Photo courtesy of Google Maps
A vacant office building steps from Boston Common would be converted into 22 apartments under the latest proposal submitted in the city’s new office-to-residential conversion pilot program.
A Woburn-based developer submitted the application for the 47-49 Winter St. building across from the MBTA’s Park Street station.
The 8-story building totals 20,295 square feet. Panther Residential Development LLC estimates rents of $2,525 to $5,250 for the 18 market-rate units.
The city’s pilot program is designed to encourage creation of housing units in the deteriorating office sector, particularly smaller and older class B buildings that are feeling the most severe effects of the office leasing downturn.
The availability rate in Boston’s central business district B and C office market was 25.5 percent at year end, according to CBRE.
The Winter Street developer, Panther Residential Development, was founded in 2009 by Louis Karger and has acquired and developed nearly 12,000 apartments in 43 properties, according to its web site.
The project cost was not divulged in a version of the application provided by the Boston Planning & Development Agency, but developers said the costs will be provided through owner equity. The property’s ground-floor retail space also is vacant and will be offered for lease.
High vacancies and pending mortgages expiring at lower interest rates are putting financial pressure on landlords to consider uses other than offices.
The application period for the pilot program runs through June and requires developers to complete the construction phase by October 2025 to qualify for incentives.
The program provides a 75 percent discount on Boston’s residential tax rate for 29 years. During her State of the City speech earlier this month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said eight buildings had applied for the program with 170 units proposed between them.
In the Financial District, a firm that has agreed to purchase 281-285 Franklin St. plans to begin the conversion as soon as this summer, pending potential approval by the BPDA board in March.
The $1.6 million project by Boston Pinnacle Properties would create 15 apartments in the 6-story Henry Gustavus Dorr building.
Another proposal by KS Partners would generate 98 housing units at 85 Devonshire St. and 258 and 262 Washington St.
Participants in the program are required to include a minimum 17 percent income-restricted units in their projects, plus 3 percent reserved for Section 8 housing vouchers. Properties in the downtown, Chinatown, Leather District and Fort Point are eligible to apply.
BPDA staff intend to bring the Franklin Street proposal to the agency’s board of directors for approval in March, BPDA Senior Policy Advisor Reuben Kantor told a meeting of the Wharf District Council this week.
