Winthrop Center Update 07/31/17

Proposed Winthrop Square tower moves forward with Governor’s approval of revised shadow laws


Governor Charlie Baker has approved revisions to state laws that limit casting shadows on Boston Common and the Public Garden, allowing Millennium Partners’ proposed $1.02 billion, 775-foot-tall Winthrop Square tower in the Financial District to move forward with Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) review. Under the revised law, which replaces a law that banned constructing buildings that cast shadows on the parks during the day, Millennium Partners will be able to build the tower pending BPDA approval.


The previous law only allowed new buildings to cast shadows on the parks either during the first hour after sunrise or before 7 AM, whichever was later, or during the last hour before sunset. Under the new law, which makes an exemption for Millennium Partners’ proposed tower, a shadow bank for new buildings in the Midtown Cultural District, which would have allowed for new shadows to be cast on the parks after 10 AM, has been eliminated, limiting height of future buildings in the neighborhood. Millennium Partners’ proposed Winthrop Square tower would cast no more than 90 minutes of shadows across part of Boston Common on the morning of September 10th, and no more than 26 minutes of shadows across the Public Garden on the morning of August 24th, with shorter shadows cast across the parks throughout the rest of the year.


Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the BPDA both expressed support for the revised law, officially dubbed “An Act protecting sunlight and promoting economic development in the City of Boston.” “This common sense change will better protect the Boston Common and Boston Public Garden for years to come, while allowing a project that will generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Boston’s neighborhoods, parks and public housing to move forward. We look forward to continuing to work with the many community stakeholders and local legislators as this project moves through the Article 80 process,” said BPDA Director Brian Golden in a prepared statement. In addition to BPDA approval, the proposed tower will also require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reach its’ proposed height of 775 feet tall.


Millennium Partners would pay the City of Boston a total of $153 million to acquire the Winthrop Square garage site. Mayor Walsh has pledged the money towards public space improvements, including to Boston Common, and creation of new affordable housing. Millennium Partners has also reached an agreement with the Friends of the Public Garden to pay $125,000 per year for 40 years towards parks improvements. Millennium Partners’ 775-foot-tall tower would feature 36 floors of luxury condominium residences above 14 floors of office space and a 65-foot-tall ground-floor public "Great Hall" lined with three levels of retail. The proponent aims to break ground on the tower in 2018.

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