Deck Built, Towers Stalled: $1B Fenway Center Air-Rights Project Hits Turbulence

Boston finds itself with a nearly completed, two-acre deck built over the Massachusetts Turnpike without vertical construction rising from it—an uncommon and consequential stall for one of the city’s most complex air-rights undertakings. 

The platform, engineered to carry twin life-science towers above I-90 and the MBTA-Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Framingham/Worcester Line at Lansdowne Station, nears completion even as developer IQHQ has paused the project’s next phase indefinitely.

The unusual circumstances place new scrutiny on the 99-year air-rights lease governing the site, including public-realm improvements tied to the towers and financial exposures created when a platform is finished long before revenue-producing buildings take shape. 

IQHQ told MassLive on Dec. 4 that the company “remains committed to the project” but is reassessing phasing “given current market conditions,” adding that timing will depend on “when the market improves.”

Fenway Center has undergone multiple iterations since ENR first reported on the project more than a decade ago. The current version—led by IQHQ and original developer Meredith Management—has become one of the largest and most technically complex overbuilds attempted along the Turnpike corridor in recent years.

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Moving Forward

The air-rights platform is the first major phase of Fenway Center, a 960,000-sq-ft development whose deck is supported by drilled micropiles and driven H-piles installed between active highway lanes and commuter-rail operations. 

Crews have worked in narrow overnight windows to install foundations and erect steel assemblies capable of supporting full tower loads while maintaining uninterrupted rail service below. 

The deck closes one of the last major gaps along the urban Turnpike corridor and sets the structural base for two life-science towers, new public streets and improved pedestrian links between Fenway and Kenmore Square.

With the deck advancing toward an early-2026 completion, the extended pause on vertical construction has created an unusual condition for an air-rights megaproject: a fully engineered platform with no active development above it. 

The delay raises questions about maintenance responsibilities, long-term carrying costs and how long the structure can remain idle before review by the Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation or the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Air-rights agreements typically include cure periods or modification provisions before any enforcement action, and neither MassDOT nor the the planning agency has indicated that those mechanisms are in play.

Financial Pressure

The project’s financial strain surfaced publicly when J.F. White Contracting Corp. filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court on Nov. 12, alleging more than $27 million in unpaid balances on the $138-million deck and foundation contract. 

The complaint, which also names MassDOT due to its ownership of the Turnpike corridor, asserts lien rights on the air-rights parcel and seeks to prevent certain lease-related administrative actions.

In its filing, J.F. White wrote that delayed payments and change-order disputes have created “significant financial pressure” as crews worked within tight access windows dictated by highway and commuter-rail schedules. 

IQHQ has not responded publicly to the allegations beyond reiterating to MassLive that the company “is evaluating its development timeline” in response to shifting demand. ENR sought comment from IQHQ, but the San Diego-based developer did not respond.

The developer has also not announced any construction financing for the planned towers, and industry observers note that lenders increasingly require high pre-leasing thresholds for speculative lab projects—especially those with costly early infrastructure phases such as air-rights decks.

Market Downturn Weighs

The pause comes as Boston’s life-science sector experiences one of its sharpest contractions in more than a decade. 

According to Colliers’ 2025 Q2 Greater Boston Life Science report, regional lab vacancy reached 38% in Boston and 22% in Cambridge, also climbing across the Route 128 corridor as millions of square feet of new space were delivered with minimal pre-leasing. 

Market Report

CBRE | Boston Metro Lab Q3 2025

Real estate firm CBRE reported in its 2025 Q3 MarketView that overall Greater Boston lab vacancy rose to nearly 29%, with asking rents softening to the high-$80s per sq ft — down roughly 16% from their 2022 peak.

Workforce indicators have also cooled. MassBio’s 2025 Industry Snapshot found that Massachusetts biopharma companies announced more than 4,900 layoffs in 2024, with additional reductions reported in early 2025. 

Early-stage venture funding dropped 17% year-over-year, according to PitchBook/MassBio data, and MassBioEd has reported a rise in R&D job-seekers amid hiring freezes.

Federal research funding turbulence has added to uncertainty. The National Institutes of Health fiscal 2024 funding report shows that while Massachusetts institutions remained the nation’s top recipients—earning nearly $2.5 billion—the state also saw more than $1.3 billion in terminated or rescinded awards during the fiscal cycle, prompting several hospitals and research centers to slow expansion plans.

Market analysts cited by CBRE and Colliers say sustained absorption may take several quarters. For air-rights projects requiring significant pre-leasing to unlock financing, the path to vertical construction may be longer than at conventional sites.

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Outlook

MassDOT’s air-rights lease for the Fenway Center parcel includes milestones for tower development and delivery of public-realm improvements. The agency has not responded to detailed questions from media outlets, including ENR, but has acknowledged in planning agency filings that coordination with the developer is ongoing. 

Agency officials have stated publicly that Boston’s life-science pipeline is undergoing a “significant recalibration” and that developers are expected to adjust phasing as conditions evolve. The agency has not indicated that Fenway Center’s pause has triggered any formal review actions.

With the deck nearing completion, a contractor lawsuit pending and Boston’s life-science market still absorbing a deep correction, Fenway Center is among the region’s most closely watched air-rights projects. 

Analysts say its next steps will depend on a recovery in tenant demand, improved capital availability and resolution of the structural and contractual questions created when a major platform is built before the towers intended to fund it.