After years of economic stagnation, commercial real estate developers are once again building big in Boston.
The news last week that HYM Investment Group is moving forward with a plan to redevelop the Government Center Garage in Downtown Boston was the most recent announcement from the development community looking to erect towering new buildings, some that are essentially mini-neighborhoods unto themselves.
HYM’s 2.4-million-square-foot project joins a list of projects attempting to go big in Boston, including John Rosenthal’s 1.3-million-square-foot Fenway Center, Millennium Partners’ skyscraper Filene’s redevelopment and two 22-story towers at Seaport Square.
The Government Center proposal includes six buildings varying in height from 600 to 60 feet. Once the proposed project is complete, the garage, sitting on approximately 4.8 acres, would be transformed into a mix of 771 apartments and condos, 1.3 million square feet of office space, 82,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 204 hotel rooms.
That would be a far cry from the 11-story, concrete parking garage and minimal office space that crosses Congress Street at the corner of New Sudbury Street, keeping that portion of the roadway dark and dingy.
“This is an opportunity for us to correct a mistake of a garage that was built in the 1960s,” said Thomas O’Brien, HYM managing director. “I’ve been involved in real estate all my professional life, and this project has been looked at for a long time. We’re now at a really wonderful moment where the capital is available, we think we have a really great plan, and the market is right.”
The market is the driving force behind the programming for the project, and much of that is coming directly from the housing and retail sectors. The first building to be constructed, no surprise, is a 470-foot apartment building that would likely start by the end of 2014. That could be followed by a 600-foot office tower and a third residential building at 275 feet.
Then, three more buildings would likely be built at about the same time on the east parcel near the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Those would include a 275-foot hotel and residential building, a 125-foot office asset and a 60-foot structure dedicated to retail uses. Those three would be arranged around a new public plaza to be built around the existing Haymarket station at the edge of the current garage property, with the head house in the middle of the plaza.
The Retail Component
That 60-foot retail building, while the most modest in size, could help create a true shopping destination in the area, serving as a connector for Faneuil Hall and the emerging Market District with retail plans for the TD Garden, where owner Delaware North is planning, among other things, about 300,000 square feet of retail in a redeveloped sports stadium. Stop & Shop and Target are both negotiating potential leases there. HYM chief O’Brien said an ideal situation would be if a high-end retailer, maybe two, occupied the entirety of that retail building being planned near the Rose Kennedy Greenway. His firm is in preliminary talks with tenants for the space, as well as the office tower.
“Depressing the Central Artery gave rise to the Greenway and strengthened the connection between downtown and the waterfront,” said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in a prepared statement. “I’m pleased that the redevelopment of the Government Center Garage looks to extend those connections – further linking our growing neighborhoods.”
That waterfront, particularly the Seaport District, is where a lack of retail space is most evident. However, the long-promised Seaport Square mix of shops, office space and housing is beginning to take shape, with towers rising and cranes flying across the landscape. WS Development is leading the retail charge inw the emerging district, with plans for a mega-movie theater, clothing stores and other retail uses.
The retail and entertainment uses would be located in two 22-story towers being worked on along Seaport Boulevard, which would house 300,000 square feet of retail space along with 800 apartments.
“Retail is very strong right now,” said David Begelfer, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate group. “It’s surprising. We feel like we have all this retail in Boston, but Massachusetts and parts of the Boston market are, to a degree, underserved for retail, the Seaport especially. Clearly there are users out there that view the Boston market as a prime location. There are a number of retailers not represented in the Boston area … that could possibly be searching for a flagship store location.”
Email: jcronin@thewarrengroup.com
