Questions remain about Copley plan

Architect must address BRA, public concerns

An artist's rendering of the residential tower proposed for Copley Place is shown in this view from the Longfellow Bridge on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. (Elkus Manfredi Architects/Steve Dunwell Photography)

By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / November 9, 2008

A futuristic 47-story glass residential tower - the final piece of Copley Place - could soon reach into the sky above an expanded Neiman Marcus store, but first architects have to answer the public's comments and the BRA's questions on the project.

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The project, now moving into a new phase of the permitting process, would be the city's tallest residential building.

Besides the full-service luxury condo tower, tentatively called the Residences at Copley Place, the development would include a 50 percent larger Neiman Marcus store and an enclosed winter garden on the open plaza at Dartmouth and Stuart streets.

Late last month, Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston received a report from the Boston Redevelopment Authority outlining community feedback and asking for additional information about the project, after giving notice to the agency in June of its intent to expand the urban shopping gallery, which was built in the 1980s over the Massachusetts Turnpike and bought by Simon Property Group Inc. about five years ago.

"We have received the official project scoping and determination, which compiles all of the [public's] letters and concerns the BRA may have," said Rob Halter, an architect from Elkus Manfredi. "We're just starting to go through it, and we'll address all the comments in it."

Of the roughly 30 letters included in the BRA document, 10 expressed support and 10 were opposed to the project as it was presented during a July 15 public meeting. Proponents applaud the 250 to 270 permanent and 1,700 construction jobs along with the project's modern design, including replacing Neiman Marcus's barren granite walls in the Southwest Corridor Park with a glass facade.

Detractors say the project would congest an already tightly packed neighborhood and the 569-foot building would create wind tunnels and cast shadows on Copley Square and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

"We believe that a tower height of nearly 600 feet will have unacceptable environmental effects on the surrounding public, residential, and commercial areas," states a letter to the BRA from the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. "This represents our single strongest objection to the plan for the expansion at Copley Place."

The BRA also requested additional wind and shadow studies. A qualitative wind study has already determined that the tower wouldn't create "dangerous or unacceptable winds," and an initial shadow study suggests Copley Square would only be shaded by the tower during the winter for a couple of hours each day. But the BRA wants to know if the tower would cast shadows on any public open spaces for more than two hours from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on any day from March 21 to Sept. 21.

Architects hope to fulfill the BRA's requests by early next year and complete the permitting process in six to nine months, break ground a year from now, and open for business three years afterward.

In the meantime, architects and developers have already tweaked the project's original plan with help from the Community Advisory Committee. The 11-member board consisting of South End and Back Bay residents and public officials, known as the CAC, is chaired by Judith Wright.

"A building like that affects all of us," Wright said. "It affects my neighborhood a lot, so I wanted to be able to be a voice of the neighborhood."

The most significant result of the CAC's eight meetings was setting back the tower's entrance at Stuart and Dartmouth streets from the original 7 feet from the curb to 15 feet.

"The tower itself was pulled back and rotated so it doesn't sit directly out on the corner," Halter said. "They were concerned that having the tower so close to the street would just be too imposing."

The southwest corner of Stuart and Dartmouth streets will be the site of a glassed-in winter garden, replacing the paved entry plaza to Neiman Marcus. But the CAC thought that it looked too much like a lobby, Halter said. To address that, Halter's group incorporated softer materials and textures, increased the size and density of planters, and are looking into incorporating a flower shop or coffee cart.

"The types of things that invite people in to sit down and take a break whether you're shopping or not," Halter said.

The CAC, which will meet at 8 a.m. on Nov. 19 in the fourth floor conference room at Copley Place, is gearing up to tackle issues concerning wind and the feasibility of adding new retail space on Dartmouth Street. Wright said the CAC will meet at least eight more times before making its recommendations to the BRA.

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