Fenway Center moving forward, project changes proposed

Fenway Center developers Meredith Management and Gerding Edlen submitted a Notice of Project Change (NPC) to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) earlier this month proposing changes to the approved Fenway Center development plan; the following is a link to the NPC. Fenway Center would now be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 would include two residential buildings (Buildings 1 and 2) of 7 and 13 stories, respectively, containing a total of 339,000 square feet. Phase 2 would include a 27-story, 375,000 square mixed-use office and residential tower (Building 3) and a 7-story, 111,000 square foot residential building (Building 4) that would be built on an air rights deck above the Massachusetts Turnpike. All four buildings at Fenway Center would have ground-floor retail space. Phase 2 would also entail the construction of a 7-story, 274,000 square foot parking garage on the air rights deck.

With the most recent NPC, minor changes in planned square footage have been made since the NPC approved in September 2011; building heights have not changed. Most notably, 58,000 square feet have been added to Building 3 (part of Phase 2), which would be built atop the air rights deck, and Building 2 (part of Phase 1) has been reduced by 56,000 square feet. Altogether, Phase 1 has been decreased by 50,000 square feet, and Phase 2 has been increased by 50,000 square feet. After the proposed changes, the entire project’s proposed square footage remains at 1,099,000 square feet as approved in 2011.

Per the NPC submission, the development team hopes that the proposed square footage changes will make Fenway Center more readily financeable, allowing for the completion of Phase 1 financing and commencement of construction in Spring 2017. The development team hopes that the proposed increase in Phase 2's density will make Phase 2 and the associated air rights deck more financeable and attractive to future equity partners and hopes to commence construction of Phase 2 in 2018-2019. The NPC is currently under review by the BRA.

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