Enterprise Research Campus Phase A
Development work continues at 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 (Verra), including approximately 86 affordable units (25%) available to households with incomes ranging from 30-100% of the Area Median Income (AMI); a hotel, The Atlas ; and the David Rubenstein Treehouse 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 and fit-out work being completed. Trotting Avenue is partially open onto Western Avenue. The hotel has received a temporary certificate of occupancy allowing owner’s operational work to take place. Final inspections are underway for the restaurant/bar areas of the hotel. Punchlist work continues.
Laboratory and Office Buildings
The building systems are being started up, inspected and tested. Boston Fire Department tests are typically required to be scheduled off hours and may generate some noise. Punchlist work continues inside and outside the buildings and garage.
Treehouse Conference Center
The conference center is occupied with operations and events taking place. Finish activity continues in coordination with Treehouse operations and will be active during holiday/winter break. Solar panel roof installation is being planned. Interior and exterior punch-list work continues.
Greenway
Water feature commissioning and testing will be underway. Landscape finishes and concrete work continue especially in the bio-swale area.
Western Avenue and Streetscape
Prepping for mill and overlay paving, sidewalk and utilities on Western Avenue are underway. Conduit installation work will cross Western Avenue during the day with shifting traffic around the work zone. Ramp and drain work and on the Harvard Business School side of the street will also take place prior to resurfacing. Plans being reviewed by the City are for Western Avenue to be milled one lane at a time on a weekend from Hague Street to National Resilience, leaving a rough driving surface until the next weekend when paving is anticipated to take place later this month. Streetscape finish work continues inside the site.
ERC 1.4 Balance Streetscape
Work is underway on street and infrastructure work beyond that in ERC Phase A including preparation and paving Milestone east work and extended Trotting Avenue towards Almay Street in the site. Crews are working on installing site lighting, low voltage power, and telecommunications conduits along interim Trotting Ave south of Axle Way and at Milestone Street near National Resilience. Lighting load concrete pads will be installed. Ongoing site maintenance continues.
Fiberoptic and Milestone Thermal Work
Fiber-optic work continues intermittently.
Building Mock-Ups
Demolition of the five Laboratory, Residential/Hotel, and Conference Center mockups began the first week of December and will continue into the month. Work will take place in the Hague Street lot with protection in place for traffic and pedestrians along Rotterdam Street. Pedestrians will shift to the opposite side of Rotterdam with occasional lane shifts for equipment.
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.
- 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.
- Snow and ice removal will take place as needed.
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 complete.
- This enabling phase of the project is complete, future phases are in permitting review.
92 Seattle Street
The building is occupied. Minor roof activity will take place.
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 be closed this month during standard work hours with traffic directed to Ivy Lane.
- MEP work is underway at both buildings.
- Three cranes are supporting the façade work at the residential building. Other mobile cranes will intermittently be brought into the site for activities on both projects.
- The mass timber structure has been installed for the American Repertory Theatre (ART). Some mass timber detail work continues. Mechanical systems installation continues. Concrete decking, curtainwall and roofing work are underway.
- The brick façade is being installed on the residence building. Mast-climber scaffolding is being removed this month. Swing staging and boom lifts are being used for all façade work. The Harvard Track side of the site is tarped in for winter work.
- Interior fit-out work is underway.
- The hoist (exterior elevator) on the residential building is operational with removal set for early January.
- Mock-ups and storage are located 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.
- The 201 Western Avenue lot and Webster Field at Athletics is 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.
- Temporary heaters are being used in specific work zones.
- Dust control measures remain in place.
- Snow and ice removal will take place as needed.
210 North Harvard Street
- A pole and temporary cable will be removed by Eversource/Verizon. Sofra Bakery and Café is open.
168 Western Avenue (Swiss Bakers)
- Warranty flooring work is scheduled from December 22 through January 9. Multiple storage units will be set up outside the crimson.
- Two exterior concrete pad placements and related work may also take place.
100 Holton Street
- A roofing project on two back older sections of the roof of 100 Holton St will finish this month.
- Crews are making repairs and applying a liquid proofing 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.
Harvard Business School
Chase/McCulloch/Dillon is an extensive renovation project underway at HBS through next summer.