Image courtesy of Peter Quinn Architects

A standalone retail property outside Porter Square in Cambridge would be redeveloped as 71 housing units under plans submitted by a local developer.

A 6-story, 64,349 square-foot development is proposed on the 0.29-acre lot at 1740 Massachusetts Ave.

OND 1740 Investors LLC acquired the property on Oct. 29 for $8.5 million, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The property contains a 12,616 square-foot, single-story retail building occupied by Walgreens.

The new development would include 12 income-restricted units and 9,184 square feet of retail space on the lowest two levels.

The project conforms with the goals of Cambridge’s North Mass Ave. Planning Study, which supports additional density to encourage multifamily housing development, developer Adam Siegel stated in an application to the Cambridge Planning Board. Maximum building heights under the existing Massachusetts Avenue overlay district zoning are 74 feet, or 4 feet taller than the proposed building.

No on-site parking is proposed or required under the existing zoning. The building would include a steel and concrete podium below five levels of wood-framed construction, and be designed to meet Passive House standards for sustainable building envelope.

The Cambridge Planning Board will begin its review of the project at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 10.

In December, Cambridge officials rezoned Massachusetts Avenue from Cambridge Common to the Arlington line for maximum building heights of 12 stories, in the latest in a series of policy changes designed to spur housing production.