LMA tower to be completed by year’s end

LMA—The Longwood Center, an 11-story medical research building located at the corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenues, will finish construction in the last quarter of this year, according National Development managing partner Jack O’Neil.

National Development is one of four partners for the project. The other partners are Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Charles River Realty Fund and Clarion Partners.

O’Neil said in an email to the Gazette that the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will occupy 40 percent of the 414,000-square-foot tower, while the remaining space is still open.

The project has been in the works since 2003 and has gone through several different plans. The Joslin Diabetes Center originally attempted to develop the 1-acre site into a 600,000-square-foot, mixed-use project that included a 30-story residential tower. In 2007, Joslin backed out and put the site and project up for sale.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., National Development and Charles River Realty Fund bought the property in 2007. It was later announced at a Longwood Medical Area forum that the project would no longer include the housing tower.

The issue of housing on the site was a contentious one, as Joslin evicted hundreds of residents from the 84-unit Longwood Gardens apartment building at 368-372 Longwood Ave. to make way for the project.

The new owners demolished a historic firehouse and apartment building that were located on the site in 2008 before halting construction.

A rendering of the Longwood Center. (Courtesy Photo)

A rendering of the Longwood Center. (Courtesy Photo)

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