Construction has begun on the RailYard in South End. When it opens in January 2019, it will immediately leave its mark on the city.
This project is a sight to behold and easily the most incredible new development in South End and arguably the entire city. Why?
- 300,000 square feet of office space.
- 30,000 square feet of retail, about half of that divided into four restaurant spaces and the rest for other types of stores or studios.
- About 100 micro-unit apartments.
- A 15,000 square-foot “Yard” that is essentially a giant patio for the community.
- Coffee shop/café/gathering space known as Grand Central that is connected to the Yard via a giant 40-foot garage door.
- 2,500 square feet of fitness space for tenants.
- 100 bike lockers
- Rooftop terraces for tenants
- Super cool Uber/Lyft drop-off area
Two words make this project exciting: Human scale. The RailYard has what it takes to not only interact with its surroundings from an architectural perspective but from the ground level as well.
The RailYard does what so many other projects fail to do: remember that there are people that will be walking by as well as working in the building. The ground floor is crazy inviting with a large patio space, overhangs, open-air concept, outdoor seating and signage that interacts with the pedestrian rather than hovers over and belittles them.
The design is impeccable. It takes the DNA of its surroundings and adapts into its warehouse feel architecture that absolutely defines South End.
This project also avoids giant lobby and giant visible parking deck by hiding the deck behind the building and apartments and giving most of the ground space to the community rather than making it an “office hours only,” “look but can’t touch” lobby.
Grand Central will no doubt be a major community asset by providing some incredible open space complete with a café and coffee shop.
The restaurant space has a major big city feel with its European alley-style French doors that open to the Yard.
Beyond what the ground floor provides to the non-tenant, the office space itself promises to be quite the place to work as well. High ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows make this incredibly inviting.
I can’t wait to see the kind of restaurant and office tenants they get in here and will provide those details as we get them. In the meantime, let the countdown to January 2019 begin.
The Beacon Partners’ RailYard project team includes:
- Edifice as general contractor
- LandDesign as civil engineer
- RBA Group as architect
- Kristy Venning and Charlie Swanson with Beacon Partners are handling leasing
- Financing is being provided by Wells Fargo
