Draft Project Impact Report - Boston Redevelopment Authority

Exeter Residences/888 Boylston
\\Mabos\projects\09916.00\docs\Permits\DPIR\Text\DPIR Chapter 1 Executive
Summary.docx
represents a new development component which achieves the vision of the Phase 6
Master Plan for PDA No. 37 which was approved under Article 80 in 2002. 888
Boylston represents a modification of the previously approved Boylston Office
Building, which was approved as the Phase 4a development component for PDA No.
37 in 1990. Together, the proposed Exeter Residences and 888 Boylston and related
improvements to the Boylston Arcade will add 377,559 square feet (SF) of area
additional to the existing approved Development Plan.
Since acquiring Prudential Center in 1998, Boston Properties has continued to
enhance and improve the Project as a significant mixed use office, residential and
retail center, and an iconic element of Boston. The Prudential Center is an important
part of the community and economy in the Back Bay, supporting local businesses
and helping to make the Back Bay a 24 hour-7 day per week (“24/7”) live, work and
play environment. Each phase of development within the Prudential Center has
been undertaken to satisfy a demand in the market for a particular product.
The Exeter Residences will be developed, owned and operated by AvalonBay
Communities as part of the Avalon at the Prudential Center apartment community,
which includes the Boylston, Fairfield, and Gloucester buildings. The Exeter
Residences, with its primary entrance along Exeter Street, is the development
component located within the area designated as Phase 6 within the Prudential
Center complex. The building will be situated in between the loading dock for the
Lord & Taylor building (760 Boylston Street) and the Exeter Street entrance to the
Prudential Center’s North Garage. Since the submission of the Notice of Project
Change/Project Notification Form (“NPC/PNF”), in response to comments received
during the NPC/PNF public comment period the Exeter Residences has been
reduced in height by 3 residential stories or 29 feet. The Exeter Residences presented
in this DPIR is 27 residential stories rising 311 feet in height, and containing
approximately 242,000 SF of space. The addition of the Exeter Residences will
enhance the existing residential neighborhood at the Prudential Center, currently
including the Boylston, Fairfield and Gloucester Buildings owned by AvalonBay
Communities, The Belvidere at Prudential Center, and the Mandarin Oriental
Residences and Apartments. The Exeter Residences will respond to the demand for
additional mixed-income housing opportunities in the Back Bay; AvalonBay will set
aside 25% of the total apartments in the Exeter Residences as affordable. The
building’s location is one block west of Copley Square and one half block south of
Boylston Street, providing a diverse mix of shopping, restaurants and services to
support an urban walkable lifestyle. The development will create housing, wellserved
by mass transit and existing infrastructure. The building will enliven the
pedestrian experience on Exeter Street and create a new pedestrian connection
between Prudential Center Plaza and Exeter Street via a monumental public stairway
and elevator.
Consistent with the Development Plan, 888 Boylston is the development component
located within the area designated as Phase 4a within the Prudential Center complex
Executive Summary 1-2