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Swift Launches Saltonstall Building Revitalization
$184 Million Project Creates New Affordable Housing, Retail & Office Space
February 8, 2002
Boston, Massachusetts. Governor Jane Swift today joined Mayor Thomas Menino and House Speaker Thomas Finneran to kick-off the rehabilitation of the 22-story Leverett A. Saltonstall state office building located on 100 Cambridge Street in downtown Boston. The project will create 75 new units of housing, with 25 percent set aside for low-and moderate- income homes, on Beacon Hill and revitalize this state-owned property.
"This innovative mixed-use development sets a high mark for projects in cities across the Commonwealth by creating new below-market housing downtown," said Swift. "Revitalizing this site will meet a critical need for new housing by tying the property back into the Beacon Hill community and restoring a valuable state asset."
MassDevelopment, a quasi-public economic development authority, was chosen through a competitive process to manage the new construction and renovations to the office tower. The entire project will be completed in spring/summer 2003 at a cost of approximately $184 million. MassDevelopment contributed $20 million in equity and is utilizing private financing to fund the balance of this project.
"Housing is one of our city's top priorities, so we are happy to support Mass Development's project, which is bringing 25% affordability to the Beacon Hill neighborhood," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "The mix of office, retail and residential will bring 24-hour vitality to this area - and will breathe life into the old Saltonstall building."
"This project is an excellent example of teamwork in building a public-private partnership which will save the Commonwealth millions of dollars while providing much needed affordable housing and enhancing the efficient delivery of state services to the citizens of Massachusetts. All who have participated in this project deserve our appreciation," said Speaker Thomas M. Finneran.
Plans call for constructing four floors (five floors along Bowdoin Street) of new condominium housing above a newly created 35,000 square foot retail area. Eleven two-story townhouses will be built on Bowdoin Street with three floors of apartments above them. MassDevelopment will also develop the Garden of Peace in the plaza of the property as a memorial to victims of homicide where individuals and the greater community can remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to violence.
The 22-story office tower named after former U.S. Senator and Governor Leverett A. Saltonstall spans more than 560,000 square feet. Developed in 1965, the building housed dozens of state agencies with more than 2,000 public employees, until it was found to have environmental contaminants such as asbestos.
"MassDevelopment is far exceeding the original public purpose goals of this complex urban renewal project by employing the best team of private development, design and construction professionals," said Robert L Beal, Chairman of the MassDevelopment Board of Directors and longtime resident of Beacon Hill.
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