1.9M-SF Mixed-Use Project at South Station is Scaled Back

The companies call the move a "major step forward in the permitting process." Perry notes that "in filing our Notice of Project Change, we have reached another important milestone on the road toward construction of this major project in the City of Boston." He adds that the filing "summarizes the results of our considerable efforts over the past two years to address the concerns of the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the MBTA and adjacent property owners." He emphasizes that despite the current slowdown in the local commercial office market "we remain compelled by our confidence in the long term economic strength of Boston and the environmental appeal of high density, mixed-use development in this transit-rich location. The project represents sound environmental planning by concentrating commercial development above a major transportation hub, leveraging off of the considerable transportation infrastructure in place and under construction at South Station and thereby encouraging the use of public transportation by the buildings' occupants."

The South Station development, now consists of the approximately $20-million completion of the South Station Transportation Center at the lower levels of the project plus the addition of a 40-story, 1.1-million-sf office building, a 500-room hotel, a nine-story, 430,000-sf office/research and development building, and parking for approximately 1,050 cars. A release notes that important considerations in the development of the master plan include the linkage of the existing train station and bus terminal, provisions for the potential future expansion of the railyard necessary to accommodate additional Commuter Rail and Amtrak service and coordination with the potential redevelopment of the United States Postal Service property adjacent to South Station.

Houston-based Hines and TUDC, Tufts University Development Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tufts University, say that the proposed changes were done to "mitigate adverse impacts perceived by observers of the prior design." The height of the office tower was reduced to address concerns voiced by the FAA. In addition, other changes include relocating the loading dock to eliminate traffic and coordination concerns of the abutters and modifying the office tower structure to eliminate construction activity inside the main concourse of the train station and less permanent impact on the railyard.

Linkage payments to the city from the project will total approximately $15 million, and real estate taxes are anticipated to be approximately $17 million annually. Total private investment in the project is expected to exceed $600 million.

Plans to redevelop South Station as a major transportation center began in 1963. In 1984, under the leadership of the MBTA, in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration and Boston Redevelopment Authority, plans were announced for a major intermodal transportation center and commercial development in the air rights above the transportation center. In 1991, the BRA designated TUDC as the developer of the air rights above South Station. TUDC selected Hines to be its co-developer in October 1997, and Cesar Pelli & Associates, Inc. was subsequently selected as the design architect for the project.