
Boston’s new rooftop apartment for $2.5M
- September 9, 2021
Boston’s skyline is about to get a lot bigger thanks to a brand-new tower that promises to be the world’s most stunning rooftop apartment.
The tower at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Charles Street in Roxbury, Mass., is expected to open later this year and cost between $2 million and $2 billion.
Located on the site of the former Commonwealth Bank building that once housed the Boston Common, the building will house the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a large indoor pool and spa.
Boston is set to see more than 500 new apartments built in the next five years as the city and its residents struggle to keep up with rising housing costs.
The first building opened in 2020, but this one is slated to be completed later this summer.
Beth Dorma, a spokeswoman for the company that owns the building, told The Hill that the building is designed to be a showcase of Boston’s “future.”
“It’s not just a new building; it’s an entire transformation of the neighborhood,” she said.
The first tower is set on a hillside and has a rooftop pool that’s made of limestone and steel.
Its facade is topped by a glass dome with a glass canopy that gives the view into the surrounding neighborhood.
It’s not quite as grand as the first tower but the building’s designers said that the rooftop pool will help to keep the building more accessible to residents.
There are two levels, with an infinity pool and a small terrace.
The terrace, which is attached to the pool, can be climbed and accessed by a walking or cycling path, according to the architects.
“The building will be a new place to be, a place to call home, a city that has become home,” the architects wrote in a description of the project.
Roxbury has seen a dramatic increase in the number of apartments built recently.
According to the city’s affordable housing office, the city has about 3,600 units of affordable housing for households making between 150 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
In Roxbury alone, there are more than 800 units for the lowest income households.
In a city where affordable housing has become more difficult to find, the new project by Boston Properties could help to offset some of the citys growing housing shortage.
Boston Properties also is working with a local developer on a new development at the site.
The project would be a mixed-use development that will include a hotel, office space and a hotel-casino.
A spokeswoman for Boston Properties said that building was on the drawing board for a while, but she could not discuss any details.
But it’s clear that the city is eager to make it more affordable for residents.
According to the Boston Housing Partnership, the Boston Public Library has been working to bring affordable housing to the area since it opened its new library in 2016.
And last month, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced a new program aimed at bringing housing to low-income neighborhoods in Roxberry and surrounding areas.
This new development by Boston’s company could bring a lot of positive changes to the neighborhoods in Boston that are already struggling with rising costs, said Roxbury resident and former Roxbury Mayor and current mayoral candidate David Chiu.
Chiu said he was glad to see a developer that was not only affordable, but had a vision to help improve the area.
“I want to see the whole city become more affordable,” he said.