Planning board, CRA approve major amendment to Volpe infill plan allowing 149,000 sq ft shift to 105 Broadway

The Cambridge Planning Board and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority on Oct. 28 approved a major amendment to the Volpe Infill Development Concept Plan that lets Boston Properties (BXP) reallocate roughly 149,000 square feet of approved commercial gross floor area from the previously approved 250 Binney Street building to a potential redevelopment of 105 Broadway.

The amendment, described by the applicant as “IDC Amendment No. 3,” preserves the project’s overall gross floor area cap but creates two alternate build paths for Phase 4: (1) proceed with the approved 250 Binney (the baseline) or (2) build a smaller 250 Binney and move the remaining 149,000 square feet to a newly redeveloped 105 Broadway (the alternative). Jeff Lundberg, senior vice president of development with Boston Properties, told the boards the amendment would not increase net GFA and that the team would select a path later during design development.

Why it matters: The change shifts where new height and mass would be located within the Kendall Square redevelopment block and prompted detailed review of massing, shadow impacts on the central plaza, ground-floor retail/lobby relationships, bike parking, and infrastructure implications. The boards approved the amendment after hearing design refinements and additional shadow and wind analysis from the applicant and staff.

What the boards heard and decided BXP presented a revised design for the alternative that the applicant said reduces the mass near the plaza by shifting and asymmetrically chamfering the building to open views between 105 Broadway and the adjacent 121 Broadway residential building. Tony Marchese, design principal (Picard Chilton Architects), said the asymmetric massing widens the vertical “aperture” between the two buildings and improves views and daylight for units in 121 Broadway.

BXP’s team said the alternative would add bicycle parking compared with the approved baseline and would not change overall parking counts. Jeff Lundberg said planned mitigation items in the IDCP would be completed with the first constructed building whether that building is 250 Binney (baseline) or the smaller 250 and a redeveloped 105 Broadway (alternative).

Board members extensively questioned shadow and pedestrian comfort impacts. The applicant presented a grid of shadow maps (monthly, 30-minute increments between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.) and said the additional shadow on the central plaza averaged roughly 7 percent across the grid and could reach about 30–34 percent in limited, worst-case time slices (e.g., near equinox times). The design team said summer impacts are minimal; winter impacts are larger but occur during months with little plaza use.

Staff and peer analyses: Cambridge staff confirmed the amendment is a major adjustment to the IDCP and reiterated that, if approved, the amendment would be followed by a formal design review process. City staff and project consultants noted the applicant supplied expanded shadow analyses, massing studies and wind/comfort analyses; the wind studies were performed by the project’s consultant and showed overall pedestrian wind conditions improving at some plazas with the new building massing, though board members asked that shoulder-season (spring/fall/equinox) comfort mapping be included in the design-review submittals.

Conditions and next steps The planning board voted 5–0 to grant the special-permit amendment with conditions summarized in staff’s memo and discussed at the hearing. The motion was made by Mary Lidecker and seconded by Ashley Tan. Roll call: Mary Lidecker (yes); Diego Macias (yes); Ashley Tan (yes); Dan Anderson (yes); Ted Cohen (yes). The vote included approval for a reduction in required green-roof area, conditioned on payment to the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust as allowed by the zoning; staff and the applicant will define the amount and formula during subsequent steps.

The board also approved an extension of time for filing the written decision to Jan. 30, 2026 (applicant agreed). The Cambridge Redevelopment Authority held a joint vote and approved the amendment with conditions; CRA members voting yes included Kathleen Bourne, Joe Camillus, Filo Kistore, Conrad Crawford and Aviva Rothman Shore.

Discussion points carried into design review Board members and staff recorded a set of items to be addressed in the forthcoming design-review phase: additional shadow and shoulder-season comfort studies (spring/fall equinox), refined pedestrian wind/comfort mapping, a clearer phasing plan for street and cycle-track improvements linked to Eversource and DPW timelines, refined plaza programming and plant palettes to respond to expected shade, clarification of retail/lobby frontage and loading access, and design details that reduce direct privacy impacts on the adjacent 121 Broadway residential building.

Quotable “We would first go through a design review phase,” Jeff Lundberg said, describing the process and the applicant’s plan to resolve outstanding design detail before the 75-percent design decision point when the team will choose the baseline or alternative path.

What’s next: If the applicant proceeds with the alternative it will return for design review for 105 Broadway; staff and peer reviewers will require additional shadow and pedestrian-comfort analyses and will clarify flood-resilience, loading, and streetscape/phasing details before permits are issued.