Park plaza, Boston: focus for the 70's

Park Plaza

GOV DGC

\oGc

)C^

cy

^c<

^/\

.iOSTON

ft'operty ot

)EV€LOPMENT AUTH
ibrary

*^^o« f^uai/c

1/

\

Focus for the 70's

Park Plaza

Boston

photo by

Aerial Photos of New England

Contents

Mayor's Address 3

Development Opportunity for the 70's 5

Location 7

Planning and Design Objectives 9

Role of the City of Boston

and the Redevelopment Authority 11

Procedures for Interested Developers 12

Appendix: The Boston Area

Park Plaza is one of the most sig-
nificant development opportunities
in the history of the City of Boston.
Strategically located in the center
of Bostons entertainment, financial
and retail districts, the potential of
this 35-acre area is unequalled.

Other men in other times have re-
sponded to similar challenges —
endowing Boston with the Faneuil
Hall Markets, the Boston Common
and Public Garden, the Back Bay,
the Fenway, and the Charles River
Basin, which combine to create our
city's special environment.

The newest of these achievements,
Government Center, compares in
size and ambition with Park Plaza.
Government Center, in the late
1960's. replaced a decayed com-
mercial area with massive devel-
opments, carefully integrating
buildings, streets and open space.

Park Plaza offers private enterprise
a comparable opportunity — one
that is destined to be one of the
most exciting urban developments
of the next decade.

^$3|f^j^,^^ T^^^^cxS-

Kevin H.White
Mayor of Boston

I

MBTA LINES
PROPOSED MBTA
MAJOR ROADS
RAILS

Development Opportunity
for the 1970's

Park Plaza, a 35-acre tract at the
heart ot downtown Boston, will form
the central link in a chain of com-
mercial development reaching from
the Prudential Center, the new John
Hancock headquarters in Back Bay,
to the downtown retail and financial
districts and Government Center.

It offers unique development poten-
tial for 2500 to 4000 apartment
units, 1000 to 1500 hotel rooms,
500,000 to 750,000 square feet of
commercial and retail space, 2 to 4
million square feet of office space,
and parking for 2500 to 3500 cars.

Park Plaza, to be staged during the
next seven to ten years, is an in-
tegral part of Boston's ambitious
plan to rejuvenate its downtown.
Originally included in the 245-acre
Central Business District (CBD)
urban renewal project area, devel-
opment of Park Plaza had to be
postponed until now in favor of
three more advanced "mini" proj-
ects because of a lack of Federal
funds.

Construction in the CBD has been
substantial despite the funding set-
back. Over three million square
feet of office space has been com-
pleted or started, and another 3.8
million square feet is planned.

Specifically, the 41-story Boston
Company building, the 960-car Coff-
man garage and Woolworth's larg-
est department store topped by a
900-car garage have been com-
pleted. Construction is underway
on the Employers' building. First
National Bank, Keystone Building,
Boston Five Cents Savings Bank
and the Old City Hall renovation.
The Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
Gas Company building, Provident

Institution for Savings building and
the $75 million South Station Trade
and Transportation Center are
planned for the near future.

Private developers, therefore, have
clearly demonstrated their faith in
the future of Boston's Central Busi-
ness District.

Developers have been hampered
in the Park Plaza area until now,
however, by awkward street pat-
terns, small or irregular land par-
cels, long-term leases and diverse
ownership.

As a result of these restrictions.
Park Plaza today is an under-uti-
lized area of widely contrasting
uses and building conditions.

Streets and parking lots cover more
than 45 percent of the area, and
there are 120 separate buildings,
with 90 different owners. Of these
buildings, 76.7 percent are on land
parcels of less than 5000 square
feet, and 81 percent were built
prior to 1890.

Park Plaza does contain a number
of fine restaurants and several legi-
timate theaters such as the Wilbur,
Colonial and Shubert. These ex-
isting assets will become the basis
of an upgraded and more active
entertainment center.

By initiating urban renewal in Park
Plaza, the City of Boston will com-
bine public action with private initi-
ative to fulfill the enormous devel-
opment potential of this area.

...-•••c

COPLEY SQ,

.^..•— •..

..»• ♦. • JOHN HANCOCK :
\ \ BUILDING ^^y
.,♦♦•* PRUDENTIAL • **•• ■ ""**

** CENTER /

PARK
SQUARE

• CHRISTIAN /
\ SCIENCE /
\ COMPLEX /*

\ NORTH STATION ■ /

NORTH END

•••........♦••'

r s \ r

: GOVERNMENT ■
'. CENTER

£ waterfront;^

PROJECT^

\ M ^ PR

V ' / t^

• : FINANCIAL \\

/ : \ DISTRICT : I

/ RETAIL / \ //

: CORE / V / \

ENTERTAINMENT
DISTRICT

; SOUTH

/ STATION

\ PROJECT

•♦.,

••....

Location

One of Park Plaza's major devel-
opment strengths is its excellent
location. It is bordered on the
north by the Boston Common,
America's first public park, the gra-
cious Public Garden, historic Bea-
con Hill, and the State House with
its prominent gold dome. A few
blocks to the northeast is Boston's
retail core including Jordan Marsh,
Filene's, Woolworth's, Gilchrist's,
Kennedy's and Raymond's depart-
ment stores.

Chinatown's commercial and enter-
tainment area borders the eastern
edge of Park Plaza, while the south-
ern border is shared with the South
Cove Urban Renewal Project, which
includes the $80 million Tufts-New
England Medical Center expansion,
the $15 million Howard Johnson
motel-theater-garage complex now
under construction, and the rehabil-
itated 19th century townhouses of
Bay Village.

The Back Bay residential commu-
nity to the northwest completes the
circle of surrounding areas.

Three stations on two major subway
lines provide connections through-
out the metropolitan area, and a
new station is being built in South
Cove, a block and a half to the
south.

The area is also easily accessible
by car, with the terminus of the
Massachusetts Turnpike nearby and
major arterial streets such as
Charles, Boylston and Stuart-Knee-
land passing through the project.

To the west lie three major devel-
opments, the 60-story John Han-
cock tower now under construction,
the 31-acre Prudential Center and
the $30-million Christian Science
Church complex.

New towers in Park Plaza will
provide the development link be-
tween downtown and the Back
Bay as illustrated by this BRA
study model.

Land Use

Apartment, hotel, commercial, of-
fice, open space and parking are
the primary uses desired. Office
and apartment space will be housed
in high-rise structures and possibly
mixed within the same buildings.
Commercial activity, located in the
lower floors, should be focused on
night-time entertainment, cultural
activities, specialized retail trade
(such as the music industry in the
area), and small retail stores to
serve the area's offices, hotels
and apartments.

The area's existing and highly de-
sirable entertainment activities
should either be retained in their
current locations or relocated in or
near the project area.

Scale and Massing

The development should fill in the
missing link in the line of high-rise
buildings stretching from Govern-
ment Center to the Prudential Cen-
ter, and should relate to the pro-
posed towers at South Station. The
Stuart Street side of the project,
away from the Common and Public
Garden, can in general accept tall
buildings. A major tower in the
"hinge block" (bounded by Boyl-
ston, Stuart, Washington and Tre-
mont streets), which could be the
tallest in the city, should be set
back from the Boylston-Tremont
corner. Lower structures should
occur in the Washington-Harrison
block and along the Common and
Garden frontage.

A major design objective is to re-
late proposed tall structures to
existing and proposed lower struc-
tures so as to avoid dense clusters

Planning and
Design Objectives

of towers or a wall of shadow
across the project and the neigh-
boring green spaces.

Careful attention must also be given
to the project borders — China-
town, the retail core, South Cove,
Back Bay and the Common/Garden
frontage — to complement existing
architecture and activities.

Although the potential overall scale
of the project is immense, it is im-
portant that lower structures and
pedestrian areas be developed at
the "Boston scale", with open
spaces and varied pedestrian paths
lined with diverse commercial
activities.

Pedestrian Circulation

East and west pedestrian circula-
tion through the site is envisioned
as an exciting multi-level, environ-
mentally controlled route lined with
commercial, entertainment and cul-
tural uses. North and south connec-
tions through the site will link the
Boylston Street and Stuart Street
edges of the project.

PBOmNG *»*□ stawicc

10

The Role of

the City of Boston and the

Redevelopment Authority

1. The Swan Boats in the Public
Garden have become a familiar
sight to generations of Boston
residents and visitors alilfe.

2. Government Center, involving pub-
lic and private investment of over
$260 million, contains city, state
and federal office facilities as well
as considerable private office
space. City Hall is the focal point
of the 60-acre area.

3. The Christian Science Church has
undertaken a $35 million expan-
sion program in the Fenway. Ad-
ministration and Sunday School
buildings, parking facilities, and a
reflecting pool are now under
construction

4. The new headquarters lor the
John Hancock Insurance Company
will rise 60 stories in Copley
Square, adjacent to Hancock's
present offices and historic
Trinity Church.

5. The First National Bank of Boston
has begun construction of an un-
usual 40-story office building on
Franklin Street.

6. The 31 -acre Prudential Center —
an office, commercial, civic and
residential complex in the Back
Bay — marked the turning point
in Boston's econom'c develop-
ment. Chapter 121 A of the Massa-
chusetts General Laws was
created specifically lor the Pru-
dential development.

7. The State House on Beacon Hill
overlooking the Common is the
seat of l^assachusetls state gov-
ernment. Its original brick portion
was designed by Charles Bulfinch
and built from 1795 to 1798.

8. The Boston Gas Company build-
ing will be built at Boylston and
Charles streets overlooking the
Common and Public Garden.

9. The Massachusetts Port Authority
will develop the $75 million South
Station Trade and Transportation
Center that will include hotel and
office space, a trade mart, and a
transportation terminal.

The Boston Redevelopment Author-
ity has begun intensive studies to
revise the original CBD plans for
the Park Plaza area, its intent is to
define workable development sites,
staging, public improvements and
financing. Developer interest is
being solicited at this time to facili-
tate the creation of a realistic re-
newal plan that will minimize both
the economic and physical disrup-
tion of existing businesses and as-
sure orderly, step-by-step devel-
opment.

After necessary local approvals are
received, the Park Plaza urban re-
newal plan will become the legal
vehicle permitting the use of emi-
nent domain, the replacement of
the present zoning restrictions with
broader and more flexible develop-
ment controls, and the discontin-
uance of certain city streets and
alleys to create reasonable dispo-
sition parcels.

More specifically, it will permit the
City and the Redevelopment Au-
thority to:

1. Create a new major thoroughfare
— New Charles Street — between
existing Charles Street and Broad-
way, and to relocate satellite
streets. This will provide better pe-
destrian and vehicular flow, de-
crease the acreage devoted to
paved areas, and result in blocks
whose size and shape make them
economically feasible for devel-
opment.

2. Improve and relocate public utili-
ties as required by development.
Approximately $9 million in city and
Federal funds will be requested for
this and for the improvement of the
Boston Common and Public Garden.

3. Utilize statutory planning powers
to ensure maximum development.
Thus, it may be possible to con-
struct a tower rising higher than
any built or planned in the city

to date.

4. Assemble sites through use of the
BRA'S condemnation powers, upon
conclusion of satisfactory financial
arrangements with a developer. Be-
yond the $9 million planned for
street and other public improve-
ments, public funds are not now
available for land acquisition. The
BRA, however, has the power to ac-
quire sites by eminent domain with

a firm commitment by responsible
redevelopers to purchase or lease
the site.

5. Cooperate in the formation of so-
called 121A Corporations, under
chapter 121A of the l\/lassachusetts
General Laws. This form of limited
dividend organization is available
to, and has been used by, private
developers in Massachusetts to fix
for 40 years the taxing formula re-
specting the developer's improve-
ments. Owner-occupants like the
Prudential Insurance Company are
the most common users. A121A
Corporation also has powers of
eminent domain.

The BRA will act as the planning
agency initially and as the admin-
istrative agency for the overall
project during the execution stage.

11

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 063

5 035 1

Procedures for
Interested Developers

12

Developers must submit letters of
interest to John D. Warner, Director,
Boston Redevelopment Authority,
City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
02201, by 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, Sep-
tember 1, 1970. The letter should
include a $100 fee payable to the
Boston Redevelopment Authority,
the identity of the developer, and a
description of his development
experience.

On receipt of a letter of interest,
the BRA will send a development
kit that w/ill include:

a description of existing
conditions

b BRA schematic plan for
the area

c planning and design con-
trols for development
parcels

d large-scale project maps
and photographs

e specific instructions and re-
quirements for Stage 2 sub-
missions

Once a developer has received the

development kit, BRA staff will be
available for consultation on all
matters pertaining to development
of Park Plaza.

Stage 2 submissions must include:

a proposals for any portion
of the project area or for
the entire site

b descriptions of the devel-
opment and design con-
cept. Schematic drawings
showing location of build-
ings, pedestrian and ve-
hicular movement systems,
basic building volumes and
public open spaces should
be included.

c a statement of estimated
development costs together
with financing and major
tenant commitments

d proposed timing of devel-
opment

Following receipt of Stage 2
submissions, the BRA staff will meet
with developers and their architects
to discuss development proposals.

Developer selection will be made
after Stage 2 submissions have
been received and consultations
held with interested developers.
Selection of development proposals
for execution will be based on proj-
ect objectives, design concept,
financial feasibility, and uses pro-
posed for the area. The detailed
urban renewal plan for Park Plaza
will incorporate the proposals of
the developers selected.

photo by
Aerial Photos of New England

-^ 1 r^m

^;;p*T~!

The Boston Area

Appendix:

Boston is emerging in the 1970's as
a dynamic and innovative urban
center. Always renowned for its
cultural and educational attain-
ments, Boston has become a leader
in finance, medicine, electronics, re-
search and tourism.

An unprecedented building boom
beginning with the Prudential Cen-
ter in 1965 served as the foundation
for Boston's new image. More than
$66 million of commercial office
space has been built in the last two
years. Eleven major office build-
ings worth over $300 million are
now underway and, in the next six
years, more than $1 billion will be
invested in development outside the
Park Plaza area alone.

Despite this new construction,
office space vacancy rates reached
a new low of 1 .7 percent in April of
1970 and have continued to decline.
The one percent vacancy rate for
luxury office space in the down-
town area and the Back Bay's 1 .1
percent vacancy rate reflect the
demand for continued development
in and around these areas.

Numerous other factors also indi-
cate the city's potential. Boston's
population has stabilized at
650,000, while the metropolitan area
population, now at 2.7 million, is
expected to reach 3.5 million by the
end of the decade. The total per-
sonal income of Boston residents
rose by one-third to $2.6 billion
from 1960 to 1970, and by 1970
Boston employed 500,000 persons
and produced $10 billion of goods
and services — accounting for 40
percent of all metropolitan area
jobs and 47 percent of the metro-
politan area production. Average
household personal income rose by
40 percent in the 1960's.

The seventh largest metropolitan
area in the United States, Boston
offers its residents: 29 public li-
braries; fine symphony, ballet and
opera companies; nine museums,
24 general hospitals; four profes-
sional athletic teams; an interna-
tional airport; two major railroads;
an extensive public transportation
system: five daily newspapers; 21
radio stations and six television
channels.

r#y

f

M

1T~~M

_^5c

JF^

^-^

^

V

^4fc

— -

r~~~7^

• TM^^^^

Pm

?v|

^

^ T r

--|-^

dj

V-

^^Bii 1

■M

^^^■^'^ 1

-£«

^ ■/-

r-^^^M

^^H

uttititmiii

f\_

\

K

Boston

Redevelopment
Authority

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Lally, Chairman
Melvin J. Massucco, Vice Chairman
James G. Colbert, Treasurer
Robert L. Farrell, IVIember
Patrick Bocanfuso, Member
John D. Warner, Director