Image courtesy of BPDA and Related Beal

The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved a life science project near Charlestown’s Sullivan Square and picked development teams for a lab project in the South Boston marine park and housing on a city-owned parcel in Chinatown.

A development team including Related Beal, Kavanaugh Advisory Group and the Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund was chosen from a group of three contenders for the 20 and 22 Drydock Ave. site in the marine park. The group submitted a high bid of $130.7 million for a 70-year ground lease on the 1.8-acre site, which is owned by the Economic Development and Industrial Corp. of Boston.

The $400 million project includes the construction of a 319,000-square-foot facility including five stories of office-lab space and ground-floor job training center for the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute. The nonprofit plans to establish a Boston location at the property and offer job training programs for entry-level jobs in the life science industry. The institute also plans to expand its education programs at Boston schools, including the Dearborn STEM Academy in Roxbury.

To meet the BPDA’s selection criteria that encourage diverse development teams, the group includes 45-percent of minority- and women-owned business enterprises. 

A life science project led by Related Beal also was approved in Charlestown, where the developer acquired a self-storage facility next to the Hood Business Park in July 2021. The storage facility will be demolished for a 99,500-square-foot office-lab building.

In another South Boston life science project approved this week, developer 202-204 West First LLC will redevelop an industrial property with a 42,000-square-foot office-lab building limited to activities in BioSafety Levels 1 and 2. The project cost is estimated at $25 million.

In Chinatown, the Asian Community Development Corp. won the designation for an income-restricted housing project and a new Boston Public Library branch.

The publicly-owned parcel R-1 at 48-58 Tyler and 49-63 Hudson streets, which contains surface parking, would be redeveloped with a 12-story building including 110 affordable condominiums and apartments along with a ground-floor library branch.

BPDA directors also approved residential projects totaling 208 units, 32 of which are income-restricted, at this week’s board meeting.

At 355 Bennington St. in East Boston, Boston-based Redgate received approval for a 162,296-square-foot apartment building containing 170 units. The $70 million project will set aside 15 percent of its residential square footage for 24 income-restricted units, which will be reserved for households earning a maximum of 70 percent of the area’s median income.

And at 15 Gardner St. in Allston, plans were approved for a 38-unit condominium building including eight income-restricted units. Developer Nora LLC still needs to obtain approval from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal for seven variances including height, setbacks and floor area ratio.