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City Celebrates Vertex Groundbreaking at Fan Pier

Jun 22, 2011

Mayor Menino and the BRA joined with Boston-based development firm, The Fallon Company, headed by President & CEO Joseph F. Fallon, today broke ground on Fan Pier’s second and third office buildings and the future home to the 1.1 million square foot global headquarters for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. This lease is the largest commercial lease in the history of Boston and with construction underway, it’s also the largest private sector construction project in the country. More than 1,000 construction jobs will be created as a result of this new project. Vertex currently has approximately 1,300 employees in Massachusetts and expects to add an additional 500 new jobs in Massachusetts through 2015 to support the company’s continued growth. Mayor Menino, who has been an avid supporter of Boston’s waterfront revitalization for many years, predicted Vertex’s arrival at Fan Pier will change the way the world looks at Boston. “Vertex is a company grounded in innovation and making positive change,” added Menino. “True to their mission, they’ll be a catalyst in continuing the wave of economic development and job creation on our waterfront. Their decision to come to Boston and to Fan Pier is a historic one; one that is based on the value of proximity that only the waterfront can deliver. Vertex’s move to Boston will motivate other innovative and life sciences companies to bring their headquarters and employees to this exciting area of our city.” Joseph Fallon of The Fallon Company, said: “As we continue to develop and move Fan Pier forward, one thing is apparent: people are inherently drawn to the water. In just a few short years, the growth and development of Fan Pier has transformed our waterfront into a world-class destination. We've made tremendous progress in defining 'a sense of place' for the waterfront as one of the city's most vital assets. Our restaurants, retail, cultural destinations and office space, along with ongoing public programming, have re-connected hundreds of thousands of Bostonians to and onto the water." “We look forward to becoming part of the vibrant and rapidly expanding neighborhood around Fan Pier beginning in 2013,” said Matthew Emmens, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex. “It is encouraging that the Commonwealth and City of Boston have shown the long-term vision needed to support the life sciences industry, and we are excited to further expand our company in Massachusetts in the coming years.” The Vertex Office Buildings The two buildings that break ground today are each eighteen stories high and offer a combined total of approximately 1.1 million square feet of research (laboratory) and office space, plus 60,000 square feet of ground floor restaurant and retail, and underground parking. The buildings are designed by two highly-acclaimed architectural firms and Boston-based Turner Construction will serve as the project’s general contractor. 50 Northern Avenue is designed by Tsoi/Kobus Associates of Cambridge, MA. The contemporary building design is comprised of a floor to ceiling glass exterior with light blue glass and a full height sloped design feature along Northern Avenue, to offer panoramic views of the waterfront and surrounding Boston skyline. 11 Fan Pier Boulevard is designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects of Boston, the same firm responsible for designing Fan Pier’s first office building, ONE Marina Park Drive. This building design is comprised of floor to ceiling glass set into a metal framework pattern with crisp green glass. A key design feature of this building is a curved building design on the east face of the structure overlooking a seventh floor outdoor terrace, as well as an all-glass feature at the corners of the building facing the city. Planned public improvements will include all new streets, utilities, sidewalks, decorative paving and landscaping around the new buildings as well as a new Public Water Transportation dock with a ticket facility and public restrooms. These improvements complement the existing two-acre waterfront park that was built by The Fallon Company adjacent to ONE Marina Park Drive. It is anticipated that both buildings will achieve Gold LEED certification upon completion. For more information, visit Fan Pier Boston.

Related Tags

Life Sciences South Boston Waterfront 

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