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Developer unwraps plans for 40-story residential and hotel tower near North Station
By adamg on Fri, 09/27/2024 - 12:46pm
In a monochromatic city, the one copper tower stands out, in rendering by Gensler.
A Newton real-estate investment firm today filed plans for a 40-story tower with 400 residential units, 320 hotel rooms and a two-level garage underground garage with 150 parking spaces between Causeway, North Washington and Medford streets - a block that forms the top angle of the Bulfinch Triangle.
To make way for its North Station Gateway project, the RMR Group will raze two smaller office buildings and an apartment building. RMR says it decided to go big after it couldn't find anybody who wanted to rent space in the office buildings.
The proposal also calls for 30,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and "amenity" space on the complex's lower floors, according to the RMR Group's filing today with the Boston Planning Department.
According to the filing, the building will have no affordable units. RMR says instead, it is instead "exploring options to satisfy the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) by creating the required number of affordable units in an off-site location near the Project Site." That would require building or contributing to the construction of a number of units equal to 18% of those in the main building, or 72 units.
Exactly at what levels the affordable units will be priced depends on whether the building's own units will be rented as affordable or sold as condos - the filing does not state. If apartments, the off-site apartments could not be rented to people making more than 70% of the Boston area median income. If sold as condos, half could not be sold to people making more than 80% of that level, the other half to people making no more than 100% of it.
Because the building would sit in a coastal area that could flood in the anticipated more severe storms of the future:
Critical infrastructure is elevated above the future flood levels. The ground floor, including lobby spaces for the hotel and residential programs, is designed to meet requirements for future flood levels.
Also, the building will have no gas main for the residences and hotel rooms:
The proposed mechanical system supports the City of Boston’s electrification goals by eliminating fossil fuels from the building. The Project is proposing an all-electric MEP system pathway. An air source hear pump system will serve as the basis for the design of the buildings mechanical systems. Domestic hot water generation will also use heat pump technology with an electric resistance backup system.
The developer says it would rebuild the sidewalks along Causeway and North Washington streets to make them more pedestrian friendly and to add street trees.
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Comments
No affordable units, no bueno
The city should not let them get out of the inclusion of affordable units.
Building affordable units in a separate location is against the spirit of the requirement.
Negotiation tactic
It may just be a negotiation tactic. The BPDA was just abolished and replaced with a planning dept (and almost entirely new staff), there’s a new director (who interestingly was the No. 2 BRA official under Menino for years) and the new rules for development are about to be rolled out. So any developer filing right now, and any concerned community members, have no clue what to expect.
Just a theory but this developer may be proposing offsite units so they can agree to put them onsite as part of the development review negotiation since they don’t know what the else will be asked of them at this point. It’s an interesting time to submit an application for development in Boston right now so the next few months of filings, and planning dept review should be telling.
The City of Boston has to
The City of Boston has to abide by its own rules, which allow in-lieu payments instead of having to have the Inclusionary/Affordable Homes in the building itself.
I suggest agitating for the Boston City Council to change the IDP rules if that is the outcome you wish to see (they are currently increasing the percentage required, but still allowing in-lieu payments).
As residents have found out
nothing is written in stone. Once upon a time we had requirements for off street parking for all new developments. Then the tree huggers came along and said we don’t need off street parking because everyone tides bikes and takes Uber. Street parking and travel has become horrendous under the current regime.
BTW this development doesn’t have enough parking.
IDP
IDP is a stupid rule. "let's allow big developers to pay their way out of putting in affordable units". Stupid.
Does it matter though?
Although it's relatively uncommon, this isn't the first proposal with something like this - and the net result is more affordable units (18% of the number of market-rate units, rather than 13%). And the apartments or condos have to be in the same general area - no trying to subsidize apartments in, oh, Hyde Park.
I think that's partly how we got the Beverly, an all affordable building right downtown (along with some tax credits and breaks on financing) - but somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
ehh
ehh I still think its silly
don't let perfect be the enemy of good
More units on the market is what we want, simple ECON 101 that more supply is good no matter which end of the market it's targeting.