New Building Proposed for Newbury Street

[briv]

I scanned this article from this week's Boston Courant (I'm too lazy to type it today). The highlights are my own:

[vanshnookenraggen]

Jesus Christ, they objected to bay windows?! I am totally befuddled; do these people not understand that what makes the Back Bay what it is is its architectural diversity? They are elitist morons who have their heads up their asses.

[ckb]

I never knew this was a garage on the upper floors -- I assumed the garage went below grade!

I guess those proposed bay windows will really soar and create overwhelming shadows.

On the other hand, the other buildings on this block are flat-fronted, and the setback is notably wider than in the blocks closer to Mass. Ave.

I have always thought that this makes for a subtle but nice (if unintended) effect of opening up as the street nears the Public Garden. Its the setback that needs to be preserved, not the flat facades.

[kennedy]

Wait, what? Most buildings on Newbury Street have flat fronts? What, when did you last take a stroll. They've seen too many Apple Store renders I guess.

[LeTaureau]

If most buildings on this end of Newbury have flat fronts, bays should be a welcomed addition on this new building. BBAC are a bunch of hacks.

[Mike]

Newbury St. garage site to get ritzier
By Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, November 22, 2007


It’s boom times on Newbury Street with a pair of developers pushing a plan for the first new major retail and office building in years on the upscale shopping boulevard.

Developers Nader Golestaneh and Peter Bassett are in talks with City Hall to tear down a 1980s garage near the Taj and replace it with seven stories of high-end shops and offices. The developers have already owned and sold a number of buildings on Newbury Street over the years, according to Tom Brennan, a broker who specializes in Newbury Street property.

The move comes after several sales of retail buildings along Newbury Street for a total of about $200 million. Developer Ron Druker is also planning a major project just around the corner at the former Shreve, Crump & Low’s building at Arlington and Boylston streets.

“I have sold 12 buildings along Newbury Street,” said Brennan of Talanian Realty. “It’s a hot time for the street.”

The developers, under the banner of Centremark Properties, have presented preliminary plans to the Back Bay Architectural Commission to demolish the roughly 160-car garage at 4-6 Newbury St., a seven-story glass, metal and masonry building. Golestaneh could not be reached for comment.

The first three floors of the new building would feature shopping space, topped by four floors of offices.

The project would take shape at the center of the most lucrative shopping block on Newbury, where rents can top $200 a square foot, said Talanian’s Brennan. He expects the retail space to be rented to high-end clothing stores, while the offices upstairs will be attractive to lawyers, architects and venture capitalists.

The developers, however, will likely have to win city approval to change the zoning rules for the site. The proposed building rises to 80 feet, above the 65-foot limit for the area, said William Young of the Back Bay Architectural Commission.


Link

[ablarc]

Wouldn't it be nice if Washington Street were this much in demand.

[Beton Brut]

^^What he said...

[czsz]

Too bad no one ever proposes to fill the lot at the corner of Dartmouth Street...I guess parking is a more premium commodity on Newbury than whatever a new building would house.

Ablarc: Newbury Street thrives while Washington Street dies because one is more versatile than the other: there's no use for an exclusive, 9-5 downtown retail district when the majority of people in the metro (and even the inner city) can head for malls to get their big-box fit. If Downtown Crossing's makeover results in a more diverse-use, 24 hour culture for that whole area, it will be the best thing that ever happened to it.

[ablarc]

Originally Posted by czsz

Too bad no one ever proposes to fill the lot at the corner of Dartmouth Street...I guess parking is a more premium commodity on Newbury than whatever a new building would house.

The real scar on Newbury Street --not bay windows. Why don't the mother hens do something about this?

I suggest four stories of parking here on top of two stories of retail.