Towers proposed in front of TD Garden
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By Casey Ross, Globe Staff
A Boston development team filed plans Thursday to build two towers in front of the TD Garden with 300,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, 500 residences, office space and a 200-room hotel.
The project, by Delaware North Cos. and Boston Properties, would dramatically reshape the entrance to the Garden, creating a modern, retail-filled gateway with shops and restaurants. The complex would contain 1.7 million square feet of total space, making it one of the largest developments in the city.
The developers submitted an outline of their proposal to the Boston Redevelopment Authority Thursday. They still must undergo a months-long review process, but indicated they hope to start construction early next year.
If approved, the project will make good on long-delayed plans to redevelop a 2.8 -acre site along Causeway Street where the old Boston Garden once stood. The site has been used for parking since the new arena opened in the mid 1990s.
The documents filed Thursday describe a towering complex that would rise over a shared podium of retail stores. The complex would have 600,000 square feet of office space, 500 luxury residences and a hotel. The exact height of the complex was not disclosed, but a brochure recently circulated in the commercial real estate community indicated it would be at least 400 feet.
Although the mix of retailers won’t be finalized for months, the brochure shows Target occupying multiple levels at the base of the complex, along with a supermarket that would have a prominent entrance on Causeway Street. The supermarket is not named in the brochure, but Stop & Shop has been looking at different locations in the neighborhood for several years.
The project is one of several large redevelopments that would transform huge swaths of property in the city’s West End. Collectively, developers are proposing to build more than 1,800 residences, office towers, public parks, stores, and restaurants. Five large, mixed-use projects are planned for lots immediately surrounding the TD Garden.
The area’s revival has unfolded in fits and starts over the years. It started with the Big Dig and redesign of North Station, and then attracted its first significant private investment with construction of the Avenir apartment complex at the corner of Canal and Causeway streets.
After development stalled during the economic downturn, the area got a huge boost recently when Converse Inc. agreed to move its corporate headquarters to the Lovejoy Wharf development off North Washington Street. The project by the Beal/Related Cos. will bring hundreds of new workers to the property and result in construction of a residential building, stores, a large waterfront park, and a new section along the city’s Harborwalk.
Nearby, developers AvalonBay Communities Inc. and Equity Residential are each planning 500-unit apartment buildings, and Simpson Housing is building a 286-unit apartment and retail building overlooking the Zakim Bridge.
Casey Ross can be reached at
cross@globe.com.
