Boston's new status neighborhood? The sky.
But in the sky — the city's new status neighborhood — the fight is not over meeting the basic needs of life, but over lifestyle. It's a war of amenities. On beast mode.
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Club VIP is a pet day care and wellness spa in The Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
In a world where two-bedroom condos routinely go for $2 million plus, monthly homeowners associations costs can run you $2,000 or more, and penthouses sell for tens of millions of dollars, buildings are no longer just buildings. In the words of
There are resident-only restaurants run by fancy chefs. Golf simulators that come with a wet bar. Children's playrooms that are so perfectly staged no children should be allowed. Decks landscaped to evoke the Mediterranean, screening rooms for private movie nights, IV drips, 'Succession'-worthy work spaces, fitness centers with locker rooms more lavish than many homes. Places just for stretching. Service so gracious it spoils you for interactions with members of your own family.
The golf simulation room is part of The Collective business club in The Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
At The Four Seasons One Dalton, not only is the driveway covered, the sidewalks are heated. EchelonSeaport has three pools, one with a waterfall and cabanas; and a basketball court that converts into a pickleball court. At Raffles Boston Residences, there are butlers and perhaps something even better — a framing for your life that sounds like it was written by
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'Home,'
The basketball court and gym at Echelon Seaport.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
But perhaps most important — and competitive of all — are amenities for the dogs.
At
During a recent tour of the dog spa, Baumert said the building also offers canine acupuncture ($65) and Reiki. As he spoke, Lila, a long-haired Dachshund, looked on, perhaps eager to have her chakras read (for $50), or maybe saddened that she doesn't live at
The Raffles hotel in the Back Bay at 40 Trinity Place, Boston.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
There, in addition to glorious outdoor spaces for humans — including a pool and an open-air ninth-floor 'front porch' with rocking chairs — there's outside space for dogs, too. To run, and also to relieve themselves.
'Some buildings make them go indoors,' said Simona LaPosta, a real estate agent with Advisors Living, who was showing a reporter around. She allowed herself a quick wince, perhaps at the thought of the odor or maybe to drive home a selling point.
Many of the city's luxury towers have been built in areas that lack the charm of Back Bay or Beacon Hill, but who cares! There's no need to ever leave (except to fly to your other homes).
Club VIP is a pet day care and wellness spa in The Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
As David Bates, a real estate agent with William Raveis, wrote in his
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Indeed, the city's newest luxury tower, the
But no matter. 'Life Above the Clouds' is how the location is positioned on the website. 'Beginning at an elevation of more than 450 feet' the residences 'comprise a collection of extraordinary private homes and amenities in the sky.'
The kitchen, dining, and living area at the Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
If we were in New York City, nicknaming convention would practically demand we call this new neighborhood 'BoSky.'
Just a generation ago, Boston was a town where even doormen weren't that common. But in the summer of 2000, the game changed, according to a 2023
then
-astonishing claim: that life there would bring a 'Total Fulfillment of Needs.' Since then, more than 50 sizable developments featuring multimillion-dollar condos — both new construction and renovations — have opened in Boston.
And by now, woe to the building that doesn't offer at least a dog-washing station, indoors though it may be.
The game room in The Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
In late February, Bates, the real estate agent, did a keyword search for amenities in the 763 condos on the Boston market. The goal was to see what's become a must-have — even in nonluxury buildings.
'Concierge,
' he said, reading out a keyword. 'There are 224, even some in East Boston. One hundred and forty-one [listings] have a
pool
.
Decks
, that's 268.
Valet
, there are 95. Forty-nine have some kind of
sports simulator.
'
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A few years ago, with amenity madness blooming, the term 'fully amenitized' entered the lexicon (with coinage claimed by power broker Maggie Gold Seelig) and now it's even arrived in Beacon Hill.
The library lounge at Echelon Seaport.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
'
Alas, even in BoSky, sometimes there must be a nod to reality. As the website for Ritz-Carlton Residences over South Station tries to boast, the location provides '. . . immediate vehicular access to I-90, I-93 and the Ted Williams Tunnel.'
There's one nightmare no amount of amenitization can buy you out of: Boston drivers.
Choose a lane, buddy!
The lounge in The Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Beth Teitell can be reached at
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