E. Boston shopping district proposed for Maverick Sq.
A funeral home and three adjacent commercial buildings will have a date with the wrecking ball under plans for a new two-story, 25,848-square-foot retail building at the edge of East Boston’s Maverick Square.
Burlington’s Linear Retail Properties plans the project at Chelsea and Maverick streets, diagonally across from the MBTA’s Maverick Station, in a neighborhood shopping district.
The funeral home has been defunct for several years, and the existing buildings remain vacant with no historic significance to the neighborhood, Linear said in a Boston Planning & Development Agency filing.
“Growth and demand for housing in East Boston is at an all-time high, with an estimated 2,000 new units of housing either recently built, under construction or undergoing permitting,” the filing states. “As a result, there is a lack of new retail opportunities needed to serve the growing population in and around Maverick Square and Jeffries Point.”
Project renderings show uses including a cafe, fitness center, retail shop and restaurant, but Linear has no committed tenants as yet, according to CEO William Beckeman.
“The uses listed on the renderings are representative of some of the tenant types we will pursue, but it is too early to tell what the ultimate lineup will be,” he said.
The proposed building has been designed and modified by Newton’s Form + Place with input from neighbors, residents and Maverick Square businesses through community outreach and meetings with East Boston Main Streets, Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association and abutters, according to Linear. The project would have on-site parking for six vehicles and a loading area.