Boston Properties may seek tax breaks from the city of Boston and infrastructure grants from the state for its proposed 1.3 million-square-foot redevelopment above the MBTA’s Back Bay Station.
The Boston-based REIT received a controversial tax break in the waning days of the Menino administration that cleared the way for its $1-billion North Station joint venture redevelopment, which broke ground in January.
Boston Properties proposes 1.26 million square feet of development on 5.2 acres in Back Bay, including a 1- or 2-story retail addition built atop the 29-year-old transit station and redevelopment of its neighboring 100 Clarendon St. parking garage. Three new towers containing live-work-shop space would rise on the site according to detailed plans submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) this week. The developer wants to break ground on the Back Bay/South End Gateway project in mid-2017.
In the filing, Boston Properties says the Back Bay Station site is isolated from surrounding neighborhoods, making it difficult to access the site and creating urban blight conditions. As a result, it may seek tax breaks under Chapters 121A and 121B and possibly state aid under the I-Cubed public infrastructure program. The developer wants to move the MBTA bus drop-off area off-site to make way for a 34-story residential tower.
Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim, who opposed an extension of the BRA’s urban renewal powers last week, said the project shouldn’t receive financial incentives.
“I would be very skeptical of any tax relief for such a high-end project,” Zakim said.
The project would generate $16 million in new real estate taxes, according to the filings.
It would consist of four distinct elements:
- A 26-story tower containing 575,000 square feet of office space and 27,000 square feet of retail would be built on a parcel where the westernmost parking garage drum is currently located, and 200,000 square feet of garage space would be reconstructed.
- A 28-story, 240-unit residential tower would be built following demolition of the easternmost parking drum alongside the existing garage.
- The station’s bus drop-off area would be moved off-site to make way for a 34-story tower containing 360 residences and 8,500 square feet of retail on the ground and second floors.
- Up to 65,000 square feet of new retail space would be built in a 1- or 2-story addition built on top of the station.
Approval is contingent upon an air rights agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for four state-owned parcels that sit above the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The plans contemplate the potential closure of the Massachusetts Turnpike on-ramp located under the Garage West parcel, the least-traveled of three westbound ramps to the highway in Back Bay. Under that alternative, a new exit ramp could be built from the garage connecting to a MassDOT service road and Trinity Place.
The project joins several high-profile developments in Back Bay, including the proposed 31-story Trinity Place hotel and condo project, the BRA-approved John Hancock Co. 26-story office tower at 380 Stuart St. and a 52-story residential tower at Copley Place.
Zakim said the upgrades to the station are “long overdue,” but he has concerns about the scope of the project given the amount of development in the area.
“It’ll be a robust community process on this one,” he said.
