Draft Project Impact Report - Boston Redevelopment Authority

Exeter Residences/888 Boylston
green field development. The site is well positioned to encourage alternative
transportation choices such as walking and the use of public transit. A multitude of
businesses that would support the residents including shopping, restaurants,
professional offices and personal services are within walking distance of the site.
Furthermore, the Exeter Residences will comply with the City’s Article 37 Green
Building requirements.
The Project infills a vacant plaza edge along Exeter Street currently fronted with
loading docks, parking entrances and mechanical equipment. The proposed building
will replace these undesirable uses with an interactive, pedestrian friendly street that
will complement the pedestrian passageways within Prudential Center by creating a
pedestrian connection between the Boston Public Library, Blagden Street and Copley
Place to the east and the Prudential Center to the west. The Exeter Residences will
also enhance the pedestrian experience between Boylston Street to the north and
Huntington Avenue to the south.
As depicted on Figures 3-1 thru 3-4, the building’s Exeter Street two-story glass
lobby is on axis with Blagden Street and completes a view corridor from Copley
Square. The ground floor includes a lobby for residents and guests with storefront
exposure on Exeter Street. Residents will be able to access the Exeter building from
Exeter Street, the plaza level, the existing “keyhole” residential drop-off and directly
from the parking garage.
A grand public stairway and elevator provide a new, mid-block pedestrian
connection from Exeter Street to the Prudential Center plaza between the Gloucester
residential building and the Lord & Taylor department store. The stairs’ location and
dimension were the subject of considerable discussion and study. The final solution
directs the pedestrian to the central axis of the plaza through an arcade at the
southern end of the building. This arcade is a light-filled portal to the plaza and
creates a synergy between the private (building) and public (stairway), activating the
building’s edge and creating mid-block permeability in the street wall.
The Exeter Residences will enliven the pedestrian experience on Exeter Street and
will create new pedestrian connections between the Prudential Center and Copley
Square, enhancing the pedestrian environment for the neighborhood as a whole. The
development will create up to 188 units of housing in a building with an area of
approximately 242,000 square feet within 27 residential stories. The comprehensive
mass transit infrastructure nearby will minimize the development’s impact on
vehicular traffic. Parking for the Exeter Residences will be accommodated below
grade within the existing Prudential Center North garage, and loading will be shared
with the existing Shaw’s Supermarket loading dock, which also currently serves
AvalonBay’s Gloucester building.
\\Mabos\projects\09916.00\docs\Permits\DPIR\Text\DPIR Chapter 3 Urban
Design.docx Urban Design 3-2