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Boston-based developer Abbey Group wants to reposition the 5.6-acre Boston Flower Exchange parcel as a Kendall Square-like hub of tech employment along with residential units.
Executives gave an outline of their plans for the South End property that they’ve agreed to buy from the wholesaler. The current zoning would allow approximately 1.6 million square feet of development, Abbey Group Managing Partner William Keravuori said.
“The zoning that’s in place offers the opportunity to create a real dynamic commercial campus,” he told members of the city council’s planning and development committee.
The wholesale flower company’s shareholders approved the property’s sale just over a year ago. But there’s a catch: the current urban renewal plan that’s governed the property at 540 Albany St. since 1969 is restricted to light industrial uses. The proposed minor modification, endorsed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), would replace light industrial with commercial and residential and ancillary parking.
The city council intervened under new powers as part of its agreement to a six-year extension of the BRA’s urban renewal powers for 14 neighborhoods. Although the districts have not received final approval from state regulators, BRA officials and Abbey Group executives agreed to appear at Thursday’s hearing to brief councilors.
David Epstein, the Abbey Group’s COO, compared the site’s potential to that of many former light industrial parcels in the Fenway neighborhood that have been redeveloped into luxury housing and class A office space in the past decade. The Abbey Group redeveloped the Landmark Center into a 1.5-million-square-foot mixed-use development.
But Susan Sullivan, executive director of the Newmarket Business Assoc., objected to further loss of industrial businesses in the South End. The BRA enacted a new strategic plan for the Harrison-Albany corridor in 2011 after a two-year community process.
“If you look at the spirit and letter of the zoning, it was to protect the commercial and light industrial (businesses) of that area,” Sullivan said. “To take out light industrial out of that completely is a full departure, so I’m concerned about that.”
Steve Fox, leader of the South End Forum neighborhood group, said the continuing shift from industrial to luxury residential projects is a concern.
“Development in the South End is a little like a freight train. A lot of things are going to be happening, so a precedent is really important to South Enders,” Fox said.
The Abbey Group’s eventual development plans will be subject to an Article 80 large project review by the BRA.
