Image courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

A redesigned redevelopment of the Whole Foods Market property in Brighton will add home ownership units and a pocket park on Washington Street, while reducing the total housing component and size of the project.

Developer Kimco Realty of Jericho, New York responded to comments from neighborhood residents and Boston Planning & Development Agency staff by reducing the 15 Washington St. project to 253,288 square feet, a nearly 30,000-square-foot decrease. Previously the project proposed a floor area ratio of 2.8, which has been reduced to 2.5.

The proposal, originally submitted in 2018, has been amended to include 18 condominiums while reducing the total housing units from 270 to 229. All of the project’s 35 affordable units – comprising 15 percent of the housing – will be located on-site.

Kimco Realty said the modifications improve and activate the public realm in and around the site, including a public pocket park.

The building height fronting on Washington Street was reduced by eliminating one of the four floors of housing above the Whole Foods Market. Four stories of apartments are planned facing Allston Street.

The property currently houses a 20,350-square-foot Whole Foods Market and former Citizens Bank branch, along with 151 surface parking spaces. The new project would provide 293 structured parking spaces, along with a new supermarket and 2,170-square-foot cafe.

Kimco estimates that 53 percent of the supermarket’s customers and 44 percent of the residents will use public transit, such as the MBTA Green Line and the 65 bus from Kenmore Square to Brighton Center. A dedicated bus lane on Washington Street could improve access to the site, but would require removal of residential parking, according to the submission.

Another option, subject to coordination with the Boston Transportation Department, is a signal priority system enabling transit vehicles to control the traffic signal at Washington Street and Commonwealth Avenue.

A public comment period on the filing runs through Aug. 22.

New Design Submitted for Brighton Whole Foods Redevelopment

by Steve Adams time to read: 1 min
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