South Station

BOSTON-A 49-story tower in 1.8-million-sf mixed-use South Station has become the city's first pre-certified LEED building. The designation for the shell and core construction comes just one month after Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced a new initiative to require developers of projects larger than 50,000 sf to adhere to green building standards.

Besides the one-million-sf tower, the estimated $800-million South Station includes a nine-story, 500,000-sf office building and 200-room hotel with 150 residential units set in a 13-story building. Houston-based Hines Interests LP is co-developing the project with TUDC LLC, a subsidiary of Tufts University. Construction on the first phase is expected to begin this year with completion set for 2010.

"As the city prepares to amend its zoning code to require green building, I am pleased to see Hines taking the lead on this issue," Menino says in a press release about the pre-certification. "They are proving what we've been saying: green makes sense--it's good for the environment and good for your wallet." If the green building article is ultimately approved, Boston would become the first major US city to require developers to secure LEED certifications.

Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven, CT, the project also includes about $40 million in privately funded, transit-related improvements. When completed, the South Station terminal will end up with a 40% increase in capacity.

A spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority tells GlobeSt.com that although the project is the first to receive LEED pre-certification for its shell and core, it will receive other LEED certifications once it is completed. The Manulife Financial's building on the South Boston waterfront was the first building in the city to receive full LEED certification, she says. The 601 Congress St. building serves as the company's US headquarters.