A $20 million, 7-story office building has been proposed for 4-6 Newbury St. in Boston.
Developers of a controversial plan to replace a Newbury Street garage with a $20 million office building may have an ally in the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
“Some neighbors don’t want the new building to exceed the present garage height, but it might be fair for our staff and the neighborhood to consider some movement upward to be consistent with the adjacent building,” said John F. Palmieri, BRA director.
Newbury Garage Assoc. has proposed demolishing the 6-story garage on the first block of Newbury Street in the Back Bay and replacing it with a 7-story, terra cotta-and-glass structure. If approved, the 49,000-square-foot building would offer retail on the first three floors and offices on the upper levels. The joint venture of Centremark Properties and Bristol Property Management needs city approval to exceed zoning height limits of 65 feet.
But many residents and some public officials have lobbied to keep the height to within zoning. Opponents fear that approval for a taller building at 84 feet will set an example for other properties in the historic neighborhood.
In a letter to the BRA, the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB) said the proposed building exceeds zoning by nearly 30 percent.
“While we are not opposed to the demolition of the garage and appreciate the potential removal of curb cuts on Newbury Street, we are concerned that the precedent set by this proposal would overturn zoning that protects Newbury Street,” said the letter from Jacquelin Yessian, NABB’s chairwoman, and Manya Chylinski, the group’s president.
NABB officials declined to comment on Palmieri’s remarks. But privately some of the group’s members fear the BRA would allow the increased height.
Susan Prindle, chairwoman of the NABB’s Architecture Committee, who also wrote to the BRA in opposition to the project, declined comment on Palmieri’s statement. But at a public hearing last month she said, “This is totally out of whack. With mechanicals, the height would be almost 100 feet.”
Peter J. Bassett, one of the project’s principals, disputes suggestions that the building would be much taller than the garage. He insists that the added 19 feet would have “minimal” impacts to the neighborhood. He noted that while the parking garage is 6 stories, the seventh floor roof also is used to park cars.
Still, Bassett said he understands why some neighbors would be concerned about setting a precedent for slightly taller buildings. But he added that the tradeoff is worth it.
“We are replacing seven revenue-producing stories with seven revenue-producing stories,” he told Banker & Tradesman. “So maybe that’s not such a bad precedent for an allowed use on the street. If you took a poll, the garage would be voted one of the city’s top-five ugliest buildings. It’s a dark hole, an unattractive building and it’s certainly not lending anything to the vibrancy and activity of the premier first block of Newbury Street.”
‘A Dream Come True’
In a letter to the BRA, state Rep. Martha M. Walz, a Democrat whose district includes the Back Bay, acknowledged that no one would miss the nondescript garage if it were razed. But she noted that the building’s lack of appeal does not justify making its replacement taller.
“Ridding ourselves of an unattractive buildings is no justification for the zoning code variances that would be required for the proposed building,” she wrote.
Of the 115 letters to the BRA about the project, 41 are opposed, four are neutral and 70 are in favor. But at least 39 of the communications from proponents were form letters.
The garage is located at 4-6 Newbury St. opposite the TAJ Boston, formerly the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and is surrounded by upscale shops. The brick building was constructed in 1980 to provide parking for the Carlton House at 2 Commonwealth Avenue and the Ritz. Newbury Garage Assoc. paid $15.9 million for the facility last summer.
“This is a dream come true for a Boston developer,” said Bassett.
If approved by the BRA, the mix of uses would include 28,200 square feet of office, 20,800 square feet of retail and 16 indoor parking spaces. Nader Golestaneh, the project’s other principal, said they expect retail rents for the property to be over $100 per square foot while the offices could fetch as much as $50 per square foot.
