Trinity Financial and the Harvard Club of Boston submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) late last week to officially introduce their project on Newbury Street in the Back Bay – a project that seeks to demolish the Harvard Club annex and rebuild it within a residential tower and an accompanying building.
“The project will help to address Boston’s need for transit-oriented housing units while at the same time providing the Harvard Club with member and guest amenities, including underground parking and state-of-the-art athletic facilities,” read the LOI from Jamie Fay of Ft. Point Associates. “The project will also fill a void in the urban fabric along Newbury Street dating to the construction of the Turnpike in the 1960s.”
The project, at 415 Newbury St. on the other side of Mass Avenue, looks to demolish the annex of the Club that houses squash courts and construct a 123,000 sq. ft., 11-story building. That building would contain new member, fitness and athletic facilities for the Harvard Club, and also 95 residential units above it. The existing parking lot would also be developed, with a 60,000 sq. ft., three-story building on the lot that would house 38 apartment units. It would also include parking for 125 vehicles – with the current lot now accommodating 112 vehicles.
“The Project will maintain the existing vehicular passageway connecting the mid-block alley and Newbury Street and will create a new pedestrian passageway to allow for safer pedestrian access to Newbury Street,” read the letter.
The total amount of land, located along Newbury Street and abutting the Mass Pike, is around 48,000 sq. ft.
Fay wrote that they plan to file an Expanded Project Notification Form very soon in the near future. The project is expected to have to proceed through the reviews of the Article 80 process. That process will result in numerous meeting with the community and the Impact Advisory Group (IAG) in the coming months.