295 West 1st St. South Boston/Image courtesy of PCA
In Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison’s final meeting, the Boston Planning and Development Agency board approved a $110 million apartment complex in South Boston and office-to-residential conversions in the Bulfinch Triangle and South End.
Boston-based Jones Street Investment Capital hopes to convert the 1.5-acre Shaughnessy crane yard property at 291 and 295 West First St. in South Boston into a 236-unit apartment complex. Designed by architects PCA, the nearly 260,000-square-foot building would include 125 parking spaces and 6,300 square feet of community, cultural and retail space.
The project still requires 11 approvals from the city Zoning Board of Appeal for deviations from the zoning code, according to BPDA documents.
In departing remarks to the BPDA board, Jemison said a “spirited debate” between residents and developers of the South Boston project improved the final result.
After two years overseeing Mayor Michelle Wu’s reform package for the city’s planning and permitting agency, Jemison is leaving to become executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission.
“I’ve always said if Boston wanted to change, I wanted to be a part of it,” Jemison told board members in departing remarks.
The administration pushed through a reorganization that created a separate planning department led by Jemison under city hall control. The BPDA approved an increase in required affordable housing percentages and linkage fees for commercial developments, and a net zero building code designed to reduce buildings’ carbon emissions. Real estate industry groups opposed the changes, arguing they will further depress the pace of development already constrained by interest rates increases and higher project costs.
Projects approved at September’s board meeting totaled 1.5 million square feet, including 378 housing units.
A Charlestown developer received approval for two office-to-residential conversions under the city’s tax incentive program encouraging the repositioning of underutilized commercial space.
Gregory McCarthy plans to create 24 apartments at 615 Albany St. in South End, including an addition to the building formerly occupied by the Naval Blood Research Laboratory. 615 Albany St. LLC paid $3.4 million to acquire the 20,498-square-foot building in July 2023.
In the Bulfinch Triangle, an estimated $5.6 million project by McCarthy’s Anthem Construction will convert a largely vacant office building at 129 Portland St. into 25 apartments, with market-rate units expected to rent for $2,000 to $5,500.
Developers who participate in the conversion program receive a 75 percent reduction in property taxes for 29 years.
Additional development projects approved this month include:
- A 45-unit apartment complex at 1274 Massachusetts Ave. in Dorchester;
- A 40-unit condominium project at 819 Cummins Highway in Mattapan;
- An 8-unit condominium project at 90 Allandale St. in West Roxbury.
Directors also approved a 640,000-square-foot life science project at 500 Huntington Ave. on the Wentworth Institute of Technology campus. The school is partnering with The Fallon Co., Owens Companies and Waldwin Group on the project. Approval was delayed in August after the Museum of Fine Arts requested to meet with developers to discuss potential construction impacts.
