Winthrop Square will give rise to Boston’s second tallest building

Millennium Partners and the City of Boston have come to an agreement to build what will become the tallest primarily residential tower in Boston as part of the redevelopment of Winthrop Square. Millennium Partners was selected by the city from five other builders and developers for the project.

As Curbed Boston reports, once constructed, the residential tower will stand 750 feet and 55 stories, making 200 Clarendon the only building in the city to stretch higher into the sky, rising 790 feet. The new tower is expected to be constructed at the site of the Winthrop Square Garage, which is city-owned.

Current plans for the tower, which is being designed in collaboration with Handel Architects, have the top 36 floors being designated for condos while the next 14 floors down will be used as office space. The bottom five floors will be used as retail, restaurant, and public space. A great hall, that the developer is dubbing “Boston’s living room” and an incubator space for tech startups will also be included.

Millennium Partners will pay almost $153 million total as per the deal, about $2 million more than what the company offered during the original bidding process.

Some issues have already arisen with the tower’s construction, however. The 750-foot height does not come without its drawbacks, as the tower would cast shadows for as long as 90 minutes in the morning over popular public parks, the Boston Globe reports. This 90-minute period would violate state laws passed in the early 1990s that forbid any new construction from casting shadows over public parks for more than one hour a day.

City officials and Millennium Partners are working to alter the laws but will need a vote by the City Council and approval on Beacon Hill to do so.

Rendering courtesy of Handel Architects

Rendering courtesy of Handel Architects