Sky High Over Fenway: A Hard Hat Tour Of Pierce Boston
Pierce Boston will be the tallest building in Fenway when it opens next year. The 30-story, 378-foot tower lords over the junction of Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue like a modern twist on the Flatiron Building.
Leasing for the development’s luxury condos is off to a strong start with nearly half of the 109 units already leased, according to developer Samuels & Associates chief operating officer Leslie Cohen. Starting May 1, the 250 people working on the construction site will finish out a floor per week. Bisnow went on a hard hat tour from top to bottom, including the recently installed pool and frames for those uber-hyped sky cabanas.
The pool arrived at its perch 340 feet above Boylston Street in late February and is the highest in the city. The adjoining Level 30 Levity Lounge will offer residents a slew of amenities, including a wood-paneled library, a private dining room and cocktails from the outdoor kitchen.
Sky cabanas are an amenity unique to Pierce and have garnered a lot of press since they were announced last summer. While residents can frolic in the pool on one side of the 30th floor amenities lounge, they can also score one of these 12 open-air roof decks (priced from $300K to $350K) that will feature private wet bars. The cabanas are available only to Pierce Boston condo owners.
“It’s changing how people are interacting with Fenway,” said Jed Lowry, first vice president at Landsea Holdings Corp., Samuels' partner on the project.
The Pierce offers an incredible view of Fenway Park (but not good enough to allow residents to see a full Red Sox game) and a spectacular vantage point of Back Bay and Downtown. Buyers moving from homes with yards in the suburbs have been drawn to the Pierce’s outdoor spaces as well as the Emerald Necklace and restored Muddy River serving as the building’s de facto front yard.
“The architecture of the building has done an extraordinary job of creating a slender scale, while the geometry accentuates the terrific views,” said Lois Goodell, principal at architecture firm CBT and lead on Pierce’s residential interior works.
Condos are located from the 19th to 29th floor, with five penthouse units on both the 28th and 29th floors.
“The energy and the culture of the Fenway neighborhood are why residents come to the Pierce and choose that as a place to live,” Goodell said. “In addition, it's a perfect perch to enjoy the Emerald Necklace and, just as Frederick Law Olmsted intended, a peaceful place to balance the energy of the city with the beauty of nature.”
“Some of these high-rise developments in other cities are great places to invest, but they’re not great places to live,” Kevin Luczkow, senior construction manager at Samuels, said.
In fact, there’s a 25% cap on outside investors (both foreign and domestic) buying units at Pierce. Instead, typical buyers have been a mix of locals ranging from downsizing empty nesters to those looking to trade up for a swankier pad in the city. As it gets closer to the February 2018 move-in target, professionals from the nearby Longwood medical community as well as in the education, biotech and finance industries are adding to the resident mix.
There will be 20K SF of ground and second-floor retail, which will continue in the Samuels tradition of carefully curated, unique-to-Fenway experiences like those in their neighboring properties. While specific tenants have not been announced, Luczkow and Lowry said a high-profile restaurant that will also cater to residents upstairs should be part of the mix.
