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26 Court St. Boston/Elkus Manfredi Architects
A South Boston developer has submitted designs for a 61-story office and residential tower above Boston’s City Hall Annex after the city asked for ideas how to generate affordable housing at municipal properties.
Cronin Development said the $453 million tower would include over 500,000 square feet of housing and offices, including 400 residential units.
Cronin Development submitted one of 24 responses to the city’s Housing Innovation Lab, which issued a request for information this spring on creative ways to add housing on city-owned real estate. The 83 sites include libraries, fire stations and community centers.
“We got a lot of great information about what sites might make sense and spoke to several of the developers that proposed ideas to dive deeper,” said Marcy Ostberg, the housing lab’s director.
Respondents ranged from local nonprofits to deep-pocketed developers who have completed billions of dollars in projects.
The 700-foot-plus tower would rise above the 11-story City Hall Annex at 26 Court St., Cronin Development said in a submission to the housing lab.
“With its proximity to Government Center and historic Faneuil Hall, there is no opportunity exactly like this one where affordable and workforce housing, coupled with the arts and civic engagement, is such an obvious fit,” the document states.
Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, the over-700-foot tower would be the fourth tallest building in the city. But developers say it would not generate any new shadow on Boston Common, a legal sticking point for skyscrapers in the downtown area. Cronin Development also said it would like to renovate the former Kirstein Business Library at 20 City Hall Ave., with part of the building converted into an arts center.
Cronin Development is the real estate arm of restaurant operator Cronin Group, which is scheduled to break ground this summer on a 22-story condominium tower at 150 Seaport Boulevard.
New York-based Midwood Investment and Management proposed a 24-story tower above a new fire station at 200 Columbus Ave. in South End. And developers Leggat McCall Properties and A.W. Perry Inc. submitted separate proposals to redevelop the 3-acre fire department headquarters on Southampton Street.
A.W. Perry Inc. sees a potential land swap as unlocking the redevelopment of the fire department headquarters property. It’s seeking to acquire a nearby parcel which could be used to relocate the fire department building.
That would free up the department’s 115 Southampton St. property for redevelopment, potentially including life science, office or industrial space, said Michael Healey, acquisition and development associate at A.W. Perry.
“It’s a little bit of a grittier area,” he said. “Industrial historically has made sense there, but we thought residential could work there. If the city could look at it as a way to partner with the developers, and almost subsidize the development by not taking market value upfront, we could deliver what the community needs. You tell me what you need and what the city wants to build, and I’ll tell you what I can pay for it.”
Developers’ responses are being used to shape a future request for proposals, Ostberg said. The city is narrowing down the list of sites and researching legal issues surrounding disposition of municipal properties.
“We’re trying to get to the RFP and our intention is to do this for real,” she said.
