0 Winthrop Square Skyscraper Faces Size Reduction

From flight paths to shadows, Winthrop Square continues to make headlines as the newest proposed tower in the Boston Financial District. Some speculate that the tower height will be reduced by 4 – 6 stories to lessen the impact.

Winthrop square office tower in Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

According to the Boston Globe, “A tower that tall, a Massport official wrote, would interfere with operations at Logan, blocking a popular takeoff corridor and probably leading to more noisy air traffic over Boston’s northern and western suburbs. Massport would object to anything taller than 710 feet on the site, which sits about two miles west of the airport.” The globe article continued, noting “cutting the tower by 65 feet would lop four or five stories off the 60-story tower, probably not a deal-killer for a project estimated to cost $1 billion. But that could reduce the city’s payday. Under Millennium’s deal with the BPDA, $50.8 million of the $152.8 million purchase price is tied to the sale of condos in the tower.”

For more information, jump over to read the full Globe article.

0 Babson College Readies Downtown Boston Co-Working Space

100 High St. Boston

Credit: BBJ

Babson College will be offering a shared co-working drop in center at 100 High Street in the Financial District of Boston.  Kerry Healey, Babson President, comments that nearly half of the 16,000 graduates live or work in greater Boston.

This is the first of its kind where higher education is offering a retail presence rather than just a club experience on an upper floor.

According to the Boston Business Journal, “the Wellesley college known for its success preparing entrepreneurs is leasing 9,000 square feet at 100 High St., including 2,000 square feet of ground floor space fronting on the Federal Street side of the building, in the Financial District. Graduate business students will be able to take classes at the site and alumni will be able to work in a co-working setting…The location, scheduled to open before fall 2016, will more than double Babson’s space in Boston.”

You can read the full article on the BBJ’s local website.

0 Updates Coming to Boston’s Financial District

rendering of congress street redevelopment

Credit: Bizjournals.com

More new retail, office and hotel options are coming to the Boston Financial District, centered around the intersection of State Street and Congress Street.

According to the BBJ, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s agenda for its Thursday City Hall meeting includes the following projects:

  • A public hearing to discuss a proposed 23-story, 346-room“micro hotel which is designed to meet the changing needs/habits of today’s urban travelers” at 240 Tremont St. in the Theater District.
  • A public hearing to discuss Simon Property Group’s (NYSE: SPG)residential and retail expansion projectat 5 Copley Place, a proposed 52-story tower that includes 542 units of residential space spanning 680,000 square feet, a 54,000-square-foot addition to Neiman Marcus and a 60,000-square-foot addition of restaurant and retail space.
  • Scheduling a public hearing about Related Beal’s Congress Square project.
  • Approving and extending the Simmons College institutional master plan in the Fenway neighborhood.

 

0 Belkin Pushes for Winthrop Square Tower

Winthrop Square Tower rendering

Credit: Boston Globe

Belkin is one of eight developers chasing the development opportunity at the Winthrop Square parking garage site. His plan is after a 24/7 model that incorporates a live, work play them that embraces the “Café Culture” of today.

From the Boston Globe:

At the centerpiece of Belkin’s 740-foot office and residential tower is an innovation center, one designed for entrepreneurs and those who aspire to be one. The description itself may be eye-glazing or eye-rolling at a time when everyone claims to be innovative, but to hear Belkin explain it, you feel like he’s onto something big. It’s an idea that could go a long way to break down the walls that divide our business community, ones that keep Kendall Square and Innovation District types from mingling with those in the Financial District.

 

0 Multiple Projects from Boston Properties Progressing

Boston office development north station

Credit: Boston Herald

Boston Properties is bullish on Boston with projects underway or proposed from Back Bay, Financial District and North Station.

·         888 Boylston has seen the crane arrive and has announced is major tenant Natixis Global Asset Management
·         100 Federal Street is looking to add more retail on the Congress Street side of the project

From the Boston Herald:

“In 2015, we estimate we could move approximately $1 billion in pre-development projects into our active development pipeline,” CEO Owen Thomas said. “Before launching any of these projects, we need to complete the entitlement and planning process and, in most cases, some level of pre-leasing.”

0 115 Winthrop Square Considered for Boston’s Second-Tallest Building

rendering of 115 Winthrop Square

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

The Boston skyline is poised to see significant change of the next five years as projects that are under construction come online.  115 Winthrop Square is getting attention and might be home to Boston’s second tallest building if O’Brien has anything to do with it.

According to Banker&Tradesman, “developer Thomas O’Brien of Boston-based HYM Investments is proposing a 69-story, 780-foot-tall residential tower that would become the city’s second-tallest building, just 10 feet shy of the Hancock Tower…O’Brien was one of eight developers who submitted proposals to build a skyscraper in the Financial District. The Boston Redevelopment Authority sought proposals for a one-acre parcel currently occupied by the municipal garage at 115 Winthrop Square. O’Brien’s plan calls for a substantial redevelopment of the square, including a new Boston public school and a relocated St. Anthony Shrine, friary and ministry center. Under the O’Brien proposal, the church properties and school would be built on the former garage site and a residential tower with 11,000-square-foot floor plates would be built on the former shrine property.”

The HYM Investment Group can be seen, here.