Neighbors Object To Height Of Back Bay Mixed-Use Proposal

Developers behind the 1000 Boylston air rights proposal are committed to adding their dual towers to the High Spine, and residents are not pleased. 

Weiner Ventures managing partner Adam Weiner and architect David Manfredi presented their mixed-use vision last night at a Boston Planning & Development Agency public meeting. The room was packed with height-averse Back Bay residents discouraged by the complex. One attendee described the 566-foot and 283-foot towers as having “height that will destroy the fundamental design of the neighborhood.”

The parcel is a block away from the 254-foot Hilton Back Bay and 360-foot Sheraton North Tower as well as the 756-foot Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences under construction. The 52-story Prudential Center tower is two blocks down Boylston. The complex would be on four different parcels, three of which are Mass Pike air rights plots.

Weiner said the last air rights project successfully completed in Boston was Copley Place in the ‘80s. 

“We have the opportunity to do something awesome,” he said. 

If completed, 1000 Boylston will feature 182 apartments and 160 condominiums above a six-story podium composed of retail and parking. Its prominent location near the intersection of Boylston and Massachusetts Avenue is particularly complex due to the limited amount of ground the tower has for foundation. This plays a part in the building having a dynamic form never seen before in Boston, Manfredi said. 

The proposal was launched in October of last year — the same month Simon Malls announced it would postpone and possibly scrap plans for a 625-foot residential tower above Neiman Marcus at Copley Place. The company cited high building costs and fear of too many luxury units hitting the market as reasons for ditching the plan. Weiner was undeterred when asked what he saw in Boston that Simon did not.

“We’re comfortable with the market. They weren’t,” he said. “We’re confident in Boston.”