PROPOSED: Waterside Place

[atlrvr 3933]

This is a proposed mall, that was accepted by the city in 2004. It will be located almost adjacent to the new convention center in the South Boston waterfront.

The site is built above I-90, just before the Ted Williams Tunnel, and is bound on the surface by Congress, Summer, D St., and WTC Ave.

Included in the site is about 700,000 sq. ft. of retail, which will focus on big boxes and a grocery store (which seems rather odd mix and out of place for that area)

There will also be two tower, both 19 stories tall. One will be condos, the other a hotel.

I must say, this is about the most hideous, god-awful 70's inspired building I have ever seen. The lack of pedestrian-scale streetscape is astounding, even by South Boston Waterfront standards. Below are some views of the streetscape. The only positive I can say is that the silver-line station entrance is adjacent to the front door of this beast of a building.

Front Door (on WTC from the corner of Congress)

Backside (along Summer) with the hotel in the foreground

along Congress St. (from D St.) with the condo tower in the foreground

The worst view is along D St......check out the .pdf to see how bad the streetscape is.

Waterside_Place___D_St..pdf

This part of the city had all the advantages of a clean-slate, and is slowly churning out uninspiring, giant blocks of Anytown, USA.

Waterside_Place___D_St..pdf

[bosman 0]

While it certainly isn't the most desireable thing that could be put there, I honestly don't really have a problem with this design. I will admit that I am not completely down with the entire design and it could use some tweaking, but overall I think that this is a decent project. Would I like to see upscale dining and entertainment, sure, but I personally believe that this will be good for the area.

[pdxstreetcar 0]

wow that mall looks stunningly awful and on all sides

is this the place where the developer is trying to lure nordstroms?

[Lowerdeck 0]

Could be worse, but could be a whole lot better.

Is this place going to be accessible to the T by any chance?

[atlrvr 3933]

There is a silver line entrance directly adjacent to the front door....it's visible in the first color rendering that I posted....that said, the Silver Line is woefully inadequate...yet another reason the LRT upgrade is needed.

I haven't heard any news about Nordstrom's...there are some "knock-off" logos in the first renderings that seem to indicate it will be more of a power-center than a true fashion mall.

[Lowerdeck 0]

There is a silver line entrance directly adjacent to the front door....it's visible in the first color rendering that I posted....that said, the Silver Line is woefully inadequate...yet another reason the LRT upgrade is needed.

I haven't heard any news about Nordstrom's...there are some "knock-off" logos in the first renderings that seem to indicate it will be more of a power-center than a true fashion mall.

[Cotuit 1]

Waterfront growth accelerates as city OKs South Boston complex [The Boston Globe]

[atlrvr 3933]

That's a good graphic that puts things in perspective.

I see that the article mentioned a new architecture firm....I'm hoping for something better than this 1970's throw-back design that I posted above. Apparantly Hillier does a majority of their work in Dubai, so I'm not sure I'm going to be thrilled with it either.