News | January 16th 2016

City Approves Government Center Garage Residential and Office Towers

Following years of extensive planning, the Boston Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors has unanimously approved two towers on the site of the Government Center Garage, the first phases of a six-building, $1.5 billion redevelopment plan to replace the 1960s-era brutalist garage. The first phase of the project will include:

  • A 480-foot, 486-unit luxury apartment building designed by CBT, which will be the tallest rental housing in the city once complete. The building is expected to break ground in the Spring along New Sudbury Street and will have unrivaled 360-degree views of the city, from the Charles River to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Blue Hills to Nahant.
  • A 43-story, one-million-square-foot iconic office tower, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli architects with a sweeping glass exterior. The building is one of the only fully permitted, shovel-ready commercial towers in Boston and will commence construction upon commitment by a major tenant. The project team is being represented by Transwestern|RBJ.

When completed, the project will include housing, offices, a hotel, retail, and other public amenities including reopening a block of Congress Street to daylight for the first time in fifty years. In addition to the newly approved towers, the HYM Investment Group and National Real Estate Advisors are planning the construction of three buildings to surround a new public plaza in order to reestablish a prominent central gathering point in downtown Boston near old Haymarket Square.

At full buildout, the project will include 812 residential units, 196 hotel rooms, 1.1 million square feet of office space, and 85,000 square feet of new retail that will activate the area and complement the adjacent, established surrounding neighborhoods.

In addition to the two approved towers, HYM and National are planning three modest-scale buildings surrounding a new public plaza on the eastern side of the parcel, abutting the Rose Kennedy Greenway, including a hotel-and-condo building, a boutique office, and a multi-story retail space, reestablishing a prominent central gathering point in downtown Boston near old Haymarket Square.

A sustainable and transit-oriented redevelopment, the project is centrally located, two blocks from North Station and Storrow Drive, next to I-93, and integrated with the MBTA's Haymarket Station, including Green and Orange Line trains. The project will feature a one-acre green roof deck, an unmatched amenity in the city of Boston, and will have the largest area for bicycle storage and meeting cyclists' needs of any location in Boston.