Boston Development News
The latest on the major new developments shaping the Boston region.
Huntington Avenue apartment tower would extend Boston’s spine past Mass. Ave.
A trio of developers plans to build a 32-story, 362-foot apartment tower a little west of Massachusetts Avenue, where the spine peters out. The builders say the height and scope make economic sense given a particular feature of the project.
Proposed Charlestown concert venue would be the largest of its kind in Boston
The brokerage planning the 20-acre, 1.1 million-square-foot Hood park development has proposed adding the hall on the ground-floor of a planned five-story garage.
Hancock Street development in Dorchester to add 36 apartments and doom two billboards
Boston’s zoning board on December 12 signed off on plans to redevelop two auto-body shops at 233 Hancock Street into a five-story complex that will also include gallery and retail space.
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Mapping the Seaport District’s biggest new developments
This map charts those major projects either recently underway or approved, including plans for what will be one of the largest hotels in New England and the Seaport’s largest single amount of for-sale housing.
Seaport District a major missed opportunity for city, report says
Whatever its success in terms of development and jobs, Boston’s Seaport District is a major missed opportunity for the city in terms of building a more demographically inclusive and diverse neighborhood from scratch.
Fenway Center construction cleared to start next week
Thanks to a lease agreement with the state, construction can start "immediately" on the five-building, 1.1 million-square-foot development where Brookline and Commonwealth avenues meet in Kenmore Square.
Suffolk Downs redevelopment could go one of two ways—depends on Amazon
Suffolk Downs’ owner has proposed a general redevelopment plan with two paths. Both paths include 16.5 million square feet of new space, but one imagines the e-commerce giant as anchor.
Quincy Center Station development with 602 apartments wins key approval
It would be one of the biggest transit-related developments in the region and along the Red Line. Hurdles remain, however.
Harvard’s Allston plans include at least four new buildings along Western Avenue
It’s all part of a grand blueprint for a 36-acre parcel just over the Charles River from the Cambridge school’s main campus.
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Major developments along the Red Line, mapped
Several projects either underway or planned near and at Red Line stations are set to add thousands of condos and apartments beside the T’s busiest route.
Quincy Center Station development would add 602 apartments around transit hub
Plans also call for upgrading the station—a stop on the Red Line—with a new bus terminal and the restoration of more than 600 parking spots lost when a garage was closed for repairs in 2012.
Seaport Square could end up hosting a public library branch
It’s still a long shot, but a pair of state legislators representing parts of South Boston is proposing that a branch of the Boston Public Library be a part of the 12.5-acre development.
‘Millennial resort’ proposed for South End’s Ink Block
A 14-story co-living building would create what one of its developers calls a "millennial resort" complete with micro-apartments and a suite of services that includes organized social activities.
Fenway Center could start construction before 2018
The work would cap ages of planning and changes. Lead developer John Rosenthal has been trying to build at the 4.5-acre site for nearly 20 years.
Seaport District development to add hundreds of hotel rooms, apartments
The buildings will each be 12 stories and will be built on raised platforms, which will make room for as many as 450 parking spaces underneath. The project will also include nearly 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Back Bay Station towers get major green light
The Boston Planning and Development Agency has signed off on developer Boston Properties’ plans to build 1.26 million square feet of housing, offices, and retail over and around the transit hub.
Central Square’s Mass + Main on its way to altering the Cambridge skyline
Construction has started on the three-building project, which will include 306 apartments. One of those buildings will run to 19 stories and 195 feet, placing it among the tallest in Cambridge.
Developer of Back Bay Station towers strikes $6M deal to mitigate shadow concerns
That might seem a little steep. But recall that the Old South Church—which led a charge against the project’s potential impact on the surrounding area, particularly from expected shadows—had wanted $19 million.
Union Square notches another change near future Green Line stop
The relocation of comedy club the Comedy Studio to Union Square from Cambridge’s Harvard Square represents the latest harbinger of big change in that area of Somerville.
New Bay Village condo asking $2.35M destined to include glass-enclosed study
Construction on the five-story Isabella Street project, dubbed the Marc, is not expected to wrap until the end of 2018, but a new listing provides a peek at what its condos might look like.
Downtown Boston’s ‘Skinny Tower’ withers to nothing
Original plans called for a 355-foot, 32-story tower just 50 feet across. Vociferous opposition to potential shadows and added vehicular traffic led to repeated chops, until, in October 2016, the city approved plans for a 13-story building with 12 luxury condos (with no parking).
Nearly 20 acres of Widett Circle to go on sale between South End and South Boston
By dint of its location, the site will instantly become one of the choicest in the Boston region in terms of development potential. The only big variable is the price.
Back Bay’s 40 Trinity Place slated to break ground in 2018
If that date holds for the proposed 31-story tower, it will cap years of planning and review—and opposition from neighbors who fretted about its effects on wind and natural light.
Boston Globe’s old Dorchester site would become office complex under new plans
The newspaper’s former 16.5-acre site off Morrissey Boulevard would become an office complex with an emphasis on technology and/or life sciences companies, according to plans from owner Nordblom Development Co.
6 neighborhoods in the Boston region that everyone should be watching
Big projects are driving a lot of change in different areas. Here are the half-dozen where the change will be felt most profoundly.
Wynn buying up properties around its future Everett casino-resort
The Vegas firm has spent $75 million on parcels around its under-construction gambling den. It plans to spend $15 million more, all in an effort to beautify the area.
South Boston apartment building would cap a run of stores that includes Bell’s Market
The operator of Bell’s Market wants to build a five-story building atop his business and other businesses along 236-256 Dorchester Street in Southie’s Telegraph Hill.
Fenway’s Harlo opens with available apartments starting at $2,500/month
The 17-story, 212-unit building had been under construction since 2015, and it replaces an old Burger King—a kind of fitting turn for the development-heavy neighborhood.
Big step forward for M.I.T.’s massive Volpe Center project
The Cambridge City Council has approved the university’s petition to rezone the transportation hub that it bought from the federal government earlier this year for $750 million. Plans include 1,400 housing units and 1.7 million square feet of commercial space.
Dudley library branch’s $14.7M renovation will let in the light
Work has officially commenced that is expected to transform the Boston Public Library’s 39-year-old Dudley branch from a kind of fortress-like concrete monolith into a more open, light-filled pavilion.
Meet Cambridge Crossing: 4.5 million-square-foot project will include 2,400 apartments and condos
Construction is set to commence in earnest on a 45-acre development where Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston converge. It’ll be just off the Green Line and wants to compete with Kendall Square.
First residential component officially underway at Charlestown’s massive Hood Park
Developer Catamount Management Corp. has broken ground on an apartment complex at the 20-acre, 1.1 million-square-foot development-slash-redevelopment slated for the former H.P. Hood Plant in Charlestown.
Somerville may have just cracked the code for the Amazon HQ
At least when it comes to luring the e-commerce giant to Massachusetts. The city is proposing a regional plan that would see Amazon set up along the Orange Line in five different municipalities.
Shouldn’t all of Massachusetts be working together on an Amazon bid?
Instead, various communities, including Boston proper, western Mass., and a coalition of three towns toward the Connecticut border, are working on separate bids with the state’s help. This lack of coordination could doom each one.
Is Reebok’s new Seaport District gym the snazziest in Boston?
Sneaker giant Reebok is in the process of opening its new five-floor headquarters at 25 Drydock Avenue. A sizable part of that HQ—as to be expected perhaps—will be the in-house fitness center.
What will replace Wonderland Greyhound Park just off the Blue Line?
Workers are demolishing the facilities of the 38-acre ex-dog-racing palace and its owner wants to sell. Will Amazon plunk an HQ there? Or will housing and retail sprout like at nearby Suffolk Downs?
Harvard Square changes continue unabated as city signs off on new merchants
An &pizza pizzeria will open with a Milk Bar bakery in 1-8 Brattle Street. It’s but the latest change in a slew of changes in one of the Boston region’s most rapidly evolving areas.
How much money is too much money to address shadow concerns in Boston development?
Copley Square’s Old South Church wants $19 million from developer Boston Properties to mitigate what the church says will be the effects of the shadows that three proposed towers on and around Back Bay Station will cast.
Does an Allston park renovation signal a thaw in Harvard’s relationship with its Boston neighbors?
The university and Boston are partnering on a $6.5 million renovation of the William F. Smith Field near Harvard Stadium. It’s smack-dab amid a major Harvard expansion in the neighborhood.