Nitsch Engineering

Certificate of Occupancy Issued for First Units at Velo JP A certificate of occupancy has been issued for the first tower, 122 units, at Velo JP along with the amenity space and 1/2 of the shared garage. When complete Velo will feature 250 units in total along with just over 4,000 square feet of retail space. The transit-oriented project is located directly across the street from the Forest Hills MBTA station.

288 Harrison Ave. Approved by BPDA The proposed affordable housing project at 288 Harrison Avenue has been approved. The new building to be constructed on the south parking lot of Tai Tung Village residential development will offer 85 affordable rental units. The project will also include surface parking for approximately 40 vehicles.  

NPC Approved for 55 India The BPDA has approved the notice of project change submitted in January for 55 India. The change cuts the total number of units from 44 to 29 while maintaining similar building size/height. The third floor of the building would now include 5 affordable live workspaces. On the upper floors plans now call for larger units including 22 two-bedrooms and 2 three-bedroom duplex, penthouse residences. The ground floor will include a restaurant space with large outdoor seating area.  

Höweler + Yoon & Sasaki Announce Groundbreaking for 212 Stuart Street Höweler + Yoon and Sasaki today announced the groundbreaking for the 212 Stuart Street residential tower located in the historic Bay Village neighborhood in downtown Boston. The project was carried through the permitting process by Boston-based Transom Real Estate and is currently being developed by Greystar Real Estate Partners. The project received approval from the BPDA in summer 2017 and by the Boston Landmarks Commission in late 2018. The building will be developed on a 7,714 square-foot parcel located within Boston's “High-Spine”.  Sasaki served as the Project Architect in collaboration with Höweler + Yoon as the Design Architect. The project will include the construction of a 150,000 square-foot 19-story building containing 126 units with two townhouses and retail space on the ground level.  “The design of 212 Stuart Street is rooted in the idea that the tall building operates at multiple scales in the city,” says Eric Höweler, Principal of Höweler + Yoon. “When viewed from a distance, the building meets the sky with a distinctive silhouette and participates in the composition of the city's skyline. When experienced from the sidewalk, the building meets the ground and activates the streetscape in its immediate context.”  The site of 212 Stuart Street is currently a vacant parking lot between the Bay Village Neighborhood, and the Stuart Street corridor. “Context, here, is everything,” says Sasaki principal Victor Vizgaitis, AIA. “The entire genesis of the project came from looking for a way to moderate between two markedly different areas of the city.” The narrow building presents two distinct faces that each acknowledge the surrounding neighborhoods: the low rise residential neighborhood to the south, and the mixed fabric of the "High Spine" corridor to the north.  The building massing is broken up into a ‘coursed block,’ organized into discrete blocks of 3, 4, 5, and 6 story packages. The exterior is articulated to emphasize the vertical grain of the building with irregularly spaced opaque panels, alternating with recessed glass infill panels. The vertical panels consist of custom, multi-story precast panels with a concave, scalloped geometry.  “Considering the explicit historical concern in the neighborhood, we studied fluted geometries as a way to express depth and texture on the facade. Fluted columns themselves were constructed by stacking individual sections around a central core,” says Höweler. “This part-to-whole relationship satisfies the drive to maintain historical character, and yet the results are surprisingly contemporary.”  The heavy relief texture of the facade will create a unique optical effect, as well as some self- shading on the eastern and western exposures. Glazing for the residential units takes the form of a multi-story, recessed window wall with spandrel glass between the precast panels.  The penthouse floor is a single-loaded organization with an outdoor amenity deck to the south. The ground floor contains the lobby and retail spaces with storefront glazing facing the northern, more commercial side of Stuart Street. The southern portion of the ground floor consists of two walk-up townhouses accessible directly from Shawmut Street. These ‘new neighbors’ respond directly to the existing townhomes across the street and maintain an active residential frontage.  “Townhouses change the character of a tall residential building,” says Vizgaitis. “Particularly when they are well-detailed at their public face and set into a landscape that meshes with the city fabric, the building transforms from anonymous and controlled to something that feels personal and part of the neighborhood.” Renderings courtesy of Luxigon

Midwood Now Planning 21-Story Office Tower at One Bromfield Midwood Investment & Development is now planning a 21 story office/retail tower at One Bromfield in Downtown Crossing. New documents call for a 424,000 square foot building to feature two floors of retail space with office above. There would be no parking included in this new development plan. Midwood recently refinanced the site for $31M.

Demo Permit Application Filed for 449 Cambridge St in Allston The Boston Landmarks Commission has received an application to demolish the commercial structure and garage at 449 Cambridge Street in Allston. The development site was purchased by Anchor Line Partners for $10M this past November. A two-building project is now under review for the site to include 166 residential units plus 2,400 square feet of ground-floor retail/restaurant space and parking for 80 cars.

East Boston Project Financed for $60.24 Million The project at 144 Addison Street in East Boston has been financed via M&T Bank for $60,244,730. The upcoming multi-family residential development will feature 230 apartment residences across two new-construction buildings ranging from three to five stories in height. Both buildings will be connected with a central resident amenity section. A total of 169 vehicle garage parking spaces, 270 covered bicycle storage spaces, and 15 exterior bicycle parking spaces would be provided on-site.

$4M Plumbing Permit Pulled for Canopy Hotel by Hilton Cannistraro has pulled a permit valued at $4M for the plumbing work at the upcoming Canopy Hotel by Hilton. The 7-story hotel will include 212 rooms along with 9,600 square feet of retail. Hotel guest amenities will include a fitness center and meeting space and 1,800 square foot roof deck. 

Permit Pulled to Begin Site Mobilization for 230 Unit Multi-Family Project in East Boston Dellbrook has pulled a permit to being site work mobilization in anticipation of the imminent start of construction for the 144 Addison Street project. The East Boston project will feature a total of 230 rental units between two buildings. The development will also include parking for 169 vehicles and over 80,000 square feet of open space.

Demo Underway for 105 West First in South Boston The former RCN building on the site at 105 West First Street in South Boston is coming down. The demo will make way for an approved 7-story 250,000 square foot R&D office building. The ground floor of the building will include retail space along with community, shared work or technology incubator space. As part of the project, a new pedestrian corridor will also be constructed linking West Second Street to West First Street, which are currently vertically separated by 12 feet. 

Draper Elevator Interiors completes Uniquely designed Elevator Cabs at the Moxy Hotel Draper Elevator Interiors collaborated with Group One Partners to design, fabricate and install four highly custom elevator cabs at the Moxy Hotel in Boston's theater district. The hotel boasts a fun industrial-chic decor throughout the building, the elevator cabs are no exception. Custom back-lit blackened stainless steel bumper rails highlight antique mirror glass rear wall panels. Each elevator has its own unique image which can be seen peering through a 3D keyhole slot, creating a "backstage" theme.

Construction Continues for Omni Boston Hotel at The Seaport Construction continues for the Omni Boston Hotel at The Seaport. Framing is rising for one of the towers while facade install is ongoing on the other. The 21-story building will include 746 standard rooms and 278 innovation rooms. Hotel guests will have access to meeting and event space, a spa,  a fitness center, and 400 off-site parking spaces. With the Boston Convention Center being a main draw to the hotel, there will be access to the BCEC via an existing underground tunnel.