Only a little while ago, it looked like 2016 would be the year for One Bromfield, a long-planned tower in busy, busy Downtown Crossing. Now comes news that neighborhood opposition has caused the Boston Redevelopment Authority to send the developer literally back to the drawing board.
It seems some people think the more than 700-foot tower is—you guessed it—too tall. Plus, there are concerns over its impact on traffic and parking in the area.
The plans to replace four low-rise buildings at Bromfield and Washington streets with a single tower stretch back to those prelapsarian days before the Great Recession. New York-based developer Midwood Investment & Development bought the parcels in the mid-2000s and set about trying to construct a 28-story building with around 260 apartments and several floors of retail.
Said recession made quick work of those plans, but Midwood held on to the parcels. Now the company is back with a fresh idea for a spire with 300 apartments and 119 condos, as well as two floors of retail and lobbies, stretching to 683 feet at its highest occupiable floor and to 705 feet when the mechanical whatnot are factored in.
Such scope would have easily made what has been dubbed One Bromfield one of the five tallest buildings in New England. Its height would also have rivaled nearby Downtown Crossing neighbor Millennium Tower, whose success surely inspired Midwood to try again.
Stay tuned for a likely redesign. Even if One Bromfield shrinks by a few floors, it will be very tall for Boston.
- Back to the Drawing Board for Proposed Downtown Crossing Tower [Globe]
- Downtown Crossing's One Bromfield: Is This the Year for the Giant Tower? [Curbed Boston]
- The Five Boston Neighborhoods Everyone Should Be Watching [Curbed Boston]
- $37.5M Millennium Tower Penthouse Buyer Won't Live There Full-Time [Curbed Boston]
- Boston's 10 Tallest Buildings By 2020 [Curbed Boston]
Loading comments...