DEVELOPERS' PLAN BITES DUST
Southie residents win battle to nix luxe condos
The developers behind a controversial plan to replace a singlefamily home with luxury condos in South Boston have changed course, and now say they will leave the building standing as a single-family home and add one other, according to their attorney.
“They found a way to keep the existing building the way it is, because they realize how much it means for the community,” said Patrick Mahoney, the developers’ lawyer. “They realized some of the opposition and, quite simply, outrage.”
The Herald has reported that Southie neighbors have slammed the developers’ original plan — to tear down the house at 202 M St. in South Boston, and replace it with a new, five-unit luxury condo building. The community’s opposition to the project, which has become fiery at times, includes complaints that the luxury design does not fit with the rest of the neighborhood. “The plans presented did not improve the architecture in the community or look anything like the other buildings,” said Joanne McDevitt, president of the City Point Neighborhood Association. “They’re unaffordable, there’s no workforce housing, they’re not being built for families.”
The project was set to be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday, but Mahoney withdrew it at the last minute. On Tuesday, more than 200 abutters and neighbors submitted a petition to the ZBA opposing the project and claiming developers likely would propose different plans than those described to the community.
Mahoney said under the new development plan, a single-family home will be built on the same lot, facing Marine Road. He said both homes will likely be sold at market rate, which currently runs at around $1 million. The sale of the land has not yet been finalized.
“There will never be a situation where everyone’s happy, but it’s a better looking building and the new building will be consistent with the architecture of the neighborhood,” Mahoney said. “Instead of five luxury units, it’s going to be two single-family homes.”
Still, it is unclear how the new plan will be received. Mahoney said there was a positive response from local officials, but said the plans have not yet been shared with the CPNA or neighbors. He said that would happen once designs have been finalized.
McDevitt said the revised plans still did not address abutters’ concerns.
“It still ruins the fabric of the block. We’ve got a lot of history on that block,” she said. “It absolutely will not be accepted by the abutters, absolutely not.”