BIG CHANGE FOR CHINATOWN
Proposed tower to include library, hotel, ‘affordable’ housing units
A group of developers and nonprofits have filed plans with Boston planning officials to build a 30story mixed-use tower in the city’s Chinatown.
Millennium Partners, Corcoran Jennison Companies, Tufts and the Asian Community Development Corp. are proposing to build a 416,500-square-foot tower that will have 171 income-restricted residential units at 290 Tremont St., according to a joint letter of intent filed Tuesday to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
Last year, the agency awarded development rights for the parcel — currently a 29,000-square-foot parking lot next to the Tufts garage — to the consortium after it submitted the sole bid to the agency’s request for proposals.
According to the letter, Corcoran Jennison Companies, which owns the abutting DoubleTree Hotel, will operate hotel rooms on the proposed complex’s lower floors. Tufts will also expand its garage and the ground floor will include a courtyard and a pedestrian plaza, as well as a possible permanent home for the Chinatown branch of the Boston Public Library.
Lydia Lowe, of the nonprofit Chinatown Community Land Trust, told the Herald the community has been waiting for redevelopment of the parcel for decades.
“Residents have been talking about how to best use these few public lands since the 1980s,” said Lowe. “Most of our community are supportive of this project because of where the land is and how valuable it is, and to have a project that is adding affordable units in Chinatown that is not just for the luxury is a breath of fresh air. We’re happy how the 171 units are all affordable, and the biggest need for our community is for restricted units at the lower- and moderate-income levels. We need as much affordability housing as we can get.”
“It’s also been decades since we’ve had a Chinatown library,” Lowe continued. “It was replaced with a bookmobile and with a few pop-up libraries. Finally, Mayor (Martin) Walsh opened a temporary branch at the China Trade Center a year ago and that was a big deal for our residents. … A permanent library next to the courtyard will be great for children, teens and our elderly.”
Karen Chen, of the neighborhood group Chinese Progressive Association, said the income-restricted housing is greatly needed in a neighborhood that has seen rapid displacement and gentrification.
“We need more affordable housing in Chinatown as income is not rising as fast as housing costs,” Chen said. “We’re very happy of the economic development, but one concern we’ve had is that we hope the developers will address the issue of permanent jobs at the DoubleTree Hotel, and that they be at union standards.”