By Michael Coughlin Jr.
On Tuesday, the City of Boston Planning Department welcomed folks to a public meeting regarding plans for a development at 500 Huntington Avenue, a site which currently includes Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Sweeney Field and other structures.
As part of this project, two buildings would be constructed at the site, totaling 640,000 square feet of gross floor area for life science and retail space, with 384 parking spaces.
The Huntington Development Group is undertaking the project, which is comprised of The Owens Companies, Waldwin Development, and The Fallon Company, all of which were described as “Boston-based, family-owned companies” by Donald Johnson of Huntington Development Group.
It should be noted that Wentworth owns the site, but Johnson said, “This is a ground lease from Wentworth, and the project is being developed by HDG (Huntington Development Group) as a private development, not as part of Wentworth’s campus.”
Development at this site has a history dating back to 2013 when Planned Development Area (PDA) #93 was approved. Johnson explained that the massing for the 2013 project included a tower along Parker Street, which fronted Huntington Avenue, and an oval building at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Ruggles Street.
“Ultimately, that project did not go forward for a number of reasons,” said Johnson. He also indicated that since 2013, the Avenue of the Arts guidelines have been created to guide projects in the area, and there have been some changes.
Specifically, Johnson noted that this project is more compact and includes open space on the corner where the aforementioned oval building was slated to be erected.
The floor area ratio, gross floor area, and allowed uses have remained the same in the two iterations of the project.
However, the project’s maximum height has decreased from 280 feet to the top of the building to 254 feet to the top of the mechanical screening. Further, the amount of parking spaces has decreased from 410 to 384, and publicly accessible open space has increased from up to 57,600 square feet to up to 70,000 square feet.
Johnson also noted that 78,000 square feet were set aside for Wentworth’s use in the 2013 project, but that is no longer included.
As the presentation continued, Johnson highlighted other aspects of the project, such as setbacks from Northeastern buildings and a shadow setback to reduce shadows impacting the Museum of Fine Arts.
There are also plans for only one loading dock at the site where trucks will only be allowed to pull in off of Parker Street and will not be allowed to back in from Parker Street.
Another critical aspect of the project is a pedestrian path between the two buildings, connecting Museum Road across Huntington Avenue through the site and Northeastern’s West Village to Ruggles Station. Plans also include a connection from the site across Ruggles Street to Wentworth Hall.
After Johnson outlined the materials and building forms that were inspired to align with existing buildings around the area, Josh Burgel detailed the project’s public realm aspects.
These public realm aspects include bike sharing and parking areas, new mid-block crossings on Ruggles and Parker Streets, a 45% tree increase, bike lanes, and more.
Burgel also noted plans for programming in publicly accessible spaces such as water features in the warmer seasons, farmers’ markets, art spaces, and more.
As for sustainability, the project aims to achieve LEED Gold, and the project will utilize “electric operations for the heating and cooling of the building as much as possible,” according to Johnson.
Workforce development is also an essential part of the project. “One of the things that Huntington Development Group does, you know, we want to prioritize workforce development opportunities and career ladders in the life sciences and building industry to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce in Boston.”
For example, The Fallon Company partners with Street2Ivy and runs a real estate entrepreneurship program free of charge for Boston kids.
The project team is also looking to work with Wentworth to facilitate workforce training programs, work with the institutes’ RAMP program, and employ more than 80 Wentworth co-op students.
After the presentation, Juan Maldonado, Associate Director of Sociedad Latina, a youth development organization from Mission Hill, made the only comment about the project.
Maldonado offered his support for the project on behalf of the organization and was thankful to the project team for listening to suggestions from youth and members of Sociedad Latina to improve the project.
Moreover, he noted that the developers verbally agreed to partner with Sociedad Latina, centering on increased employment and career exploration opportunities for Mission Hill youth. He requested that a plan be included with annual internship and employment opportunities metrics as part of the project’s approval process.
“We would like to request that the development team work closely with youth development organizations in Mission Hill as well as continue to work with Sociedad Latina in setting these goals and implementing the internship program,” said Maldonado.
“The BPDA should also ensure the initial verbal agreement and commitments are part of the written community benefits package.”
Regarding the project’s next steps, Stephen Harvey of the city’s Planning Department noted that the project must receive approval from the Boston Civic Design Commission, the planning board, and the zoning commission.
To learn more about this project, view the presentation and recording from this meeting, visit https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/wentworth-500-huntington-avenue.