Berkeley Rolls Up Sleeves for $30M Garage Expansion

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Stillings Street Garage – expansion – project rendering

Boston—Stillings Street Garage, a parking facility situated within the Fort Point Channel Landmark District, will be expanded with two floors of office and retail space since owner Berkeley Investments got the green light for construction from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).

The existing 241,124-square-foot property, which is located at 22 Boston Wharf Rd., was built in 2000 and consists of six floors of partially enclosed parking with 538 spaces and two upper floors of office space totaling 55,095 square feet.

According to the Boston Business Journal, the asset was purchased by Berkeley in 2004 as part of a deal including a larger portfolio of real estate properties from Boston Wharf Co. The $97 million transaction included 13 brick-and-beam warehouses and office buildings totaling 700,000 square feet of space, two parking facilities and four surface parking lots in the Fort Point neighborhood.

Up until recently, Stillings Street Garage was home to workplace and interior solutions company Red Thread, and continues to serve as the corporate headquarters of architecture firm TRO Jung|Brannen, who was selected by the owner to design the expansion plans.

Berkeley wants to spruce up things at 22 Boston Wharf Rd. by adding two floors of office space to the existing space. According to plans submitted with the BRA last year, the $30 million expansion project calls for a two-floor vertical expansion of the existing structure—with each floor containing 28,000 square feet of office space—and the conversion of 3,000 square feet of existing office and parking space into retail. The redevelopment project will also add a 1,000-square-foot rooftop mechanical penthouse and a new pedestrian entry to the parking garage from Boston Wharf Road.

Additionally, Berkeley has allocated $25,000 for the creation of a public art installation on the wall of the garage that faces the nearby Q Park. The art project will be developed by local neighborhood groups working collaboratively with the building’s owner and the owner of the park.

With the proposed additions, the total office space at Stillings Street Garage will grow almost 110,000 square feet of space. Berkeley is set to break ground on the project this summer, and complete the expansion in approximately one year.

Rendering courtesy of Berkley Investments