First Phase of Assembly Row Hits Home Stretch

With a groundbreaking ceremony held Thursday morning, the first phase of Assembly Row—one of the largest real estate developments on the Eastern Seaboard, according to developers—moved one step closer to completion.

When it opens in spring of 2014, phase I of Assembly Row will include 450 residential units, more than 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, an AMC movie theater, 100,000 square feet of office space and a redesigned waterfront park along the Mystic River.

According to Don Briggs, president of Federal Realty Investment Trust Boston, the developers of the site, it will represent about $330 million to $340 million in private investment: $200 from Federal Realty and another $130 million to $140 million from Avalon Bay Communities, Inc., which is partnering with Federal Realty to built the residential units.

Most of he retail space will be filled with high-end outlets. Brooks Brothers and Chico's have already signed on, and Saks off Fifth, American Eagle and Puma have signed letters of intent, Briggs confirmed.

In all, there will be about 40 outlets in phase I of the project he said.

A new Orange Line station will also open adjacent to the development in the summer of 2014.

Speaking Thursday, Briggs said Assembly Row is positioning itself to attract the "young knowledge workers that are choosing to live in the city and be part of an urban lifestyle."

Briggs had few details about the timeline for the next stages in the project. The next phase will be to build another four buildings to the south of the phase I block.

When the entire Assembly Row project is complete, it will contain 2 million square feet of office space, about 2,100 residential units, about 500,000 square feet of retail space and a hotel with about 200 rooms, Briggs said, adding it will represent about $1.5 billion in private investment.

He said 15 years is probably "as good a guess" as anyone might have in regard to when the entire build-out will be complete.

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