155 North Beacon St./Image courtesy of Ellenzweig
Life science developer IQHQ announced expanded plans to donate a recently-acquired Brighton building to the city of Boston for affordable musical rehearsal space.
Mayor Michelle Wu indicated that the donation clears the way for approval of the 155 North Beacon St. campus by the Boston Planning & Development Agency in June.
“This permanent studio rehearsal space is a historic achievement for our Allston-Brighton artist community and citywide goal of preserving and creating new creative spaces in Boston,” Wu said in a statement.
IQHQ’s purchase last year of the nearby Sound Museum music studios building at 155 North Beacon St. for a lab redevelopment brought to a head concerns about the displacement of arts and cultural tenants in Boston, prompting a protest by local musicians in January as the Sound Museum’s eviction loomed.
In December, IQHQ paid $18 million to buy a 34,802-square-foot building at 290 North Beacon St. occupied by audio-visual equipment vendor Boston Light & Sound. Kim Thai, IQHQ’s director of development, previously said the company would build out 20,000 square feet of affordable music studio space in the building.
But as it seeks approval for another lab building at 103 North Beacon St., IQHQ revealed this week it will donate all 31,000 square feet of the 290 North Beacon St. property to the city as a community benefit.
“This building will play a major role in mitigating the ongoing artist space issues in Boston that were exacerbated by the redevelopment of 155 North Beacon, and is a milestone for the growing advocacy in Boston’s arts community and our development of cultural policy,” Chief of Arts and Culture Kara Elliott-Ortega said in a statement.
A developer offered musicians temporary space on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester in late winter, but the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture is planning to select a non-profit operator for the permanent studio replacement in Brighton.
The BPDA will issue a request for proposals to design the new space following a public engagement process.
IQHQ this week submitted plans for its latest project in Brighton, a 265,000-square-foot office-lab building replacing the former Marty’s Liquors store at 103 North Beacon St.
Designed by CBT Architects, the proposal calls for a 45-foot-story building on the 1.4-acre parcel, including 3,100 square feet of ground-floor retail and two levels of below-grade parking.
IQHQ said it will design public realm improvements, including upgrades for pedestrians and bicyclists, to complement the planned 409,000-square-foot lab campus at 155 North Beacon St., which will be branded as 4 Life St.
IQHQ estimates a 30-month construction timeline following approval, which it hopes to obtain in spring 2024.
In a disclosure complying with the BPDA’s DEI policy, IQHQ said it will require contractors and other construction team members to recruit diverse subcontracting partners.
