Image courtesy of RODE Architects
Boston officials approved a pair of Mission Hill apartment towers after the developer agreed to donate $200,000 to a neighborhood nonprofit housing group.
A Boston Planning & Development Agency board vote on the 218-unit development at 80-100 Smith St. was delayed in December after the Boston Housing Authority and neighborhood activists objected to the building’s height and potential additional gentrification in the area.
The developer, Boston-based Weston Associates, subsequently agreed to a $200,000 payment to the nonprofit Mission Main Task Force for rental relief programs. The Boston Planning & Development Agency board approved the project Thursday.
“The actions taken are meaningful and important,” BPDA Board Chair Priscilla Rojas said.
The community benefits package also includes a $75,000 donation to a city park fund and $75,000 for financial assistance to first-time homebuyers in Mission Hill, to be administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing.
The project includes 8- and 13-story apartment buildings at 80 and 100 Smith St., respectively.
The Boston Planning Department is seeking to standardize how community benefits packages tied to developments are determined.
The current method of negotiating benefits on a project-by-project basis is inconsistent and unpredictable, according to surveys and members of a steering committee that is recommending the biggest changes to development reviews in nearly three decades.
New Projects Include 577 Housing Units
During Thursday’s monthly meeting, the BPDA board approved six new developments totaling 577 housing units, while agreeing to reduce the size of an affordable housing project in South End by 196 units.
The latter project at 50 Herald St. is a partnership between Boston-based Beacon Communities and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. In 2018, the board approved a 313-unit building for the property, which currently is occupied by the C-Mart Supermarket.
The updated plans call for 117 income-restricted units reserved for households earning from 30 to 80 percent of area median income. The development team has issued a request for proposals for a grocery store to occupy 22,000 square feet of basement commercial space.
The Davis Companies of Boston developed the 100 Shawmut condominium tower in an earlier phase of the project.
In Roxbury, the Archdiocese of Boston’s Planning Office for Urban Affairs and J. Garland Enterprises of Boston were approved for their joint-venture Drexel Village project.
After the state and city offered vacant parcels at the corner of Tremont Street and Melnea Cass Boulevard for development, the project team struck an agreement to ground-lease the neighboring St. Catherine Drexel Parish property and create a larger 2.5-acre site.
The three-building project includes 217 housing units, 190 of which will be income-restricted, along with ground-floor retail and community space and an affordable day care center, POUA President John Grogan said.
Mill Creek’s Brighton Project Approved
In Brighton, multifamily Mill Creek Residential received approval to replace a small office building and parking lot with a 240-unit apartment building at 250 Everett St.
Designed by Boston-based architects CUBE3, the 6-story, 310,500-square-foot building will include a 17 percent income-restricted component at 60 percent of area median income. The project cost is estimated at $145 million.
In Dorchester, Boston-based developer Cobalt Development Partners received approval to build a 6-story, 59-unit residential building at 101-109 Boston St. The project also will require seven approvals of zoning relief from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal.
In Jamaica Plain, a 5-story, 34-unit apartment building will replace an auto body shop at 3458 Washington St. Developer Boston Pinnacle Properties estimated the project cost at $12.5 million.
And in Allston, a small residential building and parking lot at 23-25 North Beacon St. will be redeveloped as a 25-unit apartment building by Allston-based Alpha Management Corp.
Directors also approved Suffolk University’s plans to convert an office building at 101 Tremont St. into residential housing for up to 280 undergraduates.
John Nucci, Suffolk University’s senior director of external affairs, said the project demonstrates the school’s commitment to downtown Boston and will lessen the off-campus student population in apartments. The university bought the property in June for $30 million.
