It's on: The Boston Redevelopment Authority on Thursday O.K.'d the six-building redevelopment of the Government Center Garage into a behemoth of residences, offices and retail sure to reconnect the West End and downtown.
Just how many residences and how much office and retail? As Casey Ross of The Globe notes, the Government Center Garage development is "among the largest pending in Boston" (and there's a lot of development pending in Boston, y'all). This particular development will open up nearly five acres of space by removing the portion of the garage straddling Congress Street. As it stands now, the development is to include 812 residences; 1.1 million square feet of office space; 196 hotel rooms; and new restaurants and shops, many along the Greenway.
While developer HYM Investment Group hopes to start construction on the first residential building, a 480-foot, 464-unit tower, by the end of 2014, things could still change. That is, the BRA green-lighted the project in totem; each building needs its own O.K. and individual aspects might be tweaked. And they have been tweaked already, including chopping the height of the condo-hotel tower along the Greenway from 275 to 157 feet (heights in Boston, you know).
Still, it's unlikely now that the Government Center Garage project will be derailed. As Ross also pointed out in The Globe, a lot of people spoke in favor of it at the BRA's Thursday meeting. "No one spoke against it."
· Government Center Redevelopment Approved [Globe]
· Big Boston Development Caves to Concerns Over Height [Curbed Boston]
· Our Updated Residential Heatmap: 66 Projects and Counting [Curbed Boston]
· 10 Thoughts on How Big and Tall Boston Should Build [Curbed Boston]
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