Government Center Towers Approved

Photo courtesy of WHDH, 7 News

The Government Center Garage site will soon be home to a pair of towers, one residential and one commercial, after the project got final approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority Thursday night.

The towers will be the first of six buildings planned for the site.

The Government Center project is one of six developments approved around Boston, including a new residence hall for students at Emmanuel College, 80 new apartments on VFW Parkway in West Roxbury, a housing project on Centre Street in West Roxbury, an addition to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Dorchester, and an expansion of Stillings Street Garage on Boston Wharf Road.

At the Government Center site, the residential tower is expected to be 480 feet tall and contain 486 housing units - 64 designated as affordable - and will be designed by CBT Architects. The commercial building 528 feet tall and one million square feet and will be designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

The two buildings will create 1,650 construction jobs, the BRA estimates.

At Emmanuel, the plan is to create New Julie Hall, a 19-story building that houses 691 beds and will replace Julie Hall, which contains 220 beds. The development is expected to allow for 84 percent of students to live on campus, up from the current 73 percent.

In Dorchester, the Holiday Inn near the South Bay shopping center will get a five-story addition, increasing the number of guestrooms from 114 to 174.

At the South Stillings Garage on Boston Wharf Road, there will be two additional stories for office space. The project is expected to start this summer and take one year to complete.

In West Roxbury, the VFW Parkway apartments will be built on the old International House of Pancakes site, while the 16-unit housing development will be at the former West Roxbury Motors car dealership and service station.