Here’s what to know about the ambitious South Station development project

Eventually, South Station’s new mixed-use tower will rise 51 stories over Boston, a glittering contrast to the transit hub’s iconic neoclassical look. 

But for now, the South Station Air Rights Project has some ways to go. 

Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Michelle Wu were among a group of local leaders and developers who attended a ribbon cutting last week to celebrate the project’s successful beginning. 

Riders who catch trains and buses at the station may recall that construction on the improvements began in 2020, following decades of discussion, planning, and delays.

Need a refresher? Here’s what to know about the project and where it stands:

What does the project include?

The project will tackle South Station’s separate train station and bus terminal, making it easier to transfer between the two services, according to developer Hines. The size of the outdoor concourse area will also increase by 67%, with covered tracks and platforms, and the new bus terminal will increase capacity by more than 50%.

In addition to an emphasis on sustainable design, the master plan also took the preservation of the historic South Station train station building into consideration and left the door open to future expansion, according to Hines’s project description. 

“This transportation center will embody what we want people to feel about our city when they first set foot here and what the ethos of Boston is — a place that is welcoming, connected, and inspiring to all,” Wu said of the project, according to a Hines press release. 

Rising up out of the middle of South Station, the tower will add more than 700,000 square feet of office space, 166 condominium units, and more than 500 parking spaces.

“This is a historic moment with a historic coalition. It only demonstrates that in Boston, we do big things. But we do the best when we do them together,” state Sen. Lydia Edwards said, according to the release. “This is not just a tower but a beacon of our future and our call to meet the moment.”

What’s the timeline?

Construction on the project is expected to last through 2025. 

The second stage of construction, which includes expanding the bus terminal and parking garage, began in March 2021, according to the South Station Air Rights Project website. By late 2023, the newly expanded bus terminal will open to the public.

The contractor has also completed foundation and structure work on the mixed-use tower, per the timeline.

In the final stage of construction, work on the South Station Transportation Center will wrap up and the tower will be finished by 2025.

What’s next? 

The tower and South Station improvements are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to developing the site; future plans include the construction of additional office and living space.

The second phase has been approved as a residential and/or hotel building above the bus terminal expansion, featuring 440,000 square feet of space and an additional 368 parking spaces, according to the project website.

The final phase, meanwhile, includes 510,000 square feet of office and amenity space above the existing bus terminal.

By the time all three phases of the South Station Air Rights Project are completed, Boston stands to gain a total of 1,980,000 square feet of mixed-use space and 895 parking spaces. 

“This future South Station is what was imagined all those years ago, when Boston had the foresight to think bigger at every step,” U.S. Secretary of Labor and former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said of the project, according to Hines’s release. 

He added: “This kind of partnership is the creative thinking that we need to turn our public transportation system around.”

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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