Another development in Boston’s burgeoning Seaport District is set to replace a parking lot with 750 condominiums and apartments, more places to shop and a new public plaza.
The upcoming phase of the 6.3-million-square-foot Seaport Square development calls for three 22-story towers containing nearly 900,000 square feet of residences and 125,000 square feet of retail. That comes in addition to 834 apartments and 260,000 square feet of retail now under construction in the first phase of the 23-acre project and an office building and hotel set to break ground by early August.
The $700-million plans by Seaport Square master developer Boston Global Investors (BGI) apply to two parcels called M1 and M2 bounded by Seaport Boulevard, Congress Street, East Service Road and B Street.
Architect Kohn Pedersen Fox Assoc. considered various designs for the site before settling on a three-tower configuration, BGI CEO John Hynes III said.
“It’s three and a half acres, so that comes with some challenges,” Hynes said. “If you put in two buildings, the floor plates get too big. We found if you put four buildings on it, the buildings get too close together.”
The MBTA Silver Line tunnel runs diagonally between the two parcels, requiring two separate underground garages totaling 752 spaces and separate loading docks and ramps.
The three buildings would top out at 256 feet with 42-foot-tall podiums for the retail space, according to designs recently submitted to city officials.
In contrast to the boxy architecture of many recent Seaport developments, each building has various heights and setbacks from the property line to give the appearance of multiple structures. Stepbacks on higher floors provide space for large terraces.
“We didn’t want it to look like an office building,” Hynes said.
The final design lent itself to a 9,000-square-foot public square at the center of the property, with pedestrian access from all four sides. The plaza could be a destination for events and programming throughout the year, Hynes said.
The exact breakdown of condos versus apartments will be determined by market conditions, Hynes said.
The project is moving forward following a March purchase-and-sale agreement with an undisclosed foreign institutional investor, which will buy out BGI partner Morgan Stanley’s 95 percent stake in the properties. The transaction is expected to close following final city approvals.
While the master plan for Seaport Square has been approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, individual parcels are subject to review by the Boston Civic Design Commission. The panel reviewed the plans July 7 and was generally supportive, BRA spokesman Nicholas Martin said.
Office towers have dominated development in the neighborhood until recently, when residential projects have emerged primarily in the form of luxury apartments. The Fallon Co.’s Twenty-Two Liberty complex on the Fan Pier, which is already sold out ahead of a year-end opening, was the first condo tower in the current wave of development. The next project will be 50 Liberty, a 252,000-square-foot condo tower expected to break ground in late summer.
Other residential projects in the neighborhood include 100 Pier 4, a 369-unit luxury apartment tower, which is more than 60 percent leased since opening in March. Watermark Seaport, a 346-unit apartment building on Seaport Boulevard, is scheduled to open in January. Construction began last year on One Seaport Square, which will contain 834 apartments in the Benjamin and VIA complexes above retail space including Equinox fitness club, Kings nightclub and ShowPlace ICON cinemas.
Groundbreaking is expected this fall on a nine-story, 100-unit condo tower at the former Anthony’s Pier 4 site on Northern Avenue. The $500-million project – a partnership between New York developer Tishman Speyer and Chinese insurers Ping An and China Life – also includes a 13-story office building.
BGI also is set to break ground by early August on a 326-room hotel and 20,000-square-foot office building on Seaport Boulevard, directly across from One Seaport Square. The project was delayed by a recently dismissed lawsuit filed by an abutter, Waltham developer Crosspoint Assoc. London-based hotel chain Yotel is partnering with BGI on the micro hotel project.
The development also includes a new chapel for Our Lady of Good Voyage. It will move from its 63-year-old home on Northern Avenue and the new site will be donated to the Archdiocese of Boston.
