SOUTH STATION PLAN ON APPROVAL TRACK
Houston developer Hines yesterday submitted detailed project plans for its long-stalled air-rights development that could see one of Boston’s largest towers rising to 677 feet over South Station.
The company — with Chinese developer Gemdale Properties & Investment Corp. Ltd. as its new financing partner — is proposing a three- building,2.52-millionsquare-mixed-use project.
The 51-story tower designed by New Haven’s Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects would include a nine-story base, 26 floors of office space and 175 residential condos on the top 16 floors.
The first phase of the threepart project also would include an approximately 106,000-square-foot expansion of the South Station bus terminal that would increase its capacity by 50 percent, according to plans filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority yesterday.
A second-phase, 17-story building would be either all residential (260 condos or 375 apartments), a 360-room hotel or possibly both residential and hotel uses depending on market conditions. The third building is slated as a nine-story office building. All three structures would include retail space.
Development plans also call for a five-level parking garage with a maximum of 895 spaces.
The project’s overall height and size are substantially the same as Hines’ previous South Station development proposal approved by the BRA in 2006, according to David Perry, senior managing director at Hines.
“Due to changes in market conditions since 2006, the amount of office space being proposed has been reduced, and the portion of space devoted to residential use has been increased,” Perry said in a statement.
“The expansion and completion of the bus terminal and construction of other transportation infrastructure improvements at South Station, all to be built as part of the private development project, remain integral components of the proposal,” Perry said.
Hines did not respond to Herald inquiries about the estimated cost of the project, which will undergo the BRA’s typical large project review process, including community meetings and a public hearing, according to the agency.