Image courtesy of Stantec
Allston’s latest large-scale housing proposal would create 322 apartments in a 311,000-square-foot complex rising up to 16 stories near the future MBTA West Station transit hub.
Houston-based developer Hines and Calare Properties of Framingham submitted plans this week for the 22-24 Pratt St. site, a 2.2-acre parcel bordering the Massachusetts Turnpike currently occupied by a warehouse and small residential building.
The complex would include three building elements ranging from 7 to 16 stories, and a 92-space underground garage. The project is designed to minimize effects on the lower-density residential neighborhood, with tallest building heights bordering the turnpike, developers said in a project notification form to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
The building heights would require approval of a variance, exceeding the 35-foot zoning limit, but are similar to those at nearby approved projects such as the Allston Yards development on Everett Street. Approximately 29,000 square feet of the site would remain open space, including an outdoor fitness area.
Developers propose 48 affordable units at 70 percent of area median income. The building would include all-electric heating and cooling systems and a Passive House design.
Industrial remnants suitable for multifamily redevelopment have attracted an ongoing building boom in Allston, with more than 1,200 housing units under construction including Boylston Properties’ and ARX Urban’s 525 Linc co-living complex and Jones Street Investment Partners’ Indie compact living project.
Many of the projects are located near the MBTA’s six-year-old Boston Landing commuter rail station, but other developers already have begun targeting new opportunities near the planned West Station multimodal transit hub at the former Beacon Yards rail yard. City Realty is seeking approval for a 17-story, 254-unit apartment tower at 76 Ashford St. including an access road to the future commuter rail station. Harvard University has sought to obtain air rights for development on a deck above the Turnpike and former CSX rail yard on land it acquired in recent decades in anticipation of the Massachusetts Turnpike realignment opening up 85 acres of new land primed for development.
