It's time to make up a bunch of awards and hand them out to the good, the bad and the ugly in the Hub real estate universe. Yep, it's time for the Third Annual Curbed Boston Awards!
The meatiest debate of the year was a familiar one. From Central Square to Copley Square, from Fenway to Forest Hills, it is/was this: How dense can and should developers build? How tall, too? Everyone agrees that the Boston region suffers from an acute housing shortage, one exacerbated by poor planning over the last several decades; and that poor planning has often been the result of compromises in the face of community opposition to development deemed too goddamn big in one way or another.
As we see it, 1350 Boylston Street was the locus of the density debate in 2013. A proposal (rendered) for an 18-story, 195-foot building with 240 apartments aroused the ire of locals, who said it was "a little over the top" for the surrounding Fenway neighborhood (which, mind you, is seeing its share of developments). Current zoning at the site only allows for 115 feet, or about 10 stories. And there you have it: Are such sizes ever going to be enough to alleviate the region's housing shortage? Or, to put it more bluntly: Is 18 stories really that freakin' tall for a city like Boston?
· Why the Hub Housing Market Could Get Worse, Much Worse [Curbed Boston]
· 1350 Boylston and the Battle for Building Boston [Curbed Boston]
· Our Full Count of Construction Around Fenway [Curbed Boston]
· Giant Copley Place Tower Almost There [Curbed Boston]
· Not Down w/ Downzoning: a Manifesto on Central Square [Curbed Boston]
· Take the Orange Line to the Commons at Forest Hills [Curbed Boston]