Once completed, the Back Bay Station Concourse Renovation Project, which has an expected completion date of next April, will completely transform the outdated station into a state-of-the-art transportation facility, with a new range of active retail.
During phase one of the project, which was slated to get underway in January, and is expected to wrap up at the end of next month, crews are reconstructing the center and east side of the station concourse and exterior structure adjacent to Clarendon Street.
In the second phase of the project, which is expected to get underway this July and wrap up in April of 2027, crews will reconstruct the west side of the station concourse and exterior structure adjacent to Dartmouth Street.
The promised project, according to the project website, benefits include: “increased pedestrian flow and better accommodation for passengers waiting for trains on the concourse level; new lighting and audio equipment to improve and modernize the station’s interior; improvements to signage and wayfinding; modified Orange Line fare gates to make it easier for people to enter and exit; new retail; and a new ‘bike cage.’
BXP assumed property management responsibilities for the concourse level of Back Bay Station in August of 2015 as part of a multifaceted Ground and Air Rights Lease executed between the national publicly traded real estate investment trust; the Massachusetts Transportation Department (MassDOT); and the MBTA.
BXP has managed the design and approval process for the renovation project, in collaboration with the City of Boston, Boston Planning and Development Agency, MassDOT, the MBTA; and community and neighborhood groups.
The project intends to restore the station’s architecture and improve the pedestrian flow of the station. In an earlier stage of the project, BXP completed the renovation of the public bathrooms at the station, according to the project website (backbaystationrenovations.com).