Trinity Financial is hoping to jumpstart a 240,000-square-foot apartment and dormitory project it plans to build above the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston’s Back Bay.
The mixed-use development would include apartments, ground floor retail and dorm space for 192 students from the nearby Boston Architectural College (BAC) on air rights parcel 13.
Trinity has already met with the state’s Department of Transportation (MassDOT), which owns the air rights above the Pike, to present its plan for an 11-story structure at the corner of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue with 104 market-rate rental units.
Farther down Boylston Street, the building would step down to six stories with 14,000 square feet of institutional space for the BAC. Plans call for 11,000 square feet of ground floor retail, although no specific uses or tenants have been identified, said Kenan Bigby, project manager for Trinity. The BAC would enter into a 30-year lease with Trinity and would own the institutional portion at the end of the lease.
It’s now up to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to appoint the citizens advisory committee (CAC) that would initially review the proposal. If that group approves the project, it would move into the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Article 80 review process. If Trinity gets all of its approvals in a timely manner, the company hopes to start construction next spring. Construction would take 18 months to 24 months. While no hard numbers have been worked out, Bigby said a project of this magnitude would likely cost approximately $100 million.
Since the balance of the structure would be above the MBTA’s Green Line, Trinity is planning to incorporate T access into the building, like the firm did with its Avenir project in the Bulfinch Triangle. The project would include 75 parking spaces tucked into a below-grade space behind the retail portion.
Trinity will need to present its plans to the Boston Redevelopment Authority before the CAC because the developer never submitted official proposal documents to the city, said Randi Lathrop, the BRA’s deputy director for community planning. Trinity still needs official designation as the parcel 13 developer, which would come through the CAC, Bigby said.
