Enterprise Research Campus Phase A
Development work is underway of the future Enterprise Research Campus (ERC) in Allston across from Harvard Business School (HBS) bordered by the Mass Pike, Western Avenue, Hague Street, and the National Resilience Inc. facility at 500 Soldiers Field Road. Phase A consists of two lab buildings designed for research and development; two apartment buildings with roughly 345 units, including approximately 86 affordable units (25%) available to households with incomes ranging from 30-100% of the Area Median Income (AMI); a hotel; and a conference center operated by Harvard University. The Greenway will be central to the site and become an active public space with programming and events.
Residential/Hotel
The residential buildings (Verra) are open. The midrise and high rise residential buildings are occupied with some punch-list work being completed. Trotting Avenue is partially open onto Western Avenue. Inspections and some off-hour testing are underway for the hotel which is targeting the end of the month for operational work to begin. Finish work continues in and around the hotel. Interior work may take place on second shift.
Laboratory and Office Buildings
Permanent power is being energized. Ground floor work continues. Roofing and terrace finishing while planting activities continue. Elevators are being installed and inspected. Drywall and bathroom work is underway. Mechanical penthouse and other MEP activities continue. Stone masonry work continues on the exterior. Garage finish work is underway. Hardscaping including paver and sidewalk installation and other landscaping work is taking place around the building.
Treehouse Conference Center
Testing and inspections in preparation for temporary certificate of occupancy in late September are underway. Façade glass and wood panel installation continues using boom lifts on two shifts. Roofing and terrace activities are finishing up. MEP finish work is ongoing. Interior finish work is underway. A site crew will be finishing landscaping including installing pavers around the building. AV and security work are underway.
Greenway
Crews continue hardscape and water feature activities. Boulder finishes are being installed. Shallow utility and bio-swale work continues.
Street Scape and Western Avenue
Structural soil and trench work are finishing around the buildings and are underway on Milestone Street. Installation of sidewalks, bike lanes, light pole bases, curbing, railings, stone, pavers and more continue. Western Avenue work has begun inside the fence with the installation of temporary lighting including trenching for shallow utilities, curbing and sidewalk work.
Fiberoptic and Milestone Thermal Work
Fiber-optic work continues intermittently.
Building Mock-Ups
The five Laboratory, Residential/Hotel, and Conference Center mockups are in place near Rotterdam Street at the Hague Street lot.
Eversource Conduit Project
Eversource cabling and splicing will finish on Western Avenue and Trotting Avenue. This public utility work is not under the supervision of ERC.
General Information
- Project work hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Saturday and some Sunday work will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Second shift work is temporarily taking place for certain activities, especially at the hotel and the Treehouse.
- Drones will be in use every Thursdays at 3 p.m. to monitor construction progress.
- Drones will be operated by licensed pilots in accordance with Harvard University and the City of Boston regulations.
- Flights are weather dependent.
- Off-hour equipment drop-offs/pickups may be necessary with no unloading until 7 a.m.
- Contractors and subcontractors are directed to have all trucks follow approved truck routes to/from the jobsite to ensure they are not traveling on neighborhood streets. A security officer has been monitoring truck routes at Cambridge and Windom/Seattle streets and at North Harvard Street for early hour concrete placements.
- Construction noise will continue to be perceptible during work hours.
- Dust control measures remain in place.
North Allston Storm Drain Extension Project (NASDEP)
NASDEP is a project for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) that is designed in collaboration with Harvard University to alleviate the existing inundated storm water systems in the North Allston neighborhood. The proposed modifications to the BWSC stormwater management system will significantly improve its performance by providing much needed additional conveyance capacity. The enabling work for the project began in 2021 and will continue through 2025. The increased capacity systems are designed to extend from the area south of the new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC), connecting to an existing stormwater drain system in Rena Park, routing through the ERC and following behind the National Resilience Inc. (formerly Sanofi/Genzyme) facility before crossing Soldiers Field Road to an outfall in the Charles River.
- South of the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) work between Rena Path and Rotterdam Street is finishing up.
- Science Drive is narrowed with a new lane, line striping. Restoration will take place later this month and involve some work on the roadway.
- Inspections and backfilling will take place.
- Some concrete placement occurs.
- Construction noise continues to be intermittent with a generator and a staffer, motorized dewatering equipment operating 24 hours.
- Project work hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- The Bypass System will be removed after Boston Water and Sewer Commission approval. This work will involve some activity near Rena Path east of 92 Seattle Street.
92 Seattle Street
The building is occupied. An exterior sign will be installed later this month.
175 North Harvard Street/100 South Campus Drive/201 Western Avenue
Harvard University is constructing a new home for the American Repertory Theater (ART) at 175 North Harvard Street and on the adjacent site at 100 South Campus Drive, a new Harvard University Affiliate Housing building for Harvard graduate students.
- South Campus Drive, the one-way street from Western Avenue to North Harvard Street, will intermittently be closed this month with traffic directed to Ivy Lane.
- MEP work is underway at both buildings.
- A crane is operating on the American Repertory Theatre (ART) site to support the installation of mass timber for the next few months. Daily wood deliveries are underway. A police detail is assigned to North Harvard Street/South Campus Drive to help facilitate mass timber trailer deliveries. Wood protection trades and mechanical systems and roof installation are underway as mass timber gets installed. Columns, beams, trusses, stairs, walls, roofs and flooring are being installed.
- Concrete decking and roofing work follow the mass timber installation.
- The brick façade is being installed on the residence building. Mast-climber scaffolding, swing staging and boom lifts are being used for all façade work. Two cranes are operating.
- Roofing work is finishing. Window installation and interior fit-out work are underway.
- The hoist (exterior elevator) on the residential building is operational.
- Minor mock-up adjustments are finishing across the street near Academic Way.
- Trucks will adhere to the Harvard truck route and stage at Beacon Park Yard to avoid traffic congestion in and around the site.
- The MBTA bus stop and Blue Bike station have been relocated to the McCurdy track side of South Campus Drive.
- Lot expansion is complete at the 201 Western Avenue lot, where construction workers park and field offices are set up and in use.
- Project work hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and some Sunday work will continue as permitted by the City of Boston, also from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
210 North Harvard Street
- A pole and temporary cable will be removed by Eversource/Verizon. Sofra Bakery and Café is open.
168 Western Avenue
- The majority of the renovation work is complete. Swiss Bakers is operational in their new space. National Grid will return to replace the asphalt with concrete on the Western Ave sidewalk. Walking pads are being placed on the roof this month.
100 Holton Street
- A roofing project on two back older sections of the roof of 100 Holton St started on September 2 and will continue through the fall.
- Crews will make repairs and apply a liquid applied roofing membrane, which may emit an odor, on the roof above Red Sky Studios and other businesses in the back of the building closer to Everett Street.