$500M Copley Place Tower to Rise 52-Stories Over Neiman Marcus

Simon Property Group is preparing for construction of a 52-story tower at 5 Copley Place that would be one of the largest residential buildings in Boston. The project will create 542 residences, a 40,000 SF addition to the Neiman Marcus store, a glass-enclosed garden and 75,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space at the corner of Dartmouth and Stuart streets.  The $500 million private investment will put 1,700 construction workers back on the job. 

Approximately 680,000 square feet of new residential space will be above the existing building, situated across from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Back Bay Station.

The building’s 433 rental apartments and 109 condos will be housed in a slender 52-story tower designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, and include 71 affordable housing units.

The plans call for a lap pool on the 6th floor, a 7th floor sky lobby and deck, garage parking spaces and secure bike storage.

At 569 feet, the skyscraper will be the second tallest residential building in Boston, behind the soon-to-be constructed, Four Seasons Tower.

The project will include a large 40,000 square-foot addition to the to the Neiman Marcus store, followed by a complete renovation of the existing 115,000-square-foot store - which will not close during construction.

It will also include additional space for smaller-scale retail shops and restaurants, with a “public winter garden” at the Stuart Street plaza. The developer has also committed up to $1 million towards new public art and $250,000 to Southwest Corridor Park.

The project will build on the strengths of the existing Copley Place complex at Stuart and Dartmouth Streets and infuse an already successful retail destination with an inspired and dynamic mixed-use development.

“The expansion of Neiman Marcus and Copley Place strengthens our retail destination in the Back Bay and contributes to the City’s economic vitality,” according to a press release. “The project will enhance the urban fabric of the neighborhood and be a striking addition to the city’s skyline.”

The project attracted controversy when state representatives accused the Governor of violating a 1997 agreement by signing a revised lease with the developer before city and state regulators could review its impacts on area residents.

Some neighbors have raised concerns, for example, that the project will add to the high winds and shadows thrown off by other skyscrapers in the area.

However, the developer has stressed that the tower would not significantly increase wind in the area, and would only cast minimal new shadows on surrounding open spaces.

It also said it has rotated the tower from its initial orientation on the site and made several other design changes “to minimize environmental impacts, provide improvements to the public realm, and greatly enhance the overall pedestrian experience.”

Built by Chicago-based Urban Investment and Development, Copley Place was at the time the largest mixed-use project in the country. It was criticized by neighbors and some public officials for the way its hulking buildings towered over town houses in the South End.

The original $500 million project eventually included the Westin and Marriott hotels, four office buildings, a shopping mall, 100 apartments, and a 1,400-space parking garage.

The existing building at Copley Place consists of parking, three levels of retail and seven floors of office space.

The new design will transform the brick-paved plaza entrance to Neiman Marcus into a multi-story atrium with a glass facade

The new tower would fill out the last undeveloped parcels in Copley Place, which was initially built in the 1980s over the Massachusetts Turnpike roadway and ramps, and on a former railroad yard.

Simon initially proposed the project in June 2008, but put it on hold when the recession dried up funding for big projects.

The company resurrected the project last year and plans to begin work on the project ground early this summer. Construction is expected to last 3 years.

  

Pair Accused of Stealing $250,000 in Electrical Supplies

A former police officer and his wife are accused of the theft of approximately $250,000 in electrical materials from an electrical supply company in West Monroe, Louisiana. According to the arrest warrant, a manager at Elliott Electric Supply, "conspired with and aided her husband in stealing electrical supplies from the warehouse."

Paul Dunn Jr., and his wife, Martha Denese Dunn, were booked into Ouachita Correctional Center, accused of felony theft and felony criminal conspiracy.

A representative from Elliott Electric Supply said that approximately $250,000 in electrical merchandise went missing over a two-year period.

As part of the theft investigation, business inventory, invoices, order tickets, ship tickets, video surveillance, job estimates, security system logs, job blueprints, employment statements and additional documentation were examined.

Investigators found that items invoiced to Dunn's electrical contracting company, Service Electric Co., did not coincide with estimates of the materials that should have been needed on those jobs.

The arrest warrant states other electrical suppliers said Service Electric only obtained a small amount of materials from their firms during the time period investigated.

Dunn's employees told investigators they would text Dunn most evenings and detail the amount of materials needed for the next day. They would then pick the materials up at Dunn's house or he would bring it by the site the next morning, according to the arrest records.

According to the warrant, security system logs indicated from Jan. 1, 2015, to Sept. 28, 2015, Denese Dunn's scan code accessed Elliott Electric 384 times after hours. Video surveillance recordings are reported as showing Paul Dunn loading electric materials alone after closing time.

The warrant also states documentation and employee statements show some tickets and invoices to SEC were never billed or were deleted by Denese Dunn, who had started work at Elliott approximately eight years ago while Dunn started his electric business approximately three years ago.

As part of the theft investigation, police officers obtained a warrant to search Paul Dunn's phone and located photos and text messages containing electrical material lists. The lists were determined to contain estimated materials in keeping with what Dunn should have used for major jobs.

Specific missing items or items not billed delineated in the arrest warrant include a 100-Kilowatt generator valued at approximately $25,000, four smaller generators valued at $3,000 each and $90,000 in wire.

One generator was reportedly installed at the Dunn's home while another was in an ex-relatives home. It also estimated Service Electric would have used a similar quantity of wiring over the past two years.

Court documents said Paul Dunn was fired from the Monroe Police Department and charged with malfeasance in office and felony theft in 2000. On Sept. 27, 2004, he pleaded guilty to theft.

Dunn is also due in court for a trial on charges of violating a protective order, reportedly stalking his ex-wife.

Bond for Paul Dunn and Denese Dunn was set at $100,000 each for felony theft and $25,000 each for felony conspiracy.

Mass+Main: Three City Block Mega-Development in Cambridge

City lawmakers have approved zoning changes that will allow construction of a 195-foot tower overlooking Jill Brown-Rhone Park in Central Square, citing the need for more housing and affordable housing. To ensure passage of the special zoning, developers Normandy Real Estate Partners and Twining Properties offered to make 47 of its 232 units available for rent below market rate. The builders plan to raze the existing single-story Quest Diagnostics laboratory later this year in favor of the 19-story residential tower. Ground breaking is expected in early this year with a goal of first occupancy beginning in spring 2018. 

Twining Properties and Normandy Real Estate are preparing to construct Mass+Main, a 19-story residential tower located at the edge of Central Square, near the Red Line stop. The development will also a seven-story, mixed-use building.

Community benefits range from highly sustainable mixed income housing, to new retail with a local emphasis.

The builders plan to  convert  the  former  Quest  Diagnostics  lab  buildings  and  lots  on  the  block  bounded by  Douglass Street,  Massachusetts  Avenue, Columbia  and  Bishop  Allen Drive, into  a  mixed income  residential  community  with vibrant  ground floor  retail and  new  public  passages  connecting  Lafayette  Park  to  Bishop  Allen  Drive.

Constructing the taller building (195 feet) along Massachusetts Avenue will minimize  any  shadows    cast over the  park  on Columbia  Street, and  will  cast  no  shadows  on  Lafayette  Square Park. The  second  building  along  Columbia  Street  would  be just  70  feet  high,  and cast no shadows.

Office  buildings  up  to  80  feet  tall  are  allowed  under  existing  zoning with  a Special  Permit. Kendall  Square  allows  up  to  300  feet  and  North  Point  is  above  220  feet  in  certain locations.

In order to secure a vote in favor of their special zoning request, developers Twining Properties and Normandy Real Estate Partners agreed to make 47 of its 232 units available for rent below market rate. Of that 20 percent, most would be considered affordable; the remaining seven would be considered middle-income.

• Project sweeteners offered include:Permanent affordability for three additional housing units through Affordable Housing Trust Funds, bringing the total to 50.

• Giving the city the front part of 65 Bishop Allen Drive for the creation of even more affordable housing when the city identifies a “transferee,” and so long as the developers get to keep the rear portion of the lot for parking and get their special permit. 

• Promises to set up an advisory committee to give input on which retailers get ground-floor shop space created by the Mass+Main project, and programming for the seasonable public market that would be given a home. 

• At least 8 percent of units in the proposed tower will be “micro-units” between 350 and 550 square feet, whose tenants won’t get to apply for a residential parking permit for a car.

Twining  Properties  specializes  in  mixed use,  urban, transit oriented  development with  a  strong  emphasis  on housing and  is  well known  in  Cambridge  and  Boston. Twining, working  closely  with  the  East  Cambridge  community developed  two  apartment  buildings,  local restaurants along  the  Broad  Canal  in  Kendall  Square. 

Normandy  Real  Estate Partners  is  a  leading  real estate owner  and  operator,  with  deep  local  ties, and  invests  in  properties and  communities  for  the  long term.  They are committed partners with the neighborhoods they work in.

The partners  hope  to  break  ground  in  summer  2016  with  first  occupancy beginning  in  spring  2018. Their goal is to reach full occupancy by early 2019.
  

UMass Construction Projects to Continue Through 2018

Construction at the University of Massachusetts shows no sign of slowing. Several new buildings are on the horizon, including the $52 million, 87,500 square foot Integrated Design Building, and the $85 million, 104,000 square foot Physical Sciences Building. With the amount of bulldozers and blocked walkways already around UMass, students are wary of further construction projects making it difficult to get around the campus. However, three new buildings are already in the design phase with construction at the Amherst campus expected to continue through 2018.

Another new campus building is planned to begin construction this year – the Integrated Design Building, which will house the department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning department as well as the Architecture and Design and Building Construction Technology programs.

On approximately 87,500 square feet, this building will house classrooms and studios, computer labs, lounges, meeting and teleconferencing rooms, materials-testing lab, green-building lab, wood shop, digital fabrication lab and outdoor work area.

The building will also feature a cafe, exhibit space, a library, multifunction spaces, a covered indoor courtyard on the first floor and an outdoor courtyard complete with green roof on the third floor.

The $52 million project is scheduled to begin this summer and is expected to take two years to complete, with a 2017 opening projected.

Already in process is the Physical Sciences Building, located near North Pleasant Street and West Experiment Station. This building will be used for research laboratories for chemistry and physics.

The project is being funded by the state with about $85 million. It is part of a campus master plan that was initiated several years ago in order to fulfill the campus’ mission to upgrade its science facilities and be more competitive with scientific research.

Work includes construction of a new 3-level Physical Sciences Building, housing laboratory and office space.

The building will have a basement, accommodating physics laboratories with high bay capacity sitting on foundations that will telegraph very low levels of vibration.

The 104,000 square foot project will provide labs, lab support, and offices for 20 faculty and approximately 130 students. The interior labs will be designed to provide the greatest possible degree of flexibility.

Construction of the Physical Sciences Building is expected to be complete in January 2018.
 

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