Skanska Moves Forward With Seaport Office Project

A rendering of the new office building at the Parcel Q1 site in the Seaport District.

BOSTON—An affiliate of Skanska Commercial Development Inc. filed a Project Notification Form with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Monday to build a new nearly 300,000-square-foot office building at the Parcel Q1 site in the Seaport District. Skanska affiliate SCD Northeast Acquisitions LLC is looking to secure approvals from the BRA and other agencies to build a seven-story, 298,700-square-foot office and retail building at the Parcel Q1 site in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. The building will include 211,700 square feet of office space, 8,400 square feet of ground floor retail and three levels of parking that will accommodate 150 vehicles. Skanska won an RFP to develop the 36,799-square-foot parcel from the Economic Development and Industrial Commission. The site is bounded by Drydock Avenue to the east, Channel Street to the north and a federally-owned parcel to the west. The property currently features a 55-car parking lot, a dormant rail line and underutilized open space. Skanska Commercial filed a Letter of Intent for the Parcel Q1 parcel on May 20, 2016. The BRA granted Skanska tentative approval in May 2015 to develop the site. Skanska Commercial states in documents filed with the BRA that if it secures approval for the project, it intends to enter into a long-term ground lease on the property with the EDIC. The architect for the project is Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, Inc. of Boston. In its filing, Skanska officials state that the project “will transform a currently vacant site into an architecturally distinct building that will highlight the entrance to the RFMP, an area that has become increasingly active with new buildings and businesses over the past several years.” The project, in addition to adding to the Seaport’s office and retail stock, will also feature an urban square, new publicly accessible open space, street trees and landscaping. Skanska Commercial states in its PNF with the BRA that it anticipates construction to begin on the venture in the third quarter of 2017 and be completed by the third quarter of 2019. No project cost was included in its PNF filing with the BRA. The developer states that the development will create approximately 450 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs upon completion. The project will also generate unspecified property taxes as well as housing and jobs linkage contributions to the city. Skanska is currently building 121 Seaport, a 17-story, 400,000-square-foot office building that will also feature two floors of retail. Skanska sold its 101 Seaport project , a 17-story, 440,000-square-foot office tower in April for $452 million to German real estate investment management firm Union Investment Real Estate GmbH. Skanska’s Watermark Seaport, a 300,000-square-foot residential building with ground floor retail, opened in early 2016.