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Attempts to deliver more affordable housing and a Boston Public Library branch to Chinatown are back in play as the city offers up a parking lot site for development.

The Boston Planning & Development Agency is seeking proposals to develop the 0.4-acre site between Tyler and Hudson streets, with preference given to plans that include a large percentage of affordable units.

The current zoning allows buildings up to 125 feet by right with a floor area ratio of 8. Proposals could incorporate an adjacent vacant lot that spans 7,846 square feet and is owned by the Chinese Christian Church, according to the BPDA.

Proposals should include at least 50 percent income-restricted units, according to the development objectives listed in the RFP. Developers should maximize the number of apartments reserved for households earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income, and condos for households with a maximum average 80 percent of AMI.

Developers are requested to reserve 17,000 to 20,000 square feet on the ground floor for a core-and-shell to be built out by the city for the new library branch.

Tufts Shared Services currently leases the property for surface parking through 2022.

Recent plans for a large mixed-use project including affordable housing and a new library branch in Chinatown were delayed by financing issues tied to the pandemic’s disruption of capital markets.

Just prior to the onset of COVID-19, the BPDA approved plans for an 8,000-square-foot library branch along with a 168-unit affordable housing tower and 200-room hotel on its parcel P-12C at 290 Tremont St.

Millennium Partners had designated a $15 million affordable housing contribution from sales of its Winthrop Center condos to Asian Community Development Corp. for its parcel P-12C housing. But after the pandemic disrupted capital markets, Millennium received permission to build apartments instead and spread its payments over seven years.

Chinatown Parking Lot Offered as Development Site

by Steve Adams time to read: 1 min
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