Replacement housing complex on East Boston waterfront approved; proposed buildings will be raised because of this past winter's flooding

The Board of Appeals yesterday approved a developer's plans to replace a 20-unit Section 8 complex on Sumner Street with 52 apartments and condos that will let the current tenants move back in once construction is finished.

Among the approvals Winn Development needed was to exceed the lot's height maximum by a few inches. The original plans, approved by the BPDA last year, showed the two three-story buildings under the maximum allowed height, but Winn revised the plans in recent months to raise the first-floor height by three feet because of the flooding in East Boston during the winter nor'easters, Christopher Fleming, senior project director at Winn, told the board.

Winn submitted the winning bid to the Boston Housing Authority to raze the 20 apartments on the one-acre site - for which the authority has no money for repairs. In their place, Winn will build one building with 22 affordable apartments - into which current tenants can move - and a second building with 30 condos, 14 of which will be sold as affordable. The apartment building will also have ground-floor retail space as well as a 1,000-square foot community room and a patio that will look out at the water.

The two buildings will surround a 9-space shared parking lot and walkways. Fleming said the lot will also create a new view from Havre Street to the waterfront; currently, the existing building blocks any view from the street towards the water.

The mayor's office and City Councilor Lydia Edwards supported the proposal. Nobody spoke against.

125 Sumner St. project-notification form - has more details on the proposal (14.6M PDF).