The Boston Civic Design Commission (BCDC) has approved architectural concepts for a new hotel, company headquarters and sports complex that athletic apparel powerhouse New Balance plans to build in the Allston neighborhood of Boston.
The development team for the project was given the go-ahead for the first phase of construction along a portion of Guest Street that is now home to underutilized lots and warehouse space.
The BCDC last night approved the design for a 250,000-square-foot world headquarters for New Balance, a sports complex of 350,000 square feet at 77 Guest St. and a 140,000-square-foot hotel. The hotel design shown last night was new, with the building standing as a shimmering, glass-encased structure against the sky. The building’s dimensions are essentially the same.
The developer now needs approval by the Boston Redevelopment Authority board of directors and the city’s zoning commission to construct the first phase of the project. The second phase includes 650,000 square feet of office buildings and 65,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Another project, however, did not meet with approval at last night’s hearing and was sent to a subcommittee for further review. Cedar Valley Development LLC has proposed a 195-unit, 204,000-square-foot residential project at 105 A South Huntington Ave. in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The property would contain about 60 percent one-bedrooms, with some townhouses and
The project would be built on a parcel of land that has never housed a building. The parcel is tucked in between South Huntington and the Jamaicaway along the Emerald Necklace parkway.
The developer’s proposal would create a building about 11 stories tall along the busy South Huntington thoroughfare. All trash pickup, delivery and other service trucks would access the property from South Huntington. Along the Jamaicaway, the proposal calls for four-story townhouses that would screen the parking area from view. The rest of the floors would be set back from the Jamaicaway side toward South Huntington.
Commissioners, however, found the design overly divisive.
"It feels like two buildings now … like you’re trying hard to break the building down into smaller elements, maybe too many elements," said David Hacin, a commission member. "The project has to be successful on both streets and right now it feels like there’s a lot of stuff being pushed onto South Huntington."
Commission member Andrea Leers said the project team might want to evaluate either losing the division in the design altogether or study how two buildings would fit on the site. She added that it could work to make the property six or seven stories all around to fit better into the streetscape currently surrounding the parcel.
Commissioners also commented on the disruptive nature of forcing service vehicles to access the property from South Huntington, as well as wanting to study the density of the project.
