796,000-SF Redevelopment Project Gets Under Way

The mixed-use project involves 278,849 sf of office space, 34,539 sf of retail space and 75 residential condominiums fronting Bowdoin and Cambridge Streets. The housing is designed to fit in well with the historic Beacon Hill District and 25% will be set aside for low-and moderate- income homes.

The 22-story building, formerly known as the Saltonstall building, is located in the heart of the city. MassDevelopment was chosen through a competitive process to manage the new construction and renovations to the office tower. The entire project will be completed by next summer and is estimated to cost approximately $184 million. MassDevelopment contributed $20 million in equity and is utilizing private financing to fund the balance of this project. According to Meredith & Grew's Dante Angelucci, project manager for the redevelopment, MassDevelopment obtained its financing through Lehmann Brothers. The building is still owned by the state, Angelucci tells GlobeSt.com, and they gave MassDevelopment a 50-year ground lease.

At the kick-off to the project, Governor Jane Swift said, "This innovative mixed-use development sets a high mark for projects in cities across the Commonwealth by creating new below-market housing downtown. Revitalizing this site will meet a critical need for new housing by tying the property back into the Beacon Hill community and restoring a valuable state asset." City Mayor Thomas M. Menino emphasized that the project will help revitalize the downtown area while speaker Thomas M. Finneran applauded the public-private partnership that enabled the project to come to fruition.

Plans call for constructing four floors of new condominium housing above a newly created 35,000 sf retail area. Eleven two-story townhouses will be built on Bowdoin Street with three floors of apartments above them. MassDevelopment will also develop the Garden of Peace in the plaza of the property as a memorial to victims of homicide.

The tower was originally named after former US. Senator and Governor Leverett A. Saltonstall and now spans over 560,000 sf. It was developed in 1965 and housed dozens of state agencies, until it was found to have environmental contaminants such as asbestos.

Meredith & Grew's Brian L.P. Fallon, senior vice president, will head up the development team for the property. Thomas J. Hynes, Jr., president, Ronald K. Perry, senior vice president, John A. Carroll, Jr., senior vice president, and Kristin E. Blount, vice president, will be the office leasing team. Theodore A. Chryssicas, senior vice president, and Patrick J. Paladino, vice president, will oversee the retail leasing.