Owners of West End, North End office buildings seek to convert them into apartments

The owners of four office buildings in the West End and one on North Washington Street in the North End have filed plans to replace their office space with a total of 114 apartments, under a city program that offers tax relief for such conversions.

Equity Residential filed plans to convert 2 and 5 Longfellow Pl., into a total of 36 apartments and 1 and 10 Emerson Pl. into 33 units. Copper Mill filed plans to turn 123 North  Washington St., near Thacher Street, into 45 apartments - with a small retail space on the ground floor.

The two developers are seeking approval for their conversions under a Boston pilot program aimed at bringing people back downtown by giving them a place to live rather than to work. Under the plan, developers get 75% off standard residential tax rates for up to 29 years. One condition is that at least 17% of units be rented as affordable; another is that the city gets a 2% cut of the sales of a building during the abatement period.

Equity Residential says its Longfellow Place and Emerson Place conversions will be in buildings now used as medical offices by Mass. General practices - all of whom will soon be moving out.

The units would be split between studios and one-bedroom apartments, Equity Residential says, adding that five on Longfellow Place and seven on Emerson Place would be rented as affordable.

Tenants would be able to park in an existing 490-space Mass. General garage underneath the buildings, Equity Residential says.

In its filing, Copper Mill describes its plan:

The existing building was built circa 1918 and consists of five stories and a basement level. The office space is currently underutilized, with covid-era impacts resulting in most tenants vacating their space, leaving the building mostly empty. The Project will contain 45 dwelling units on floors one through five, a lobby, approximately 500 square feet of retail space on the first floor, and accessory retail storage space at the basement level. Unit types include both studios and one-bedroom units, which have been designed pursuant to the depth of the existing office floorplates and window locations. No parking will be provided.

Nine of the units will either be rented as affordable or made available to people with Section 8 vouchers.

Filings and meeting/comment schedules:

1 Longfellow Pl.
Emerson  Pl.
North Washington St.