The number of residential units for One Kenmore, a proposed air rights project above the Massachusetts Turnpike near Boston’s Kenmore Square, has been reduced for a second time.

Slumping home sales have forced the developer of an air rights project near Fenway Park to slash the number of dwellings in his proposed mega-development.

“Capital markets have shifted dramatically,” said John Rosenthal, president of Newton-based Meredith Management Corp. “It’s much easier to fund commercial and retail uses, which makes this a viable development.”

As a result, One Kenmore, the long-delayed $450 million urban village in Kenmore Square that would connect Boston’s Fenway and Audubon Circle neighborhoods, has shrunk to accommodate the new reality. Under the latest version, 264 apartment or condominium units will be built as part of a 1.29 million-square-foot mini-city over the Massachusetts Turnpike between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue.

This is not the first time the project’s housing units has been trimmed. In January, the plan included 688 residential units. But by August, as home sales in the Bay State continued to plummet, the number was trimmed to 353.

Rosenthal presented his revised proposal in a sparsely attended public hearing last week at the Boston Arts Academy. The newest version of the proposal will include three buildings, totaling 7, 13 and 17 stories, along Beacon Street. In addition, One Kenmore will contain 350,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,360 parking spaces. The project will be centered around a revitalized Yawkey MBTA Commuter Rail Station funded by the state Legislature.

If approved, the project would be built on 75,000 square feet of land, bounded by Brookline Avenue and Maitland and Beacon streets, including several surface parking lots and 85,000 square feet of air rights. A steel deck would cover the turnpike where a portion of the development would sit, similar to Copley Place. A parking garage would be wrapped by housing so that it is not seen from the street.

Despite the changes, the project remains popular with the Citizens Advisory Committee, an 11-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, owner of the air rights parcels.

George Thrush, a CAC member and director of the School of Architecture at Northeastern University, said he is pleased with the latest version.

“The evolution of this plan is one that integrates transit well and incorporates the public interest in a fundamental way,” he noted. “The only questions to be answered are the scale, character and quality of the buildings that establish the connections within the area.”

Jack Creighton, a CAC member who represents the Audubon Circle Neighborhood Association, said he supports the 7-story building that will abut the nearby Audubon section of the city, an area that borders Brookline.

“There have been substantial improvements made in the design and it is becoming more like an integrated part of the Boston community,” he said. “We have to keep a good eye on traffic and buses though.”

A third CAC member, Marc Lederman, praised Rosenthal but raised a question about the need for nearly 1,400 parking spaces.

“The big plus is Yawkey Station, which will be a huge addition to this urban village so people can walk to work and walk to shop,” Lederman said. “The problem with the project is that the developer has not justified the non-accessory parking.”

‘A Fair Trade-Off’

The number of spaces remains a sticking point for many Fenway residents. Rosenthal said a transit study is under way to examine how many spaces will be lost as part of the project and how many new ones will be needed.

“We will determine the number of net new spaces, but my gut tells me it will not be more than a couple of hundred,” he said.

But Lawrence Cancro, senior vice president for the Boston Red Sox, made the case for parking. He said the ballpark needs a place for cars because without it, Sox fans will drive around the neighborhood.

“We need to have some parking for those premium customers and out-of-town fans who drive from places like Syracuse, N.Y., who will not take the MBTA,” Cancro said. “To build the project that John is proposing, we will lose 560 spaces. The plan is to replace them with a parking garage over the turnpike and that’s a fair trade-off.”

City Councilor Michael Ross noted that the project enjoys strong community support.

“There will be issues,” he said. “But I am confident that at the end, we will be at a good place with this project. John has great credibility in the community and I appreciate the job he’s done.”

Anthony Montalto, the project’s architect and a principal at New York-based Carlos Zapata Studio, said the plan continues to get “richer and better.” He noted that the unique landscape of parking lots and air rights space above the windswept bridge along Beacon Street would be transformed into a welcoming neighborhood.

“We are creating some wonderful urban nooks and open spaces that will benefit everyone,” he said. “Our goal is to make it a wonderful place and vitalize the area, not only within the development, but to make connections that are safer, more exciting and vital.”

Project team member Ruth Bonsignore of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, a real estate planning and design firm with offices in Boston, said the development reflects the civic vision for the area created by the city and the neighborhood.

In June 2000, Mayor Thomas M. Menino released the Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights in Boston. The document emphasized four major points concerning the development of air rights and their use to enhance the quality of life and economic opportunity for Boston.

Those points are: fostering increased use and capacity of public transportation, and decreased reliance on private automobiles; reinforcing the vitality and quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods; enhancing Boston as a place to live, work and invest; and repairing and enriching the city’s public realm.

But not everyone is convinced that One Kenmore is the answer. One Fenway resident said the project would add more cars to an already-congested area of the city.

“There’s a noose around our necks and this is not an urban village. You are creating another downtown,” he said.

Fenway Developer Decides To ‘Air’ on Side of Caution

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 4 min
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