Boston Magazine |
East Side Story
Three ambitious high-rise developments slated for East Boston promise greener pastures.
By James McCown
“A rising tide lifts all boats” goes the old economic saying, and East Boston may be the next body of evidence. Property values there are about to skyrocket as new developments aim to transform the working-class neighborhood (one of the city’s last) into condominium central.
Aesthetics-wise, there’s good and bad news. The bad: The first project planned—a mammoth 550-unit complex called Portside at Pier One—is decidedly uninspired. Designed by Boston architects DiMella Shaffer and set to break ground this summer, the whole seven-building steel frame ensemble is low on charm. It looks like a collection of bland 1960s-era garden apartment buildings, a sort of barge run aground, with a single redeeming quality: a green ribbon of outdoor space.
The good: Two other projects, Clippership Wharf and the Hodge Boiler Works, have far greater potential. The former, designed by local firm CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, animates the waterfront with an approximately 400-unit building and picturesque marina-like cove.
Just as Clippership will create a visually arresting shoreline, Eastie’s jaunty third project will add interest to an inconsistent skyline. In its former incarnation, Hodge Boiler Works produced the boiler used by Humphrey Bogart to power the African Queen. Today, the building is being transformed into 119 condominiums designed by Boston-based Albert, Righter & Tittmann in association with Arrowstreet. Current renderings call for a delightfully playful roof decorated with penthouses that resemble classical temples. Cognizant of industrial-chic appeal, the developers are retaining the Hodge name and the architects have proposed factory-like elements including metal framed windows with extra-wide bays.
Unlike other recent urban superdevelopments, Hodge—and, in fact, all three projects—will offer green areas that aren’t privatized enclaves but open and accessible to all. Which means that even if you can’t afford to live in the new East Boston, you can still meander through its fledgling parks.
Aesthetics-wise, there’s good and bad news. The bad: The first project planned—a mammoth 550-unit complex called Portside at Pier One—is decidedly uninspired. Designed by Boston architects DiMella Shaffer and set to break ground this summer, the whole seven-building steel frame ensemble is low on charm. It looks like a collection of bland 1960s-era garden apartment buildings, a sort of barge run aground, with a single redeeming quality: a green ribbon of outdoor space.
The good: Two other projects, Clippership Wharf and the Hodge Boiler Works, have far greater potential. The former, designed by local firm CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, animates the waterfront with an approximately 400-unit building and picturesque marina-like cove.
Just as Clippership will create a visually arresting shoreline, Eastie’s jaunty third project will add interest to an inconsistent skyline. In its former incarnation, Hodge Boiler Works produced the boiler used by Humphrey Bogart to power the African Queen. Today, the building is being transformed into 119 condominiums designed by Boston-based Albert, Righter & Tittmann in association with Arrowstreet. Current renderings call for a delightfully playful roof decorated with penthouses that resemble classical temples. Cognizant of industrial-chic appeal, the developers are retaining the Hodge name and the architects have proposed factory-like elements including metal framed windows with extra-wide bays.
Unlike other recent urban superdevelopments, Hodge—and, in fact, all three projects—will offer green areas that aren’t privatized enclaves but open and accessible to all. Which means that even if you can’t afford to live in the new East Boston, you can still meander through its fledgling parks.
Originally published in Boston magazine, July 2006
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