Boston development to add housing, scores of jobs

Within the past few weeks, two large-scale developments in the Midtown/Downtown neighborhoods have broken ground that will bring more housing and hundreds of construction jobs to the city.

Another project nearby has received approval as well.

The most significant project is at 580 Washington St., a $220 million mixed-use development that will be 15 stories and comprise 256 luxury residences, a 125-car below-ground parking garage and retail shops along Washington Street and Avenue de Lafayette.

The tower will house a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and the development is targeted for completion in 2013. An estimated 450 construction jobs would be created.

The present site has been an open-air parking lot, bordered by Avenue de Lafayette, Washington Street and Hayward Place, and at one time was proposed as an office tower, formerly known as Hayward Place.

The development forms the apex of a thin, triangular area along Washington Street and Avery Place where Millennium Partners will have invested $800 million in the immediate vicinity since the early 1990s. The new tower will be completed in the fall of 2013.

The twin 40-story skyscrapers on either side of Avery Street were the first buildings to be completed and house not only luxury condominiums but also the Ritz Carlton, Boston Common hotel, the AMC Loews Cineplex and Sports Club/LA, retail space and below-grade parking for 1,100 cars.

Millennium Partners also restored the Paramount Theater’s marquee and protected it from the elements before Emerson College acquired the property five years ago and redeveloped it.

The developer will seek a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the tower, which was designed by Handel Architects LLP of New York City. This firm also designed the Ritz towers and One Charles. The developer is also donating $8 million to the city’s affordable housing fund.

The other big mixed-use project that has broken ground is the Kensington at the corner of Washington and LaGrange streets in Chinatown, which is being developed by Boston-based Kensington Investment Company, along with National Development and equity partner Northwest Mutual.

AvalonBay Communities, which broke ground for a $100 million, 28-story luxury apartments complex along Exeter Street this summer, has received approval for a $125 million, 29-story tower at 45 Stuart St., next to the famed Jacob Wirth restaurant. This development will add approximately 3404 new apartments, including 40 on-site units.

The $170 million development will include 381 apartments in a 27-story tower, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a 110-car below-ground garage and retail space on the first floor. Space will be reserved for a display area for the old Gaiety Theater.

The smoke-free building will be environmentally designed and energy efficient, according to gold LEED standards. The Architectural Group designed the building. Construction jobs total about 400.

Separately, the development company is providing more than $7 million to a 75-unit affordable assisted living facility in Chinatown, the Hong Lok House, and will donate $600,000 for improvements to Liberty Tree Park and Boylston Square Way and $500,000 to the Boston Common Tree Fund, which is managed by the Friends of the Public Garden. A sum of $50,000 will be used for the continued work of restoring the Paramount Theater.

It was just last week that the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved several other large-scale projects, one of which is 45 Stuart St.

It is slightly south of the Ritz skyscrapers. Designed by CBT Architects of Boston, 45 Stuart St. will be a striking, L-shaped, 28-story tower that will rise two more stories. The site is next door to the historic Jacob Wirth restaurant, founded in 1878, and close to the Residences at the W Boston. Presently it is a parking lot.

The developer is AvalonBay Communities, whose headquarters are in Arlington, Va., but the real estate investment trust has a large, growing presence in the Northeast.

The $125 million mixed-use development will have a distinctive five-story glass curtain facing Stuart Street that not only will add glamour to the streetscape but also will mask separate pedestrian and vehicle entrances to the building.

Floors six through 29 will comprise 404 studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, along with a resident lounge, a state-of-the-art fitness center and outdoor roof decks.

A five-story garage will accommodate 198 parking spaces, 89 of which will be available to the public. Work, which will create 600 construction jobs, is expected to begin in the early summer of 2012.

The BRA also approved four other developments – in the Back Bay, Fenway, the Fort Point/Innovation District and Charlestown.

The Simon Property Group, which owns Copley Place, plans a $500 million expansion at Stuart and Dartmouth streets that would include 318 residences in a 47-story tower. At least 10 units would be affordable; off site, 35 affordable condos would be located at 88 Wareham St. in the South End.

This development would generate 1,700 construction jobs and about 270 permanent jobs.

The existing Copley Place building has three levels of retail space and seven floors of offices, plus parking. A huge atrium with a glass façade would transform the brick plaza behind the Neiman Marcus store that would include an indoor garden and pathways leading to the retail shops.

In addition, Simon Property Group will contribute $250,000 for landscaping along the Southwest Corridor Park, which begins at the plaza, and another $250,000 to the Friends of Copley Square. The developer also has committed up to $1 million for new public art.

The Abbey Group, whose signature projects include 45 Province and the redeveloped Landmark Center in the Fenway, won approval for its $150 million mixed-use proposal at 1282 Boylston St. that will lead to 600 construction jobs and 360 permanent ones.

The 331,000-square-foot project will comprise 210 residences, 88,000 square feet of office space and a 295-car, below-grade parking garage. The development would include 21 affordable units and a community room. Bruner/Cott, which designed 45 Province, is the architectural firm for this development.

In the Seaport/Innovation District, a $100 million project that would create 202 units of housing at 319 A St. Rear was approved. The Archon Group and Gerding Edlen Development plan to redevelop a five-story warehouse and add a 20-story residential building. About 150 construction jobs and 20 permanent jobs would be created.

The project addresses the need for housing in the new Innovation District, and small innovation housing units and live/work spaces for artists, are components of the project. The innovation housing units with flexible space that would have a shared common area would be located at 63 Melcher St. The architects are James Gray and B.K. Boley of ADD Inc.

At 22 Warren St. in Charlestown, an existing parking and office building will be renovated to create retail space on the first level and 14 residences above. The development team for the $10 million project includes Nova Partners and the architectural firm of Hresko Associates Inc. This work would generate about 30 construction jobs.