Mount Auburn St. and Sparks St. will reopen Friday after prolonged closures, the city said Monday, marking the final stage of the Riverview Condominiums demolition project at 221 Mount Auburn St.
Closures on the two streets immediately surrounding the property have been in place since July 19, 2025, due to structural concerns at the Riverview building. The city closed Mount Auburn St. between Lowell and Willard streets and Spark St. between Brattle and Mt. Auburn streets. Those closures have been in place for the duration of the project. Starting Friday, “Normal traffic patterns will be restored,” the city said in a statement.
Major structural issues were uncovered at the nine-story, 66-unit condo building in 2023. Residents vacated the property at the end of 2024, and the condo association turned to the city for help with a full demolition of the building. Asbestos in the building complicated the project, forcing the construction team to demolish the building while containing and disposing of asbestos-contaminated materials. The project team announced the work plan in a public meeting last fall.
Demolition began in December 2025 and was completed at the end of February. Between March and April, the project team loaded contaminated debris into lined and sealed trucks that would carry the material to a landfill in Ohio. All trucking is now complete, the city said in the recent update: “The project has reached a significant milestone.”
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