What have we recently found out from the standstill that is
apparent at the former Filenes site on lower Washington near
Downtown Crossing at Hayward Place? One thing for certain at least
that has not changed is that the New York based Vornado Realty
Trust and Bostons Millennium Partners are still in partnership as
the primary investors. We recently blogged
about some of the other headlines coming from this part of Downtown
Crossing only months ago, and now it appears that great progressive
strides have already been made in getting things underway. What we
have now come to find out though is just what exactly these mega
corporations are expected to erect at this site, one that has been
left vacant for over three years and can only be described as an
eyesore.
To residents and workers in the area, you can breathe a sigh of
relief as knowing that literally anything to fill the empty hole in
the ground would absolutely be considered an upgrade. Well what an
upgrade it indeed will be. A $615 Million facility to be exact, the
new Millennium Tower as it will be known, which formerly identified
as a smaller and less impressive construction which was once
proposed by Vornado. Millennium Tower will be comprised of five
hundred residential units, five hundred and twenty-five underground
parking spaces, along with 200,000 square feet of office space and
an additional 230,000 square feet for retail shops.
Vornado executives recently had a misunderstanding with the
Mayor, Thomas M. Menino and his administration. Essentially, this
friction caused Vornado to back down and hand over the reigns to
Millennium whom are now the lead group in control of the proposal.
The new Millennium Tower is also thirty-nine stories taller than
the original vision for this location and once completed will be
Bostons fourth tallest building at six hundred and six feet. This
developments great height only falls just behind the likes of The
Hancock Tower, The Prudential Tower and The Federal Reserve
building which says quite a lot about how dramatic the views will
be, especially for a primarily residential building.
Other recently released plans are that Millennium will also be
revamping the still existing 1912 Burnham Building where Filenes
was in business for years. The Boston Redevelopment Authority have
aspirations of beginning work on the Burnham Building in the very
near future before the end of the year. Moreover, the work on the
Millennium Tower is also expected to get underway, however not
until the renovations have been completed to the Burnham
Building.
Downtown Crossing will once again be seen as a destination
retail hub within the city of Boston. This will undoubtedly create
more business, traffic and buzz for the smaller mom & pop shops in
the area, especially when considering all of the extra housing
units that are sure to be in high demand.
Yet another building, Millennium Place, is already under
construction just down Washington Street from the former Filenes
location. Here, this new property will also be contributing two
hundred and fifty-six residential units to the area within fifteen
floors. Due for completion in the Fall of 2013, this $220 Million
project is yet another reason showing just how much change there
truly is on the horizon in Boston. We posted a wonderfully
informative blog talking about the top ten new developments
in Boston and determined that overall seventy-six projects are
in the works. It is an amazing time to be living here as this
period of transformation and growth in the citys skyline is also
currently coinciding with the same transformation, growth and
rebirth (if you will) for our Real Estate industry and economy as a
whole.
More Information: Boston Herald