AstraZeneca/Alexion MXD Tower | 290 Binney Street | Kendall Square

How time flies, but that buildout was over 20 years ago for the first 3 buildings and then a little under 20 years ago for the 4th and 5th buildings.

RandomWalk said:
It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that they were blasting up a storm to expand that Waltham lab.
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A large slurry rig recently located to this end of this site (photo 6/8):

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RandomWalk said:
This one is a sprawling site that is awkward to capture fully.
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Awesome shot, despite the photography challenge. Looks like they are building some quite massive rebar cages (see center of your photo), ostensibly for the slurry wall work
 
They started putting down the slurry walls (cement + rebar) a few weeks ago. They probably have 50-60 linear feet complete, in different sections, dug mainly across the middle of the site near the front of the teal-colored crane. This marks the south edge of the future 290 Binney St according to the plans. There are other wall sections extending toward Binney St (so away from the photographer location above). The area around the substation is currently untouched by the major slurry work.
 
From the angle and the unfinished top floors, it reminds me of this building in Atlanta, which I've always liked.

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I figure this is as good a place as any to post this story given the substation is going underneath this parcel, but MIT apparently has issues with Eversource's plans:

www.cambridgeday.com

MIT files late objection to plan by Eversource, seeking to reroute cables for new substation - Cambridge Day

The huge Eversource project to build an underground electric substation in Cambridge and add more than 8 miles of underground cables is facing unexpected conflict because of last-minute opposition from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to cable routes through its campus.
www.cambridgeday.com www.cambridgeday.com
 
Developer just posted a pretty cool update about the slurry wall construction & subterranean conditions on the 290 Binney side of this site:

Kendall Square: MXD Substation Development Plan Community | Updates

Subscribe to get updates directly in your inbox! See what’s the latest with the project.
www.mxdsub.site
"The slurry wall is rapidly nearing completion on the 290 Binney Street section of the site. The general contractor uses visuals like the one below to illustrate progress and depths of all the individual panels. Some are nearing 100' deep."

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Slurry walls are apparently hitting bedrock at certain spots.
 

Brennan Consulting underway on
Binney and MXD substation​


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“Cambridge, MA Brennan Consulting is underway on one of its newest life science projects at 290 Binney St. with A. A. Will and Turner Construction. The MXD Substation Development Plan is the newest life science product to come online in Kendall Sq. where tech, R&D, MIT, and Mass General are building new and repurposing dated structures.
Delivery of 290 Binney is anticipated mid-2026 and construction is ongoing for the three-story, subsurface MXD Eversource substation and 18-story west tower. Brennan is currently performing high-precision slurry-wall foundation layout and work includes tying into existing control and providing layout and as-builts for slurry guide walls. The subsequent phase includes layout and survey of load bearing elements for steel. Accurate data for concrete deep foundations is essential for the future substation, buildings, and considerable utility work necessary to bring such an innovative project to Cambridge. The construction site is crowded, with an unusual 900 ft. long control line, compounding survey complexity. Heavy trucking, cranes, equipment, and support crews accessing the site during slurry wall assembly make for intricate urban conditions.”

Brennan%20section1%20crop.jpg


“Due to anticipated energy demands, construction for the Greater Cambridge Energy Project by Eversource includes more than eight miles of trenching and multiple subsurface duct banks housing eight new 115-kilovolt underground transmission lines in Cambridge, Somerville, and Allston/Brighton. 36 new distribution feeders are also proposed connecting the new substation with Binney and the existing Kendall Sq. distribution infrastructure. The proposed three-story substation will be one of the only below-grade substations in the United States. According to Eversource, lower levels can house transformer vaults, cable routing, circuit breakers, switchgear, and maintenance equipment. Mid-levels can hold capacitor banks, relays, and equipment protection systems. Upper levels can house ventilation equipment, fire protection, and communication systems. (Renderings courtesy NBBJ, Sasaki)
Also embraced in the programming are on-site amenities such as improved pedestrian experiences, outdoor gathering spaces, and connections to Binney, Broadway, and Galileo Galilei Way. The center plaza has been crafted to conceal the substation’s air intake via a 50 ft. high mirrored and perforated “breathing tree” sculpture, the exhaust stack via a café building, the platform hatch, and the equipment head house. Cooling capacity, acoustics, and 100-year flood impacts on ventilation are some of the more unusual considerations studied for the plaza design.”


https://nerej.com/brennan-underway-on-binney-and-mxd-substation
 
bigpicture7 said:
Developer just posted a pretty cool update about the slurry wall construction & subterranean conditions on the 290 Binney side of this site:

Kendall Square: MXD Substation Development Plan Community | Updates

Subscribe to get updates directly in your inbox! See what’s the latest with the project.
www.mxdsub.site
"The slurry wall is rapidly nearing completion on the 290 Binney Street section of the site. The general contractor uses visuals like the one below to illustrate progress and depths of all the individual panels. Some are nearing 100' deep."

23e6d3e78e7af090cc396c3bf3b06bb0.png

Slurry walls are apparently hitting bedrock at certain spots.
Click to expand...

Saw one of these monsters going into the ground earlier today. Absolutely massive cages.

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Justbuildit said:
Saw one of these monsters going into the ground earlier today. Absolutely massive cages.
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Justbuildit: While you snapped this good picture, is there any chance you saw what the current conditions are at the nearby MXD Residential Tower under construction at 121 Broadway? No activity on that thread since early October.
 
rjacobs said:
Justbuildit: While you snapped this good picture, is there any chance you saw what the current conditions are at the nearby MXD Residential Tower under construction at 121 Broadway? No activity on that thread since early October.
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You know, this was actually taken from Broadway so might’ve been better in that thread (you can see Akamai sneaking in on the left). I wanted to respond to the slurry wall map just above. It’s all one giant construction site between Binney and Broadway so it’s not clear one side is ahead of the other.
 
Justbuildit said:
You know, this was actually taken from Broadway so might’ve been better in that thread (you can see Akamai sneaking in on the left). I wanted to respond to the slurry wall map just above. It’s all one giant construction site between Binney and Broadway so it’s not clear one side is ahead of the other.
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@rjacobs great question (and I concur with Justbuiltit). I'll point out, though, that the slurry wall map and the consultant's post about the project both focused on 290 Binney, hence leading to their posting on this thread. Since the Eversource substation is critical infrastructure (Eversource has stated that power will literally run out without it) and 290 Binney is fully leased (AstraZeneca), it wouldn't surprise me if there is a lot of emphasis on those aspects of this large site. However, the developer has discussed many times that 121 Broadway is a concurrent project (and they have committed those housing units to the City as part of the approvals), and it certainly visually appears to be concurrent, so I do not think the emphasis on 290 Binney implies a de-emphasis on 121 Broadway.
 
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