LUXE VIEW IN BACK BAY
Preview party at Four Seasons digs
Some of Boston's finest filed into the Four Seasons on Boylston Street for an exclusive preview party for what will soon be the city's tallest residential building: the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences One Dalton.
“We're building something Boston has never seen before,” said
Richard Friedman, CEO of the developer behind the project, Carpenter & Co. of Cambridge, and future resident of the luxury complex.
The event took place in the $8 million model unit for One Dalton, which you can normally only see by appointment, and was hosted by Michael Carucci, executive vice president of Gibson
Sotheby’s International. The shindig was catered by James Beard Award-winning chef Lydia Shire of Scampo, and the mingling high-rollers included: Jack Huang, owner of Basho Japanese Brasserie and Douzo; Glen Kelley, publisher of Boston Common magazine; Marc Harris, owner of Salon Marc Harris; and Kinda Touma, a local fashion designer. The gang from Gibson Sotheby's was also among the swells, including owners Larry Rideout and Paul Mc
Gann, and CEO Colleen Barry. While people-watching was prime, the unit itself was enough to command full attention. Unlike other luxury condos popping up around town, the Four Seasons isn't trying to channel Miami or New York. Yes, it is sleek and modern, but it still oozes the Hub.
“We want to be contemporary, but not so contemporary that we lose sight of where we are,” said
Deborah Collins, director of sales for the upcoming residential complex. “We're in the Back Bay.”
Collins added that if buyers were to purchase one of these posh units as is — without any customizing — they can still expect deliberate details. We're talking Sequoia marble countertops, hardwood floors, vented gas cooking, ceilings just shy of 11 feet and appliances boasting brands like Sub-Zero, Wolf and Asko.
Friedman also said there will be a package room in each unit, so residents can have items like their dry cleaning safely delivered throughout the day without having to rush home. Structurally speaking, he added that they've put a massive tub of water atop the roof of the building, which will help stabilize the skyscraper when high winds might otherwise make it sway.
The precision makes sense given the dream team behind the building. Bill Gates— yes, that Bill Gates — is a financial backer in the project, and Henry Cobb, founding partner with I.M. Pei of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, is the architect. Once construction is completed on the hotel-condo hybrid, the building will stand 740 feet tall and will then assume the title of the tallest residential building in New England, surpassing its barely less tall predecessor, Downtown Crossing's Millennium Tower, by just 55 feet.
“When I built The Charles ( Hotel) 30-some-odd years ago, people said there was no market for condominiums,” Friedman said. “When I built The Liberty ( Hotel), they said it was in a lousy location. But we did it and keep doing it.”
Over the past year and a half, the structure has been slowly built from bedrock, up. But now, Friedman said, construction is picking up pace, as they complete about a floor each week.
“It'll be topped off late summer, early fall (2018),” he said. “There will also be a fantastic restaurant, but we're not ready to announce what it is yet.”
So just how much money do you need to buy yourself a little slice of this Four Seasons heaven? “To get in, I'd say it takes at least a couple million,” Carucci said. “For something nice, it would be about $8 million.”
Looks like it's about time you break open those piggy banks, Boston.