Austin Street parcels/Image courtesy of the BPDA
A centerpiece of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s new surplus property program has the potential for development of up to six housing towers in Charlestown, and developers that include a major affordable component would be eligible for enhanced city funding.
The Boston Planning and Development Agency will seek proposals for its Austin Street lots next to the Bunker Hill Community College campus. The two parking lots, located between New Rutherford Avenue and the elevated section of Interstate 93, span nearly 6 acres.
Design scenarios presented by BPDA staff at a recent community meeting envision up to six buildings on the narrow site, and building heights up to 18 stories. The three options would retain 1.9 to 2.3 acres of open space.
Because of the site’s proximity to the MBTA’s Community College station, the BPDA recommends a parking ratio of 0.4 spaces per 1,000 square feet.
A draft request for proposals requires that at least 60 percent of all housing units be income-restricted at a maximum 80 percent of area median income for apartments, and 100 percent of AMI for home ownership condominiums.
Preference will be given to proposals that include a higher percentage of income-restricted units, deeper levels of affordability based upon household income, a higher percentage of family-sized units and higher percentages of condominiums.
The disposition process will favor projects with aggressive affordable housing components, and will be eligible for funding from the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The MOH may waive its $1.5-million cap on individual projects for proposals that exceed the minimum affordability guidelines, according to the draft RFP.
In June, Wu spotlighted the site’s potential for affordable housing in announcing the findings of a citywide surplus property audit designed to turn 1,200 vacant and underutilized municipal parcels from “public land into public good.”
The report identified several other priority sites with substantial development potential, including the Boston Water and Sewer Commission parking lots on Harrison Avenue in South End, the Boston Public Schools’ 5-acre Campbell Resource Center at 1216 Dorchester Ave., and the Boston Public Schools’ nearly 2-acre central kitchen property at 370 Columbia Road in Dorchester.
