Park Advocates Could Get More Green From Potential 115 Winthrop Square Tower Deal
Boston leaders and Massachusetts lawmakers have struck a potential deal to finally allow construction to begin on a 775-foot Millennium Partners skyscraper in Winthrop Square.
The agreement would change shadow laws currently preventing the building from getting built due to new shadow it would cast on Boston Common and the Public Garden, the Boston Globe reports. The deal would also provide the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway with $2M to $3M annually in funding from the city, state and nearby property owners over the next decade.
Millennium Partners is paying Boston $153M for the Winthrop Square site, and Boston would give $5M to a trust fund for maintenance of the Greenway. Property owners of buildings along the park have seen property values rise since it opened after the Big Dig was completed. They are taking part in negotiations to create a special tax district around the park to also provide funding for its maintenance.
After a contentious five-hour hearing in April regarding the potential tower’s impact on Boston’s parks, Boston City Council voted 10-3 in support of changing the state shadow law to allow the tower to be built. Local park advocacy group Friends of the Public Garden is still negotiating a deal to get more investment in the Common and the Public Garden in an agreement separate from the Greenway pact.
