Thanks for the blog! Has anything interesting or of note happened in the month since you’ve posted this? Has the mood in Chinatown changed? Are there any artist renditions of the project available?

Ryan: There was a piece on the Dainty Dot in this past Sunday’s May 6, 2007 edition of the Boston Globe by Tom Palmer. I think the mood is still the same. What was most interesting in the Boston Globe report by Palmer was the Mayor saying that he felt the height was too big, it should be about “18-20 stories”. This is coming from a Mayor another Globe columnist Steve Bailey once wrote, “there was no tower he did not like.” I don’t think the opinions of the project has changed much since April, those who were for it are still for it, those against it are still against it — what is new however, is that I hear some grumbling from some other sources that I can’t name yet. My prediction is that if Ori doesn’t do something to satisify the discontent, a lawsuit is waiting to happen.

[1] http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/06/question_of_scale_is_tower_too_tall_for_chinatown/

I don’t have any of the artist renditions because they were presented at public meetings and I didn’t take any photos. If you really like to see, do a google search for Ori Ron at the Hudson Group, or contact their architectual firm Elkus/Manfredi. Another place could be to Boston Redevelopment Authority, they call the Dainty Dot as 120 Kingston St. Since the developers of 120 Kingston St. filed a Project Notification Form (PNF) which includes design plans, the public has a right to access it.

The article “Question of scale: Is tower too tall for Chinatown?” had an attached graphic showing the relative sizes of local Boston buildings. Source: Boston Globe | Date: May 6, 2007 | By: Thomas C. Palmer Jr.
Folks who live across the street at Lafayette Lofts 88 Kingston Street have followed the proposal regarding the 120 Kingston with great interest. Developers and realtors assured the folks who purchased condominiums in Lafayette Lofts, that the abandoned Dainty Dot building across the street was zoned for only 100 feet in height. We were told that our sunlight and southern view would be protected. Now we find that the Hudson Group wants the Boston Redevelopment Authority to change the zoning, so they can erect a 300-foot building that will tower an additional 20 stories higher than 88 Kingston. The folks living in Lafayette Lofts will be significantly negatively affected by this excessive height, in several ways as follows.
1) As shown by the recently released shadow studies, the amount of sunlight reaching Lafayette Lofts will be decreased to only two hours per day in the winter months. In the summer the sunlight will be lost for six hours each day.
2) The folks on the sixth and seventh floors in particular, will lose privacy, and the southern view of an expansive sky.
3) The wind studies show that a 27-story building will create a tunnel effect along Essex Street blowing trash and air-born particulates into the faces of the people on the street.
4) This proposal will significantly decrease the resale value of the Lafayette Lofts condominiums.
5) The proposed height is out of scale with the general height of buildings in both the Leather District and Chinatown. A 27-story building across the street will completely dwarf our building and change the appealing character of the human scale of the current neighborhood.
We support the development of 120 Kingston. However, there is no reason that a developer cannot make a reasonable profit by either rehabbing or replacing the existing building WITHIN the current zoning restrictions. The developers of our building at 88 Kingston were successful doing this and, except for greed, there is no reason that the Hudson Group cannot do the same. The zoning laws are just that - they are laws - not suggestions. They are in place to protect hard working folks like us who have made a very significant investment in the City of Boston. It would be wrong for the Boston Redevelopment Authority to change the zoning and decrease the property values of the owners in 88 Kingston. A public meeting sponsored by the Boston Redevelopment Authority is scheduled for Thursday November 1, 2007 in the conference room of the Chinese Economic Development Council, Inc. at 65 Harrison Avenue, Chinatown, Boston 02111. We invite you to attend.