The stage has been set for Normandy Real Estate Partners, Harvard University and the Abbey Group to build new mixed-use commercial projects in Boston’s South End, Allston and Fenway neighborhoods.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) gave the green light to several significant projects that include residential, retail and industrial uses and at a BRA board meeting last night.
In the South End, Normandy can now move ahead with its plan for a $145 million redevelopment of what is now a vacant lot at 275 Albany St. One residential tower will stand at 200 feet and the other will be about half the height. The developer has changed its project proposal to one 19- and one 10-story building from the former plan that included one residential tower and a micro-hotel. The project contains 400 residential units.
The BRA board also approved an amendment to Harvard’s master plan to allow the college to redevelop a 43,750-square-foot former Comcast building at 28 Travis St. in Allston. Harvard would also occupy 26,800 square feet of warehouse space at 90 Seattle St. and 38 Travis St., and build a 9,600-square-foot building between them.
That project will allow Harvard to relocate those services from a property near the corner of Allston’s North Harvard Street and Western Avenue. That move, in turn, would make way for Harvard to build a new Barry’s Corner residential and retail development with 325 apartments and 45,000 square feet of retail space. Developer Samuels & Assoc. would operate the property. The team will go before the BRA board for project approval next month.
The Abbey Group also gained approval for its final iteration of a residential project at 1282 Boylston St. in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. The developer got the go-ahead to increase the number of residential to 350 from 322 with 38 onsite affordable units.





