Calls for an all-union job with local workers and a community benefits package to mitigate construction and other issues aimed at a major Allston property owner peppered a community meeting Wednesday night for a new apartment project from the Mount Vernon Co.
The Boston-based landlord has proposed a new 108-unit rental project at 75 Brainerd Road, just a block from another 79-unit apartment project the company has under construction at 66 Brainerd Road. Mount Vernon’s first development project in the area, a 100-unit property called the Element at 65 Brainerd, is already complete.
That’s one reason audience members at a public meeting last night were dismayed to hear there is no community benefits package associated with the project. For major projects, developers often provide funds that are distributed by City Hall to community groups to mitigate construction-related issues like traffic increases, impacts on local businesses and rodent problems.
Then there’s the fact the project is not planned as a purely union job, which was pointed out by multiple union reps in the room, including Mark Fortune, president of the Boston Building Trades Council. He called for the developer to commit to making the project a fully union job.
"It’s about giving back to the community," Fortune said. "I would like to see a commitment by the owner … that the project will be 100 percent union."
However, this is not downtown Boston, and the property will not command the $4,500 a month rents that luxury properties in the heart of the city do, said Bruce Percelay, company chairman. "Certain economic realities" prevent him from guaranteeing every trade will be union, Percelay told the audience.
"There are limits to what we can do," he added.
The company is planning to commission about $100,000 of public art to display onsite and on the median that leads cars along Griggs Street from Commonwealth Avenue. The company will also improve the median with new plantings or maintaining the median for a duration of time, Percelay said. Additionally, Redford Street currently has no sidewalk, and Mount Vernon plans to add one to the street, as well as new curbing and trees.
That, along with the taxes it is expected to generate, make the project a good one by Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) standards. The project is replacing an underutilized building with new multifamily housing and will create 260 construction jobs, so it’s "a net benefit for the community," said Melina Schuler, BRA spokesperson.
