South Station Tower continues to take shape; condominium sales to start in the fall

For the past 25 years, Fred Clarke has worked on a project that will result in one of Boston’s tallest buildings, a 51-story, million square-foot tower above South Station.

On Wednesday, the architect from Connecticut-based Pelli Clarke & Partners walked around on what will become an expansive private park, stretching an acre across the building’s eleventh floor. He couldn’t hold back his excitement for what has yet to come.

“This is a way to see Boston,” Clarke told reporters gathered for a walking tour of the massive project. “This is a first time experience, and there will be half a dozen first experiences in the whole project. I kind of want to get it done as fast as possible.”

Ultimately, South Station Tower will feature 685,000 square feet of office space and 166 luxury residential condominiums. The transportation hub also will see major enhancements with a new train concourse area, and the size of its bus center doubled.

The first phase of the decades-long project, which started with developer Hines seeking permits 30 years ago, is expected to wrap up in 2025. Construction started in early 2020, after Hines secured an $870 million loan just before the pandemic.

While the transformative project is still years away from completion, the tower is taking shape. Around 500 construction workers are on site per day, and that number will increase to 1,000 in the near future, officials said.

The project, over the years, had shifted its focus from initially looking to expand South Station’s transportation network to now, placing transportation and residential and office space all in one central spot, Clarke said.

“It’s the model in Tokyo right now. It’s the model in China right now. It’s the model in San Francisco right now,” he said, “so Boston is right where it should be in terms of the way cities regenerate themselves.”

Hines on Wednesday unveiled its first set of renderings portraying the interiors of the condos that will comprise The Ritz-Carlton Residences, located on the upper 16 floors of the mixed-use development.

Those interested in living in one of the units, which range from studios and junior one-bedrooms to duplex penthouses, can start buying in the fall. Officials say prices will be “competitive with the higher end of the market in the city.”

The units, featuring “unobstructed views and floor-to-ceiling glass windows with impeccable finishes,” will transform the historic transportation hub by creating community within a community, Clarke said.

The pandemic shifted the way the architects went about designing the eleventh-floor sky park. That space will now include meeting areas, a dining terrace, water and fire features, gardens, walking paths and activity lawns, said Graham Banks, associate principal for Pelli Clarke & Partners.

“We used to always be looking for places for people to be alone,” he said. “Now, what we’re looking for is how do we get places for people to gather?”