The Boston Globe - 17.10.2019

A8 The Region The Boston Globe THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019

models, and aspiring influenc-
ers walk away with photos. But
they’ve also been known to
leave behind trash. Their con-
versations echo up the road.
Strangers perch on people’s
doorsteps and peek through
windows.
“Just think if you lived
here,” said one fed-up resident,
who refused to give his name.
“It’s not even that interesting a
street,” he grumbled. “It’s an al-
leyway.”
Acorn Street, which was
laid out in 1823, has long been
a must-see spot for tourists. It’s
featured on JetBlue’s website,
and a picture of it greets travel-
ers arriving at Logan Airport.
Tour companies promote it to
customers as a place to check
out while in town.
But in recent years what
had been a steady trickle of vis-
itors has become a flood — a
surge that residents say seems
largely fueled by social media,
where references to the “most
photographed street in Ameri-
ca” are plentiful.
When Nonnie Burnes
moved to the neighborhood,
Instagram was still almost a
decade away. Now, Burnes is a
spokeswoman for a group of
residents called the Acorn
Street Association — “And it is
dramatically different,” she
said.
The group first formed in
the 1980s to prevent the city
from paving over the river-
stones, she said. But decades
later, the stones are a big part
of what draws so many — too
many — to Acorn Street.

uACORN STREET
Continued from Page A

The influx recently prompt-

ed the association to explore

new ways to help control the

number of visitors, many of

whom stage long impromptu

photo sessions all along the pri-

vate way. At least once, some-

one held a wedding celebration

right in the middle of the

street.

Perhaps the worst offense,

Burnes said, was the time a res-

ident was greeted by a smart-

phone on a selfie stick that was

aimed directly into a dining

room window.

A quick scan through Insta-

gram shows couples kissing in

the road, barefoot dancers

hanging from the lamp posts,

and strangers smiling between

decorative gourds.

The imagery is quintessen-

tial New England. But zoom

out and the street looks less

like a Colonial village and more

like a carnival attraction.

Laura Talbot, who had been

taking photos of her daughter,

Aspen, sympathized with the

residents.

“If I lived here, I’d have a big

problem with it,” she admitted.

“And here we are, contributing

to it.”

Because Acorn Street is a

private way, it’s not managed

by the city. Maintenance, up-

keep, and liability falls on the

shoulders of residents, Burnes

said.

City officials said that it’s

within the rights of Acorn

Street’s residents, whose

homes’ assessed values range

from about $1 million to up-

ward of $6 million, to choose

when and how to allow the

general public access to the

street — if at all.

So far, residents have resort-

ed to calming measures, none

of which have worked too well.

Signs warn against trespassing

and urge professional photog-

raphers to reach out to the as-

sociation for a permit to shoot

there.

Prices to use the street for

such purposes range from $

per hour to $3,000 per day, ac-

cording to the association’s

website.

Some photographers have

learned it’s better to just steer

clear of the area. But others

have developed stealth meth-

ods to skirt the costs while also

avoiding being yelled at by resi-

dents.

Kate Lemmon, owner of

Kate L. Photography, said a res-

ident has threatened to call the

police on her before. She tells

clients to keep a low profile.

“I completely understand

where the residents are coming

from,” Lemmon said. “But... I

think it’s important to realize

that they are on a really histori-

cally significant spot in Boston

and the photos bring a lot of

joy to people.”

But the vast majority of visi-

tors to Acorn Street aren’t be-

ing paid for their pictures. And

for now, residents are weighing

their options about what, if

anything, to do about it.

“We would like there to be

fewer people,” Burnes said.

“We think it would be nicer, ac-

tually, for the visitors if there

were fewer people, and we’re

trying a bunch of things to see

whether we can lessen the traf-

fic.”

At least one homeowner en-

joys the deluge of Instagram-

mers.

On a recent Tuesday,

Charles C. Dumbaugh sat on

the steps of his home and

watched as tourists passed like

schools of salmon.

Dumbaugh’s multistory row

houseisadornedwithaweath-

ered replica of a Civil War-era

battle flag that has shown up in

several dozen Instagram pho-

tos just since Saturday.

“Hello!” he called out to one

group after another. “And

where are you from?”

Jacksonville, Seattle, Nash-

ville.

After the introductions, he

launched into a short history of

the quaint street. As he talked,

a couple several feet away

hoisted a selfie stick into the

air, looked up at the camera,

and smiled.

Snap. Snap.

Steve Annear can be reached at

[email protected].

Follow him on Twitter

@steveannear.

pension fund manager APG
Asset Management and the
New York private investment
firm Dune Real Estate Partners.
The state Department of Trans-
portation will also need to bless
the investors and the complete
engineering plans for what is
likely to be one of the most ex-
pensive projects launched dur-
ing Boston’s building boom.
Hines expects to spend four
years building the tower, which
will soar above the platform be-
tween South Station’s historic
terminal and the rail lines,
without interrupting commuter
rail or Amtrak service. It would
also build a new entrance to the
complex on Atlantic Avenue,
alongside the main building,
and expand South Station’s ad-
jacent bus depot.
The 1.1 million-square-foot
structure is the first of three
planned phases of a huge proj-
ect to remake South Station.
Plans also call for a 349-foot ho-
tel or residential building above
the tracks and a 279-foot office
building atop the bus depot.
Hines, which has hired the

uTOWER
Continued from Page A

local construction giant Suffolk

as general contractor, wouldn’t

divulge cost estimates, but a

comparably sized office tower

underway over the Government

Center Garage will cost about

$900 million, without the add-

ed engineering challenges of

building atop a train station.

Hines, a global office devel-

oper, has built high-profile tow-

ers from Manhattan to Shang-

hai. It led the development of

the 500 Boylston-222 Berkeley

complex in the Back Bay in the

1980s. It has been working on

the South Station project for

more than 20 years.

The South Station project

was conceived by the real estate

arm of Tufts University in the

early 1990s and approved by

the BPDA in 2006. After falling

dormant during the recession

in the late 2000s, it was revived

three years ago, when Hines

signed a financing deal with the

US arm of the Chinese builder

Gemdale Properties, and recon-

figured its plan to devote the

upper floors to condos.

But construction never

started, and Gemdale eventual-

ly sold its interest in the project

to APG and Dune. Terms have

not been disclosed.

APG, which manages about

$570 billion in Dutch pension

funds, is one of a growing num-

ber of European and Canadian

pension funds to invest in office

projects in downtown Boston,

drawn by the chance to hold

long-term assets in a market

that has a generally stable econ-

omy.

Dune,therealestateoff-

shoot of a private equity fund

cofounded by Treasury Secre-

tary Steve Mnuchin (who has

since sold his stake), focuses on

“distressed, deep value-add and

contrarian investing,” accord-

ing to its website.

Pouring hundreds of mil-

lions of dollars into such a com-

plex and risky project is a state-

ment of confidence in Boston’s

office market at a time of eco-

nomic uncertainty, said Aaron

Jodka, managing director of cli-

ent services at the real estate

firm Colliers.

“When you’re a developer,

you have to look to the future.

That’s the nature of the busi-

ness,” Jodka said.

“This is a transformative

project on arguably the most

desirable transit location you

can imagine in Boston.”

It’s also one of several huge

office towers that would change

the look of downtown’s skyline

and add vast amounts of space

to the city’s office market.

At 678 feet, the South Sta-

tion tower — designed by New

Haven-based Pelli Clarke Pelli

— would be taller than the

nearby One Financial Center

and the Federal Reserve Bank

building, both of which are

about 600 feet in height. It

would be a bit shorter than the

691-foot Winthrop Center Tow-

er under construction on near-

by on Federal Street.

As at Winthrop Center, work

on the South Station tower

would probably start without

tenants being signed up to oc-

cupy it — an unusual move

among Boston’s risk-averse

office developers. It would also

follow several other large office

building projects in the down-

town area — Winthrop Center,

One Congress, and the redevel-

oped One Post Office Square —

that are still seeking major ten-

ants.

The four-year construction

timeline makes pre-leasing im-

practical, according to Perry,

the Hines executive. But the de-

veloper and its new investors

appear confident enough that

they are willing to break

ground now and hope the ten-

ants come later.

Even if the economy sours in

the next year or two, Jodka

said, the project seems like a

safe bet, especially because the

location is likely to remain at-

tractive.

“When you have a four-year

construction cycle you have the

potential to live through a

downturn and deliver the

building when things are pick-

ing up again,” he said. “Or you

sign tenants early and are insu-

lated from that.”

Tim Logan can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

him on Twitter at

@bytimlogan.

FirstOK’din’06,SouthStationtowerlookspoisedforagroundbreaking

CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2019

An analyst says the planned South Station project signals

confidence in Boston’s commercial real estate market.

TinyBostonstreet

drawsbigcrowds

SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF

A woman took a photo of Acorn Street, called by many on social media the “most photographed street in America.”

CHICK

COREA

CHRISTIAN

MCBRIDE

BRIAN

BLADE

CHICK COREA TRILOGY

SUNDAY OCTOBER 20 • 7PM

SYMPHONY HALL

celebrityseries.org

“The interplay between the three was constant,

an even match of virtuosos listening to each other

intently and never forgetting to swing.”

—SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

THIS

WEEKEND!

OPEN HOUSES

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 1:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23 8:15 AM

Independent | PK – 12 | Co-Ed | Chestnut Hill, MA | brimmer.org

WALK-IN-WEDNESDAYS

NOVEMBER 6 & 20

DECEMBER 11

To advertise inThe Boston Globeplease call 617-929-1500 or visit us at http://www.bostonglobe.com/classifieds