Downtown Boston has undergone significant skyline changes in recent years, but 2014 could see the start of some of the biggest development projects in decades.
Across Boston, megaprojects have been approved or are already under construction in neighborhoods from North Station to the Fenway and parts between.
Two projects – Fenway Center and the Government Center Garage redevelopment – are expected to reconnect areas of the cutoff by massive roadways and parking lots. Millennium Tower will help fulfill the dream of a revitalized downtown crossroads once blighted by demolition and empty storefronts. And the plans for the TD Garden and Landmark Center will significantly increase retail opportunities for area residents.
“These projects in totality are part of the present remaking of central Boston into a true 24-7 city,” said Brendan Carroll, head of research for Transwestern RBJ, who closely monitors development in the city to gauge its economic impact.
If and when all five projects are built, they will add millions of square feet of new offices, residential units, hotel space and retail to the Fenway, West End and other downtown areas of the city.
In the center of Downtown Crossing, one of Boston’s central transit hubs, the long-awaited redevelopment of the old Filene’s and historic Burnham building into the so-called Millennium Tower has already begun. When it’s finished, the Burnham Building will include 370,000 square feet of office and retail space, where a Roche Bros. supermarket will open. The 625-foot tower, being built by real estate firm Millennium Partners, will house hundreds of luxury condominiums. Former Mayor Thomas Menino’s administration approved $7.8 million in property tax breaks for the $630 million development.
Not far away, HYM Investment Group has the green light to start construction on its planned 2.4 million-square-foot redevelopment of the Government Center Garage at One Congress St. The plan includes six buildings with retail, residences and offices, with one office tower reaching 528 feet in height. Developer Thomas O’Brien has said he hopes to start building a 480-foot apartment tower by the end of the year, according to reports.
Just up Friend Street is another massive project in the making. Delaware North Cos. and Boston Properties have teamed up to redevelop the sports complex with three towers, one that will stand 600 feet. The new $950 million complex will house a 306-room hotel, about 500 residences, nearly 670,000 square feet of office space and retail space, where Star Market plans to open an underground supermarket. Menino’s team also agreed to $7.8 million in tax breaks for the Garden project. Construction is expected to start within the next 18 months.
Across town in the Fenway, two projects promise to continue the remaking of a neighborhood that has seen sleek new residential buildings and restaurants fill empty lots and replace fast food offerings.
At Landmark Center, developer Steve Samuels recently gained approvals to demolish the existing parking garage and build 550 residential units, 110,000 square feet of retail, a 75,000-square-foot grocery store and 15,000 square feet of office use and parking. Wegmans will open a new grocery store in the complex’s retail space.
Heading north along Brookline Avenue, developer John Rosenthal has been waiting to build Fenway Center, a $500 million plan for five new buildings across 4.5 acres, part of which will sit on decking above the Massachusetts Turnpike. The new properties would hold 550 residential units, 1,200 parking spaces, 80,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 163,000 square feet of office space.
Rosenthal has won all city and state approvals for his project, which is expected to create 1,800 construction and 750 permanent jobs. Yet he says he still needs about $7.8 million in tax relief, the same amount given to the TD Garden and Millennium Tower developers, to make the project work.
“We are shovel ready, we’re financed, and we’re standing on third base,” Rosenthal said. “We simply need a tax agreement to finally bring Fenway Center home and build this city’s first major air rights project in more than three decades.”
