Somerville's Boynton Yards Developers Reach Milestone

SOMERVILLE, MA — Developers recently reached a milestone at the first life sciences building at Somerville's Boynton Yards, finishing the final steel addition atop 101 South Street. The nine-story, 290,000 square-foot, Class-A mixed-use facility will provide state-of-the-art lab space geared towards emerging life science companies.

The building, which will include first floor retail, community art spaces and a four-level underground parking garage, will achieve LEED Gold and WiredScore Platinum certifications, a testament to the sustainable and highly efficient approach.

"Despite the challenges that COVID has posed during the last six months, the skill and efficiency of the construction team led by Shawmut have been nothing less than extraordinary," John Fenton, development manager of DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, said in a statement. "With the necessary protocols in place, everyone has adapted and continued to press forward resulting in no delay toward completion next summer."

The first of three life science buildings as part of the Boynton Yards development, 101 South Street will offer best-in-class, high-efficiency infrastructure where companies can imagine and grow. The proposed 6.54-acre development will transform the area into a vibrant work-live-play neighborhood. With more than one million square feet of commercial, residential, retail, public green, arts and performance spaces, the project will bring 4,000 permanent jobs to the city and help establish it as one of the region’s most prominent life science hubs.

"We've always envisioned Boynton Yards as Somerville’s new innovation campus for the life sciences and tech sector to expand and grow," Rob Dickey, executive vicepresident of Leggat McCall Properties, said in a statement. "Now with the added force of today’s demand for lab space, Boynton is well positioned to support the City’s goal of competing and complementing Boston and Cambridge for years to come."

Shawmut Design and Construction, the general contractor, along with architecture firms SGA and Hashim Sarkis Studios, is executing the ground-up building which will match the quality and specifications of other Class-A buildings while providing state-of-the-art lab space — including advanced wet and dry R&D labs and column-free, 35,000 square-foot floor plates for unique and maximum flexibility. 101 South Street will also feature a below grade parking garage for 250 vehicles, indoor bike storage, and a two-story lobby complete with retail space overlooking abundant public green areas and walking paths.

Shawmut has deployed enhanced safety protocols to mitigate the risk of infectious disease spread across all job sites, rolling out new procedures, job site innovation, and an exhaustive COVID-19 risk assessment and response plan nationwide. These protocols are implemented at the 101 South Street site and include Shawmut Vitals — a custom technology platform which allows team members to self-certify daily health screenings by scanning a job-specific QR code and completing a health survey.

"We are tremendously proud of the progress we’re making at 101 South Street, but most importantly how we're doing so safely," Kevin Sullivan, executive vice president at Shawmut, said in a statement. "As the first building at Boynton Yards, this facility will anchor what is envisioned to be the future of Somerville as a hub of innovation, technology and life science research."

101 South Street broke ground in June 2019 and is slated for completion in Summer 2021. The upcoming Boynton Yards campus — currently undergoing a public master plan permit approval process — is envisioned as an extension to Somerville's Union Square and Inman Square neighborhoods that will bring Somerville families, local businesses and researchers together with ample open space in a modern, innovative community of the future.