Boston Properties is set to move forward with a 1.4-million-square-foot development above the MBTA’s Back Bay Station.
The Boston-based REIT plans a mixed-use office, retail, restaurant and residential development, according to a notification letter submitted today to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The company first approached state transportation officials in 2014 to discuss the framework for a large-scale project including two residential buildings and an office tower.
Part of the project would be built above the 2,013-space parking garage that the developer owns as part of its 200 Clarendon St. complex, commonly known as the Hancock Tower. It would include “significant functional and aesthetic improvements” to the 29-year-old transit station’s concourse, according to a letter to the BRA from Michael Cantalupa, a senior vice president at Boston Properties. The developer also would make an unspecified contribution to the cost of repairs for the long-malfunctioning ventilation system that struggles to clear exhaust from diesel commuter rail locomotives.
In January, the MBTA appointed Boston Properties as the property manager for the Amtrak, subway and commuter rail station. As property manager, Boston Properties is overseeing a $32 million station renovation project.
The lease was amended effective Aug. 1 after Boston Properties said it discovered pedestrian hazards related to expansion joints in the busway area and MassDOT was unable to furnish a certificate of occupancy for the station.
A consulting engineer, Westwood-based Hatch Mott MacDonald, estimated in July that permanent fixes for the ventilation repairs could range as high as $6 million.
A detailed project notification form will be filed with the BRA within a few months, according to the Cantalupa letter. In addition to BRA approvals, Boston Properties would need to negotiate air rights with MassDOT for parts of the site above the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Preliminary designs presented to MassDOT officials in 2014 showed the front of the station being extended toward the sidewalk of Dartmouth Street to make way for more restaurants and retailers, and creation of a central retail arcade through the center of the station. Boston Properties did not provide specifics on the office and residential towers’ design.
Boston Properties recently broke ground on the first phase of its North Station redevelopment project, which will include nearly 2 million square feet of offices, residential units and retail on a Causeway Street site in front of the TD Garden currently used for surface parking. It’s also developing 888 Boylston St., a 17-story office building in the Prudential Center complex scheduled for completion in 2016.
