Further Changes for Mass Pike Tower Project

A source close to the project tells GlobeSt.com that the developers of the Columbus Center project, on Berkeley and Clarendon streets in the Back Bay area, plan to present their reconfigured plans to the Boston Redevelopment Authority this Thursday evening. The changes, the source says, came about because locally based John Hancock, the insurance and investment company, owns one of the parcels that was part of the project's original proposal. Hancock has made it clear to the developers, Columbus Center Associates, that it has no intention of selling the land.

The project first courted controversy when the original proposal was changed from one 20-story, 280-unit apartment building to 38-story and 31-story towers that will include a 200-room hotel, 100 condominiums and 330 apartments. The plan was already approved a few years ago but a new process for approving air rights projects in which the Boston Redevelopment Authority plays a key role has since been implemented. The project would lease air rights from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which is exempt from zoning laws.

But the BRA formed a Citizen's Advisory Committee, a task force consisting of residents, businesspeople and development professionals that looked at over 20 air rights parcels in the area to come up with a plan for future development. The group came up with air rights zoning ordinances in its study, "A Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights in Boston." The report had no legal force but the group opposed the height of the Columbus Center, as did a number of local activist groups. Ultimately the developers revamped the project again, bringing down the height of the 38-story tower to 25 floors.

Despite those changes, the height of the towers remains an issue with local residents. Calls to the developer were not returned by press time and it is unclear if the height of the towers will be further reduced in the new plan.