Boston Tower Talks Get Underway
Millennium Partners and city officials start hammering out a deal for the site of a proposed $1 billion residential/office high-rise.
By Jeffrey Steele
Rendering of 115 Winthrop Square
Boston—In a crucial step toward development of a proposed $1 billion residential and office tower, The Boston Redevelopment Authority, partnered with the City of Boston, is starting negotiations with Millennium Partners for the sale of the long-closed Winthrop Square Garage.  in Boston’s Financial District.
Rising 750 feet above street level at 115 Winthrop Square, Millennium’s project would encompass 14 stories of office space and 36 floors of residential housing above a 65-foot-tall Great Hall. Millennium is offering as much as $150 million for the site.
In a statement, an interagency panel detailed its reasons for recommending Millennium.
The developer and Handel Architects, the tower’s designer, have a long history of collaborating on such projects as Millennium Tower and the Burnham Building. Millennium’s proposal also sets robust objectives for sustainability and environmental sensitivity.
Moreover, the committee said, Millennium’s proposal promises to create and fortify a sense of place and community. The centerpiece, an almost 13,000-square-foot Great Hall, would be designed to serve as a commercial and cultural hub.
The addition of residential housing, retail and office space has the potential to create a vibrant community center in the heart of Boston’s downtown area. An innovation accelerator to spur development, growth and maturation of startups would also be part of this initiative.
Officials also like the developer’s estimates of nearly almost 3,000 construction jobs and promised participation of women- and minority-owned businesses. As well, Millennium is dedicated to partnering with a widely varied local group of third-party service providers for post-construction operations.
When complete, the development will provide space for 2,200 office workers, almost 400 retail and restaurant jobs and 82 employees in the roles of building management and operations. Additionally, Millennium recommends partnering with the Asian Community Development Corporation on an affordable housing initiative to meet the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) obligations of the project through contributions of $25 million to the creation of new Chinatown affordable housing.
Images courtesy of winthropsquareboston.com
