The former site of the Boston Herald for more than 50 years, at 300 Harrison Ave., is 6.22 acres.
National Development’s plans call for the construction of three new buildings, which would all be between 70 and 100 feet high, and the reuse of the existing Boston Herald building, mainly for its foundation. The four buildings would be five, eight, eight and nine stories high and together would be nearly 550,000 square feet.
There would be 471 new residential units and a total of about 85,000 square feet of retail space, including a 30,000-square-foot space for a grocery store and multiple smaller, ground-floor spaces for retail and/or restaurants.
FYI...
ReplyDeleteBoston Herald “Ink Block” Site, National Development, Feb.2, 2012 (Boston Inno)
The Boston Globe reports that the property owner, National Development, plans on knocking the old Herald building down and erecting four new five- to nine-story buildings to house apartments, restaurants, shops and even a grocery store. The plan, dubbed the “Ink Block” would include 475 living units and 400 parking spaces on six-acres at the corner of Herald Street and Harrison Avenue in the South End. Amenities in the plans also include a fitness center, “cyber lounge,” electric-car charging stations, bike storage and a shared-car service.
Old Herald building. Image via Boston Globe
Still, nothing is set in stone until the plan is approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which National Development has yet to file. “This project has to make a bold statement to get development in this area started,’’ Ted Tye, a managing partner at National Development, tells the Globe. “We are the first piece of development in an emerging part of the South End, so people wanted us to be aggressive.’’ That “aggressive” plan is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
While the new plan sounds amazing, in its current iteration, only 15 percent of its units will be “affordable,” meaning you can only live there if you’re making enough dough, although the grocery store would be a nice treat to a neighborhood that’s currently lacking. I guess the rest of us are doomed to Menino’s dorm rooms on the waterfront.