Re-Imagined Home For Huntington Theatre Company Gets Green Light

The Boston Planning and Development Agency voted Thursday night to approve construction for a residential building complex on Huntington Avenue that includes a major renovation for the Huntington Theatre Company.

The theater's future was uncertain after Boston University put its building up for sale about two years ago. In 2016, the city facilitated a plan between the theater and a private development company to keep performances in the building.

In the plan approved Thursday, QMG Huntington LLC will provide 14,000 square feet of "cultural space" for performance and public events in the new high-rise residential building in a 100-year lease at the price of $1.

"They and we and the city have been very creative about it," says the theater company's managing director Michael Maso.

He says other performance groups will also have access to the space.

"This is an enormous, additional cultural asset for the city of Boston," he says.

There's a lot of design work ahead — and the Huntington Theatre Company has about $70 million to raise to renovate the performance space.