Fidelity Investments is undertaking a long-planned renovation of its World Trade Center complex in the Seaport with plans that show a newly modern look and more open space on the waterfront for public use, as reported in the Boston Globe.
The changes would occur in the sight lines along Seaport Boulevard. Its Commonwealth Hall exhibition space will be eliminated, and a 25,000-square-foot waterfront courtyard will be added that will feature small outdoor events and markets throughout the year. There will also be 56,000 square feet of event space. Fidelity has occupied the 800,000-square-foot complex, on the 19-acre Commonwealth Pier, through a long-term lease with the Massachusetts Port Authority. It employs about 1,500 people there. Fidelity would become the sole office tenant. The revised office space will be nearly 640,000 square feet, while the amount set aside for shops and restaurants will increase fivefold, to 45,000 square feet.
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Pembroke, Fidelity’s real estate arm, has no plans to increase the height of the two- and three-story building. Fidelity said it would also update the Harborwalk that encircles the building by adding new open spaces around the perimeter, carving niches out of the building to break up the linear wall, and adding new lighting, furnishings, and artwork. Construction would begin in the first half of 2020, after Pembroke obtains the necessary city and state permits, with a goal of completing the work in 2024.
