New Winthrop Square tower design could move 690-foot project forward

Developer Millennium Partners’ new design for a tower in place of the site of the old Winthrop Square Garage in Boston’s Financial District could move the project forward.

Concerns over its scope—especially its height—and its design have held up the office-and-condo building at 240 Devonshire Street, which Millennium first broached in 2016.

The new design from Handel Architects shows a 690-foot tower in two distinct parts, a nod to the concerns that the original look was too bland for something that would be among the tallest buildings in Boston.

As for the scope, Millennium has addressed that with cuts to the tower’s would-be height. It was originally supposed to be 775 feet, which would have made it the second-tallest building in Boston after 200 Clarendon.

Whether the new design moves the Winthrop Square tower that much further to fruition remains to be seen. Millennium wants to start construction in 2018, but the project still needs the necessary green-lights from the city. Stay tuned.

• The design of the Winthrop Square tower just got more dramatic [Globe]
• Boston’s 10 tallest buildings by 2020, mapped [Curbed Boston]