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A rendering shows the planned new home of the American Repertory Theatre in Allston. Image courtesy of Haworth Tompkins Architects
Developers received approval for 656 housing units at a series of multifamily projects planned across Boston, including a new American Repertory Theater that will provide 275 housing units for Harvard students and staff.
The two-building ART complex at 175 North Harvard St. in Allston will include housing for Harvard graduate students and faculty and a new 68,000-square-foot theater and rehearsal space.
“This new building will become a fixture among the city’s cultural offerings, an international destination and a local hangout,” Executive Director Kelvin Dinkins Jr. said in a presentation to the Boston Planning & Development Agency board of directors Thursday evening.
The project was designed with “incredibly ambitious” sustainability standards, said Tom Gibson, an associate at Haworth Tompkins Architects. The designs reflect the International Living Future Institute’s goals for buildings that include non-toxic materials, and include a high-performance building envelope that minimizes energy consumption.
Harvard will donate $1.3 million to local nonprofits in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood as a community benefit negotiated by the Harvard Allston Task Force, which advises Boston officials on the university’s ongoing development in the neighborhood.
Seven other development projects were approved at the BPDA board’s monthly meeting Thursday. The largest, located at 100 Charles Park Road in West Roxbury, will replace a parking lot and the former Uno Restaurants offices with 121 residential units in two buildings, including a 20 percent income-restricted component.
Other multifamily projects approved at Thursday’s meeting included:
- 72 income-restricted housing units at 150 Centre St. in Dorchester;
- 55 housing units at 1208C VFW Parkway in West Roxbury;
- 40 housing units at 1188 Bennington St. in East Boston;
- 36 condominiums at 88 Geneva Ave. in Dorchester;
- 31 condominiums at 29 High St. in Dorchester;
- 26 condominiums at 24-34 Notre Dame St. in Roxbury;
The BPDA board also approved the tentative designation of Boston-based Trinity Financial as developer of the city-owned Austin Street parking lots at Bunker Hill Community College. Trinity Financial proposes 686 apartments and condominiums, 60 percent of which would be income-restricted.
And Windale Developers received a final designation to develop 23 single-family homes, duplexes and condominiums at Roxbury’s Garrison-Trotter neighborhood, including a 70 percent affordable component.
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to reflect that the housing at 175 North Harvard St. is not classified as affordable under Boston’s inclusionary development policy.
