$1B Redevelopment of Boston's Government Center

Developers plan to construct a huge 528-foot glass skyscraper at the corner of Congress and New Sudbury streets. The curvy 47-story tower would be the centerpiece of a Government Center redevelopment project, where builders are preparing to construct a cluster of high-rises to replace portions of the Government Center Garage.

The project, estimated to cost well over $1 billion, will include construction of three high-rises and three smaller buildings containing more than 2.3 million square feet of commercial and residential space.

The project will begin with a 42-story residential tower with 450 rental and condominium units, followed by removal of the part of the garage that hangs over Congress Street and the construction of the 47-story office building. The developer wants to begin construction early next year.

The new office tower, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, would be an unusually dramatic building for Boston, a city that has shied away from the kind of eye-popping architecture that defines the skylines of other major cities.

In all, the project would result in six buildings containing 2.3 million square feet of commercial and residential space.

Three high-rises would be built on the western portion of the site, and three smaller buildings would be built along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

 A retail plaza would create a new connection between the Greenway and Canal Street.

While the portion of the garage above the street would be demolished, the core of the building at Congress and New Sudbury would remain, preserving 1,100 parking spaces. That part of the garage would be hidden behind the new high-rises.

The development has received approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, but plans for each building must also be approved by the agency’s design commission. BRA director Brian Golden has offered strong support for the project.

“The redevelopment of the Government Center Garage site will reshape the downtown skyline in a way that few projects can,” he said. “We welcome a creative approach to its design and look forward to working with the architecture team to review their proposal more carefully.”

Developer Tom O’Brien, a principal of HYM Investment Group, said the project’s architecture is meant to call attention to the vast change it would bring to the city’s downtown.

He noted that it would remove one of the area’s worst eyesores, a relic of the Urban Renewal Era, and reconnect the Bulfinch Triangle to the North End and Beacon Hill.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven is collaborating on the design with CBT Architects of Boston.

The project's primary investor is the National Electrical Benefit Fund.

Boston is experiencing a burst of real estate development, transforming much of its downtown and outlying neighborhoods. A retail and condominium tower is under construction at the former Filene’s site in Downtown Crossing. Additional towers are being proposed at Winthrop Square in the Financial District and at the site of the Harbor Garage on Atlantic Avenue.

In the Bulfinch Triangle, Related Beal is building a new headquarters for Converse Inc., and Boston Properties plans to construct a series of towers in front of the TD Garden.

Construction Expected to Grow to $712 Billion in 2016

Economists at Dodge Analytics forecast that total U.S. construction starts for 2016 will rise 6% to $712 billion, following gains of 9% in 2014 and an estimated 13% in 2015. “The expansion for the construction industry has been underway for several years now, with varying contributions from each of the major sectors,” said Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics, in a press release.

“Total construction activity, as measured by the construction starts data, is on track this year to record the strongest annual gain so far in the current expansion, advancing 13%.

Much of this year’s lift has come from non-building construction, reflecting the start of several massive liquefied natural gas terminals in the Gulf Coast region, as well as renewed growth for new power plant starts."

“Residential building, up 18% this year, has witnessed continued strength for multifamily housing while single family housing seems to have re-established an upward trend after its 2014 plateau.

At the same time, nonresidential building has decelerated this year after surging 24% back in 2014, and is now predicted to be flat to slightly down given a sharp pullback for new manufacturing plant starts and some loss of momentum by its commercial and institutional building segments.”

For 2016, the economic environment should support further growth for the overall level of construction starts.

While short-term interest rates will be going up in 2016, given the expected rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the increases in long-term interest rates should stay gradual. On the plus side, the U.S. economy continues to register moderate job growth, lending standards are still easing, market fundamentals for commercial real estate continue to improve, and more funding support is coming from state and local construction bond measures.

Total construction starts in 2016 are forecast to advance 6% to $712 billion, with gains for residential building, up 16%; and nonresidential building, up 9%; while the non-building construction sector retreats 14%. If the volatile electric power and gas plant category within non-building construction is excluded, total construction starts for 2016 would be up 10%, after a corresponding 8% gain in 2015.

The 2016 pattern by more specific sectors is the following:

• Single family housing will rise 20% in dollars, corresponding to a 17% increase in units to 805,000. Access to home mortgage loans is improving, and some of the caution exercised by potential home buyers will ease with continued employment growth.

• Multifamily housing will increase 7% in dollars and 5% in units to 480,000, slower than the gains in 2015 but still growth. Low vacancies, rising rents, and the demand for apartments from Millennials will encourage more development.

• Commercial building will increase 11%, up from the 4% gain estimated for 2015. Office construction will resume its leading role in the commercial building upturn, aided by more private development as well as construction activity related to technology and finance firms.

• Institutional building will advance 9%, picking up the pace after the 6% rise in 2015. The educational facilities category is seeing an increasing amount of K-12 school construction, supported by the passage of recent school construction bond measures.

• Manufacturing plant construction will recede an additional 1% in dollar terms, following the steep 28% plunge for 2015 that reflected the pullback by large petrochemical plant starts.

• Public works will be flat with its 2015 amount, as a modest reduction for highways and bridges is balanced by some improvement for the environmental public works categories. A new multiyear federal transportation bill is being considered by Congress, and is expected to achieve passage in late 2015 or during the first half of 2016. The benefits of that bill will show up at the construction site later in 2016 and into 2017.

• Electric utilities and gas plants will fall 43% after a sharp 159% jump in 2015. The lift coming from new starts for liquefied natural gas export terminals will be substantially less, and new power plant starts will recede moderately.
 

Upcoming Developments Planned for East Boston

Everyone knows that East Boston is undergoing dramatic changes, in part, because of a plethora of long-awaited development.  For several years, buyers and renters have been moving over to Eastie to escape higher costs elsewhere in the city, and soon, these five new developments will get underway to welcome even more new residents to the neighborhood.
 

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Clippership Wharf 25 Lewis Street Boston, MA 02128 Clippership Wharf is a mixed-use waterfront development in East Boston that will include 492 apartment and condominium units along with lots of retail space. It will also have 300 plus parking spaces and flourishes such as a fitness center and a canoe/kayak-rental. To further sweeten the deal, Cassin/Winn Development plans to add 1,381 feet of promenade along the Harbor.

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Loftel Boston 175 Orleans Street Boston, MA 02128   Plans for the Loftel Boston include rehabilitation of a long-vacant six-story building in the Jeffries Point neighborhood, building a two-story addition, then creating 150-room loft style boutique hotel with parking for 65 vehicles. Boston developer Heath Management plans a “modestly priced” hotel where rooms would average $200 a night or less. Redevelopment of the historic structure at 175 Orleans Street will cost approximately $20 million.

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Hodge Boiler Works 111 Sumner Street Boston, MA 02128 East Boston waterfront is undergoing a dramatic transformation, and this big project will only enhance that change. DeNormandie Companies plans to redevelop the old Hodge Boiler Works site on the East Boston waterfront and create 95 rental apartments as well as a six-room bed and breakfast and a new marina building. Plans also call for a café, a 30-slip marina, a new Harborwalk and a parking garage for 75 vehicles. The developer of agreed earlier this winter to scale back his plans from 119 apartments to 95, thereby knocking off about 80,000 square feet.

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135 Bremen Street Boston, MA 02128 Last year, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved construction of a 94-unit apartment complex at 135 Bremen Street, between Grove and Porter Streets in the East Boston neighborhood. Rental units will range from studios to 3-BRs. Plans for the 127,000 square foot complex include 110 vehicle parking spaces, space for 100 bicycles along with landscaped public space. The six-floor development is due to have a dozen apartments designated as affordable, as well as 8,300 square feet of commercial space along the ground floor near the Greenway. Construction is expected to start late this summer, and another 12 to 14 months before completion.

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One Fifty One Liverpool 151 Liverpool Street Boston, MA 02128   Cedarwood Development's plans for 151 Liverpool Street include construction of a new five story residential building with 24 apartments and 35 parking spots at grade-level. The 38,000-square-foot project will rise a few blocks from the Maverick Blue Line stop and include three apartments designated as permanently affordable.

$350M Tremont Crossing Project Planned for Roxbury

Tremont Crossing is a $350 million mixed use development planned for heart of Boston, consisting of retail, office, residential and arts. The 1.7 million square foot project would bring the most sweeping change to the Roxbury neighborhood in decades. Located on an 8 acre parcel across from Northeastern University and the Longwood Medical Area, the complex will feature a mix of large-format retail stacked vertically, small retail shops and restaurants fronting on Tremont Street, office space for MassDOT, 300 market rate apartments, a 200-room hotel, a museum, a large garage facility and a public plaza complete with outdoor art.
 

For years, development has been promised for Parcel 3, a vast plot of land located on Tremont Street in Roxbury near the Boston Police Department’s headquarters and Northeastern University.

Elma Lewis Partners has held onto the development rights for several years without anything happening.

Finally, due to an improving economy and due to Northeastern’s expansion, which brought a new vitality to the area, the parcel will soon become something more than a fenced-off field of weeds.

Feldco Boston, part of the development team behind Tremont Crossing, has signed a letter of intent with BJ’s Wholesale Group to lease up to 90,000 square feet in the 400,000-square foot retail section of the project. This will make it easier for them to get financing for the other parts of the project.

Tremont Crossing will eventually encompass more than 1.7 million square feet of space and include retail and restaurants, office space, a 200-room hotel, parking garage and a 19-story residential tower. Also proposed is a new home for the museum of the National Center for African-American Artists.

Tremont Crossing will include a mix of retail, office, and residential uses: 

•  404,475 square feet of large format retail, which could also have entertainment and recreational uses on 4 levels

•  33,800 square feet of space for smaller shops and boutiques fronting along Tremont Street

•  300 units of residential including studios, one bedroom and two bedroom rental apartments in a 297,800 square foot tower

•  200-room extended stay hotel encompassing 102,250 square feet

•  38,000 square feet of cultural facilities that will primarily house a new museum for the National Center for Afro-American Artists located at the center of the development

•  713,785 square feet of office space above the cultural facility

•  8-story parking structure with 1,502 spaces

•  A large public plaza, complete with sculptures and outdoor seating space

Designed by the renowned firm of Cambridge Seven Associates, the project will be built in an urban style that will be modern, environmentally-conscious and pedestrian-friendly.

Construction is estimated to last 24 months and will create approximately 670 construction jobs and 1,738 permanent jobs.

Colossal Boston Garden Towers Project Set to Rise

A 1.87-million-square-foot, mixed-use project, with a price tag estimated at over $1 billion, will soon begin to rise over Causeway Street and the Zakim Bridge. The Boston Garden Towers will be constructed on a 2.8-acre parking lot located next to TD Garden, where the old Boston Garden once stood. The three tower project would connect 497 residential units, 668,000 square feet of office space and 235,000 square feet of retail to the sports venue and North Station.

The massive development located at 80 Causeway Street will dramatically alter the face of the TD Garden.

The new complex, designed by architect Elkus Manfredi, will rise over Causeway Street in two new towers: the office tower standing at 495 feet tall, and the residential tower rising to 486 feet. Both towers will be built above a five-story retail base.

A modern glass atrium will connect to a new entrance into TD Garden and to the MBTA's North Station.

Below ground, a four-level parking garage will be constructed to accommodate about 800 vehicles.

“We are creating a new front door to North Station, a new portal to the city,” said David Manfredi, of Elkus Manfredi Architects.

“We don’t want to create a mall; we don’t want to create privatized space. We want to create space that is inviting to the public.”

The $1 Billion + development will include:

•     40,000 square foot expansion of TD Garden
•     560,000 square feet of residential with 497 units
•     200,000 square foot hotel with 306 rooms
•     668,000 square feet of office space
•     142,000 square feet of flexible office space
•     235,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space
•     25,000 square foot glass atrium hall

Prior to leaving office, Mayor Menino had agreed to provide $7.8 million in tax breaks to help the developers lure the Star Market and build the underground parking spaces for the TD Garden.

The tax agreement will spread the relief over 15 years.

During that same period, the development is expected to produce $32.2 million in new tax revenue for the city.

Developer Boston Properties said the tax agreement was crucial to attracting a supermarket to the property and asserted the project will help enliven the area around the arena.

The massive project will be built in three stages, with the first phase to include the multi-story retail base, a supermarket, a cinema, a 306-room hotel, and the 4-story underground parking garage.

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Construction is expected to begin in the Fall.

280-Unit Residential High Rise Planned for Kendall Square

The Ames Street Residences is a 200,000 square foot residential high rise with 280 apartment units and 16,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The  project, designed by FX/Fowle, will be a slender 22-story tower by rising in front of the Kendall Center East Garage, overlooking the Cambridge Center rooftop garden. 

There will be a mix of unit types at 88 Ames Street, including micro-units, studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms. Developer Boston Properties will set aside 36 apartments in the new building as affordable housing units.

The residential development has been debated for more than a decade, and was originally planned for the site now occupied by the Broad Institute’s new building at 75 Ames Street, located across the street from the site.

The project will now stand on a vacant lot on the south side of Ames Street, between 4 and 5 Kendall Center.

Boston Properties aims to transform Ames Street, between Main Street and Broadway, from a service street to a more active, pedestrian friendly streetscape with active ground floor use on both sides of the street.

The project includes a significant commitment to bicycle transportation with the addition of 296 secure, on-site, weather protected spaces accessible by residents and retail employees.

There will also be an additional 38 short-term bicycle parking spaces along Pioneer Way.

The city had initially asked Boston Properties to subsidize half the cost of a monthly bus and subway CharlieCard for the first 12 months of residence for all tenants, and also to fund $50,000 for Kendall Square transit improvements.

The developer’s counter-offer was for one month of CharlieCards.

After month of wrangling, both side agreed that for each resident, Boston Properties will provide three months of a subsidized CharlieCard and one year of Hubway membership.

The developer will also contribute $50,000 towards transit improvements, construct a Hubway station and install two electric vehicle charging stations.

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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