Two apartment towers are set to transform a busy segment of Morrissey Boulevard after receiving a crucial green light from city officials.
Boston-based real estate development firm Copper Mill has announced plans to initiate construction next year on a substantial $450 million residential project at 75 Morrissey Blvd., the site of the long-vacant Channel 56 building.
This initiative is the initial phase of a broader nine-acre master planned development located near the MBTA’s JFK-UMass Red Line station.
The project entails the construction of 754 apartments distributed between two 18-story towers, with one oriented towards Interstate 93 and the other towards Morrissey Boulevard.
Adjacent to the former Boston Globe headquarters, now a creative office and lab space known as “Southline,” the residential towers will feature ground-floor retail opportunities and a community park.
Last week, the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) board approved the towers, marking the first phase of the extensive nine-acre master plan.
This original master plan received initial approval in December 2023 under a different development team, which originally envisioned two life-science laboratories for the first phase.
However, Copper Mill decided to pivot the focus towards residential needs, particularly after taking over the project from Center Court last year.
Andrew Flynn, Copper Mill’s CEO, emphasized the acute demand for housing in the area.
He highlighted the strategic shift towards providing more residential units in response to the pressing need for housing in Boston.
The 75 Morrissey project represents one of the largest housing developments to be approved in Boston in recent years.
This comes on the heels of the BPDA board’s approval of Dorchester Bay City, a massive 21-building complex that will feature 1,957 residential units, which has yet to commence construction.
In total, 20% of the units at 75 Morrissey Blvd. will be allocated to residents earning less than the area’s median income.
Within this set-aside, there will be 60 “micro studio” apartments, each measuring just over 400 square feet, with projected rents at approximately $1,244 per month.
Additionally, six three-bedroom units are anticipated to have rents around $2,057 monthly.
In conjunction with the residential units, the project will incorporate a three-level, 414-space underground parking garage and 6,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.
Phil Casey from architecture firm CBT in Boston has indicated that the ground-level retail spaces will be equipped with deployable flood barriers to address potential flooding issues in the area.
In extreme scenarios, Casey mentioned that the retail floors could be elevated to mitigate flood risks.
Moreover, the entire site will be elevated by five feet to protect against the frequently flooded Morrissey Boulevard.
Flynn, who has personal memories of the flood-prone area growing up nearby, stressed the importance of incorporating flood protection measures from the outset of the design process.
“It’s not something you can do as an afterthought,” he remarked, highlighting that flood management needs to be a primary design consideration.
Copper Mill is planning to begin the demolition of the vacant television studio at 75 Morrissey Blvd. later this year, with the intention of commencing the construction of the first of the two towers in 2026.
While the firm has not formally begun marketing the project to potential investors, Flynn stated that they plan to engage with capital markets now that the BPDA board has approved the first phase.
Chicago-based POB Capital, which has owned the nine-acre stretch of land at 35-75 Morrissey Blvd. for several years, is expected to collaborate with Copper Mill in some capacity throughout the development process, according to Flynn.
Amidst a cautious but gradual reallocation of funds towards specific projects, institutional investors are slowly becoming more active.
According to Flynn, there is increasing interest from institutional investors in funding multifamily residential developments, particularly those in transit-oriented areas like Boston.
As investment patterns evolve across various sectors domestically, Flynn observed a noticeable focus on multifamily housing in Boston as a prominent opportunity.
image source from：bostonglobe
