No kidding, developer swears: This time they're really going to start work on new Boylston Street building where Shreve Crump and Low used to be

The Zoning Board of Appeal today gave the Druker Co. until December of 2023 to begin actual construction of a nine-story building at the corner of Boylston and Arlington streets, more than 12 years after it first filed for permission.

The board said this is the last extension it will grant for the project, which the company says has been delayed by the Great Recession and then the pandemic, in a way that other large projects in Boston have not been.

"We're very close, we're very excited to start," Druker attorney Adam Hundley of Goulston & Storrs told the board.

He said the company is now in the process of applying for the last ISD permits it needs to begin tearing down the current buildings and putting up the new glass-facade building that would have ground-floor retail space topped by eight floors of traditional office space. "We are moving quickly and hoping to start soon."

The board originally proposed extending the project's zoning permissions until just March, but Hundley asked for a few more months, just in case. "As a lawyer I'm worried about the what-ifs," Hundley said. "Having just four or five months would concern me."

Board Chairwoman Christine Araujo told Hundley she knows Goulston & Storrs is "pretty expert in the permitting processes," so she said she hoped Hundley would put a note in the firm's file on the project that it won't be getting any more extensions.

350 Boylston St. filings.