Mayor Menino, Millennium Partners, Celebrate Groundbreaking of $630 Million Millennium Tower

Sep 17, 2013

$630 Million, 625-foot Tower will Rise in Downtown Crossing -- Roche Brothers Announced as Retail Partner

Today Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Millennium Partners celebrated the commencement of construction at the site of its Millennium Tower/Burnham Building in Boston.  Located in the City’s Downtown Crossing at the site of the former Filene’s Department Store, the $630 million project consists of the landmark 1912 Burnham Building and a dramatic, new, mixed-use tower that will rise 625 feet into the Boston skyline.

 “The Filene's site is synonymous with Downtown Boston.  The start of construction celebrates the beginning of a new chapter in the history of this historic building and highlights the promising future that is in store for this neighborhood," Mayor Menino said. "Today also marks the start of another important project by Millennium Partners, which will place a marker in the Boston skyline, like a flag drawing people to Downtown Crossing."

Showcasing a harmonious balance of old and new, the 1.4 million square foot development is expected to reinvigorate Downtown Boston with its innovative office space, dynamic street-level retail and a new level of luxury residential condominium offerings.

“Millennium Partners is very pleased to revive and restore a building that is so close to Bostonians’ hearts.  Thanks to the forward-looking perspective of the Mayor and his staff, it took only 10 months to bring our initial design ideas to life with the start of construction in April of this year,” said Christopher M. Jeffries, founding partner at Millennium Partners. “We strongly believe that this new project will support the further economic resurgence of one of the country’s most vibrant urban centers, and will extend residential and retail growth in a continuous stretch from the Theatre District to City Hall.”

Ideally situated in the city’s epicenter, the Millennium Tower/Burnham Building project is within easy walking distance of all five MBTA “T” lines and South Station.  Pedestrian count exceeds 51,000 persons per day, surpassing that of New York City's well-known Fifth Avenue and SoHo shopping destinations.

Millennium Tower will add a striking 625-foot tower adjacent to the Burnham Building that will consist of 450 luxury residences and 95,000 square feet of additional retail space on its lower floors.

Simultaneous with the onset of construction, Millennium Partners signed its first office lease in April, making the Burnham Building the new Boston headquarters of Arnold Worldwide, a subsidiary of Havas Advertising, the world’s sixth-largest communications group.  Arnold’s occupancy at the Burnham Building is slated for September 2014.

In addition, Millennium Partners announced today that it has reached agreement with Roche Brothers Supermarkets to bring its exceptionally high quality retail grocery store chain to downtown Boston.  This new store is the first large-scale grocery store to be built in Downtown Crossing, and will serve the growing residential neighborhood first initiated by Millennium Partners.

“Roche Brothers is a Boston business with deep roots in our City.  It is fitting that the Roche family would be the ones to bring fresh food and the first large grocery story into Downtown Boston," Mayor Menino said.  "I am proud to have Roche Brothers as a participant in the rebirth of this iconic site."

Anthony Pangaro, principal at Millennium Partners/Boston added, “No neighborhood can be called complete without a food purveyor of the highest quality and good value.  Now, with Roche Brothers, we can truly say that what we have here is a total, urban, neighborhood place to live.”

 The Burnham Building restoration will have the novel features envisioned by legendary Chicago architect Daniel Burnham (1846-1912) when he was the most prominent retail merchandising architect in the nation.  These include a noble street façade with large plate glass display windows featuring mirrored vitrines designed to provide then unprecedented visual access to the retail wares sold at Filene’s.  The only structure in Boston that Daniel Burnham designed, the Burnham Building will be reawakened and restored to its original grandeur by Handel Architects.  The restoration has been certified by the United States Department of the Interior as meeting the high standards for rehabilitation for a structure on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also is being designed to achieve LEED Certification and will include new systems for office and retail spaces, all constructed within the historic shell and its inner steel structure.

Millennium is also the developer of the nearly completed Millennium Place luxury condominium, the award-winning Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Towers, and other acclaimed projects in Boston and around the country. For more information on Millennium Tower Boston, please visit www.millenniumptrs.com.