888 Boylston Street

[Rick]

An early look at the office tower proposed for the
Prudential Center:

[jass]

I like the plaza

[kmp1284]

That rendering is pretty crappy, it looks like something out of simcity. Where did it come from?

[aws129]

Meh... :?

[Ron Newman]

Who is proposing this? Is Bloomingdale's actually on board, or is that just the artist's fantasy? What company would occupy the offices?

My initial reaction is "too much dark glass" but I'm willing to be persuaded.

[Mike]

Is this before Boston Properties decided that they wanted to make 888 Boylston taller? I think there is an article around here somewhere about how they are looking to double the height of what was earlier proposed.

[briv]

Originally Posted by Mike

Is this before Boston Properties decided that they wanted to make 888 Boylston taller? I think there is an article around here somewhere about how they are looking to double the height of what was earlier proposed.

It was an article from a January 07 issue of the Courant:

Originally Posted by The Boston Courant

New Tower Is Planned For Prudential Center
by Shayndi Raice

Plans are being drawn up to nearly double the size of an office building at the the Prudential Center, already New England's largest mixed-use development.

The plans by the Pru's owner, Boston Properties, have not yet been officially unveiled, but they have been discussed with city officials and at least one member of a citizen group overseeing development at the Prudential Center. According to reliable sources, the plan involves nearly doubling the height of an 11-story office building that had already been approved for 888 Boylston Street, now a courtyard directly in front of the Prudential Tower.

If built, the expanded office building would be considerably taller than the Mandarin Hotel, which is under construction next door to the site and will be 155 feet high.

Boston Properties' expansion could also involve plans disclosed last summer to build another luxury housing tower along Exeter Street in partnership with Avalon Bay Communities,
which owns three existing residential towers at the Prudential Center.

Betsy Johnson, chairperson of the Prudential Project Advisory Committee (PruPAC), was briefed on plans in October and said that a meeting was supposed to be scheduled with the committee, but it was delayed with the start of the holiday season. "All I know is that things are supposed to be in the works", she said. "In fairness, [Boston Properties] is probably trying to make sure the all their ducks in a row".

Johnson said that any new office or housing expansion would come under the purview of PruPAC. She noted, however, that members of the committee reacted favorably to the possibility of additional housing of Exeter, especially in the wake of construction of the Mandarin where residences had once been contemplated.

Johnson added that after the 11-story glass office building had been approved, some PruPAC members indicated "in retrospect" that the building could have been considerably higher.

For the time being, Boston Properties is keeping any expansion plans at the Prudential Center close to its vest. "888 Boylston is the last planned development site on the master plan when we bought the building from Prudential", said Boston Properties spokesperson Amy Daniels. "While we're encouraged by office market conditions and we look forward to working with PruPAC and the BRA, there are no imminent plans for [the property] at this point."

[Waldorf]

Originally Posted by Mike

Johnson added that after the 11-story glass office building had been approved, some PruPAC members indicated "in retrospect" that the building could have been considerably higher.

There's a shocker. Of course they can say anything "in retrospect".

[kz1000ps]

The plan originally set forth in the late 80s said it was to be no more than 155 ft in height - same thing with the Mandarin - which would have translated out to about 12 floors of office space. And since these renderings show a tower of about 19 stories tall, they're definitely recent. Let's hope the architects refine the design beyond what it is right now, which is unimaginative to say the least.

Oh and I just spent the last half hour trying to figure out what minivan that is (yeah, I'm lame). It looks to be a several year old Mazda MPV, but with Volvo taillights. Anybody got a better idea?

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Can anyone tell me what their idea of a "good" or "inspired" building looks like? I mean, honestly, I think this is a good/reasonable looking building. And most cities are going to consist of good/reasonable looking buildings with a bunch of nicer buildings that stand out.

I mean, I understand the problems with precast (it looks like shit), I completely agree on criticisms regarding scale of neighborhoods and NIMBYs and too many parks, and buildings with setbacks that look suburban, that don't interact well with the street. But jesus, guys, what is it going to take for a building to win your approval?

This is a building that looks pretty good, if not anything special, it has ground floor retail that seems to interact with the street pretty well, and I think it fits in with the surrounding area pretty well, while simultaneously not being monotonous.

I understand criticisms about places like the Seaport, where everything they are building has 50% useless park land and all the buildings look the same. But we really need to remember that if every building is Boston was "special" and "unique", Boston would be Disneyland.