BOSTON | South Station | 677 FT | 49 FLOORS

[Urbannizer]

South Station tower stretching to 678 feet could advance in 2019

It’s one of the longer-running question marks in Boston real estate: Will a tower go up atop South Station?

Recall that Hines, a Houston-based development and investment firm, has been trying to build a major complex atop New England’s busiest train and bus hub now for several years. Because of the number of stakeholders in the project—the MBTA (a.k.a. the state), Amtrak, the City of Boston, the developer itself—as well as the scope, negotiations over the tower have dragged on and on.

Now, the MBTA is granting Hines another six months to negotiate for what would be a 678-foot spire out of the center of South Station. By April 30, Hines hopes to have the requisite agreements in place to advance the project.

Its current plans call for an 862,000-square-foot addition that would erupt out of the station at the ninth of 51 floors and include 641,000 square feet of office space, 166 condos, and 6,000 square feet of retail as well as parking for 895 cars.

[BonoboZill4]

Another tower helping to beef up Boston, very nice. I'm just sad it's unlikely we ever see a supertall in Boston to cap the skyline thanks to height regulations set by the feds

[Zapatan]

This tower is beautiful

[The North One]

I don't like the changes, it's very bottom heavy now.

[LMich]

[Urbannizer]

Salesforce In Talks To Anchor South Station Skyscraper

Salesforce wasn’t seen as a major player in Boston’s technology scene until the firm hired Lexington native Keith Block in 2013 as president and vice chairman. The company currently has offices in Back Bay, Cambridge and Burlington, but it is looking to boost its profile with a trophy office. The software company is in discussions to move into a planned 690-foot tower over South Station, four sources close to the company’s search for a new Boston office told Bisnow. But those discussions still face development hurdles. The proposed tower’s developer, Houston-based Hines, has spent two years since getting city approval on the project to iron out a deal with parties affected by building an 862K SF mixed-use skyscraper over New England’s busiest train station. The developer needs an agreement with three transportation agencies before it can proceed with construction. When a deal is reached among the various agencies, the developer is expected to quickly get to work on the downtown skyscraper.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/o...medium=Browser

https://www.pcparch.com/south-station-slideshow

[JMKeynes]

I love Boston. This is great news!

[colemonkee]

^ It'll all come down to the plan for mitigating station access during construction, but seeing how that's been done previously with the tower above North Station, I would expect the transit agencies to approve this if they do indeed have a tenant.

[pianowizard]

Originally Posted by BonoboZill4

Another tower helping to beef up Boston, very nice. I'm just sad it's unlikely we ever see a supertall in Boston to cap the skyline thanks to height regulations set by the feds

If I remember correctly, supertalls are actually possible in certain parts of Boston.

Anyway, as much as I love supertalls, I am not sure I would want them in Boston. I lived there for five years and stayed nearby for another six years. I really liked the city's quaint and charm, which could be ruined by building too many skyscrapers. IMO having just several 500-to-800 footers in the Back Bay is perfect. The new Four Seasons is nice, but hopefully there won't be too many more buildings that tall in the future.

[Urbannizer]

Work on long-delayed South Station tower may finally start

It sounds wild — a sleek skyscraper rising nearly 700 feet above South Station, an aging transportation hub that’s swarmed by thousands of commuters daily.

Indeed, the complications — and costs — involved in pulling off such an engineering feat mostly account for why the project hasn’t gone forward since it was approved by the city more than 13 years ago.

But that could soon change. The project’s developer has found new investors willing to finance the 51-story office-and-condo tower and is nailing down construction details with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

In what would mark a bold bet on Boston’s commercial real estate market, work could start before year’s end.

“This is another step forward for this project,” David Perry, senior managing director of the development company, Houston-based Hines, said in a statement. “We are excited to be at the point of completing the financing.”

Hines on Thursday will ask the Boston Planning & Development Agency to approve funding by the Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management and the New York private investment firm Dune Real Estate Partners. The state Department of Transportation will also need to bless the investors and the complete engineering plans for what is likely to be one of the most expensive projects launched during Boston’s building boom.

Hines expects to spend four years building the tower, which will soar above the platform between South Station’s historic terminal and the rail lines, without interrupting commuter rail or Amtrak service. It would also build a new entrance to the complex on Atlantic Avenue, alongside the main building, and expand South Station’s adjacent bus depot.

The 1.1 million-square-foot structure is the first of three planned phases of a huge project to remake South Station. Plans also call for a 349-foot hotel or residential building above the tracks and a 279-foot office building atop the bus depot.

[JMKeynes]

[Citylover94]

The developer has created a website that has an approximate construction schedule for this project. https://southstationairrights.com/

[JMKeynes]

I really love Boston. To me, it's tied with D.C. and S.F. as being the second best city in America.

[dc_denizen]

This is nice but Boston needs a super tall. Could they build one in Cambridge?

[kingkirbythe....]

What a beautiful project.

[patriotizzy]

I'd be disappointed if I was a Bostonian. Apart from the grand arch lobby, the project base and tower are lacking in inspiration and artistry. It is as cookie cutter as it gets. Considering they are building around a classical architectural landmark, does it mean they deserve a pass in leaving a boring permanent wall on the city?

[Busy Bee]

It's about as confused, directionless and awkward as One Museum Park in Chicago. Its surprising that a project that had been stalled for this many years wouldnt get an updated design before they actually shoveled dirt.

[Citylover94]

The current design was a minor update to the older design, but tbh even if it isn't the most inspired design it is a design by Pelli and so they may be retaining it as one of the last few designs he had worked on.

Plus the shape of the building is very limited because the shape of the foundation is already set so the only major changes that could be made are to the cladding. It would be cool if they had done a facade redesign that used masonry, but then there would be pressure to match the classical style facade of South Station and I don't have a lot of confidence that it would end up looking any better.

Also the grand arch isn't the lobby for the building it is above the South Station platform area.

[Barney Greengrass]

So they're going to cover the terminal platforms? One of the nicest things about coming into South Station is that it's open air, sunny on sunny days, welcoming. I'm a frequent Acela rider and I always look forward to that. Even in the winter it's not so bad, they keep it clean and ice free.

The station itself needs some space planning but otherwise is a unique design and comfortable with all the natural light and air that comes in, this proposal seems to be anathema to every good aspect of SS. It needs a more thoughtful design imho.

[BVictor1]

Much less graceful in its proportions compared to the original design.