“The proposed project will remove the unsightly barrier of the Government Center Garage from its current prominent position over Congress Street ,’’ HYM chief Thomas N. O’Brien, a former Boston planning chief, wrote in a two-page letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The letter, released by the BRA yesterday, also said the de velopment would include a hotel, a “major residential component,’’ and retail stores that would complement a planned food market above the Haymarket MBTA station.
O’Brien has not said how tall the proposed complex would be. The current garage, which is topped by several floors of offices, is 11 stories.
Even at its smaller size, the development would be the largest in the current pipeline of construction projects in downtown Boston and would bring hundreds of new residents into an area of the city that goes quiet on nights when the Boston Bruins or Celtics are not playing at the nearby Garden. The project is more than double what another developer has proposed building on the site of the former Filene’s department store in Downtown Crossing.
The garage is located on New Sudbury Street and is bounded by Congress, New Chardon, and Hawkins streets.
The new proposal must get multiple city and state approvals before construction could begin, a process likely to take a year or longer. O’Brien, who also must secure tenants for the project, said in a statement yesterday that he intends to submit more details to the city in the fall.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a skeptic of the prior plan for the site, offered general support for the latest version yesterday, saying it would not overshadow the adjacent Greenway parks.
“I think you’ll see a different type of development there,’’ he said. “It won’t take any of the city’s property, and it will be scaled down from what you’ve seen in the past.’’
