The Fenway Center mixed-use, transit oriented development is located at the western gateway to Boston and has been designed to connect and integrate into the existing Fenway, Kenmore, Audubon and Longwood Medical Area neighborhoods and meet the goals of the Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights study by:
Fostering the increased use and capacity of public transportation and decreased reliance on private automobiles.
Strengthening the vitality and quality of life in the neighborhood.
Enhancing the neighborhood and the city as a place to live, work, and invest by providing broad public benefits.
Repairing the public realm by suturing the void created by the Mass Pike with buildings and public spaces designed to create lively public spaces.
Fenway Center’s design respects the urban grid, replaces a large surface parking lot and fills in existing space between long, wind-swept bridges with new buildings and retail amenities along Beacon Street, Brookline Avenue, and David Ortiz Way. The development also incorporates significant new green spaces with an open and light contemporary design and complementary ground-level, neighborhood-oriented retail with upper level office and residential units. The buildings will be Gold LEED Certified and are located adjacent to Lansdowne Commuter Rail Station, serving as an architectural marker and gateway, while the smaller buildings are scaled down to accommodate the Audubon Circle neighborhood and Fenway Park area.
The Fenway Center team, led by local developer John Rosenthal, is committed to respecting the neighboring Kenmore, Fenway, and Audubon Circle communities and exceeding the Civic Vision goals, meeting the City’s new standards relating to green buildings, and complying with the Commonwealth’s new Stretch Energy Code. Fenway Center will dramatically enhance the pedestrian environment with new, inviting walkways, green spaces, and greatly enhanced connections among Audubon Circle, Kenmore Square, Fenway Park, Yawkey Station and the Lansdowne Entertainment District. By covering the Massachusetts Turnpike, Fenway Center will not only reduce the wind, visual, and noise impacts, it will also significantly improve public safety with the increase of residents, office tenants, neighborhood retailers, and new and improved pedestrian and vehicular connections.
Phase I of Fenway Center is nearing construction completion with leasing underway.
Phase II (over the Mass Pike and Lansdowne Commuter Rail station) is Phase 2 is being co-developed with national Life Science REIT IQHQ. It is a $1 Billion project and will include more than 1 million square feet of office and lab life science space. Phase II is expected to commence in 2020-2021, with occupancy beginning in 2023-2024.
