Public Gets Update on Change in Usage for 1000 Washington St.

The Boston Planning & Development Agency held a virtual meeting on Tuesday, March 14, to discuss the recently filed project change for 1000 Washington St. in the South End from office to life science use.

Ashley Myslinski, senior project manager for BioMed Realty, the largest private real estate developer in the life science and technology industries nationwide, as well as the project proponent, said the 11-story building sits adjacent to 321 Harrison Ave., where the same developer has built an approximately 225,000 square-foot lab/office building.

A rendering of the 1000 Washington St. project in the South End.

Like the proposed 1000 Washington St. project, the use of the 321 Harrison Ave. project was changed from office to lab/research over the past year, reflecting the growing need for such uses in Boston today, said Myslinski.

Both the 1000 Washington St. and the 321 Harrison Ave. projects are part of an approximately 1.915-acre Planned Development Area (PDA), which sits adjacent to the Ink Block.

The change in usage for the 1000 Washington St. project would entail adding mechanicals to the rooftop to support lab uses, said Myslinski, as well as improvements to the building façade.

The project is expected to have a minimal impact on the neighborhood, she said, since most of the work would take place within the building itself.

With the new lab use, Myslinski said the building at 1000 Washington St. is expected to operate around the clock, seven days a week, as opposed to just between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week, as would likely be the case with an office building.

A lab building is also expected to result in less traffic in the neighborhood than an office building, said Myslinski, who added that community benefits from the project have still yet to be determined.

The building would only be suitable for Level 1 or 2 lab use, while upgrading to the higher Level 3 or 4 would entail an amendment to the PDA, as well as further action from the BPDA, including a 45-day public comment period and the formation of an Impact Advisory Group (IAG) for the project, said Nick Carter, BPDA senior project manager.

The 1000 Washington St. project is expected to go before the South End Landmarks Commission in the early spring, followed by the BPDA board in late spring.

Construction is slated to start on the project in 2025, said Carter, after the state offices that now occupy the building vacate the site.

The public comment period for this proposal is open through March 24, and comments can be emailed to Nick Carter at [email protected], or instead submitted via the BPDA’s project webpage at: https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/1000-washington-street.

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