Big idea for boylston
Hub tower will house 108 units
Planning officials signed off on another massive glassy tower of condos to rise on a desolate block of Boylston Street in the Back Bay, the project aiming to straddle the Mass Pike next to the Hynes Convention Center.
The 484-foot building, to be known as 1000 Boylston Street, will include 108 residential units through 27 floors that will be set on two stories of about 45,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space, the Boston Planning & Development Agency said.
The third and fourth floors of the building will be a 175-space parking garage.
The agency said the project will “contribute to the cohesiveness of the city, improve the street and pedestrian environment, develop new retail and services and revitalize the local area.”
Weiner Ventures has said the tower could “dramatically improve” a corner of the Back Bay mired by discontinuity from the construction of the Turnpike Extension in the 1960s. It also forms a link between the Back Bay and Fenway neighborhoods.
The developer said its “team is pleased to move a step closer toward decking over the open Turnpike and reshaping the underutilized streetscape into a highly improved and very desirable environment for residents, businesses, and visitors.”
Weiner Ventures expected to break ground in 2018, with work on the podium over the Mass Pike to finish in late 2019 and construction of the residential building by 2021, according to planning documents. Additional approvals from MassDOT are also required for the project.
The building would fill a half block of Boylston Street from Dalton Street to St. Cecilia Street, where the lively retail district grows quiet as the Mass Pike roars out from the tunnel.
The tower was designed by Boston’s Elkus Manfredi Architects.
The project creates or preserves 51,000 square feet of affordable housing, the planning agency said.
The BPDA announced the approval alongside four other development projects and one altered project that altogether create 187 units and represent an investment of $703.9 million.