As with the hallowed stadium that shares its name, the Fenway stop on the MBTA D line will undergo renovations this year.
The $180 million Fenway Mixed Use Project, set to begin this fall, will make economic improvements to the Boylston-Brookline-Kilmarnock street triangle, relied on by suburban visitors as a throughway to downtown shopping and entertainment venues. The project, which has been in the making for two years now, was approved yesterday at the annual Boston Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors meeting.
“I applaud the developer’s willingness to work with the local community to create a project that will complement this increasingly vibrant neighborhood,” BRA Director Mark Maloney said in a statement.
The project’s plans include the construction of three connected buildings arranged in a triangle, each designed specifically to blend in with its neighbors to preserve both historic and modern ambiance. The site’s base will provide retail space including areas for restaurant use and 498 parking spaces in a three-level underground garage.
In addition, 10 floors of apartments will rest on top of these establishments. Fifteen percent of the 540 total rooms qualify as affordable housing, which exceeds city requirements of 10 percent.
“It is so important for developers in the city of Boston to see their role in easing the housing crisis,” Menino said in a statement.
The Fenway Ventures organization, responsible for the project, said it has made a serious investment in solving Boston’s housing problem beyond its own project. The group donated $1.5 million to Boston’s Neighborhood Housing Fund to create off-site affordable housing.
Organizers say the project will also improve traffic patterns within the Fenway. A Kilmarnock Street extension and a new traffic signal at Boylston Street and Kilmarnock will also be installed.
“This project will have a long-standing positive impact on the upper Boylston Street area, and we are delighted to receive BRA approval,” said Steve Samuels of Fenway Ventures. “This is a wonderful opportunity to develop the site for a variety of uses that build on the vitality of the Fenway neighborhood and increase the overall number of housing units in the city.”