The Ward 4 Dems thank Steve for his presentation at our January 17th meeting.
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OVERVIEW: Skanska USA proposal for “Longwood Place”
• BPDA uses 305 Brookline as the project name. The BPDA has all public filings
online, including presentations. All figures here come from a presentation to the
Impact Advisory Group dated September 20. You can download a PDF of that from
the site to learn much more about proposed uses, heights, and other elements.
• Simmons’s deal with Skanska: Build a new dorm on main campus, demolish 5.8-
acre residential campus (bounded by Brookline Ave, Pilgrim Road, and the Winsor
School) then sign a 99-year ground lease with Skanska. (Follows the “endowment
campus” model Emmanuel used for the Merck building on Ave. Louis Pasteur.)
• Roughly 1.75 million SF of lab space, offices, housing and retail (in roughly
descending proportions).
• Five buildings, ranging in height from 170 feet to 320 feet (roughly 17 to 32 stories).
Compare the Pierce on Brookline Avenue, which is 360 feet.
• Open space on site:
> Large plaza (or “heart”) on the end closest to the the LMA, with performance
space, seating areas, landscaping.
> Small passive open space on the other end of the site.
Issues
• Creates up to 3 hours of new shadows on Emerald Necklace parks (primarily the
Riverway and the northern end of the Back Bay Fens).
• Concerns:
> undetermined impacts on plant life, water quality, erosion
> park gained new users during the pandemic and is a crossing point between the
LMA and Longwood Station on the D Line; more shadows mean less natural
melting of ice in winter, but Boston Parks would likely not have the capacity to add
Riverway paths to its snow-clearing agenda.
• The BRA published Longwood Medical Area Interim Guidelines in 2003 with the aim of
protecting historic parkways and streetscapes, including the Emerald Necklace. Key
limits:
> height: 150 feet across the Simmons parcel, with an exception for slightly more
height in one corner
> park shadows: no more than one hour of new shadows on historic parks
• Article 80 review will still take place, but once the conceptual plan qualifies as a
PDA, Skanska will essentially have presumptive approval of heights and shadow
impacts. The BPDA can add any provisions it wants to the PDA, so it could include
language requiring further reductions of the shadows.
Key Links
Before the virtual public hearing on Thursday, January 19 (starting at 5:40pm):
1. Sign the petition. https://change.org/ProtectTheEmeraldNecklace
2. Email written testimony by 3:30pm on 1/19 to BRABoard@boston.gov
3. Sign up to testify at https://bit.ly/JanBPDAMeeting. This will get you a
meeting link. Whoever is running the meeting will ask Zoom participants to raise their
hands if they want to speak. Longfellow Place is the first project on the agenda, so at least
we won’t have to sit through an entire meeting!
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Steve Wolf is a member and former board president of The Fenway Community Development Corporation and a board member of The Fenway News.
