0 Boston to host 2017 U.S.-China Climate Summit

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Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Secretary of State John F. Kerry meet with Chinese representatives

Credit: Boston Globe

Boston is home to long-haul, nonstop daily flights to Shanghai and Beijing.  In addition, Boston will host the U.S. / China Climate summit in 2017.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“I am honored to announce that Boston will build on our global climate leadership to host next year’s U.S.-China Climate Leaders’ Summit,” said [Boston Mayor Marty] Walsh in a statement. “There is no more pressing, or defining, global challenge than climate change. We know we must be making investments now to create a more sustainable future for the world we share. I look forward to continuing these substantive, challenging conversations in Boston.”

The first summit occurred last September in Los Angeles and included a keynote address by Vice President Joe Biden and China’s State Councilor Yang Jiechi as well as the signing by 24 state and local leaders of a first-of-its-kind “U.S.-China Climate Leaders Declaration.”

0 Boston Towers Still Short of Manhattan’s Scale

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Boston office towers

Credit: The Real Reporter

Boston won’t be scaling up to the development heights of projects underway in NYC.  Boston’s newest tower comes in at nearly half the height of New York’s Nordstrom Tower.

From The Real Reporter:

When comparing to New York’s major projects under development, Boston comes up very short with Millennium Tower as its tallest, versus Nordstrom Tower, by more than double its size.  Nordstrom Tower (when complete) is set to be crowned the World’s tallest, towering in at 1,775 Feet, while Millennium will top off at 685 feet.

0 11 Massachusetts Companies Climb Fortune 500 List

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boston office building

Credit: BBJ

Massachusetts is on the march up the fortune 500 list with all but 12 of the companies advancing from their standing last year. The list next year will add GE, which placed 11th on the current list.

From the Boston Business Journal:

Again leading the way in Massachusetts was Boston-based insurance giant Liberty Mutual, which rose to No. 73 on the list after finishing No. 78 last year. Springfield’s MassMutual jumped nearly 20 spots on the list to No. 76, and this year Framingham-based retailer TJX (NYSE: TJX) entered the Fortune 100, coming in at No. 89 after ranking No. 103 last year.

0 230K SF Office Building Planned at South End Garage

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rendering of office tower at South End garage site

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

Daily garage parking in Boston’s urban core is some of the most expensive in the country. Combine that with our tight office market, and you have a swell of new opportunities across the city. The proposal brought forth by Nordblom is a 230K SF building atop 321 Harrison Avenue.

From B&T:

Designed by SMMA of Cambridge, the office building would be built of insulated glass in a metal panel system with some curtain walls with floor-to-ceiling glazing. The building will have sweeping views of the Financial District and Back Bay and be designed with totally open floor plates with “exceptional” ceiling heights, said Og Hunnewell, a partner with Nordblom Co.

The ground floor would include cultural or gallery space at the corner of Herald Street and Harrison Avenue. Copley Wolff Design Group is the landscape architect. Open space is planned next to 1000 Washington St., an 11-story, 234,900-square-foot office building that shares the site and will be retained.

Nordblom estimates the project would create 1,500 permanent jobs.

0 Downtown Crossing Embodies Boston’s Modernization

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view of Boston from a roof deck

Credit: BBJ

Boston’s Downtown Crossing (DTX) is ground zero for development and change in Boston. The $3.9 billion invested in the past decade is evident by transformations to the streetscape and skyline.

According to the Boston Business Journal, “the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District recently issued a report titled ‘The Transformation of Downtown Crossing’ to provide a progress report about the district’s development.”

“We have seen tremendous growth in a number of areas throughout the BID — from major new construction, such as 45 Province, Millennium Place and Millennium Tower, to a growing number of retail and new businesses that are attracting additional employees and clients to the area, to our status as one of the fastest growing residential neighborhoods in the city,” said Rosemarie Sansone, president and CEO of the BID, in the report. “The next phase of our development includes a strategic planning exercise, which will be under way soon.”

You can read the full article on the BBJ’s website.

0 Dorchester Ave in the Crosshairs of Boston’s Next Development Boom

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Map of Dot Avenue

Credit: Banker & Tradesman

Growth is inevitable, but where and when it happens fosters much debate.  Dot Ave appears to be in the crosshairs of the next development boom for Boston.

According to Banker and Tradesman, “the South Boston Dorchester Avenue plan sees potential for up to 16 million square feet of new development on 144 acres of predominantly industrial parcels over the next two decades. The product of a 10-month study and community review, the plan will go to the Boston Redevelopment Authority board of directors for approval this summer…The study anticipates that the forces of gentrification that have swept through other sections of South Boston and the South End will transform the corridor, which is bookended by the Broadway and Andrew T stations.”

You can read more about the development of Dorchester Avenue on B&T.

0 Final Proposals Named for Northern Avenue Bridge Redesign

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Rendering of Norther Ave. Bridge redesign

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Northern Avenue Bridge has arrived at the final 4. Next to follow are the RFP’s from the City of Boston.

From the BBJ:

The city of Boston and the Boston Society of Architects announced the winners of a competition Thursday that would reimagine the Northern Avenue Bridge, the now-closed dilapidated structure that serves as a link between downtown and the burgeoning Seaport District.

The four winning ideas — chosen by a jury assembled by the city and the BSA — range from a plan to place an elevated civic space in the middle of a revamped bridge to one that places a “greenhouse where botanical gardens flourish year round.”

You can read more about the final four Northern Ave. Bridge proposals on the BBJ.

0 Curbed Lists ’10 Buildings That Tell the Story of Boston’

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200 clarendon st. back bay

Credit: 200clarendon.com

For those history buffs of Boston buildings and architecture here is the top 10, according to Curbed Boston.

1. Faneuil Hall
1 Faneuil Hall Sq
Boston, MA 02109

2. Massachusetts State House
1 Ashburton Pl
Boston, MA 02108

3. Park Street Station
Park St.
Boston, MA 02108

4. The First Triple-Decker
10 Crowell St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124

5. The Custom House Tower
3 McKinley Sq.
Boston, MA 02109

6. The Pru
800 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02199

7. City Hall
1 City Hall Sq.
Boston, MA 02201

8. Logan Air Traffic Control Tower
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
Boston, MA 02128

9. 200 Clarendon
200 Clarendon St.
Boston, MA 02116

10. The Ritz-Carlton Residences
10 Avery St
.
Boston, MA 02111

0 Boston Helipad Near the O’Neill Tunnel?

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Credit: The Boston Globe

Credit: The Boston Globe

Commuting is a key to our city’s continued growth on the international stage, and the newest venue in that arena will be a helipad. Where the city, state and the FAA decide to put it is the next big question. Personally, I prefer the grassy plot south of Kneeland Street near an entrance to the O’Neill Tunnel.

A recent Boston Globe article notes “the state has already discussed a small patch of grass just to the south of the Tip O’Neill Tunnel, an unremarkable place so close to the surrounding highways that pilots could all but converse with motorists stuck in rush-hour traffic…But that’s just one possibility. The state Department of Transportation is also expected to look at a number of other locations close to GE’s future headquarters in Fort Point. And then there’s always the option of sticking a helipad on a barge in the water.”

You can read more on the Globe’s site, here.

0 Tech Offices Planned for Flower Exchange Site

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South End Boston Flower Exchange

Credit: Boston Globe

The Boston Flower Exchange site could be home to a new Tech Exchange site employing 5,000 – 10,000 people and rival that of Kendall Square in Cambridge.

According to the Boston Globe, “the buyers of the Boston Flower Exchange property Thursday unveiled plans to turn the 5.6-acre warehouse facility on Albany Street in the South End into a tech office campus they hope could rival Kendall Square in Cambridge, employing as many as 5,000 to 10,000 people…In addition to offices, the development could include parking, public space, and perhaps some housing. All told, zoning there would allow as much as 1.6 million square feet, said Abbey Group managing partner William Keravuori — three times the size of the nearby Ink Block complex.”

You can read the full article on the Boston Globe’s website.