Image courtesy of KFP and Field Operations

The Flatley Co. appealed for neighborhood support of its updated redevelopment plans for the former Domino Sugar refinery in Charlestown.

The Milton-based developer has been seeking approval since late 2021 for eight buildings totaling 1.8 million square feet including a hotel, office-lab space and housing at the 20-acre site on the Mystic River.

Flatley Co.’s 425 Medford St. project has been updated to include shorter and narrower buildings, a 100-foot-wide pedestrian path from Medford Street to the waterfront, and replacement of surface parking with underground spaces.

“Parking has been reduced. The ramps take you down as you enter the site and before you leave the site, to take [parking] off-grade at great expense to the development, but improvement of the public realm,” said Jamie von Klemperer, president of architects KPF, during the latest meeting of the BPDA’s impact advisory group last week.

An entrance to the underground parking would be built on Flatley Co.’s 465 Medford St. property which borders the site to the north.

The hotel building height has been reduced from 198 to 160 feet, or approximately 16 stories. The residential building facing Medford Street was reduced from 228 to 140 feet tall.

Flatley executives and their design team emphasized the project’s benefits to the neighborhood, including increased access to the waterfront and a new Mystic River flood barrier.

The designs include a 22-foot-tall tiered barrier and a 5-acre public waterfront park on the Mystic River, which would be built in the first phase of the project along with the first five buildings.

The project also includes an extended harborwalk connecting to Flatley Co.’s Schrafft City Center property located north of the site.

A BPDA board vote on the project could take place in March, subject to scheduling of a public hearing at the board’s February meeting, BPDA senior project manager Sarah Peck said.

Two other major Charlestown developments were approved by the BPDA in late 2023 at 60 Roland St. and 1 Mystic Ave., totaling 630 housing units and 9-story office-lab building.

More higher-density projects will be allowed under the PLAN: Charlestown rezoning approved last September, which encourages multifamily housing and commercial development in the industrial areas lining Rutherford Avenue.

Opponents of the PLAN: Charlestown including District 1 City Councilor Gabriela Coletta had argued that the neighborhood’s road and transit networks already are above capacity.

Sean Manning, director of transportation engineering and operations for engineering firm VHB, said the 425 Medford St. project will include “very significant” transportation mitigation.

The city of Boston is studying designs for reconstruction of Rutherford Avenue, including potential creation of a dedicated bus lane leading to and from downtown Boston.

“What happens with Rutherford is kind of a question mark for us right now and we need the city to advance those plans,” Manning said at the IAG meeting.