1.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/hanckco.jpg

[Shepard]

Moments ago

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8045/hancockstorm.jpg

[Boston02124]

the last two are great thanks!

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jhancock21.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jhancock.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4582309754_ebcdede0a0_b.jpg

December 10th, 2009

Taken from a platform at Back Bay.

[Boston02124]

like^

[crash575]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3318/4580109008_04d4cbed52_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/crash575/4580109008/)

[Boston02124]

nice I want to see some of that before they leave!

[JohnAKeith]

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hancock_copley.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/shine_hancock.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/trinity_reflection.jpg

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hancock_trees.jpg

[DZH22]

From Arlington 5/21


http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/2010%20Boston/IMG_3929.jpg

[GMACK24]

Hancock from Pru Skywalk.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4634095996_216055f09d_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/4634095996/

[JohnAKeith]

This photo doesn't do justice to how beautiful the Hancock and the sky looked, last evening.

http://thelifeofacity.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/hancocka.jpg

[kennedy]

Wow - gotta love the reflection of the clouds near the base. Definitely spectacular, wish I had been able to see that one in person.

[DZH22]

5/31

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4103.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4110.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4162.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4366.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4460.jpg

Sorry for posting this one in 2 threads

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Memorial%20Day%202010%20-%20Smoky%20Boston/IMG_4450.jpg

[Boston02124]

today should have waited for the sun to come back out-http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/4755.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4712686338_92b1c73cc4_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4712688714_3d4497d8d0_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4712050803_9e80b4c0ea_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4712693562_26b10ae0a8_b.jpg


May 6th. Unedited.

[Boston02124]

If you stare only at the top of pix #2 it becomes a different(optical illustion) building.

[Boston02124]

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/4544.jpg today

[Boston02124]

ye ole storrow drive view http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/071-1.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/4712694570_74c4dac404_b.jpg

[Boston02124]

was a bright beautiful day today!http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/267.jpg

[Boston02124]

later that day http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/2589.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/329.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/318-1.jpg

[Boston02124]

today- glass building's look good when it's a partly cloudy day http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/202-1.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/boston02124/boston%20skyline/tampa%20fla/203-1.jpg

[Mike02125]

You ever imagine what would happen if Donald Trump bought the Hancock Tower?

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/hancockgold.jpg

(original photo is copyright John Horner)

[kz1000ps]

No, can't say that I have. And although I don't like it, it fits Trumps image to a brass-plated "T".

And nice angle on the city. Never seen a shot from One Exeter before.

[Mike02125]

We took several shots from One Exeter into the evening - great spot for that view. Unfortunately we did NOT do the website for the tower, Normandy was under contract with another firm prior to hiring us to handle all the marketing, but the website has all of the photography from our various shoots (great view shots too)

www.thejohnhancocktower.com

There's a lot that we'd have done differently if we were handling the website project - so that's my disclaimer! All the photography there is copyright John Horner.

[Mike02125]

You ever imagine what would happen if Donald Trump bought the Hancock Tower?

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/Mike02125/hancockgold.jpg

(original photo is copyright John Horner)

BTW - we did this to promote the LEED Gold accreditation the Hancock Tower just achieved, I thought it was worth passing on.

[Boston02124]

thanks great pix!

[Boston02124]

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/223.jpg

[Pierce]

Plywood Palace in the background of one of Nick deWolf's latest flickr uploads (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/), Independence Day 1974
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4943131810_d434e8d84e_o.jpg


Reminds me a bit of the Petrobas Building (http://www.flickr.com/photos/13620802@N08/4436767238/in/set-72157623502115699/) in Rio

[JohnAKeith]

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG_6832.jpg

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG_6831.jpg

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG_6839.jpg

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG_6838.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

From inside the John Hancock Conference Center.

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG00572-20100909-1430.jpg

[Boston02124]

todays drive by http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/353-1.jpg http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/354-1.jpg teusday http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/323.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

Those clouds are interesting, pretty cool.

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_6687.jpg

[gooseberry]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5071904250_4a7360b9a2.jpg

[JohnAKeith]

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/IMG_7045.jpg

[Boston02124]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5071904250_4a7360b9a2.jpg

always liked the peek a boo effect

[JohnAKeith]

So, I was in the John Hancock Conference Center and Hotel today. On the wall they have mockups of old calendars they used to give out at the end of every year.

This calendar is of the Old State House. The caption reads:

"Reading of the Declaration of Independence from the east balcony of the Old State House, Boston, July 18, 1776.

The Lion and Unicorn, Kings Arms and all vestiges of royalty were then taken down and burned in King Street (now State St)."

So, the way the Old State House looks now? Yeah, it honors the "vestiges of royalty".

http://johnakeithrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/jk.jpg

[czsz]

Yeah, when the Old State House was restored at the beginning of the century there was a conscious decision made to match what was believed to be its original appearance, I think - in line with the later restoration of the Paul Revere House, which chose to go with its 17th century, rather than 18th century appearance.

By that point, it had been almost completely covered in billboards and had just been saved from sale and shipment to Chicago!

Anyway, I think the royal emblems look more handsome. The OSH is no longer a state government building so it doesn't really send the wrong signals to honor British royalty (Rockefeller Center has a whole frieze glorifying the British Empire, and it was built in the 30s!)

[BostonUrbEx]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4712693562_9e1e8557ef_b.jpg

[kz1000ps]

Cool, in a refreshing beverage sort of way...

[DZH22]

From 10/28

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_6952.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_6999.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7009.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7124.jpg

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_6958.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7003.jpg

[DZH22]

Celebrating the fat side

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7128.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7133.jpg

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Oct%202010/IMG_7004.jpg

[vanshnookenraggen]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5205310898_7782e7940b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/5205310898/in/contacts/)

[Boston02124]

awesome!

[Boston02124]

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/mass%20ave%202/308.jpg

[DZH22]

Got some neato new pictures today. Let's start with some Hancock.

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8428.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8475.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8444.jpg

[DZH22]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8437.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8438.jpg

[DZH22]

Surprise surprise, they can't all be nice! This side of the Hancock looked awfully filthy, not to mention completely different looking glass(?!?!?!) on parts of floors 37-39. Honestly, anybody know what the deal is with that?

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8500.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8538.jpg

[BostonUrbEx]

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8444.jpg

Wow. Perfect!

[kz1000ps]

This side of the Hancock looked awfully filthy...

Dunno why but the Hancock always looks that way under the late-day sun. Is it moisture seeping in between panes or something?

[DZH22]

<3

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Nov%202010/IMG_8436.jpg

[bosma]

Surprise surprise, they can't all be nice! This side of the Hancock looked awfully filthy, not to mention completely different looking glass(?!?!?!) on parts of floors 37-39. Honestly, anybody know what the deal is with that?


That metal vent near the top is a cooling tower so maybe the cooling water either was or is overflowing or maybe that metal vent is rusting and staining windows below in a couple pics it does look very rusty. Your right it does look like shit.

The windows that look different around 37-39 are probably a different type of window shades or a window film in that area. Not sure about the Hancock Tower but many buildings have rules on this stuff so it doesnt look bad.

[Boston02124]

this morning on the pike http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/075.jpg http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/077.jpg

[datadyne007]

That metal vent near the top is a cooling tower so maybe the cooling water either was or is overflowing or maybe that metal vent is rusting and staining windows below in a couple pics it does look very rusty. Your right it does look like shit.

The windows that look different around 37-39 are probably a different type of window shades or a window film in that area. Not sure about the Hancock Tower but many buildings have rules on this stuff so it doesnt look bad.
Pretty sure most of those are shades. It makes sense for that time of day. The sun would be beaming on the windows on the West side. It's so interesting how the "mirrored" building facade slowly reveals its interior as the day progresses.

[Shepard]

Looks like you figured out your camera, 02124. Nice shots.

[Suffolk 83]

co-sign shepard. looking good

[Boston02124]

thanks the color seems a little richer?

[datadyne007]

thanks the color seems a little richer?
They definitely have a nice rich color.

[stellarfun]

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/john-hancock-tower-sells-for-930-million/?hpw

(Didn't immediately find a thread on this sale, but mods, please move if there is one.)

[vanshnookenraggen]

Bought for $660.6 million, sold for $930 million? Well done, sir, well done.

[DZH22]

From 1/1

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/January%201%202011%20Four%20hour%20walk/IMG_0154.jpg

[DZH22]

From 1/1

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/January%201%202011%20Four%20hour%20walk/IMG_0102.jpg

[Boston02124]

yesterday's snow http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/045-1.jpg

[Boston02124]

what blizzard?http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/077-1.jpg

[Pierce]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5372668635_3f365c494f_o.jpg

[DZH22]

^^^ Cool, did you take that old shot yourself, back in the day?

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Jan%2020%202011%20Long%20Walk%20to%20Galleria/IMG_0734.jpg

[Boston02124]

luv the old pixs keep them comeing!

[Pierce]

^^^ Cool, did you take that old shot yourself, back in the day?


Nope, before my time, both as a Bostonian and a human. I got it from the BPL flickr page, they have a ton of photos documenting the construction of that addition.

[Boston02124]

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/007-3.jpg

[Boston02124]

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/013-8.jpg http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af104/ric02124/012-10.jpg

[DZH22]

From 2/7

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Feb%202011%20Lots%20of%20snow%20and%20Boston/IMG_1342.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Feb%202011%20Lots%20of%20snow%20and%20Boston/IMG_1381.jpg

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/DZH22/Feb%202011%20Lots%20of%20snow%20and%20Boston/IMG_1461.jpg