Giant Apartment Tower Will Be Tallest in South End

One of the largest residential projects in the city is being prepared for construction on a block between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End.

Leggat McCall Properties is preparing to build a giant apartment project at 575 Albany Street, part of a wave of development transforming a neighborhood that serves as the southern approach to downtown.

The 710-unit, two-building complex between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street near Boston Medical Center will be the tallest new construction in the neighborhood, with one building reaching 19 stories and the other 11 stories.

The 3.1-acre development, between East Dedham and East Canton Streets, will also include about 14,000 square feet of retail space and 40,000 square feet of office space, along with new open space and an underground garage.

Presently, there are five buildings on the site; three of them are slated to be demolished, while the ones at 575 Albany and 660 Harrison Avenue will be retained and integrated into the project.

It will be the latest development to spring up along Harrison, turning a low-slung industrial neighborhood into one of Boston’s hottest markets for high-end housing.

“There are a lot of buildings coming there and a lot more that could come, depending on owners’ appetite and timing,” said a real estate consultant. “It’s easily one of the busiest stretches of development in the city.”

The property, today mostly parking lots and small office buildings, was bought last year from Boston Medical Center, along with a neighboring office building.

“This is an opportunity to take an underused site and create a substantial residential presence there,” said Bill Gause, an executive vice president at Leggat. “It’ll create a lot of vibrancy.”

Builders have been drawn to the area because it’s close to downtown and the Back Bay. Development got a boost from a 2012 rezoning that enabled taller buildings along Harrison and Albany.

A few blocks up Harrison Avenue from Leggat’s project site are the recently opened Ink Block, with 315 units spread across three buildings, and the Troy, a 19-story complex with 378 apartments. There’s a 160-unit building under construction at 600 Harrison, and site work has begun on a 602-unit complex farther north, near the Massachusetts Turnpike.

In between are brick warehouses and old industrial buildings that have been converted to lofts, boutiques, and swanky restaurants. On many Sundays, thousands of people flock to the weekly South End Open Market.

And more is coming.

Developer Related Beal has an agreement to buy the site of Quinzani’s Bakery, a key parcel at the corner of Harrison Avenue and East Berkeley Street. Across Albany from Leggat’s property, the 5.6-acre site of the Boston Flower Exchange is reportedly near a sale for more than $40 million, although no buyer has been disclosed.

The apartments at 575 Albany Street won’t come cheap. One-fifth — as many as 140 units — will be set at rents affordable to low- and middle-income tenants, as dictated by zoning in the area, though some of those may be off-site.

The rest will be priced at rents comparable to those in other new buildings nearby, Gause said. Studios at the Troy, for example, run between about $2,600 and $3,000 a month.

Gause predicts strong demand for the units, in part because of the proximity to Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine.

The company plans to build in two phases — a 410-unit building first, then a 300-unit building. The developer expects to begin construction later this year.

$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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$2-Billion Wynn Boston Harbor Resort Casino-Resort

Casino mogul Steve Wynn, whose dazzling hotels line the famous Las Vegas strip, hit the jackpot in the Massachusetts casino sweepstakes to claim Greater Boston's sole casino-resort license. His vision is to turn the former site of a chemical plant along the Mystic River, just north of Boston in Everett, into a sparkling gambling resort.

The $2 billion project will include a five-star resort with more than 500 hotel rooms, high-end retail and dining, a ballroom and meeting space.

The development will be spread over 33 acres of Mystic River waterfront with paths open to the general public leading to the harbor and more retail and dining overlooking the riverwalk.

The "family-friendly" casino-resort will take at least two years to build.

The design of the casino-resort would mimic local architecture: "If you like the way the Boston skyline looks, you'll love our building," says Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn. The buildings will have a classic brick look on the lower floors and a glassy Vegas look as the building rise.

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The casino developer also has plans for a fleet of custom-built catamarans ferrying conventioneers and tourists from Long Wharf in downtown Boston and the World Trade Center in the Seaport district, to his riverfront gambling palace in Everett

As many as three water taxis would be in service at one time, leaving as frequently as 20 minutes apart.

Wynn Resorts insists the water shuttle service would reduce car traffic over already congested roads to the proposed resort.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission granted Wynn Resorts the sole casino license based on economic factors, opportunities and jobs.

The company’s proposal offered a bigger development plan, strong financing, a large construction investment, and a big projected workforce and payroll.

The Greater Boston casino license is projected to be worth about $800 million to more than $900 million a year in gambling revenue.

Join the National Safety Stand-Down: May 2-6

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other federal safety agencies have designated May 2-6, 2016, for the third annual National Safety Stand-Down. The event is a nationwide effort to remind and educate employers and workers in the construction industry of the serious dangers of falls – the cause of the highest number of industry deaths in the construction industry.

OSHA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Center for Construction Research and Training are leading the effort to encourage employers to pause during their workday for topic discussions, demonstrations, and training on how to recognize hazards and prevent falls.

“Falls still kill far too many construction workers,” said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

“While we regularly work with employers, industry groups and worker organizations on preventing falls and saving lives, the National Safety Stand-Down encourages all employers – from small businesses to large companies operating at many job sites – to be part of our effort to ensure every worker makes it to the end of their shift safely.”

More than four million workers participated in the National Safety Stand-Downs in 2014 and 2015, and OSHA expects thousands of employers across the nation to join the 2016 event.

To guide their efforts, OSHA has developed the official National Safety Stand-Down website with information on conducting a successful stand-down. After their events, employers are encouraged to provide feedback and will receive a personalized certificate of participation.

 “In many workplaces, falls are a real and persistent hazard. Given the nature of the work, the construction industry sees the highest frequency of fall-related deaths and serious, sometimes debilitating injuries,” said Dr. John Howard, Director of NIOSH. “Since the effort began in 2014, the National Safety Stand-Down serves as an important opportunity for both employers and workers to stop and take time in the workday to identify existing fall hazards, and then offer demonstrations and training to emphasize how to stay safe on the job.”

The National Safety Stand-Down in 2016 is part of OSHA’s ongoing Fall Prevention Campaign. Begun in 2012, the campaign was developed in partnership with the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda program. It provides employers with lifesaving information and educational materials on how to take steps to prevent falls, provide the right equipment for their workers, and train all employees in the proper use of that equipment. OSHA has also produced a brief video with more information about the 2016 Stand-Down in English and Spanish.

For more information on the success of last year’s Stand-Down, see the final data report. To learn how to partner with OSHA in this Stand-Down, visit http://www.osha.gov/StopFallsStandDown/.

The page provides details on how to conduct a stand-down; receive a certificate of participation; and access free education and training resources, fact sheets and other outreach materials in English and Spanish.
 


To learn more about preventing falls in construction visit http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls/.