An office building in the shape of a shoe will be one of the highlights of New Balance’s plan for its fourteen acres along Guest Street, adjacent to the Mass. Pike. (Globe article may be behind paywall). The company filed its plan with the city earlier this week. Other elements include a 175-room hotel, a sports facility open to the public that might include venues for track and ice hockey, and additional office space. Restaurants and retail will be weaved into different parts of the project. What this all adds up to is 1.4 million square feet of building in structures ranging from roughly nine to twenty stories.
How will people get there? Some of them will drive and leave their car in one of the 1750 parking spaces. Other than that, the plan is vague. A commuter rail stop is mentioned, but in a context of listing all the obstacles to it. Which leaves the bus. Routes 64 and 86 stop at the site but neither runs that frequently. New Balance currently provides shuttle vans to Harvard Square and Kenmore Square during rush hour and is the quickest way to connect to the subway.
When is this going to happen? Spring 2013 is projected for the start of construction. Lots of questions to ask, details to be discussed, many meetings sure to follow.