Boston – The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) board of directors recently approved new development projects representing 893,407sf. The projects will create 485 residential units, nearly half (46%) of which will be designated income-restricted, and will support approximately 906 construction jobs and 770 permanent jobs.
A BPDA-owned parking lot at 49-63 Hudson Street (Parcel R-1) is set to be transformed into a 12-story affordable housing development with the new Chinatown branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL) on the ground floor. The housing will be a mix of rental and home-ownership units. This project is subject to the Coastal Flood Resiliency Overlay District and will meet those guidelines, as all residential uses are above the 21 foot elevation requirement.
A project in Jamaica Plain will adaptively reuse the landmarked Blessed Sacrament Church building, converting it into a mixed-use development while preserving the historic building. The project will include 55 income-restricted housing units and a community room operated by the Hyde Square Task Force. As part of the project, there will be a new accessible plaza space along the front of the building.
Located on what is now the campus of the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT), the project at 41 Berkeley Street is made up of three different buildings, including a senior care facility, residential homeownership housing with ground floor retail, and an age and income-restricted residential housing building. This project will secure the financial future of BFIT by enabling it to relocate to Nubian Square.
What is now a parking garage will be demolished to build a new office and lab space at 17 Farnsworth Street in Fort Point. The new building will have a height of approximately 67 feet to account for sea-level-rise-design flood elevation, which was set for the site by Boston Zoning Code Article 25A. This project will make substantial public realm improvements to the surrounding streetscape on Farnsworth Street to improve accessibility.
The project at 800 Morrissey Boulevard will build a new 6-story residential building in Dorchester. Of the 229 units, 34 will be income-restricted. This project will include an urban plaza with outdoor seating, bike storage, and pedestrian and bicycle-friendly landscaping along Freeport Street and Morrissey Boulevard. It will promote multimodal transportation and increase access to the future DCR/MassDOT multi-use paths directly adjacent to the site.
The project at 1 Taber Street in Roxbury will build a new 6-story building consisting of housing and commercial space. Of the 40 total units, seven will be income-restricted. The project will help deliver on many of PLAN: Nubian Square’s goals of job creation, development of income-restricted housing, resilient and sustainable construction, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the community.
