Developer files plans for former Herald headquarters

The Herald’s former six-acre digs in Boston’s South End could be revamped into a new four-building “Ink Block” that includes 475 apartment units and 85,000 square feet of retail space, under a proposal filed by property owner National Development.

“What we hope through all this is this becomes much more pedestrian-oriented area. It hasn’t always been the most heavily populated pedestrian space,” Ted Tye, managing partner at National Development, told the Herald. “By putting some real density here ... we really hope to make it a much more comfortable space for people to walk the streets with lots of activity.”

The project would require demolition of the Herald’s storied Harrison Avenue building, better known as One Herald Square, “from the ground up,” Tye said, adding that construction for the $100 million-plus project would begin at the end of the year following completion of the permitting process and would last nearly 18 months.

The new buildings, which would span Harrison Avenue from Herald Street to Traveler Street and range from five to nine stories, would be designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects.

A 30,000-square-foot to 40,000-square-foot grocery store is envisioned for one building, with restaurants and smaller stores encompassing the remaining retail space. All four buildings would include apartments, but rents have yet to be determined, Tye said.

Several materials, including glass, brick and metal shingle will be used, along with a variety of window styles to distinguish each building.

“The idea is to create the feeling of four very different buildings on the block with a little bit of variation in height and a lot of variation in materials,” Tye said.

National Development filed its plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority after conducting numerous meetings with the agency and community members. The company said it pitched an initial redesign plan six months ago that was categorized by both community members and the BRA as not being dense enough, high enough or following the standards envisioned by the Harrison-Albany Corridor Study.

“We chose to be good listeners. We kind of went back to the drawing board and tried to come up with a program and design that was more responsive to what we were hearing,” Tye said. “The result is a much better project than the one we had started with.”

Other featured amenities of the project include a roof-level outdoor area with pool, a theater, a fitness center and a cyber lounge. A transportation center would also be made available with bicycle storage, shared car service and electric car charging stations.

The term “Ink Block” reflects both the newspaper’s storied history at the site for more than 50 years, and is a reminder that the block that is bounded by Harrison Avenue and Herald, Traveler and Albany Streets, Tye said.

Locally, National Development is the co-developer of The Kensington, a 27-story residential tower currently under construction, and Longwood Center, a life-sciences building slated to start construction this year in the Longwood Medical Area. National Development also owns and manages several properties at Constitution Center in Charlestown, in the Financial District and in the Fort Point Channel areas.

The Herald’s print, interactive and administrative offices are now located at 70 Fargo St. in South Boston, occupying 51,000 square feet in the Seaport Center as part of a 10-year lease.

Following the paper’s move, the Harrison Avenue building will remain vacant and will not be re-tenanted prior to redevelopment.

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Developer files plans for former Herald headquarters