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The Boston neighborhood best-known as a student-heavy redoubt is seeing some major mixed-use development, including Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus, Allston Green, and Common Allbright
There are not that many Boston-area neighborhoods seeing as much new development, either planned or underway, as Allston.
Projects such as Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus and the four-building Allston Yards are set to add thousands of new housing units and hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and lab space in the next few years. Here’s where those projects are going.
Read MoreThe Boston Planning and Development Agency signed off in December on this four-building project on the site of the Stop & Shop supermarket and surrounding parking lots near the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The 10.6-acre project is due to include up to 868 condos and apartments, with 148 of those income-restricted. The development will also bring 1 acre of privately owned public parkland as well as 117,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space (including a new Stop & Shop), 350,000 square feet of office space, and 10,000 square feet of community art space.
It could take up to 10 years for the development team behind Allston Yards—which includes New England Development and Stop & Shop parent Ahold Delhaize—to roll out the more than 1.2 million-square-foot development, one of the largest in Allston’s history.
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Boston-based developer the Davis Companies filed initial plans in late January with the Boston Planning and Development Agency for a 535-unit apartment building on the nearly 2-acre site of the Skating Club of Boston. The company acquired it in 2018, and the club is expected to decamp to Norwood in the summer.
The new apartment building would be 22 stories and would include 220 underground parking spots.
The developer also wants to replace the barely year-old Studio Allston hotel next-door to the Skating Club site—which it also owns (and which was formerly a Days hotel)—with a 255-room hotel and 120 condos. But that would follow any redevelopment of the Skating Club site.
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National Development and the Mount Vernon Company are developing plans to replace WBZ-TV’s 62,000 square feet of office and studio space—and the adjacent 133 parking spaces—with brand-new facilities. Once that’s done, the rest of the Allston site could be opened up to development.
The plans are in flux, though, but 2020 could easily bring a definitive proposal and timeline.
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The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved this six-building project in November and the Zoning Board of Appeal signed off in February—so the developer could very well start construction before the end of 2020. It’s due to include 100 rental units and 244 ownership spreads. Those spreads will include 12 income-restricted ones aimed at artists seeking live-work space. All totaled, 45 of Allston Square’s units will be income-restricted.
Four of the six buildings will be new, and developer City Realty plans to preserve and incorporate the existing Allston Hall at 4 Braintree Street and the Allen Building at 334 Cambridge Street—the former home of Jack Young Auto Parts—as part of the project.
Allston Square is also due to host a lot of public artwork, including murals and sculptures as well as 9,000 square feet of exhibition space amid 27,758 square feet of open space. These spaces are meant to connect the six buildings too. And there will be 158 parking spaces and 12,860 square feet of retail.
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The BPDA is reviewing plans from developer LBC Boston to replace seven commercial and residential buildings with three new residential properties totaling 317,000 square feet.
Those buildings would stretch as high as 14 stories—or 153 feet—and would include 296 apartments as well as 52 condos. The mix of units would range from studios to two-bedrooms; and the project would include 157 below-grade parking spots.
The development, dubbed Allston Green, would also come with 4,700 square feet of ground-floor space for non-residential use, likely galleries or retail. And LBC Boston has committed to nearly 20,000 square feet of publicly accessible space.
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This under-construction project—dubbed BLDG 89 and going up on what were brownfield sites—is supposed to add 129 apartments and 7,500 square feet of retail. There will also be 79 street-level parking spots and covered parking for 138 bikes.
Interestingly, the Eden Properties-developed building’s lobby is due to include a screen that will show the arrival times of nearby mass transit. Transit-oriented development, folks.
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The BPDA in late January signed off on the construction of a 278-bedroom, 80-unit co-living project at 525 Lincoln Street. Dubbed Common Allbright, the project from Arx Urban and Boylston Properties would replace yet another surface parking lot in Boston with a six-story building.
Common—a five-year-old national co-living company with buildings in New York, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, and Washington—will operate Common Allbright.
It’s supposed to be a kind of all-in-one apartment experience where everything’s on one rent bill, including utilities and wi-fi as well as cleaning services and supplies such as toilet paper, and every related action, including paying said rent and contacting Common staff, can be done through in-house technology.
Common Allbright’s spreads will range from studios to three- and four-bedroom suites, and will come fully furnished with in-unit laundry. The kitchens and lounges will be shared spaces; and there will be a car-sharing service at the building (as well as parking for around 30 autos). The project is due to include a 1,250-square-foot community space as well.
Some 47 of its 278 bedrooms, too, will be restricted to tenants earning under $40,000 a year. And there are no broker fees, though no short-term leases either—the minimum will be 12 months. Common Allbright is slated to open in summer 2022, pending zoning approval.
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In late December, Harvard picked Manhattan-based developer Tishman Speyer to build out 14 acres that the university owns in Allston. While that selection ended months of speculation regarding who would develop the land—which is due to host what Harvard’s calling its Enterprise Research Campus—it has not settled what exactly will go there and what it will look like.
Harvard already has initial regulatory permission from the BPDA for 900,000 square feet on the parcel. Current plans call for a mix of 400,000 square feet of office and lab space for research-focused companies, green space, 250,000 square feet of residences, and a 250,000-square-foot hotel and conference center.
Incidentally, the Enterprise Research Campus is going up next to Harvard’s almost-finished science and engineering campus (pictured at top); and the school owns another 22 acres, as yet undeveloped, adjacent to the 14 acres.
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The Boston Planning and Development Agency signed off in December on this four-building project on the site of the Stop & Shop supermarket and surrounding parking lots near the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The 10.6-acre project is due to include up to 868 condos and apartments, with 148 of those income-restricted. The development will also bring 1 acre of privately owned public parkland as well as 117,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space (including a new Stop & Shop), 350,000 square feet of office space, and 10,000 square feet of community art space.
It could take up to 10 years for the development team behind Allston Yards—which includes New England Development and Stop & Shop parent Ahold Delhaize—to roll out the more than 1.2 million-square-foot development, one of the largest in Allston’s history.
Boston-based developer the Davis Companies filed initial plans in late January with the Boston Planning and Development Agency for a 535-unit apartment building on the nearly 2-acre site of the Skating Club of Boston. The company acquired it in 2018, and the club is expected to decamp to Norwood in the summer.
The new apartment building would be 22 stories and would include 220 underground parking spots.
The developer also wants to replace the barely year-old Studio Allston hotel next-door to the Skating Club site—which it also owns (and which was formerly a Days hotel)—with a 255-room hotel and 120 condos. But that would follow any redevelopment of the Skating Club site.
National Development and the Mount Vernon Company are developing plans to replace WBZ-TV’s 62,000 square feet of office and studio space—and the adjacent 133 parking spaces—with brand-new facilities. Once that’s done, the rest of the Allston site could be opened up to development.
The plans are in flux, though, but 2020 could easily bring a definitive proposal and timeline.
The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved this six-building project in November and the Zoning Board of Appeal signed off in February—so the developer could very well start construction before the end of 2020. It’s due to include 100 rental units and 244 ownership spreads. Those spreads will include 12 income-restricted ones aimed at artists seeking live-work space. All totaled, 45 of Allston Square’s units will be income-restricted.
Four of the six buildings will be new, and developer City Realty plans to preserve and incorporate the existing Allston Hall at 4 Braintree Street and the Allen Building at 334 Cambridge Street—the former home of Jack Young Auto Parts—as part of the project.
Allston Square is also due to host a lot of public artwork, including murals and sculptures as well as 9,000 square feet of exhibition space amid 27,758 square feet of open space. These spaces are meant to connect the six buildings too. And there will be 158 parking spaces and 12,860 square feet of retail.
The BPDA is reviewing plans from developer LBC Boston to replace seven commercial and residential buildings with three new residential properties totaling 317,000 square feet.
Those buildings would stretch as high as 14 stories—or 153 feet—and would include 296 apartments as well as 52 condos. The mix of units would range from studios to two-bedrooms; and the project would include 157 below-grade parking spots.
The development, dubbed Allston Green, would also come with 4,700 square feet of ground-floor space for non-residential use, likely galleries or retail. And LBC Boston has committed to nearly 20,000 square feet of publicly accessible space.
This under-construction project—dubbed BLDG 89 and going up on what were brownfield sites—is supposed to add 129 apartments and 7,500 square feet of retail. There will also be 79 street-level parking spots and covered parking for 138 bikes.
Interestingly, the Eden Properties-developed building’s lobby is due to include a screen that will show the arrival times of nearby mass transit. Transit-oriented development, folks.
The BPDA in late January signed off on the construction of a 278-bedroom, 80-unit co-living project at 525 Lincoln Street. Dubbed Common Allbright, the project from Arx Urban and Boylston Properties would replace yet another surface parking lot in Boston with a six-story building.
Common—a five-year-old national co-living company with buildings in New York, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, and Washington—will operate Common Allbright.
It’s supposed to be a kind of all-in-one apartment experience where everything’s on one rent bill, including utilities and wi-fi as well as cleaning services and supplies such as toilet paper, and every related action, including paying said rent and contacting Common staff, can be done through in-house technology.
Common Allbright’s spreads will range from studios to three- and four-bedroom suites, and will come fully furnished with in-unit laundry. The kitchens and lounges will be shared spaces; and there will be a car-sharing service at the building (as well as parking for around 30 autos). The project is due to include a 1,250-square-foot community space as well.
Some 47 of its 278 bedrooms, too, will be restricted to tenants earning under $40,000 a year. And there are no broker fees, though no short-term leases either—the minimum will be 12 months. Common Allbright is slated to open in summer 2022, pending zoning approval.
In late December, Harvard picked Manhattan-based developer Tishman Speyer to build out 14 acres that the university owns in Allston. While that selection ended months of speculation regarding who would develop the land—which is due to host what Harvard’s calling its Enterprise Research Campus—it has not settled what exactly will go there and what it will look like.
Harvard already has initial regulatory permission from the BPDA for 900,000 square feet on the parcel. Current plans call for a mix of 400,000 square feet of office and lab space for research-focused companies, green space, 250,000 square feet of residences, and a 250,000-square-foot hotel and conference center.
Incidentally, the Enterprise Research Campus is going up next to Harvard’s almost-finished science and engineering campus (pictured at top); and the school owns another 22 acres, as yet undeveloped, adjacent to the 14 acres.