Boston – Boston’s Planning Department recently recommended approval of the Boston Design Vision, the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Guidebook, and seven new development projects to the BPDA board. All were approved.
The 2-story building which currently houses the Animal Rescue League of Boston at 10 Chandler Street in the South End will be demolished and replaced with a completely new, 3-story modernized animal shelter and veterinary clinic, and an improved public realm. The all-electric project will include new accessible sidewalks, ground floor bike storage, and open space.
As part of the city’s Office to Residential Conversion Program, the 259-267 Summer Street project will convert what is currently semi-vacant office space into a mixed-use building of commercial space and housing on the South Boston Waterfront. This project will contain 77 new units of housing, including 15 income-restricted units. The sidewalks in the vicinity of the site will be reconstructed to improve the pedestrian experience, and the Boston Wharf Company sign which is currently neon will be preserved and replaced with more efficient LED lights.
259-267 Summer Street
The project at 99-105 Addison Street will create a 4-story, 20-unit residential building in East Boston. There will be four one-bedroom units and 16 two-bedroom units. The building will be compliant with PLAN: East Boston and all residential uses will be elevated two feet to account for sea level rise. Streetscape improvements will be made along Addison Street to enhance the area for bikers and pedestrians.
The project at 1690-1700 Hyde Park Avenue will bring 115 housing units and retail space to Hyde Park. The sidewalk along Hyde Park Avenue will be widened to improve the pedestrian experience, and a bike lane will be put in. This project will also create a new short-term drop-off area for Uber and Amazon type drop-offs. Included in this project will be at least 23 new trees across the site and a pocket park for residents and the public.
Located in Hyde Park, the project at 1305 Hyde Park Avenue will turn two lots with vacant two-family homes and a parking lot into a 4-story, energy-efficient building with 54 housing units. The transit-oriented development will be set back from the street to create a larger sidewalk and make room for street trees.
The project at 2 Financial Center in the Leather District will renovate over 21,000sf of office space and convert it into lab space. No changes will be made to the building’s footprint or ground floor retail. A roof deck will be designed to comply with the Leather District’s guidelines for rooftop structures, ensuring any new mechanical units will not be seen by the public.
Located in South Boston, the 736-742 East Broadway project will build 12 new residential units, two of which will be income-restricted, as well as a ground-floor restaurant. The mitigation and community benefits resulting from this project include improved sidewalks, bus signage, and new street trees.
Additionally, staff of the Planning Department advanced the Boston Design Vision which aims to create a human-scale, inclusive, and heterogenous vision for the design of the built environment across Boston, and shape Boston’s public spaces and built environment through design strategies. This work follows more than a year of public engagement in which staff heard from community members about what kinds of design make their communities feel like home. The report includes the design principles which guide this work, as well as new ideas and a five-year roadmap for moving the Design Vision forward within future design and development.
Staff of the Planning Department also advanced the new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Guidebook which features realistic, buildable designs tailored to Boston’s neighborhoods that offer a clear starting point to help residents more easily move forward with building an ADU. Staff will use the guidebook as a reference in preparing recommendations to the Board of Appeal for zoning relief, since most of the ADUs outside of Mattapan will require zoning relief under current zoning. Based on the ADU Guidebook, and building on zoning adopted last year to enable attached and detached ADUs in Mattapan, the Planning Department is now embarking on a study of small-scale residential zoning and ADUs through the new Neighborhood Housing zoning initiative.
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In addition to these projects, the board approved:
- An update to a previously approved project at 40-50 Warren Street to increase the total number of homeownership units, eliminate office space on site, and increase the size and alteration of the overall development.
- An update to a previously approved project at 246-248 Dorchester Avenue in South Boston to add more hotel rooms.
