Image courtesy of Boston Properties
Prudential Center landlord Boston Properties wants to transform the tower’s top stories into a “world-class” observatory.
The REIT closed the tower’s Top of the Hub restaurant and the tower’s old observation level closed to the public in April as its plans for the roughly $125 million project took shape.
“The Project is designed to provide guests with an immersive experience in local geography and history, show guests the City from a new, three-level indoor/outdoor 360[-degree] observation deck 750 feet in the air, and then facilitate guests building their own custom itineraries for travel into Boston and Greater Boston – to explore on foot the same areas just experienced from the air,” Boston Properties wrote in an application to the Boston Planning & Development agency filed Tuesday.
The observatory will total 44,514 square feet on floors 50 through 52, including a new 7,744-square-foot outdoor viewing area one floor below the old Top of the Hub location. In addition to hosting tourists and private events, Boston Properties suggested in its application it also envisions cultural programming taking place in the observatory. All Boston Public Schools students will be given a free visit between kindergarten and 12th grade.
To accommodate visitors, Boston Properties will construct a new pavilion entrance in part of the Prudential Mall’s south courtyard, which is only open to the public on a seasonal basis. The 6,919-square-foot pavilion will include features like self-service ticket kiosks for tourists visiting the observatory, as well as retail and food vendors. The kiosk would connect to the existing mall through the current Back Bay arcade leading to Boylston Street.
In a nod to the fate of the Hancock Tower’s own observatory level, Boston Properties’ application pledged to keep the space publicly accessible if it decided to cease the observatory’s operations.
If approved, construction is slated to start in the first quarter of 221 and finish by the second quarter of 2023.
