BRA Approves $259M in New Projects

A $62-million plan to renovate and expand the Goddard House was approved by the BRA.

BOSTON—The Boston Redevelopment Authority last week approved seven new development projects, which will add 586 new units to the city’s housing stock, including a $135-million mixed-use project on Guest Street in Boston Landing. Other notable projects that got the green light from the BRA at its session on Thursday evening were the renovation and redevelopment of the Goddard House in Jamaica Plain and the approval of the Second Amendment to the Institutional Master Plan for Harvard University ‘s Allston campus that includes the $17-million development of a 14,750-square-foot Harvard Life Lab on its Allston campus. The lab is designed to provide wet lab co-working spaces for small Harvard University-related scientific startups, according to documents filed with the BRA. The mixed-use project at 125 Guest St. proposed by NB Development Group and the HYM Investment Group calls for the construction of a 295-unit, 311,000-square-foot residential building at the former site of the B.L. Makepeace headquarters, which was demolished and the site cleared at the end of 2014. The project also calls for approximately 16,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and two levels of parking totaling 155 spaces. The project is expected to create approximately 291 construction jobs. The BRA approved the project after a public hearing on the proposal. Architect Epsilon Associates wrote in the project’s Expanded Project Notification Form submitted to the BRA in December 2015, “The addition of residential units to the Boston Landing development will help create and support a vibrant 24/7 neighborhood where people can now live where they work and play. By providing a continuous active street wall along Guest Street mirroring the north side of Guest Street with retail uses, streetscape improvements and landscaping, the project will reinforce the developing Guest Street corridor and the vibrant pedestrian-oriented character of the district.” The $62-million renovation and expansion of the Goddard House at 201 South Huntington Ave. in Jamaica Plain was also approved by the BRA. The project being developed by Eden Properties, LLC and Samuels & Associates, Inc . calls for the renovation and expansion of the Godard House, which will feature 110 residential units and the construction of an adjacent 57-apartment unit building. Twenty-two of the total 167 units on the property will be designated as affordable, according to the BRA. The project, which will also feature 83 parking spaces and180 indoor and outdoor bicycle parking spaces, is expected to create 123 construction jobs. At its session last week, the BRA also approved a $10-million housing development at 232 Old Colony Ave. in South Boston to be developed by 232 Old Colony Avenue, LP , that will involve the construction of 24 condominium units, three on-site affordable units, as well as 2,881 square feet commercial/retail and restaurant space and parking for 29 vehicles. The project site is the former Stadium Sports Bar & Grill. The board also green-lighted a $12-million mixed-use project in Mission Hill at 35 South Huntington Ave. to be developed by Walter Huntington, LLC .  The new mid-rise building will include 38 residential units, including five affordable units. The project will also have 7,080 square feet of ground-floor commercial/retail and restaurant space and underground parking for 26 vehicles. Hamilton Northeast Development LLC ‘s plan for a 44-unit expansion of the Douglas Park development in Roxbury was also approved by the BRA. The $16.5-million project at 150 Camden St. in the South End will also include eight affordable units. The BRA Board also approved the tentative designation of Windale Developers for the Garrison Trotter Phase II project to develop 18 residential units, 12 of which will be designated as affordable, on city-owned land in Roxbury at 89 Waumbeck St. Upon completion, the new homes will be priced to attract a mix of moderate, middle and market rate buyers. Prices for the new affordable homes will range from $250,000 to $400,000 and will be affordable to households with a combined income of $60,000 to $100,000. The affordable moderate and middle-income homes will have a 50-year resale restriction, according to the BRA. The more than $6-million project is the result of nearly one year of neighborhood planning with the Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association and the city to leverage city-owned property to create mixed-income homeownership housing.