The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) board during its March 17 meeting approved the $12 million mixed-use development project at 35 S. Huntington Ave.
The BRA in the early 2000s approved a different development team’s plan for the site: a five-story, 44,475-square-foot development with 47 residential units and 42 parking spaces. But that plan never materialized.
The developer Dough George, through Walter Huntington LLC, wants to build a five-to-six-story building with 38 units, consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Of the 38 units, 5 would be priced as affordable, which is the minimum required under the City’s affordable-housing policy.
George’s plans also call for about 7,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 26 parking spaces in a partially-submerged garage with room for bicycle parking.
The project needs several variances, including for excessive floor area ratio, excessive building height, insufficient usable open space, and insufficient off-street parking.
The S. Huntington Avenue corridor has been the focus of the real estate and construction industry lately, with a 195-unit development being currently built at 105A S. Huntington Ave and the recently completed Olmsted Place, a 196-unit development at 161 S. Huntington Ave. There is also a proposal to turn the former Goddard House nursing home at 201 S. Huntington Ave. into 167 apartments, which was approved by the BRA board on March 17.
The S. Huntington Avenue corridor has also recently underwent a planning study by the BRA. The resulting guidelines are supposed to address the types of developments preferred by the community for the S. Huntington Ave. corridor. The guidelines will be used by the BRA on pending and future projects, and will eventually be codified into zoning.