A skyscraper is headed for South Station in downtown Boston.

It would be nice if they could tie in the long discussed track expansion with this project.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/20 ... story.html

Reminds me of this: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article ... tail-plans

In other words, that skyscraper does NOT compliment the station well at all. And it also looks like Trump Tower in Chicago.

The real question is why are they putting 900 parking spaces into a building built on top of one of the largest transit hubs in New England?

Pensyfan19 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:41 pm Reminds me of this: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article ... tail-plans

In other words, that skyscraper does NOT compliment the station well at all. And it also looks like Trump Tower in Chicago.

God no! It's a lot different and better looking than that Chicago concept.

Ok. Sorry for bringing up that proposal. My point is that the building does not compliment the station well.

Remember during the Big Dig when the approach to the draws had to be frozen to keep it from shifting and even that didn't work out well initially cuzza frost-heaving? Remember even more that BOS is on made and/or reclaimed land? A 51-story tower? What could possibly go wrong? Well, it has been a while since the Hub was the focus of an engineering masterpiece.

That's not even remotely related to this... one is keeping earth in place while digging under it, this would involve digging and pouring some sort of a foundation. Somehow they made the Prudential and Hancock towers work in the Back Bay. I think they can pull this off without reinventing the wheel.

Here is an interesting fact. Most cities that have skyscrapers are because they are located in an area where the bedrock is not too deep.

The foundation for virtually all skyscrapers in the world sit on the bedrock below. They just pour pilings deep enough to anchor the foundation to the bedrock.

There are very very few skyscrapers built where they can't reach the bedrock below for the foundation. There was some massive feats of engineering show on The Science Chanel on how they made the foundation for one such skyscraper.

Putting a skyscraper over South Station is sure to mess something up. Like if they want to put the Boston-Providence electric trains in the basement or build a North-South Rail Link. Or additional subway tunnels. Or if they ever want to expand the bus station. Or ventilate the diesel fumes.

danib62 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:29 pm That's not even remotely related to this... one is keeping earth in place while digging under it, this would involve digging and pouring some sort of a foundation. Somehow they made the Prudential and Hancock towers work in the Back Bay. I think they can pull this off without reinventing the wheel.

It's actually even easier than that. The footings for this building are already in place, built when the station was renovated in the 80s. The structure will be supported by four archways, rising from the existing footings.

This article seems to show a rendering of the arches over the outdoor concourse at the headhouse end of the platform. It looks a lot less like a gloomy underground station à la Penn Station or Back Bay than I originally feared.

In the San Francisco development mentioned, apparently the new terminal for Caltrain, AC Transit, and others is to be called the Salesforce Terminal (rather than Eastbay or something similar). Somehow I have trouble imagining an Avelia being announced in Penn Station as leaving for Route 128, Back Bay, and Salesforce ...

Let's all hope they continue to call it South Station.

This looks like a continuation of a previous conversation back in 2016 here - http://www.railroad.net/viewtopic.php?f ... skyscraper

Linked in case people want some historical context.

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:30 am Putting a skyscraper over South Station is sure to mess something up. Like if they want to put the Boston-Providence electric trains in the basement or build a North-South Rail Link. Or additional subway tunnels. Or if they ever want to expand the bus station. Or ventilate the diesel fumes.

Proposals I have seen show the NS Rail Link tunnel starting way west of the station (between Back Bay and South Station) because of the slope needed and passing just west of the station under Atlantic Avenue. There also was an early proposal to run the tunnel east of the station under Dorchester Avenue.

There should be no interference from the new tower or it's footings because the tunnel will not run directly under South Station.

Intersested parties should look at this new website.
https://southstationairrights.com/

And then review the YouTube video on this link
https://southstationairrights.com/construction-schedule

One has to wonder what impact this will have on either South Station Expansion or North-South Rail Link.

I cynic might say that the South Station Expansion project was effectively put on hold to allow for the this real estate project to move forward. The same person might wonder what the foundations of the new "mixed-use tower" will have on the alignments of any proposed North-South Rail Link.

The icing on the cake is news that 895 new parking spaces will be built as part of this project.

Why in the world would anyone think it is okay to built 895 parking spaces at a location in downtown Boston that has transit connections to just about every other location in the Boston Metro area. (Answer - because this is all about the real estate, and has nothing to do with moving people via public transit.)