Each year brings new real estate undertakings that prove transformative not only for those who will inhabit them, but for the metropolitan enclaves surrounding them. These projects may be residential or commercial or – with increasing likelihood — mixed-use. They might be transit-oriented developments, adaptive reuse efforts or mega-projects that deliver diversity and improved opportunity within the urban environs they inhabit.
The year ahead will prove no exception to the rule of exceptional building debuts. Read on to explore a quintet of such transformative enhancements to the built environment.
South Station Tower, Boston
Long a regional transportation anchor, South Station is being expanded and enhanced through a public-private collaboration by Hines. The result: South Station Tower, to soar 51 stories and encompass 1,020,000 square feet of interior space. The top 15 floors will feature 166 luxury condominium residences serviced by The Ritz-Carlton, the lower floors 670,000 square feet of rentable Class A office and amenity space. The expansion and improvement of the bus terminal is slated for a third-quarter 2023 completion, the residential and office project for completion in 2025. “This project will revitalize a gateway to the City of Boston, while honoring our longstanding history, and will serve as a model for future public-private partnership projects on a national level,” says Sarah Hawkins, senior managing director and CEO of the East Region of Hines.
Innovative Urban Village
The development will morph the existing 10.5-acre East New York campus of Christian Cultural Center into a walkable, sustainable mixed-income community. Gotham Organization and partners Monadnock Development and Reverend A.R. Bernard are shepherding a project that will create 1,975 income-based affordable housing units, among them about 200 senior housing rentals and 100 homeownership units. The first phase is slated for completion late this year, the first residences by 2026.
Innovative Urban Village will be a 100% affordable development, says Bryan Kelly, president of development at Gotham Organization. “The project has been created with the intention of promoting economic mobility while simultaneously targeting mixed-income households, to address the ongoing housing crisis and rent burden that afflict working households,” he adds. Remarks Reverend Bernard: “With its four pillars philosophy of environment, people, programs and sustainability, the Urban Village is changing the narrative [to] upward mobility ‘within the community.’”
555 Greenwich, New York City
Developed by Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture of Trinity Church Wall Street, Norges Bank Investment Management and Hines, 555 Greenwich will be a 270,000-square-foot, 16-story office tower.
The COOKFOX Architects design will seamlessly combine with 345 Hudson in a unique horizontal overbuild. The result: an unparalleled building extending the full block, offering dramatic Hudson River and city views. The building will feature geothermal and radiant heating and cooling, full electrification to eliminate need for fossil fuels and dedicated outside air system to give tenants 100% outside air. The blended complex will offer 33,000 square feet of outdoor space, and 11 outdoor terraces that will welcome natural light and offer access to green spaces.
“These factors, combined with the building’s tremendous contributions to sustainability, yield a truly groundbreaking project that reflects the importance our venture places on stewardship and multi-generational thinking,” says Sujohn Sarkar, managing director of asset management at Trinity Church Wall Street.
Midtown East, Tampa
The anchor building of the 23-acre Midtown Tampa development, Midtown East is an 18-story, 430,000-square-foot tower featuring outdoors-accessing covered terraces and a column-free floor plan. It will be the tallest building in the city’s Westshore district, and will offer 360-degree views of Tampa Bay. Being developed by Bromley Companies in partnership with Highwoods Properties, Inc., the tower was designed by internationally acclaimed architecture firm Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio.
Book Tower, Detroit
In one of Detroit’s most ambitious rehabilitation projects ever, New York architecture firm ODA has spearheaded the renovation and interior design of historic Book Tower, a 486,760-square-foot office and retail building that once was the Motor City’s tallest. The adaptive reuse project will yield Book Tower apartments, offices, eateries, rooftop bar, skylit ballroom, domed atrium, fitness center and hotel.