Posted on 03/31/2009 5:24:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Boston’s tallest building, the John Hancock Tower, was sold at a foreclosure auction today in New York City for $660.6 million, according to the Boston Globe.
The glass-clad landmark was purchased by a parternership between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners. The firms have been buying up the building’s debt since June, according to the Globe.
The auction was over shortly after it began, with only one entity interested in purchasing the Hancock Tower. Bidding closed in less than 10 minutes, the paper reports.
Normandy, which is based in Morristown, N.J., will take over management of the building. The company has more than 4 million square feet of space under management in Boston, according to the Globe. Normandy also purchased a property in California for $304.8 million at the auction.
Don't hear much about the commercial real estate market tanking.
Boy, that is one ugly building.
When it opened it was dangerous to walk under as the glass windows kept popping out and falling.
Pei is extremely overrated. Most of what he has designed is, in my opinion, ugly. I suspect in another generation his designs will not be very highly regarded.
They called it the “plywood palace” because the windows were replaced with plywood while they tried to figure out what was popping them out. My understanding is that there is some really serious harmonic balancer in the building now. I’d like to know more about how it works.
... and engineering-wise, some of his buildings are real turkeys. When the Hancock Tower was being designed, engineers calculated the building needed inertial dampeners to prevent swaying, and catastrophic collapse.
Initially, they thought the building only needed a dampener to resist winds hitting the large flat face of the building. Luckily, an engineer computer tested the building for strong winds against the short face of the building and found that without dampeners for both planes of motion, the building might collapse.
You can engineer a non-tapered skyscraper, but it is not as inherently stable as one which is tapered or stepped.
C’mon now...I remember that with deep pride. This city, the capitol of my home state, and small state was at one time in history THE HOME OF THE TALLEST WOODEN BUILDING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. NO OTHER PLACE CAN (or would want to) MAKE SUCH A STATEMENT.
He designed a huge office tower in Dallas with NO parking. The Dallas City Hall was an ambitious design, but not particularly functional. The Meyerson is the opposite - functional, but ugly.
You said it. That pyramid at the Louvre in Paris is a piece of crap. I have not talked to anyone who has been there who likes it.
I am not surprised. That is all the building is: a monotonous extension of glass into the sky. It destroys the character of the architecture of Boston.
If you have cash right now, you rule. This building sold for HALF of what it was sold for in 2005!
Where’s my Pei at, fool!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
That was funny. Thanks for the laugh.
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