Developers have pulled a permit valued at $166.7 million for The Huntington in Fenway project, located at 252 and 258 Huntington Ave.
The 400,000-square-foot, mixed-use development was approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency in October 2017. In July 2019, the developer filed a notice of project
change to reduce floor-to-ceiling heights and increase the originally approved number of rental units, which the board also approved.
The project includes the development of two adjacent parcels located at 252 and 258 Huntington Ave. — in the Fenway area known as the Avenue of the Arts. According to the developer’s filing, the goal is to redevelop the dilapidated, former institutional property located there. The project will also leave intact the historic, 890-seat Huntington Avenue Theatre at 264 Huntington Ave. The two existing structures at 252 and 258 Huntington Ave. will be demolished and those two parcels will be merged to build the main project’s structure.
Once complete, the 34-story tower next to the Huntington Theatre Co. site will include up to 446 apartments, up to 7,500 square feet of retail space and 14,000 square feet of cultural space.
The retail/restaurant/services space will be located on the building’s first and second stories. The 14,000-square-foot cultural component of the first two stories will have direct access to and from the adjacent Huntington Avenue Theatre.
The project is subject to the city’s lnclusionary Development Policy. With that, 58 units will be affordable units.
The Huntington in Fenway also includes a five-story, 42,000-square-foot building. Two stories will be below grade and will house rehearsal space, costume shops, dressing rooms and a loading area for the Huntington Theatre Co.
The project also includes several public benefits including the preservation and rehabilitation of the historic Huntington Avenue Theatre, as well as sidewalk improvements.
It’s a transit-oriented development consistent with Boston’s smart-growth and transit-oriented development principles. It will be located one half-block from the MBTA’s Symphony (Green Line) subway station, and two blocks from the MBTA’s Massachusetts Avenue (Orange Line and Silver Line) subway station.