BOSTON — IQHQ Inc., a developer of life sciences real estate with offices in Boston and San Diego, has begun construction on Fenway Center, a $1 billion project in Boston. IQHQ is co-developing the project with locally based firm Meredith Management.
The initial phase of construction centers on the development of a 90,000-square-foot air rights deck that overlooks the Massachusetts Turnpike between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue. The construction of the air rights deck will be the largest air rights structure built in Boston since Copley Place in 1980 and will take approximately 24 months to complete.
Upon completion, Fenway Center will consist of more than 960,000 square feet of life sciences space with 10,000 square feet of retail space across two towers. Construction of the life sciences buildings is expected to be complete in early 2025.
The campus will also feature 1.6 acres of landscaped green space and a parking garage that will be accessible from both buildings. The green space will include a large plaza and a public pedestrian walkway.
The site is adjacent to BOWER, a new 312-unit luxury apartment complex that contains 38,000 square feet of amenity-oriented retail, the Lansdowne MBTA Commuter Rail Station, Fenway Park and the Lansdowne Entertainment District. Multiple public transit lines serve the location, providing a more accessible network between the Back Bay, Fenway, Kenmore Square and Longwood Medical areas.
“Fenway Center creates a direct connection between premier life science, research, academic and medical districts at the gateway to Boston,” says John Bonanno, chief investment officer of IQHQ. “It also reunites several of Boston’s iconic neighborhoods after more than 100 years of separation caused by railroad tracks and the Mass Pike.”
Fenway Center is expected to generate about $3 billion in economic impact over the 99-year lease term. The project will create 2,000 construction jobs, 3,000 permanent new jobs and will generate more than $15 million in new annual tax revenues for the City of Boston, according to the development team.
IQHQ was founded in 2020 and has since raised $2.6 billion in capital for new life sciences projects in Boston, San Diego and San Francisco.
— Taylor Williams