IQHQ and Meredith Management announced that construction has begun on their ambitious Boston project. Located over the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park, the Fenway Center is a $1 billion, state-of-the-art campus that is designed to anchor a developing life science district in North Boston between Kenmore Square and the Longwood Medical and Academic Area. Last March, the Boston Planning & Development Agency approved a revised plan for the campus.

The Fenway Center development comprises three key elements: a main, 22-story, high-rise building; a 12-story, mid-rise building; and an automated garage with access to and from both buildings. In total, the design encompasses 960,000 square feet of laboratory; research and development; and class A Boston office space, in addition to ground-floor retail along Brookline Ave. and Beacon St.

 

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Notably, the project’s excellent accessibility contributed to its LEED Gold certification. Considered a model transit-oriented development, this two-tower, interconnected life science campus will significantly improve walkable routes between the Longwood Medical Area and the historic Audubon Circle, Fenway, Kenmore Square, Boston University and Back Bay neighborhoods. Moreover, the Fenway Center site is directly adjacent to Lansdowne Commuter Rail Station, which grants an additional boost in accessibility through convenient connections to the MBTA Commuter Rail and other nearby mass transportation.

What’s more, the developers have also planned roughly 1.6 acres of landscaped green space, dubbed “Life Science Park: A Monument to Life Sciences and Public Health,” which will connect Brookline Ave., Lansdowne Station and Beacon St. Complete with a large plaza and a 700-foot-long public pedestrian walkway, the park will feature art and exhibition spaces dedicated to the history, achievements, heroes and consequential influences of the life sciences and public health sectors.

 

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Construction will begin with the 90,000-square-foot air rights deck over the Mass Pike between Beacon St. and Brookline Ave. — the largest air rights structure built in Boston since Copley Place in 1980. One of the first over-the-highway Boston projects in nearly four decades, the project will reconnect the Fenway and Kenmore neighborhoods and is expected to take approximately two years to complete. Subsequent construction of the Fenway Center life science buildings on top of the deck is scheduled for completion in early 2025.

The property is subject to a 99-year ground lease held by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Estimates released by the parties involved stated that the $1 billion private investment will create 2,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent new jobs, as well as generate more than $15 million in new annual tax revenues for the City of Boston, in addition to an estimated $3 billion in economic impact throughout the duration of the lease.

“Fenway Center creates a direct connection between premier life science, research, academic and medical districts at the gateway to Boston,” said John Bonanno, chief investment officer of IQHQ. “It also reunites several of Boston’s iconic neighborhoods after more than 100 years of separation caused by railroad tracks and the Mass Pike. Fenway Center will be the gateway to the Longwood Medical Center and act as a prominent catalyst for Boston’s rapidly growing life science sector that will serve the needs of future tenants with collaborative workspaces teaming with top talent and access to world-class entertainment, amenities, residential space and public transportation.”

President of Meredith Management, John E. Rosenthal, added, “After 20 years of working closely with the state, city and neighborhood stakeholders, I’m thrilled to see our vision for Fenway Center finally become a reality. I’m also very proud to be working with IQHQ and to bring a new, best-in-class life science project to Boston and the Fenway area.”

 

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