16 April 2021
Dear Fellow Harvard Club of Boston Members:
I am writing to share an update on our work with Trinity Financial, our partner in redeveloping a portion of Harvard Club’s property. Over the past several months, the Facilities Planning Committee and our Executive Committee have continued to work closely with Trinity to assure that their plans continue to meet the Harvard Club’s needs. These requirements include making our Club community more accessible and inclusive to all.
As we noted in the fall, Trinity is proposing two residential buildings (11 and 3 stories) with approximately 133 apartment homes; this project would be developed on the current parking lot footprint and in place of the current athletic building. At this time, Trinity has concluded their planning and feasibility assessments. The Harvard Club of Boston has entered into an agreement in principle that will allow Trinity to move forward with the city’s permitting process for the site. This project will be known as “415 Newbury Street,” our present Newbury Street address.
We have been working to maximize the benefits of the proposed project to our Harvard Club. The partnership with Trinity allows us to address our need to conduct costly accessibility upgrades to both the main Clubhouse and the Newbury Street-facing athletic building. While the Harvard Club remains on sound financial footing, the project’s scale and the pandemic’s impact mean it would be challenging to make these important updates now or in the foreseeable future without this partnership.
At the same time, we are responding to member feedback indicating that the Harvard Club must continue to modernize its facilities. The athletic building will be replaced with a new 11-story building that will include four floors of member and multi-use space, updated squash and fitness facilities, more modern, accessible, and equitable locker rooms and childcare, and storage resources. In addition, an updated and covered parking facility will be built on and under the parking lot as part of the 3-story residential building. We observed throughout the fall that members were using the Harvard Club space in a variety of unanticipated ways and this model creates more flexibility to meet future needs, such as co-working space, informal meeting space, etc., as it will repurpose much of the existing lower floor in our main Clubhouse building for additional member uses.
The next step for Trinity is to file formal notice of its intent (i.e. a Letter of Intent or LOI) to develop this project with the city. After doing so, the permitting and public review process will begin in earnest. As is often the case with Boston development projects, the permitting process could take quite some time. Once permitting is complete and the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) approves the project, the Club and Trinity will develop final interior plans and a more detailed construction timeline. Our goal in that phase will be to limit disruptions to the member experience, and we will provide Club members with notice well in advance of the start of any construction activity associated with this project.
In closing, I ask that each of you review our Covenant Documents. The first affirmation states, “The Harvard Club of Boston welcomes and honors all members, staff and guests.” In addition, our values in part state that we are “Inclusive; We are a community where everyone belongs.” At present, portions of our Clubhouse are not accessible to many in our community because of building and structural limitations. We cannot claim to be all welcoming, entirely inclusive, and nurture a complete sense of belonging under these existing conditions. After 108 years, it’s time we change all of that. We will not rest until that is the case, and the Trinity partnership will finally allow us to do so.
Thank you for your continued support of our Club and our efforts to strengthen and prepare the Club for a promising future. We will continue to provide updates as this process continues.
Donec iterum, Veritas.
Matt Hegarty '82
President, Harvard Club of Boston
president@harvardclub.com