What we know so far about the redevelopment of the Harvard Club
The project includes the construction of two buildings with over 100 residential rental units. Continue reading at realestate.boston.com.
One of Boston’s oldest private clubs is getting an upgrade.
On Jan. 19, Trinity Back Bay Development LLC submitted an expanded project notification form on behalf of the Harvard Club of Boston to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, detailing plans to expand and upgrade the facility. The project includes the construction of two buildings with over 100 residential rental units and an off-street parking lot to be shared between the club and the residential units.
Here’s what we know about the development so far.
The Property
The Harvard Club was established in 1908, moving into its longtime home at 374 Commonwealth Ave in 1913, after the group purchased and built the property for a total of $700,000, according to the Harvard Club website.
Since then, the club has played a handful of different roles, serving as a meeting place for military officers during World War I, an employment agency during the Great Depression, and housing for junior officers during World War II.
Now part athletic center and part function hall, the club features meeting rooms, hotel rooms, a restaurant, and an annex with squash courts and other fitness facilities.
The development site, currently occupied by the four-story annex building and a private parking lot, is bordered by Somerset Parking Garage and Room & Board, a furniture store at the corner of Newbury Street and Mass. Ave. Once constructed, the two buildings planned for the site will look out over the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The Project
The new development, located at 415 Newbury St., will be built against the back of the main Harvard Club building. Unlike much of the bustling shopping hub, this side of Newbury Street is not so pedestrian-friendly, a problem the developer, Trinity Back Bay, aims to solve in part by adding a new, accessible sidewalk in front of the development.
The development will “fill a void in the urban fabric along Newbury St. dating to the construction of the Turnpike in the 1960s,” Jamie Fay, president of Fort Point Associates Inc., wrote on behalf of the development team in the letter of intent submitted to the BPDA last April.
The project, “will better connect both sides of Newbury Street extension and create a revitalized Newbury Street Extension experience for pedestrians,” Abby Goldenfarb of Trinity Financial said in a press release.
An 11-story building will supplant the annex building that holds the Harvard Club’s athletic facilities. New facilities, updated to adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act qualifications, will take up the first three floors of the building, and a proposed 95 residential units — a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units— will be built on the floors above. The developers plan to take advantage of the building’s relative height, with a roof deck outfitted with a bar that will be open to club members and residents alike.
Another three-story building will include 39 apartments, as well as a below-grade parking lot with 125 spaces, 108 of which will serve Harvard Club visitors and 17 of which will be for those living in the apartments.
The Developer
Trinity Back Bay Development LLC is an affiliate of Trinity Financial Inc., a real estate development group based in Boston and New York. The company was established in 1987 and has since created more than 9,500 housing units, according to the press release.
This isn’t the group’s first foray in housing development in Boston. The company is also responsible for the redevelopment of affordable housing units in Orient Heights, as well as the creation of the luxury apartments at One Canal Street along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the North End.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency is soliciting public comment on the project until March 16.
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