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Old downtown nightclub to be replaced by new 30-story building - but facade would remain
By adamg on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 10:45pm
Architect's rendering.
The new owner of the old Felt nightclub at 533 Washington St. in Downtown Crossing today submitted his plans for a new tower that would include 94 apartments, restaurant space and a two-floor "non-profit incubator office space."
Rafi Properties says it will keep - and renovate - the four-story facade of the current building, which dates to 1866 and which, before Felt, housed a restaurant and before that a sewing-machine company.
The apartments would be split among studios and one- and two-bedroom units, according to the filing with the BRA.
Rafi is proposing storage space for bicycles but no parking spaces; tenants with cars will have to find spaces at nearby garages.
The Project will add to the significant ongoing transformation of Downtown Crossing from a predominantly commercial district to a mixed-use district with a growing resident population. The Project will enliven and re-energize the now vacant site between the Boson Opera House and the Modern Theater with a high quality food and beverage establishment, collaboration space, and apartments. The Project will provide housing proximate to public transportation and within walking and biking distance of numerous jobs and amenities.
533 Washington St. project notification form (21M PDF).
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Comments
I've been wondering why that
I've been wondering why that place has been empty for so long. I walk by it several times a week, and it always seemed odd that nothing new had opened in a prime space in an area with so much development going on. I guess they've been planning to replace it all along, not rent it.
The idea about the new
The idea about the new building but, it will be better if they will include car garage within the building. Because, it can attract more people to come on that building.
Besides terrible sentence structure...
thats the worst idea ever
People will be interested
People will be interested regardless of the parking situation. DTX could stand to bring in more people without cars!
Or they could charge hundreds
Or they could charge hundreds less in rent because they don't waste money and space on parking, making the building attractive to people who can walk two blocks to their office or the subway.
Yup
There's zero reason parking needs to be on-site for a building in this location. There's literally zero street parking in that neighborhood, so new residents will either rent parking in an existing garage, or they won't have a car.
You mean figuratively
There are at least 4 meter spaces in front of the post office.
No, I meant Literally
There is literally no RESIDENT parking in that area.
Your original post is still figuratively
To say there is "literally" no parking in the area means just that- there is no parking. In the figurative sense, there is basically no parking but yeah, there is parking, but not practical for people living there. Also, there are parking lots in the area, thus meaning there is literally parking in the area.
For what it's worth, if there is a part of Boston where zero parking spaces makes sense, it would be here, so I don't think people should be griping too much about this. If they cannot get tenants (or buyers) because of the parking issue, they should figure out a way for residents to get parking otherwise.
Surely you jest!
These apartments will most likely go to students of the surrounding schools. They'll suck it up with the bloated rents for a few years, then move out of the city.
No it won't
1. The building will do just fine and attract plenty of people without a garage.
2. It's an extremely narrow site and probably couldn't accommodate a garage in any case.
3. Garages drive up housing costs.
..ewwww....
"more people to..." the rendering of that building ain't THAT nice.....
(Horrible imagery of Robert Campbell in a dirty raincoat shuffling around the corners of Copley Square with a bottle of Jergens.)
Well...
It is in the old Combat Zone. Maybe they're trying to revive the feeling of the neighborhood?
> it can attract more people
> it can attract more people to come on that building.
http://i.imgur.com/lqKlotB.png?fb
Kind of off topic, but isn't
Kind of off topic, but isn't there a non-profit incubator space further north on Washington, near Davids Tea & Boston Shawarma?
Nice lookin' place
They did a nice job with this rendering. It looks great.
Build it!
Who's viewing who?
I have no problem with the 'pencil tower' skyscrapers they're constructing these days. But, these things have windows on all sides. What happens when the property next door decides they want a skyscraper as well?