Image courtesy of Finegold Alexander Architects
An aging office park can be redeveloped as hundreds of apartments, condominiums and a 200-room hotel by City Realty Group after Brookline voters’ approval of a new zoning district on Route 9.
Brookline Town Meeting approved the commercial zoning overlay for the City Realty site, known as Meridian Chestnut Hill, and other parcels totaling nearly 28 acres. The changes apply to a district starting at the Newton town line and ending just east of Hammond Street.
The vote was helped along by a deal between City Realty and some of its abutters, and candidates endorsed by pro-housing group Brookline for Everyone winning majorities on the Brookline Select Board and numerous seats in Brookline’s 263-member Town Meeting, according to Brookline.News.
An advisory committee began reviewing zoning changes for one of the town’s most significant commercial districts in 2023, with an eye toward increasing tax revenues. City Realty Group’s acquisition of the 120,000-square-foot Chestnut Hill office park at 1280-1330 Boylston St. in 2024 added momentum to the process, when the Allston developer proposed a large mixed-used development including buildings up to 20 stories.
Following a series of revisions and redesigns, the final rezoning proposal was presented to Town Meeting this week. It allows a range of uses including hotels, retail, medical office and laboratory space. A 60 percent ground floor commercial space minimum is required along Route 9.
Voters authorized the Select Board to enter an agreement with City Realty Group that would include a $10.9 million payment to the town Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $12 million in transportation and public safety mitigation payments and a retail support fund.
A fiscal analysis by RKG Associates estimated the City Realty Group project would generate up to $8.6 million in annual revenues, and up to $6.3 million in net tax benefits. City Realty projects that construction would start in spring 2028.
“Together we can bring meaningful new commercial growth, new housing and a more vibrant Chestnut Hill within reach,” Select Board member Michael Rubenstein said in a presentation recommending approval.
City Realty Group has submitted preliminary plans for three buildings ranging from seven to 14 stories, including 266 apartments and condominiums, a 200-room hotel, medical offices and ground-floor retail space.
A failed substitute motion by the town’s Advisory Committee would have removed a transit-oriented mixed-use district on the north side of Route 9 next to Hammond Street, with no minimum parking requirement.
Advisory Committee member Janice Kahn said the zoning was “impractical, incomplete” and allows “oversized structures” on individual parcels. The subdistrict includes a gas station, CVS and parking lot used by Star Market.
Opponents also cited Planning Department projections that development in the transit-oriented subdistrict would add more than 500 vehicle trips during weekday morning rush hour and more than 900 afternoon trips, creating a recipe for widespread congestion spilling into residential neighborhoods.
In a dissenting opinion, Advisory Committee member David Pollak said the transit-oriented subdistrict is a 4-minute walk to the MBTA’s Green Line and defended the density of 6- and 7-story building heights as appropriate for the area.
Town Meeting members rejected the removal of the transit-oriented subdistrict 175-63, and subsequently approved the full overlay 217-26, easily surpassing the required two-thirds majority.
Greg Reibman, CEO of the Charles River Regional Chamber, said approval of the entire zoning overlay would allow predictable development and long-term planning on the transportation mitigation.
“This decision impacts not just what happens in Chestnut Hill, but every business you love across town: every restaurant and retail shop,” Reibman said. “It’s been a terrible number of years for small businesses with inflation, high cost of insurance and now a tax increase due to the [Proposition 2 ½] override.”
Image courtesy of town of Brookline
