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The Slab

By
Real Estate Technology with ZipperAgent

The slab, as I now know it is called, has been a curiosity to me for years.  Why would a piece of prime real estate on Newbury St in Boston's Back Bay be vacant year after year.

During warm months the site is used by artists and street musicians as a venue for peddling their wares and songs. It is a gathering spot for riders of the T (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) and a convient spot to let your dog raom a little on his or her lease.  Beyond that it appears to have little praticle use and one wonders if it ever did.

It is not uncommon for commercial properties on Newbury Street to sell upwards of $6,000,000.00 so why is this property vacant year after year with no apparent attempts to use it as anything but a backrop for murals painted by the city?  Yet there it is near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Newbury St.

The answer it turns out lies in the history Boston and it's subway systems.  According to BostonStreetCars.com, " The building evidently once served a mode of transportation—not only are there double arches wide enough for vehicles to pass through, there are still ramps on the curb for vehicles to ascend.

"The Slab," it turns out, is one of Boston's best surviving trolley remnants—"The Slab" is the northern portal of the former surface station of Massachusetts Station, later known as Auditorium Station and today better known as Hynes Convention Center Station:                         

 

The surface Massachusetts Station on Newbury Street as it appeared on November 17th, 1932, when streetcars stopped there.Massachusetts Surface Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Station extended over the Boston and Albany Railroad right of way,now the Massachusetts Turnpike. The handwritten note "our offices here"—seems to indiacte the Boston Transit Building, which still stands at the corner of Mass Ave and Newbury Street, and was adjacent to the Massachusetts surface stationt. Both images courtesy Boston Public Library.

  

 

Comments (5)

Susan Feldman CRS
Keller Williams Eastside - Kirkland, WA
Real Estate Broker serving Seattle's Eastside

Very interesting! Great piece.

Jan 11, 2016 12:51 PM
Michael Thacker - Re/Max Real Estate Center - Louisville
Re/Max Real Estate Center - The Thacker Group - Louisville, KY
Your best friend who just happens to be a Realtor

Very interesting, but were you able to find out why it has not been rehabbed?

Jan 11, 2016 01:35 PM
Sandy Padula & Norm Padula, JD, GRI
HomeSmart Realty West & Florida Realty Investments - , CA
Presence, Persistence & Perseverance

Ray Stockwell Great piece of writing about a Boston landmark. Though I have never seen it, you solved my curiousity. Can you imagine the engineering in this building?

Jan 11, 2016 08:59 PM
Vera Gonzalez
RE/MAX Suburban, Inc. - Sterling Heights, MI
Gonzo For Real Estate

Very cool Ray Stockwell ! Love this, always seeking out cool facts related to our business!

Jan 11, 2016 11:54 PM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Thanks for sharing a little more history about your city Ray, I spent a few days in Boston a while ago and was overwhelmed with all of the great historical sites, it could take a lifetime to see them all.

Apr 13, 2016 03:01 PM
Ray Stockwell

I do love Boston

Apr 13, 2016 10:59 PM