Image courtesy of CBT Architects
Underutilized commercial space near Watertown Square would be replaced with 285 housing units under a Newton developer’s proposal.
The RMR Group proposes the project at 7-9 Galen St., a 2.8-acre site that contains a 97,268-square-foot brick complex constructed in phases between 1900 and 1987, and a parking garage.
Totaling 247,900 square feet, the project would include 285 housing units and 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, while retaining the garage for residents’ use.
“In addition to delivering the critically needed residential and retail improvements, the Project has also been designed to not only retain key architectural elements of the existing structures, by retaining a significant majority of the existing facades,” developers wrote in an application to the Planning Board.
The buildings include the former Lewando’s French Dyeing and Cleansing Works, which closed in 1967, and was converted into other commercial uses. Designs incorporate the street-facing facades and columns while accommodating the residential additions.
The project requires special permit and site plan review by the Watertown Planning Board, and demolition review by the Historical Commission.
The project team includes CBT Architects, Copley Wolff Design Group, Vanasse & Associates, Epsilon Associates, McNamara Salvia and Goulston & Storrs PC.
RMR Group’s largest local development project, the 40-story North Station Gateway project in Boston, was proposed in 2024 but has not submitted any updated plans to the Boston Planning Department since February 2025.
Image courtesy of CBT Architects
