SOUTHIE PROJECT EYES BIGGER BUILD
Developer seeks more affordable units
The developer of a previously approved South Boston residential project is looking to increase the height of the building and add more apartments, citing upcoming expected zoning changes in line with the city’s planning initiative for Southie’s Dorchester Avenue corridor.
Boston Real Estate Capital is asking the Boston Planning & Development Agency for permission to increase the size of its planned five-story, 32-apartment building at 55 West Fifth St., approved by the BPDA in August 2016, to a six-story building with 50 apartments.
The proposed changes come after the BPDA approved the plan to guide future development along Dorchester Avenue. That plan calls for increased building heights and density to provide “much needed middle-income housing ... and opportunities for an economically sustainable district with a bustling street life” in return for public benefits from developers including increased affordable housing units, open space, affordable retail or innovation space, Marc LaCasse, Boston Real Estate Capital’s attorney, noted in a letter to the BPDA.
The developer’s new plan would increase the project’s number of affordable units from four to seven for households not earning more than 70 percent of the area median income, and it would add two units reserved for middle-income households. Boston Real Estate Capital also said it would designate 18 percent of the 1,485 square feet of street-level commercial spaces as affordable.
The project site is located at the corner of B Street and abuts the South Boston Bypass Road, a density bonus zone with a 70-foot maximum building height under the plan. The building’s proposed height would increase from 50 to 59 1⁄2 feet.
A BPDA spokeswoman yesterday said the agency is drafting zoning language that mirrors the Dorchester Avenue corridor plan, and the next step will be a community process before the BPDA seeks Zoning Commission approval.
Boston Real Estate Capital’s proposed changes include a redesign of the planned project by Quincy architecture firm Choo & Co. Inc. The number of garage parking spaces would increase from 36 to 44.
The developer has also pledged $48,000 toward the city’s inclusionary development policy fund for affordable housing, $10,000 to the Friends of Second Street Park, $2,500 to the Cityside Neighborhood Association and $2,500 to the St. Vincent Lower End Neighborhood Association. It also has an agreement to collaborate with the Boston Centers for Youth & Families on renovations of its Condon Community Center in South Boston.