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Originally Posted by chris08876
Although they must not be doing a good job. The amount of units u/c is very high, and the pipeline is strong in terms of development for the Boston Area or Metro. Lots of new condos going up, and rentals. Office market is picking up too. The skyline may see many new proposals come to life. Although I wish they didn't cut the height of 115 Winthrop Square, but I guess its better than nothing.
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Yeah, there is a fair amount U/C in Boston. Boston's fundamentals are very strong, it has tons of smart people and a skill based innovation economy. But, relative to the size of the MSA it's construction is basically just a drop in the bucket.
NIMBYISM is still a huge problem that is holding the region back. In this current building cycle, Boston has put up tons of 300 footers in its downtown on some of the last remaining developable land. Yeah, this is better than nothing. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is a huge underutilization of scarce land.
Pretty much every building that has broken ground in the past 10 years should have been at least 100 feet taller. Think of all the potential lost density. It has been 10 years, since Boston has completed a 400+ foot building and has 2 more U/C. Seattle, a smaller market, has added 5 400+ and has 8 more under construction.
Yeah, Boston has a handful of 500+ footers in the works. But, these are multi-year proposals and still well short of Seattle, Chicago, SF. I don't want tall buildings for the sake of tall buildings, but in a built out land constrained city like Boston it is the only way to go. The era of the 15/25-story Boston stump has to evolve into the 40-50 story Boston high rise.