The Future 'Millennium Tower'
What have we recently found out from the standstill that is apparent at the former Filenes site on lower Washington near Downtown Crossing at Hayward Place? One thing for certain at least that has not changed is that the New York based Vornado Realty Trust and Bostons Millennium Partners are still in partnership as the primary investors. We recently blogged about some of the other headlines coming from this part of Downtown Crossing only months ago, and now it appears that great progressive strides have already been made in getting things underway. What we have now come to find out though is just what exactly these mega corporations are expected to erect at this site, one that has been left vacant for over three years and can only be described as an eyesore.
To residents and workers in the area, you can breathe a sigh of relief as knowing that literally anything to fill the empty hole in the ground would absolutely be considered an upgrade. Well what an upgrade it indeed will be. A $615 Million facility to be exact, the new Millennium Tower as it will be known, which formerly identified as a smaller and less impressive construction which was once proposed by Vornado. Millennium Tower will be comprised of five hundred residential units, five hundred and twenty-five underground parking spaces, along with 200,000 square feet of office space and an additional 230,000 square feet for retail shops.
Vornado executives recently had a misunderstanding with the Mayor, Thomas M. Menino and his administration. Essentially, this friction caused Vornado to back down and hand over the reigns to Millennium whom are now the lead group in control of the proposal. The new Millennium Tower is also thirty-nine stories taller than the original vision for this location and once completed will be Bostons fourth tallest building at six hundred and six feet. This developments great height only falls just behind the likes of The Hancock Tower, The Prudential Tower and The Federal Reserve building which says quite a lot about how dramatic the views will be, especially for a primarily residential building.
Other recently released plans are that Millennium will also be revamping the still existing 1912 Burnham Building where Filenes was in business for years. The Boston Redevelopment Authority have aspirations of beginning work on the Burnham Building in the very near future before the end of the year. Moreover, the work on the Millennium Tower is also expected to get underway, however not until the renovations have been completed to the Burnham Building.
Downtown Crossing will once again be seen as a destination retail hub within the city of Boston. This will undoubtedly create more business, traffic and buzz for the smaller mom & pop shops in the area, especially when considering all of the extra housing units that are sure to be in high demand.
Yet another building, Millennium Place, is already under construction just down Washington Street from the former Filenes location. Here, this new property will also be contributing two hundred and fifty-six residential units to the area within fifteen floors. Due for completion in the Fall of 2013, this $220 Million project is yet another reason showing just how much change there truly is on the horizon in Boston. We posted a wonderfully informative blog talking about the top ten new developments in Boston and determined that overall seventy-six projects are in the works. It is an amazing time to be living here as this period of transformation and growth in the citys skyline is also currently coinciding with the same transformation, growth and rebirth (if you will) for our Real Estate industry and economy as a whole.
More Information: Boston Herald
