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Millennium Partners has been designated as developer of the Winthrop Square garage site at 115 Federal St. in Boston.
The New York developer, which is completing the 442-unit luxury Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing, was the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s pick out of six developers to transform the defunct municipal garage site into a mixed-use development.
Millennium plans a 750-foot-tall tower with 14 stories of office space and 36 floors of residences. It submitted a price offer of $150.8 million to purchase the 1-acre parcel.
“The people that lost are probably feeling bad today and I feel for them, but the whole process just raised the bar,” Millennium Partners Principal Joseph Larkin said. “This competition pushed us hard into something we’re really proud of.”
The centerpiece of the proposal’s public realm is a 13,000-square-foot Great Hall that runs between Federal and Devonshire streets. Open 18 hours a day and seven days a week, the 65-foot-high public space would include food stalls, cafes and programmable event space.
“These aren’t doors you’re going through. The sides slide away, and for much of the year it’ll feel like a street,” Larkin said. “This is a wide open space and only in the cold weather do we bring down the facade. It’s going to feel like it’s a place for the entire city.”
That was an approach different from what the BRA called for in its request for proposals, which suggested developers include a high-level observatory.
“Our solution was different but it was the same sentiment: make this building a building for all,” Larkin said.
Millennium Partners will contribute approximately 35 percent of its own equity to the project and work with its past lenders to provide the remaining debt portion, Larkin said.
A committee of BRA and city hall staff chose Millennium based upon the following factors, according to a press release: developer and design team collaboration with Handel Architects, sustainability and environmental sensitivity, establishment of a “hearty public realm,” dynamic programming and robust economic development strategy.
Millennium estimates its plan would generate up to 2,200 full-time jobs in the office component, along with 390 retail and restaurant jobs and 82 building operations and management staff.
It plans to partner with the Boston-based Asian Community Development Corp. to meet the city’s inclusionary development policy guidelines by contributing $25 million toward affordable housing in Chinatown.
The proposal is subject to a large project review by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Ernst & Young is evaluating the proposal as the BRA begins negotiations with Millennium Partners.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information and comments from the developer.
