The Druker Co. has proposed this mixed-use building for lower Boylston Street overlooking the Boston Public Garden.
Residents of Boston’s Back Bay got their first glimpse of the proposed redevelopment of 330 Boylston St. and they liked it.
“It’s an impressive start,” said Myron Miller, a member of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay.
More than four dozen people gathered at the Boston Public Library on Thursday night to hear details of the 221,230-square-foot building planned for the corner of Boylston and Arlington streets.
If approved, owner Ronald Druker, president of The Druker Co., will raze the former the former Shreve Crump & Low location and build eight floors of Class A office space with ground-floor retail and 150 below-grade parking spaces.
The ground level will feature a granite façade while the rest of the building will be comprised of cast stone, a product that is used to replicate the look of limestone. The contemporary-style building also will feature bay windows trimmed with wood and bronze.
While NABB’s Miller was supportive, he noted that the concept could be “even better for the city of Boston.” However, he asked whether there was a need for 150 parking spaces given that the spots are reserved for tenants only.
“The building is being expanded and it will add more vehicles and traffic to a severely congested section of the city,” he said.
In response, David Black, the team’s traffic consultant from Watertown-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., said they erred on the low side in terms of parking supply.
“If you compare this building with another Back Bay building that is in line with these existing travel patterns, we are not providing as aggressive parking,” Black said.
Elliott Laffer, another NABB member, asked whether there would be enough sidewalk space to accommodate the added retail and office use at the site.
“We are not talking about the John Hancock building,” said Druker. “The reality is that crowded sidewalks are good sidewalks; they enhance public realm. Go walk on Newbury Street the first day the temperate reaches 60 degrees and you can barely walk without hitting someone.”
Daniel Donahue, representing the nearby Lenox Hotel, applauded the project. “We are excited. We fully support it,” he said.
Source: Back Bay Residents Impressed by Druker Plan - By Thomas Grillo, Banker & Tradesman
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
BRA Gets Chance to Consider Druker’s Plan for Shreve Site
BRA Gets Chance to Consider Druker’s Plan for Shreve Site
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter
Rendering courtesy Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and CBT Architects
This artist’s rendering depicts the 221,230-square-foot, mixed-use building that The Druker Co. has proposed for lower Boylston Street in Boston.
As Back Bay residents battle construction of a pair of towers at the Prudential Center, a developer has filed plans to replace a former jewelry store overlooking the Boston Public Garden with a 9-story building.
Ronald Druker, president of The Druker Co., hopes to build a 221,230-square-foot building at Boylston and Arlington streets. If approved, it would include eight floors of Class A offices, 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 6,000-square-foot health spa and below-grade parking. Banker & Tradesman was the first to report the proposal last fall.
According to a filing with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city planning agency that must approve the mixed-use development, Druker would raze the former Shreve Crump & Low building at 330 Boylston St. and three other structures – his company owns all four – to make way for the new block.
“The project will improve retail vitality and provide first-class office space in a highly visible and accessible location,” states the document filed with the BRA. “The area will be enhanced by the urban design and architectural character provided by a new signature building designed by world-class architects who are sensitive to its architectural neighbors, including the Arlington Street Church and the Public Garden.”
In addition, the project summary said the building’s proposed design will “capitalize” on the unique site. “A corner location provides a unique opportunity … With diagonal views and frontage on the Public Garden is a singular opportunity that the design addresses by placing a unique, rounded glazed bay, which emphasizes and reinforces the importance of this prime location,” the document states.
The ground level will feature a granite facade with wooden storefronts and a lobby entry. Sidewalk improvements along Boylston Street will be consistent with the city’s standards for the neighborhood, the document said. The new development is expected to generate $1.8 million in annual property taxes and $1.1 million in linkage funds to the city.
The BRA has established an Impact Advisory Group to review the proposal. The 13-member panel appointed by officials will consider mitigation impacts caused by the development. A public meeting on the plan is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Boston Public Library.
Mark Slater, an IAG member, said he was not impressed by the rendering of the proposed building. “It looks like a rectangular brick building and I have no idea whether the project has merit or not,” he said.
Slater, a former president of the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, said he also is concerned about the construction of another large building on Boylston Street.
“We are worried that the BRA is effectively allowing the larger boulevards in Boston to be turned into concrete canyons,” he said. “I worry that’s what the Druker building will do to lower Boylston Street. I am not opposed to new construction and I realize that some will have to be tall. But the scale and intimacy in Boston are being thrown out the window for the sake of real estate taxes.”
Jessica Shumaker, a BRA spokeswoman, declined to answer Slater’s charges. Instead she said, “We look forward to meeting with the community and hearing their thoughts and concerns on the project.”
‘A Real Plus’
John Shope, another IAG member, noted that the former jewelry store is vacant and he favors active retail on the ground floor at the site.
“This will be a prominent building in a prominent location,” he said. “I like the idea of having an attractive building with lots of people coming and going, and lots of retail. It could be a real plus for the city.”
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he likes what he’s seen so far, but like any project it will require community review.
“It has a ways to go before the BRA approves it, but it certainly looks like something that will meet the muster of the neighborhoods,” Menino said.
Druker’s Boston-based real estate company is best known for its large, urban mixed-use developments. One of its most recent projects is Atelier|505, a mixed-use development adjacent to the Boston Center for the Arts, at Tremont and Berkeley streets. It opened two years ago with 103 units of luxury condominiums, shops and restaurants.
In addition, the company has completed the Heritage on the Garden, an upscale complex on Boylston Street that features residential, retail and office suites across from the Public Garden. In 1971, the firm built the Colonnade Hotel on Huntington Avenue.
Druker’s proposal comes as several projects are in the works for the Back Bay and the Prudential Center. The Clarendon, a luxury condominium and apartment tower, is under construction near the John Hancock Tower. In addition, the 13-story Mandarin Oriental Boston hotel is scheduled to open this summer next to Lord & Taylor on Boylston Street. The $230 million project will add 168 guestrooms and the property will be part of a mixed-use complex with first-floor retail and condominiums on the upper floors.
Another proposal that has not yet been filed with the BRA is a new tower at Copley Place. The Simon Property Group is considering a mix of condominiums and retail uses in front of the Neiman Marcus store at the corner of Stuart and Dartmouth streets. At the other end of the Back Bay, Berklee College of Music is considering plans for a dormitory.
Earlier this year, Boston Properties and Avalon Bay Communities filed plans for a $192 million proposal that calls for a 35-story residential high-rise on Exeter Street across from the Boston Public Library and construction of a 19-story office building at 888 Boylston St., adjacent to the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention. The plan has faced fierce opposition from neighbors who say the buildings are out of scale in the historic neighborhood.
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter
Rendering courtesy Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and CBT Architects
This artist’s rendering depicts the 221,230-square-foot, mixed-use building that The Druker Co. has proposed for lower Boylston Street in Boston.
As Back Bay residents battle construction of a pair of towers at the Prudential Center, a developer has filed plans to replace a former jewelry store overlooking the Boston Public Garden with a 9-story building.
Ronald Druker, president of The Druker Co., hopes to build a 221,230-square-foot building at Boylston and Arlington streets. If approved, it would include eight floors of Class A offices, 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 6,000-square-foot health spa and below-grade parking. Banker & Tradesman was the first to report the proposal last fall.
According to a filing with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city planning agency that must approve the mixed-use development, Druker would raze the former Shreve Crump & Low building at 330 Boylston St. and three other structures – his company owns all four – to make way for the new block.
“The project will improve retail vitality and provide first-class office space in a highly visible and accessible location,” states the document filed with the BRA. “The area will be enhanced by the urban design and architectural character provided by a new signature building designed by world-class architects who are sensitive to its architectural neighbors, including the Arlington Street Church and the Public Garden.”
In addition, the project summary said the building’s proposed design will “capitalize” on the unique site. “A corner location provides a unique opportunity … With diagonal views and frontage on the Public Garden is a singular opportunity that the design addresses by placing a unique, rounded glazed bay, which emphasizes and reinforces the importance of this prime location,” the document states.
The ground level will feature a granite facade with wooden storefronts and a lobby entry. Sidewalk improvements along Boylston Street will be consistent with the city’s standards for the neighborhood, the document said. The new development is expected to generate $1.8 million in annual property taxes and $1.1 million in linkage funds to the city.
The BRA has established an Impact Advisory Group to review the proposal. The 13-member panel appointed by officials will consider mitigation impacts caused by the development. A public meeting on the plan is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Boston Public Library.
Mark Slater, an IAG member, said he was not impressed by the rendering of the proposed building. “It looks like a rectangular brick building and I have no idea whether the project has merit or not,” he said.
Slater, a former president of the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, said he also is concerned about the construction of another large building on Boylston Street.
“We are worried that the BRA is effectively allowing the larger boulevards in Boston to be turned into concrete canyons,” he said. “I worry that’s what the Druker building will do to lower Boylston Street. I am not opposed to new construction and I realize that some will have to be tall. But the scale and intimacy in Boston are being thrown out the window for the sake of real estate taxes.”
Jessica Shumaker, a BRA spokeswoman, declined to answer Slater’s charges. Instead she said, “We look forward to meeting with the community and hearing their thoughts and concerns on the project.”
‘A Real Plus’
John Shope, another IAG member, noted that the former jewelry store is vacant and he favors active retail on the ground floor at the site.
“This will be a prominent building in a prominent location,” he said. “I like the idea of having an attractive building with lots of people coming and going, and lots of retail. It could be a real plus for the city.”
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he likes what he’s seen so far, but like any project it will require community review.
“It has a ways to go before the BRA approves it, but it certainly looks like something that will meet the muster of the neighborhoods,” Menino said.
Druker’s Boston-based real estate company is best known for its large, urban mixed-use developments. One of its most recent projects is Atelier|505, a mixed-use development adjacent to the Boston Center for the Arts, at Tremont and Berkeley streets. It opened two years ago with 103 units of luxury condominiums, shops and restaurants.
In addition, the company has completed the Heritage on the Garden, an upscale complex on Boylston Street that features residential, retail and office suites across from the Public Garden. In 1971, the firm built the Colonnade Hotel on Huntington Avenue.
Druker’s proposal comes as several projects are in the works for the Back Bay and the Prudential Center. The Clarendon, a luxury condominium and apartment tower, is under construction near the John Hancock Tower. In addition, the 13-story Mandarin Oriental Boston hotel is scheduled to open this summer next to Lord & Taylor on Boylston Street. The $230 million project will add 168 guestrooms and the property will be part of a mixed-use complex with first-floor retail and condominiums on the upper floors.
Another proposal that has not yet been filed with the BRA is a new tower at Copley Place. The Simon Property Group is considering a mix of condominiums and retail uses in front of the Neiman Marcus store at the corner of Stuart and Dartmouth streets. At the other end of the Back Bay, Berklee College of Music is considering plans for a dormitory.
Earlier this year, Boston Properties and Avalon Bay Communities filed plans for a $192 million proposal that calls for a 35-story residential high-rise on Exeter Street across from the Boston Public Library and construction of a 19-story office building at 888 Boylston St., adjacent to the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention. The plan has faced fierce opposition from neighbors who say the buildings are out of scale in the historic neighborhood.
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