Bpda Board of Directors - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. My name is Priscilla Rojas, and I am the chair of the BPDA board. Thank you for joining the 02/12/2026 Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Boston Annual Board Meeting. At this time, the Boston Planning and Development Agency is hosting public meetings in a hybrid setting for the health, safety, and accessibility of Boston residents. Hybrid means that our board meetings are conducted in person at City Hall, in our boardroom on the 9th Floor, and virtually via Zoom and on Boston City TV.

For more information and updates, please visit bostonplans.org. The open public meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded. Please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made and broadcast by the Boston by Boston City TV, which is a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communication at Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and Verizon Files channel nine sixty two. It's also being livestreamed at boston.gov/cable. If there is anyone in the audience who's recording this meeting, I ask that you please identify yourself now. Okay. Seeing none, we are going to start the meeting with a roll call. Ms. Bennett. Here. Mr. Shepherd. Present. Mr. O'Malley.

Here.

Doctor. Landsmark.

Present.

And the chair is present. So the BPA board, as it's our annual meeting, will now hold the election of officers. May I have a nomination for the chair of the board?

I nominate my esteemed colleague, Priscilla Rojas, to be chair of the board.

And I gladly second.

Okay. Thank you. Do I have to do the, individual roll call or just say all?

Bennett, she just second. I guess we need a roll

call. A roll call for

a vote.

Okay. Roll call for a vote. Ms. Bennett? Aye. Doctor Landsmark? Aye. Mister O'Malley? Aye. Mister Shepherd?

Aye.

And the motion passes. Thank you. May I ask for a nomination for the vice chair of the board? Actually, I'm just gonna take that. I I, Priscilla Rojas, nominate Raheem Shepherd as vice chair.

And I second that nomination.

Okay. Roll call for a vote. Miss Bennett?

Aye. Doctor Landsmark?

Aye.

Mister O'Malley? Aye. And the chair votes aye. Motion passes. Congratulations, mister vice chair. Okay. I, now may I have a nomination for the treasurer of the board?

Madam chair, I nominate the incomparable and financially responsible Kate Bennett, to remain treasurer of the VPDA board.

You know, I second that nomination. Let's take a roll call. Doctor Landsmark. Aye. Mr. O'Malley. Aye. Mr. Shepherd.

Aye.

And the chair votes aye. Motion passes. Congratulations, Kate, for remaining our treasurer. We thank you. Okay.

Thank you.

It's always a fun one. Item number two, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of the 01/15/2026 board meeting. A motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Aye. The ayes have it. Motion passes. Item number three, request authorization to issue an invitation for bids for the construction of the mail and bike room improvements project at 12 Channel Street within the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Sandra.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the Board, Director Shen, Secretary Poyas. My name is Sandra Correa. I'm a program manager with the capital construction team. And I am excited to make my first appearance before you here today. We are requesting authorization to advertise and issue an invitation for bids pursuant to Mass General Laws Chapter 149 to procure a general contractor for the 12 mail and bike room project in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. This is the first time that this matter has been brought before you. Twelve channel is a nine story, mostly tenant occupied building. This project seeks to fit out a much needed proper mail room with parcel lockers for small deliveries.

It also seeks to create a dedicated code compliant bike storage room with adjacent lockers and showers to accommodate a growing number of very courageous group of workers that bike to the building on a yearly basis. The bid package has been prepared by architectural firm Studio NA and will be advertised following the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requirement under Mass General Law Chapter 149. After being brought before the board for approval, the construction contract will be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The work is estimated to cost between 500 and $700,000 and it is included in fiscal year 'twenty six capital budget. We anticipate returning to the board with a award recommendation in April.

Therefore, we are requesting that the clerk be authorized to advertise and issue an invitation forbid on this project. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Aye.

The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you. Great first presentation. Item number four, request authorization to issue a request for proposals for a licensed design consultant to provide assessment and design services for the 72 inches drain line on Fid Kennedy Avenue and the inflow and infiltration issues for the line servicing parcel W located at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Tyler.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen, Secretary Vilimas. For those of you who have not had the chance to formally introduce myself, my name is Tyler Marshall. I'm a project coordinator with the capital construction team. I'm excited to make my first appearance here today. We are requesting authorization to advertise and issue a request for proposal pursuant to Mass General Law chapters 30 to 39 m.

We're looking to procure a qualified civil engineer for our storm drain improvement project located in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. This is the first time this matter has been brought before you. After the recent storm drain improvements inspection and assessment in the Marine Park, we're looking to have repairs in two specific locations. The first being the 72 inch storm drain pipe located at the West End of Fid Kennedy, and second, to address the inflow and infiltration near Parcel M at the Leader Bank Pavilion.

We're moving forward the first phase of this storm drain improvements while also working with the city of Boston to identify other issues system at sorry. To identify other improvements need following the review of the assessment. The FY twenty six capital budget has a includes a sufficient allocation for this work. We anticipate returning to the board with an award recommendation in April. Therefore, are requesting that the clerk be authorized to advertise an issue or request proposals for this project. Thank you. If there are any questions, I'd happy to answer

them at

this time.

Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? All right. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Tyler, and great presentation. Welcome. Item number five, personnel. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Madam Secretary, and Director Shen. We have three items for your consideration on the EDIC agenda with the exact details included in the board memos. We have three contracts in the administration division, Samantha Vidal, in the director's office Jacqueline Martinez and Natalie Wood. And that's it. And I'll answer any questions you have.

Okay, Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thanks, Mike. Okay. And now I need a motion to adjourn the EDIC meeting.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. EDIC meeting is adjourned. Okay. Let's move on to the next part. Thank you for joining the 02/12/2026 Boston Redevelopment Authority Annual Board Meeting. At this time, the Boston Planning and Development Agency is hosting public meetings in hybrid setting for the health, safety, and accessibility of Boston residents. Hybrid means that our board meetings are conducted in person at City Hall, in our boardroom on the 9th Floor, and virtually via Zoom and Boston City TV at the same time.

For more information and updates, visit bostonplans.org. The open public meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded. Please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made and broadcast by Boston City TV, which is a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communications at Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and Verizon Files channel 962. It is also being livestreamed at boston.gov/cable. Now if there's anyone in the audience who's recording the meeting, I ask that you please kindly identify yourself now. Seeing none. And also please note that demonstrations of approval or disapproval from members of the public are not permitted during the meeting. Okay. Let's start with the roll call. Ms. Bennett.

Present.

Mr. Shepherd.

Present.

Mr. O'Malley.

Here.

Doctor. Landsmark.

Present.

And the chair is present. Okay. So, we will now hold the election for officers for the BPA board. May I have a nomination for the chair of the board?

I would nominate my esteemed colleague, Priscilla Rojas.

And I happily second.

Okay, let's see what happens. Let's take a roll call. Ms. Bennett.

Aye.

Doctor. Landsweig. Aye. Mr. O'Malley.

Aye.

Mr. Shepherd.

Aye.

Okay, nomination is approved. I gladly accept.

Really good. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you. May I now have a nomination for vice chair? But I'm just going to go ahead and do it. So I nominate Raheem Shepherd as the vice chair.

I proudly second that nomination, madam chair.

All right. Let's take a roll call. Ms. Bennett. Aye. Doctor. Landsmark. Aye. Mr. O'Malley. Aye. And the chair votes aye. Motion passes. Congratulations, Mr. Vice Chair. And now may I have a nomination for the treasurer of the board.

In the spirit of consistency, madam chair, I proudly nominate the indubitable and financially responsible Kate Bennett to remain as treasurer of the BRABBA BPDA board.

I, too, second that nomination. Let's take a roll call. Doctor. Landsmark.

Aye.

Mr. O'Malley. Aye. Mr. Shepherd.

Aye.

And the chair votes aye. Motion passes. Congratulations, Ms. Bennett. Thank you for serving as our treasurer. Thank you.

Madam Chair, we have Counselor Durkin here.

And we do have Counselor Durkin here. So we are going to allow you to take the floor and give give your testimony. Floor.

Thank you so much, chair Rojas, and congratulations to both your and vice chair Shepard's reelection. Director Shen and members of the board, I have three three items I'd like to comment on. First being Wentworth's IMP amendment. I would like to speak in support of this. I this the key feature of the amendment is the Pike Residence Hall, which will include approximately 964 bed 964 student beds enough to accommodate the entire first year class.

By consolidating the first year student housing on campus, Wentworth will enhance its student experience, foster a strong sense of community, and relieve pressure on Boston's overburdened rental market. Wentworth is a great partner with my office. I I know that these as a city councilor, I need to separate potentially what we're talking about here at the board from pilot agreements. But I am the chair of the new, committee on pilot. And I wanna make sure, in the future that, you know, that there's conversations additionally that need to happen with with regarding pilot.

But I'm excited about this proposal. I wanna thank Joanna Senna who works with my team daily, and I also wanna thank them for taking public safety seriously. They've recently hired someone that we work with, directly on their campus police. That was an issue, with their IMP last time, and, they've resolved it since. So I wanted to report that back to the board. The second I'd like to speak on is 154. I'd like to be registered in non opposition. They are changing it's a notice of project change. They're changing 66 homeownership units to 65 rental units. I generally would be in support of such a change, but I just want to acknowledge that the proponent did not reach out to our office and we didn't have a direct conversation with them.

So would just like for the planning department to acknowledge the role that district counselors play and just wanna make sure that anyone proposing such a change reach out to my office if they would like my support on projects. So I'd like to be registered in non opposition on that one. On 1 Brigham Circle, I would like to be registered in support. They're doing a PDA amendment, to permit clinic use. Generally, this was very supported in the neighborhood.

There's a number of operational items, that should continue to be coordinated mostly with city departments around signal timing at Calumet Street, left turn access, and traffic flow. I'm going to continue that dialogue with appropriate offices and want to ensure that residents voices in that process remain center of mind. And just want to thank the board for letting me go out of order and for all the work that you do day in and day out to promote economic vibrancy in our neighborhoods.

Thank you, counselor. All right. We're going to go with item number two, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of the 01/15/2026 board meeting. A motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Aye.

The opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Item number three, request

Madam Chair, I'm just recusing on this one,

just Okay. So you

Thank you, Ms. Bennett. Number three, request authorization to consent and approve the assignment and assumption of the existing ground lease agreement between the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as a Boston Planning and Development Agency as landlord and Tropical Melania Holdings LLC as tenant to the intended tenant tenant? To the intended tenant Tropical Foods Real Estate Holdings LLC as tenant to terminate the existing sublease between Tropical Amelnia Holdings LLC as landlord and Tropical Phase two LLC as tenant. Consent and approve the assignment of the sub sublease between Tropical Phase Inc.

To Tropical Foods Real Estate Holdings LLC and to execute the First Amendment, the construction operation reciprocal easement and restriction agreement by and among Tropical Amalnia Holdings LLC, Madison Williams LLC, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and the BPDA. Scott.

Thank you Madam Chair and members of the board. Parcel 10 is located in Roxbury near Nubian Square adjacent to Melneau Cass Boulevard and Washington Street. The Parcel ten master developer completed Building A in 2015 which houses the Tropical Foods supermarket, a locally owned grocery anchor providing culturally specific foods and produce to the community. Parcel ten North is adjacent to the rest of Parcel ten which includes some area that has been planned to be redeveloped into a mixed use building which came before you for an extension late last year. Tropical Foods has been in dispute with the other parties involved in Parcel ten regarding alleged impacts and regarding the developments on the site.

There has been progress regarding this lawsuit in that a new buyer is interested in creating an employee owned organization to take over, which is what has led us to come before you today. The PPDA and Madison Tropical Market LLC, now Tropical Melnea Holdings LLC, executed the ground lease in 2013. Tropical Phase two LLC is both the sole member of Tropical Melnea Holdings and a subtenant under an existing sublease. Tropical Foods International Incorporated operates the supermarket under a sublease. Tropical Melnea Holdings, Madison Williams LLC, which is an affiliate of Madison Park CDC, Masstadt and BPDA are parties to the Construction Operation Reciprocal Easement and Restriction Agreement or COREIA governing shared parking and related operational matters for Parcel 10 And 2101 Washington Street.

To assist in an anticipated transfer of interest in the grocery store and settlement of the ongoing litigation, the following is recommended to occur, which will be subject to the closing of the new transaction in conjunction with the settlement discussed above. The Board is asked to approve assignment and assumption of the ground lease from the existing tenant to Tropical Foods Real Estate Holdings LLC, termination of the existing sublease, and approval and consent to the assignment of the sub sublease between Tropical Foods Real Estate Holdings LLC and Tropical Foods International Incorporated. Tropical Foods International Incorporated, the sub subtenant, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tropical Foods Holding Company, a corporation that will be 100% owned by a newly formed employee stock ownership trust. This will mean that the employees of Tropical Foods International Incorporated will be the beneficial owners of the company. The proposed Employee Stock Ownership Plan or ESOP transition of Tropical Foods International Incorporated and Tropical Foods Holding Company will be financed and facilitated by Apis and Heritage Capital Partners, a private investment fund designed to create employee ownership opportunities throughout The U.

S. For low to moderate income workers. The Board has also asked to approve the requested First Amendment to the Correa with updates to shared parking and operational understandings. As part of the transaction, Tropical Melania Holdings will settle pending litigation involving Madison Park Development Corporation and other parties including the BPDA. These transactions maintain continuity of the Tropical Foods supermarket preserving neighborhood food resource and supporting local small business operations and partnerships established since 2015 while allowing an employee owned entity to operate the grocery store. Thank you. And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number four, request authorization to extend the final designation status of Nubian Ascend Partners LLC as redeveloper of the Blair Lot in the Nubian Square area of Roxbury for a period of six months until 08/31/2026. Yoon.

Thanks, you, Madam Chair and members of the board. The Blair Lot is a EPDA owned site consisting of approximately 87,879 square feet of underutilized land between Washington Street, Harrison Ave, Palmer Street, and Eustis Street. The parcel was subject of an intensive community planning process through Plan Nubian Square and through subsequent site specific community meetings. The disposition RFP for the site was released on November 2039. After the responses deadline in February 2020 and following several public meetings and community feedback through a project review committee, Nubian Essence was tentatively designated for redevelopment of the site at the December 2020 BDDA board meeting.

The proponent proposes to create approximately 389,280 gross square feet of mixed use development, including affordable housing, parking garage, a lab training and office building, and a combined cultural hall and marketplace and culinary center. The proponent was awarded final destination status for the project in March 2023 and an extension for their final destination in August 2025. During the past extension period, the proponent continued to seek additional sources of funding and advanced conversations with potential tenants. Most recently, the team has revisited the approach to the project's master plan and phasing to reflect the current market and funding conditions that are impacting many of the project's program components, mainly the lab training and office component. During this final destination extension, the proponent intends to refine their master plan and schedule in close coordination with the BPDA staff and advance a site remediation plan to utilize our project's mass works grants.

This development is envisioned to be executed in phase construction with separate ground leases for each building. So for Nubian Ascents Partners LLC to maintain their destination status and receive ground leases for each site component, they're required to have the financing required. The ground lease is fully negotiated and ready for execution and to be ready for construction commencement by the dates that are in the board memo. With that being said, I would like to request that the board authorize the final destination extension for a period of six months to Nubian Sense Partners LLC for the redevelopment of the Blair Lab. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Eun. Thank you. Item number five, request authorization to extend tentative designation status to the Drucker Company Limited and enter into lease negotiations with build build company. Product product company past. Boston for a period of twelve built months until February 20 with '27. Eun.

Thank you again, Madam Chair and members of the board. 142 Shammott Ave is a site of approximately 85,000 square feet located in the South End neighborhood. It is currently a vacant site adjacent to the recently completed Lucas Condominium project at 136 Chaumet Avenue. So with the objective to create open green space for the community, the BPDA released a disposition RFP for the site in November 2020 after previous efforts in 2019 and 2020, which did not yield satisfactory responses. In January 2021, the BPDA received one proposal from the Drucker company, who is also the proponent of redevelopment at the budding ten thirty three-ten fifty five Washington Street, also known as a former Verizon building.

Their proposal responded to the strong neighborhood of support for a park wide public open space at the site. After thorough analysis and evaluation, BPDA staff recommended that the board award tentative designation status to the Drucker company, which was authorized in the board meeting on 01/18/2024. So since that time, Drucker company has continued to advance the park design and negotiations with the VPDA regarding the terms of the extended ground lease sorry, terms of the ground lease. The proponent has been granted one tentative destination extension last year. Also similar to Blurlock, given the current market conditions impacting the proponent's office and lab development, which is really driving the project timeline.

The team is requesting additional time to finalize those negotiations of the ground lease, secure the necessary funding commitments, and complete the community process and park design reviews. So these conditions must be met before the team can be awarded final destination status and proceed to construction. So at this time, I would like to recommend extending the designation status of Drucker Company Limited for the redevelopment of 142 Shabbat Avenue.

Thank you. Questions or comments from the board? All right. Hearing and saying none, a motion is in honor.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Ian.

Thank you very much.

Item number six, request authorization to award tentative designation to the Boston Food Forest Coalition for the sale of 82 Mascot Street as a part of a joint RFP issued by the mayor's office of housing for open space in conjunction with the property at 301303305, And 307 Norfolk Street owned by the city of Boston until 02/28/2027. Scott.

Thank you, madam chair, members of the board. I'm here to recommend that tentative designation status be granted to Boston Food Forest Coalition or BFFC for the sale and redevelopment of 82 Mascot Street as part of a joint RFP issued by the mayor's office of housing or MOH for open space along with four MOH and city of Boston owned parcels at 301303305, And 307 Norfolk Street in the Dorchester neighborhood. 82 Mascot consists of approximately 4,321 square feet of vacant land and is approximately 131 feet to the west along Norfolk Street of the MOH parcels. In September 2025, MOH issued an RFP for open space on 82 Mascon MOH's Norfolk sites. The objectives of the RFP emphasized community gathering space with edible plantings, beautification of and other improvements to the sites, programming for all ages, a comprehensive maintenance plan, and tree preservation and management.

MOH and the BPDA received one proposal in response to the RFP, and BFFCs proposal was evaluated as highly advantageous. Next slide, please. At 82 Mascot Street, BFFC proposes an accessible open community space and food forest. The property will be an area where people in the community can gather outdoors, take in tranquil views among native plants and trees, and harvest and share food freely. Next slide, please.

And here you can see BFFCs proposal for the Norfolk Street site, which also includes edible plants and a gathering space. Next slide. As a result of a comprehensive RFP process and evaluation, I'm here to recommend that BFFC be tentatively designated as the developer of 82 Mascot Street. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Scott. Item number seven, request authorization to extend the tentative designation status of and enter into lease negotiations with Powerhouse CNY LLC for the long term lease and redevelopment of Building 108, property in the Charlestown Navy Yard on a portion of NY Dash 1 in the Charlestown urban renewal area of project number Mass R Dash 55 for a period of six months until 08/31/2026. Scott.

Thank you Madam Chair and members of the board. We are requesting board approval to extend the tentative designation of Powerhouse CNY LLC for the development and long term lease of Building 1 Hundred And 8 in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Building 108 was a vacant building of approximately 32,000 square feet that previously served as a central power plant of the Charlestown Navy Yard. The abatement and demolition of the former building was substantially completed in spring twenty twenty three. On 02/11/2021, the Board approved the tentative designation of Powerhouse CNY for the redevelopment of Building 108.

The BPA has extended the tentative designation status of Powerhouse CNY LLC since then. For the redevelopment, Powerhouse CNY has proposed a 97,000 square foot building with approximately 84,000 square feet of lab and R and D space, 1,700 square feet of cafe space, and 39 below grade parking spaces. Since the last tentative designation extension, Powerhouse CNY LLC received BPDA Board approval on 09/18/2025 for the Article 80 large project. During the next tentative designation extension period, Powerhouse CNY will continue to pursue permanent financing and prospective tenants, continue design review with staff, and negotiate the terms and conditions of the long term ground lease. Therefore, department staff recommend extending the tentative designation status.

Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Okay, thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Scott. Yep. Item number eight, request authorization to issue an invitation for bids pursuant to MGLC149 for the installation of building security systems for the China Trade Center located at 2 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts. William?

Thank you, madam chair. Members of the board, good afternoon. Here to request authorization to advertise a construction invitation for bids for the China Trade Building Security Project. This matter was before you October 2023. As a reminder, in the six story building, we're seeking to install access control devices, security cameras, especially around the perimeter, as well as all of the entrances to the building and the stairwells. The bid package was by our architect of record, CHA. The matter would be brought back before you once we have the lowest bidder. And I think we would be able to do that in April. We have an estimate of about $1,000,000 which is properly allocated in the current fiscal year 'twenty six capital budget. So with that, we're requesting authorization to issue this invitation for construction bids.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thanks very much. Item number nine, request authorization to advertise an issue and invitation for bids for landscaping and maintenance services at VRA owned properties in the Downtown water front. Chris.

Good afternoon, madam chair, members of the board, madam secretary, director Shen. I'm before you today to ask permission to issue an invitation for bids entitled Downtown Waterfront Landscaping and Maintenance, which generally includes BRA owned properties in the Central Wharf and Long Wharf areas of the city of Boston. They are considered the Downtown Waterfront properties. The scope of services online in the IFB will generally consist of furnishing all necessary labor, materials, equipment, transportation, supplies and services for landscape and hardscape maintenance of the Downtown Waterfront properties. The IFB will be publicly advertised pursuant to Mass General Laws Chapter 30, including advertising with local newspapers, the BPDA's website, the state combine system, the state goods and services bulletin and through other channels as appropriate including affirmative marketing to small local and diverse businesses.

The IFB will include all applicable wage requirements and the resulting contract will be awarded to the most responsible and eligible bidder with the lowest total bid price. The cost is not expected to exceed $150,000 per year. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes.

Okay. Thank you,

Item number 10. This is an informational update about the Planning Academy.

Welcome. You. Good afternoon, Chair Rojas, board members, Director Shun, Secretary Palimas. My name is Caroline Felice Smith. I'm a senior urban designer with the Planning Department. And I am here to present Planning Academy. Slide. So Planning Academy will be an eight session program for Boston residents to dig deeply into planning, design, and development in our city. Slide. It is born from the Design Vision Initiative, so it's part of the implementation process for that project.

Slide. And we've just begun outreach this week, So applications are live until March 9. So you might see these around town. Hopefully a few folks in the room have gotten emails about it. Slide. So why should you join Planning Academy? For residents, it's a great opportunity to meet others who are interested in building a better, stronger Boston that's home for everyone. It's also a chance to dig deeply into planning department processes, the tools we use, and how planning and development works in the city so that people can advocate for their communities with more power. Slide. The sessions will be taught using kind of three core components.

So we will teach fundamentals through Boston case studies that are fairly contemporary, not shying away from tricky subjects and the complexity of them. We will do a lot of hands on learning. So as people are building their knowledge around tools, they can put it straight into action because knowledge and action go together to make power. And then we will also involve guest speakers from within our department and from external, in particular affordable housing developers and people from the private sector. Slide. So these are just some examples of the kinds of materials we're making. Slide. We'll just roll through them. So we have case study materials. We have general information to build awareness about city hall in totality.

Slide. And then kind of fun games to play to get people's hands in the dirt on the the topics. Slide please. So this is pretty small text but a brief overview. The first three sessions will be an intro to planning, a way of level setting across the cohort.

We will talk about Planning 101, roles and responsibilities across the public, private, and civic sectors. We will dig into the role of values, opportunities, and constraints in our processes, the history of Boston, the way that history shapes our present, and a bit about visioning for the future in urban design. We then have four deep dive sessions, two that go pretty technically into zoning. So we kind of start people off with the basics, rolling through our processes, how zoning has changed, where community can have impact, how to even read the code, and then into contemporary initiatives like zoning reform and neighborhood housing. Weeks six and seven go deeply into development.

So we'll talk about municipal finance, how it relates to development, Article 80 processes, and speak with the local developer to talk about economic constraints that folks are facing in building. Affordable housing builds on that knowledge. So we'll dig into the tools we have available to build affordably, the initiatives and innovations we are making in the city towards those ends. And we will speak very candidly and openly with a guest speaker on the topic. And then week eight is a celebration.

So throughout the weeks, we will be also doing some skill building for local advocates so power mapping, theory of change, these sorts of things. And this will be their chance to present that project to the community, to city officials, to staff here. And we have an opportunity to put it up in the 11th Hall for a long period of time at BPL to present it as kind of current Boston and what our communities are up to. Slide. So our sessions are broken into smaller chunks.

They're about two and a half hours. This is a long period of time, so we're trying to break it up into discussion periods, activities, and breaks. Slide. And in general, we are looking for people from you can just say the diversity in every way you can cross it. We are looking for folks from all over Boston, broad geographic diversity, background experiences, tenure in Boston, so longtime residents, folks new.

We are holding two youth seats for people 16 to 24. And we are providing free childcare, dinner, and transit passes so that everyone can join. Slide, please. So we'll have 25 people in the first cohort. It will be meeting at Roxbury Community College for the first seven sessions, six to 08:30PM, Wednesdays, April June seventeen. And this is our kind of timeline of where we're at. So we've just started outreach. We will be doing applicant selection between March 9 and April 3. And then the academy runs late April to mid June. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

Yeah. What is the expected size of the group of participants that you're looking 25. 25. Okay.

And have you had any applicants yet or this is just the hours?

A lot.

Yeah, think we're up to about 65, and we're Okay, a few days

great. It's always the risk that you can't, so that's great to know. Will there be a stipend prior? I know child care, dinner, anything for the business?

No stipend, at least for this pilot. But obviously providing providing free free child child care, care, transit, transit,

and Yeah,

transit pass is great. Sounds fantastic. I wish you well. Look forward to hearing some of the results.

Thank you.

How are you going to evaluate the outcomes?

Yeah, so we're working with a great consultant team, Consult Leila, Reclait, Roxbury, and Rosa Herrera. And they're helping us specifically on the evaluation part. So they will be there at all the sessions doing exit interviews, testing kind of learning objectives. And we are doing a lot of tracking and metric analysis to ensure we're kind of meeting our own objectives and the expectations of the people who have taken the course.

Okay. Well, this is just an informational report, so we're not voting on it. But we thank you for your presentation and wish you the best of luck in getting this. Wait to hear how it goes. Great. Thank you. All right. Thanks, Caroline. Item number 11, request authorization to issue a certificate of completion for the successful completion of construction of the Parcel 12 project located in the Back Bay neighborhood pursuant to Section C. Six of the corporation agreement.

Bind between BPDA and SNAP-twelve Property LLC dated December 20 or no, December 2639. Certificate of completion, no presentation. A motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Those

opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Item number 12, request authorization to issue a certificate of completion for the successful completion of construction of the Alston Yards Building A project located in the Alston neighborhood pursuant to section C. Six of the cooperation agreement by and between the BPDA and Alston Yards Phase A, LLC dated 08/23/2021. Certificate of completion so no presentation. A motion is

in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Item number 13, request authorization to approve the transfer of the 1734 Through 1740 Washington Street property, Parcel SE-seventy 2 in the South End Urban Renewal Project area from 1734 Washington Street Limited Partnership to the Pine Street Inn Incorporated and to approve the Pine Street Inn's assumption of two promissory notes issued to the BPA by the original owner and amend the interest rate and maturity date of such promissory notes and to sign one of the promissory notes to the mayor's office of housing. Amida.

Thank you. Good evening, madam chair, members of the board, director Shin, and madam secretary. The item before you requests authorization related to the property located at 1734 Washington Street within the South End Urban Renewal Project area. By way of background, the property was originally conveyed through a land disposition agreement in 1988 and included 31 single room occupancy units and one manager's unit with affordability restrictions at 5080% of the area median income. After the compliance period for the LIHTC credit program ended, the tax credit investor exited the partnership.

The current request allows Pine Street in to consolidate ownership, strengthen long term financial stability, and maintain the property as permanently affordable housing. Extending the maturity dates and reducing the interest rate supports preservation goals and aligns with our commitment to long term affordability. Assigning the Neighborhood Housing Trust note to the mayor's office of housing will actually streamline ongoing oversight and unify the public financing under a coordinated preservation strategy. Staff recommend approval of the requested authorizations. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions. Okay.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thanks, Amina. Item number 14, requests authorization to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the mayor's office of economic opportunity and inclusion for transfer of $250,000 in mitigation funds from PDA 14635 through 75 Morrissey Boulevard for the use in the Commercial Acquisition Assistance Program. Aaron.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Chen, and Secretary Hemis. My name is Aaron Halkwist. I'm manager for Developer Compliance. Also, am joined by Philemonia Falcucci of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. She oversees the Commercial Acquisition and Assistance Program.

We're here to request that the board allow us to enter into MOA with the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion to facilitate the transfer of $250,000 in mitigation funds from PDA 01/1975, more sey Bullified to the Commercial Acquisition Assistance Program. In connection with the zoning approval for the project located at 3575 Morrissey, the project proponent agreed to provide a mitigation payment in the amount of $250,000 to the BPDA Community Benefits Fund. The approved mitigation language provides that such funds shall be used to assist independent local small local businesses in Dorchester with access to technical assistance, storefront improvements, neighborhood commercial street beautification and affordable commercial space, including but not limited to the Dorchester Avenue commercial corridor in the ColumbiaSalvin Hill neighborhood of Dorchester. Consistent with this requirement, BPDA, in consultation with OEOI, evaluated potential uses of the funds and identified deployment through the cap as an appropriate and aligned mechanism to advance the stated mitigation intent. The Board's approval is anticipated to apply to the allocation and transfer of the mitigation funds for use by OEOI through the cap as memorialized in the MOA.

Following such approval and transfer, the board approval is not anticipated or required for individual funding commitments or disbursements made by OEOI under CAP. OEOI shall administer and deploy the funds in accordance with this program guidelines and the restrictions set forth herein and shall report on the use of funds as provided in the MOA. OEOI and PPDA have been engaged and by saying that's really she and I have been talking about this for a while. We've been engaged in ongoing discussions about the development of the MOA. CAP is a city of Boston initiative administered by OEOI that supports under invested small business owners in acquiring commercial properties in which they operate, thereby promoting long term affordability, commercial stability, and wealth building opportunities.

Through consultation between BPDA and OEOI regarding the appropriate use of mitigation funds, the parties determined that CAP provides a clear, compliant, and effective vehicle to fulfill the mitigation objectives associated with the 3575 Morrissey Boulevard project. So with that, I'm happy to take any of your questions, as is Philomania, who is here with me today.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? I just have a quick question. So have you already identified the people who will be using the funds?

Have begun like a soft outreach. Sorry.

Oh, sorry.

We have begun like a soft outreach, so nothing particularly public facing. We have a website on the cityofboston.gov. But other than that, when we launch publicly as we get all of our funds in order, we'll make sure to engage with ONS, with the neighborhood business managers, and with the main streets organizations to ensure that all of the neighborhoods get equal access to the information. We have an intake form that allows for anybody. Mean, don't have to be a small business.

You'd probably filter it out pretty quickly, but anybody to apply. And then we have a whole level of qualifications that they go through from there. We have 46 businesses we've already spoken to. I want to say about a handful of them are in Dorchester. One is on Dorchester Ave and we already have collected that business's financial information and are going through our pre qualification process. So some of them have advanced forward but not necessarily by design, just by I think demand.

Okay. Great. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thanks, Aaron. All right, item number 15. Mr. O'Malley?

No. It's the one

on Okay,

got it. Item number 15, request authorization to issue a determination waiving further review pursuant to section No. It's not. Yeah. Request authorization to issue a determination waiving further review pursuant to section 80D Institutional Master Plan Review of the Zoning Code for the proposed renewal and extension of the Tufts University Institutional Master Plan dated 01/06/2026, extend the master plan for five years until 02/12/2031, and to take all related actions. Jason.

Thank you, and good evening, Madam Chair, members of the Board, Director Shen, and Secretary Blamis. My name is Jason Farrell, and I'm a project assistant in the Development Review Division. I'm here before you to discuss the proposed renewal and five year extension with no changes to the institutional master plan for Tufts University. During the five year term of this extension, Tufts plans to respond to the academic and institutional needs of the university, improve space utilization within existing building footprints, and maintain facilities to ensure ongoing commitment to high quality education. Upon expiration of this proposed extension, Tufts plans to pursue a full ten year institutional master plan.

On 01/06/2026, the proponent filed an institutional master plan notification form for the proposed renewal and five year extension pursuant to Article ADD of the code. While not required by the code, the planning department held a public meeting for this filing at request of the public on 01/26/2026. The public comment period ended on 02/06/2026, and no public comments were received. That concludes the presentation for this item, but the Tufts team is available to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you. Questions or comments from the board? I just wanted to get a little expansion on the continued community benefits section here in the memo. Can you just talk a little bit through that?

Continued community benefits in the memo? Do

you have a copy of the memo here?

No, don't a copy of the memo. Could

you I can read it. All community benefits currently offered pursuant to the amended IMP will continue through the length of the renewed IMP. I just want to make sure I don't understand what that means.

Hi. Good evening. Good to see you all. I'm Nupur Manani, Senior Deputy Director for Development Review. I'm happy to answer that question.

What typically happens with this kind of an action, the five year extension on renewal is that we essentially kick the can down the road on the expiration to allow the university to keep doing their business as usual, right? So the community benefits that Tufts committed to in the last ten year IMP, many of which included working with the Chinatown community on sort of expanding access to their campus, working on a lot of other good neighbor agreements that were codified will similarly be extended through the term of this extension. So we're not really talking about anything new. It's really just a reassurance to say that those commitments, while they were envisioned for ten years, do not in fact expire. They will be continuing in that same form and shape for another five.

For another five years. Okay. That makes perfect sense. Thank you for clarifying. Okay. Any other questions or comments? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 16, request authorization to issue a certification of approval pursuant to Article 80E small project review of the zoning code for the proposed construction of 33 fully affordable rental units, eight car parking spaces, and 36 bicycle parking spaces located at 190 Bowden Street, AKA Hollands Park, and to take all related actions. Camille.

Thank you, and good evening, Madam Chair, members of the Board, Secretary Polymus, and Director Shen. My name is Camille Plattacosta, senior project manager in the Development Review Division of the Planning Department. Here before you tonight with an Article 80E small project located at 190 Bowdoin Street located in the Dorchester neighborhood. On 09/19/2025, the proponent submitted an application for small project review with the Planning Department pursuant to Article 80E of the code. On 11/03/2025, the Planning Department hosted a virtual public meeting for the project.

The public meeting was advertised in the local paper. A notice was posted on the Planning Department's calendar and an email notification was sent out to all subscribers of the Planning Department's Dorchester email update list. The comment period was extended once and it concluded on 11/17/2025. If you go to the next slide please. The proposed project will be a fully affordable new construction residential project consisting of 33 units of rental housing.

The unit mix includes eleven one bedroom units, eighteen two bedroom units, and four three bedroom units. There will be a community room for residents with an adjoining roof deck within the building proposed. The project is subject to the updated Article 37 zoning and is net zero carbon compliant, will be passive house and enterprise green communities certifiable, ensuring holistic sustainability, and is an all efficient electric building. Staff assisted the proposed project with the best practices. If you go to the next slide, I will now turn it over to the Planning Division. Thank you.

Thanks, Camille. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ariane.

I am one of

the neighborhood planners for Dorchester, and I'm on the zoning team. As Camille previously mentioned, this proposed project is located in Dorchester and more specifically in the Bowdoin Geneva area of the neighborhood. This area, currently has both residential and mixed existing uses. There are nearby amenities such as a community center and the Bowdoin Street corridor offering local retail and services. This site is within half a mile of basically every transit option available in our city, including nearby blue bike stations, bus lines, rapid transit, and commuter rail.

Next slide, please. This area governed by Article 65 of the zoning code is zoned for three family uses and multifamily uses are forbidden. There are also dimensional regulations that the proposed design does not comply with, including front and rear yard minimum depths, FAR, and maximum height. The project exceeds the minimum ratio required for off street parking for affordable housing projects. Taking into consideration the surrounding context and the historic character of the neighborhood, the planning department staff helped shape the proposal to ensure that the building dimensions are contextually appropriate with adequate open space and exposure to natural light and air for all residents.

For these reasons and for alignment with transit oriented development planning and affordable housing goals, I recommend zoning relief of the dimensional and use violations of article 65 of the zoning code. After this, project receives board approval and subsequent zoning board, of appeal approval of the required zoning relief, the proposed project will continue design review at the planning department. Thank you. And I'll now turn it over to the design team to talk about our project in more detail.

Thank you.

Thank you, Erin. Thank you, board. My name is Megan Richard, and I'm a senior urban designer here with the Planning Department working with the city, both our planning staff as well as our colleagues at the mayor's office of housing. The project has recently made some changes that we're really excited about. The original project had an entrance that was set far back from the street and struggled with some of the tricky grades on the site and a driveway that was underground to provide some underground parking.

We believe this new project is more sensitive to the site and has a stronger site circulation pattern for the residents. Now the building is oriented towards Bowdoin Street with its main entrance facing the street. The main entrance is accessed through a lush four court space. And along the street, are four visitor bike racks which will be installed. There are two existing street trees which will be preserved, and a new street tree will be introduced to reinforce the streetscape.

An existing curb cut will be retained and lead to a repaved surface parking lot. The program includes eight vehicle parking spots, including one van accessible ADA spot. This allows for the most existing tree canopy on the site to be preserved. Next slide. Thank you. One of the key changes, as I mentioned, that we made was to bring the main residential entrance to the street to engage directly with Bowdoin Street, which helps to activate the streetscape and creates an opportunity to modulate the massing along Bowdoin Street into two bays to respond to the overall context. We will continue to work on the fenestration and materiality as we move forward through design development.

Thank you. I'll turn it back to Camille.

Well, you all. This concludes our presentation for this item. And the V and A team, as well as their counsel, are available to answer any questions.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board?

Of a comment than a question. Obviously, great projects, affordable housing, multi bedroom units, families will be able to stay, passive house standards, net zero carbon. Across the board, love it. You just have the dubious distinction being the first net zero building we're discussing today where I saw in in the com comments that they're assessing PV solar PV on the roof and whether or not that makes sense. And I totally get it.

It's not as easy as just throwing them on. We looked at putting them on this roof, and there were some real challenges back when I worked in a different capacity. I guess my point is so support this project, proud to support proud to vote in favor of it shortly. When we particularly when we make some needed allowances on height variations, I think we really need to push, these developers to include as much on-site solar as they possibly can because that's that's usually one of the sticking points is that there'll be trees or other buildings that survive it. So I think this is great.

If they can really make a good faith effort to try to find locations to build out some solar, it's only good for the residents of the building. It's only going to help address the utility costs. And I say that environmentalists, need to do a better job making the case and making the connection between energy affordability and sustainability because they are almost always going in the same direction. We need to make sure that we can recapitalize those costs. So great project. Please do everything you can to get solar on it.

Okay. Any additional questions or comments? All right. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes it. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 17, request authorization to enter into an affordable housing agreement in connection with the proposed creation of two IDP home ownership units located at 608 Gallivan Boulevard and to take all related actions. Andy.

All right. Thank you, Madam Chair, Director Shen, Secretary Bohemiahs, and members of the board. I'm Andy Feldman, Housing Policy Manager with the Mayor's Office of Housing. Tonight, I'm here to request your vote on an affordable housing agreement for the proposed development at 608 Galvin Boulevard in Dorchester. This development proposes to build 12 condo units. And while it didn't trigger article 80 due to its size, it did trigger IDP. Therefore, the vote in front of you tonight will allow the agency to enter into an agreement to dedicate two units under the IDP. Thank you and happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Okay. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, the motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Andy. Item number 18.

I'll be I'll be recusing, madam chair.

Okay. Thank you, miss Bennett. Item number 18, request authorization to acknowledge completion of a certain review procedures with respect to phase 4A and phase 4B of the Mildred Haley phase one chapter 121 A project. Adopt a second amendment to the report and decision for the master project approving the delegation and authority of Mildred Haley 121A Corporation with respect to such phases to Mildred Haley 4A121A limited partnership and Mildred Haley 4B121A limited partnership, respectively. And to execute one or more cooperation agreements, which will include a provision requiring compliance with residents job policy regulatory agreements under section 18 c of chapter one twenty one a and to take all related actions.

John.

Excellent. Thank you, madam chair and members of the board, secretary Paul Hemis, and director Shen. My name is John Spillane. I'm an attorney in the office of general counsel. Before you today is a request for authorization to approve a second amendment to the report and decision and enter into a regulatory agreement with respect to phases four a and four b of the Mildred Haley phase one chapter one twenty one a project and acknowledgment of the completion of certain review procedures with respect to these phases and authorization to enter into cooperation agreements and execute any and all documents which the director names deems appropriate and necessary in connection with these phases.

The Mildred Haley Phase one Chapter one 21A projects relates to the approximately 6.9 acre portion of Mildred C. Haley Apartments, residential development in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston and was a result of designation by the Boston Housing Authority through two separate RFP processes. The project consists of a one to one replacement of the existing public housing units as well as union units at varying stepped income levels for a total of approximately six seventy three units with approximately 8,300 square feet of Ground floor community commercial space in an approximately 6,800 square foot community center. The project was submitted as a master plan, which was anticipated to be developed into seven phases known as phase 1a, 1b, phase two, phase three, phase four, phase 5a, and phase 5b as was described in the project submission in the original chapter 121 a application. As further detailed in the project filing submitted by the Community Builders Incorporation to the authority on 09/12/2025, and as shown in the subdivision plan submitted with the phase four application as defined below, phase four will now be contemplated as two phases phase 4a and phase 4b.

To provide background on 04/15/2021, the authority voted to adopt a report and decision for the project. Such vote was approved by the mayor on 04/24/2021 and the vote was approved and filed with the city clerk of Boston on 04/29/2021. The report and decision designated Healy one hundred twenty one a corporation as the master developer for the project but also contemplated that the applicant would delegate its authority with respect to each project component to special purpose one hundred twenty one entities in the future. The report and decision approved the delegation of the applicant's authority with respect to phase one A and one B respectively to affiliated chapter 121 A entities known as Mildred Haley one A limited partnership and Mildred Haley 1B limited partnership. Currently we're looking at the future project components that were previously contemplated for phase 4A and 4B.

At the April 15 board meeting in addition to the 121 A delegation to the project, the board also voted for Article 80 approval for the project. However, it required certain review procedures for future phases two through 5B of the project. The phase 4A developer with respect to phase 4A and 4B have completed these applicable items. On 01/21/2026, the applicant filed with the BPD an application entitled Application for Approval of Delegation of 121 authority in supplemental filing containing entity organizational documents. The phase four application seeks the BPD's approval of the delegation of the applicant's authority to develop phase 4a of the project to the phase 4a developer and phase 4b of the project to the phase 4b developer.

Upon such delegations, the phase 4A developer and phase 4B developer will enter into their respective six contracts with the city of Boston and regulatory agreements with the authority. The proposed amendment to the report and decision effectuates the requested delegation incorporated in the amendments that are findings and terminations to authorize the applicant's delegation of such authority to the phase four a and four b developer in accordance with the acts of 1960 chapter six fifty two section 13 as amended. In addition, the amendment adjust certain zoning waivers granted by the original report and decision to reflect minor design adjustments to Phase 4B and 4B specifically modifying item three on appendix 10 of the report and decision to allow the building for the Phase 4B project to be approximately 84 feet in height exceeding the maximum height limit originally contemplated in table A of article 55 in the original report decision. The general counsel of the BPDA has determined that the changes set forth in the phase four application for delegation of authority and related matters pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 121 A do not collectively constitute a fundamental change in accordance with the acts of 1960 Chapter six fifty two Section 13 A as amended and a public hearing is therefore not required.

It is thus the recommendation of staff to approve the phase four application, complete copy of which is enclosed as it provides sufficient evidence for the BPA to make the findings and determinations necessary to approve the proposed delegation of the authority and to authorize the director of the BPTA to execute one or more call operation agreements which will include a provision requiring compliance with the BRJP the regulatory agreement requirement under section 18 c of chapter one twenty one a and any no other documents that director and his sole discretion deems appropriate necessary and upon terms and conditions determined to be in the best interest of the BPA in connection with the project components

Thank you

and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes.

Thank you, John. Item number 19, request authorization to issue a determination pursuant to Section 80A-six of the zoning code in connection with the fourth notice of project change for the proposed construction of 65 residential rental units, including eight IDP units and 24 car parking spaces located at 154 Terrace Street, and to issue a certification of compliance for phase two of the revised project upon successful completion of Article 80B large project review, and to enter into a cooperation agreement and an affordable housing affordable rental housing agreement and restriction, and to take all related actions. Stephen.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Madam Secretary, and Director Shen. My name is Stephen Harvey, and I'm a senior project manager at the Planning Department. I want to thank you for your time The project I bring before you today is 154 Terrace Street located in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood. This project last appeared and was approved by the board on 10/14/2021.

The former proponent, Wind Development, requested a height increase from six stories to seven stories. The 2021 NPC approved approval was the third NPC approval for this residential proposal. Originally, this project was part of a much larger development that was approved by the board on January 6006, apologies. The project was later broken up into two phases, revised and reintroduced. Phase one gained board approval on 07/12/2008 and completed construction on phase one on 2011.

The proposal I bring before you today is the fourth MPC proposal for phase two of the project. Under new ownership, the proponent Joe Federico is now requesting to reduce the building height from seven stories to six stories as well as change the unit programming from condominium to rental. The new proponent filed his NPC request on 12/09/2025 held a virtual public meeting for the NPC on 02/03/2026 and the common period ended on 02/06/2026. The MPC filing and virtual public meeting was advertised online and via email. With that said, I'd like to turn it over to my colleague, Andrew Plumb.

Andrew is the assigned planner for the project. He will briefly explain the planning context for the project. Once Andrew has completed his part of the presentation, Andrew, the proponent, and I will answer questions put forward by the board. Thank you once again for your time today.

Thank you, Steven. As Steven said, my name is Andrew Plum. I'm the planner assigned to this project. Phase two of the revised project is located within a local industrial subdistrict in the Mission Hill neighborhood district. Historically, Terrace Street was an industrial area because of its close proximity to the Stony Brook and the freight railroad. Today, Terrorist Street is a combination of residential, vacant land, and light industrial uses on the boundary between the residential part of Mission Hill to the West and the rail line to the East. Next slide, please. Actually, sorry. Next slide, please. Thank you.

The industrial zoning is inconsistent with the residential uses on Terrace Street and has not been updated to match the evolution of the MBTA orange line or changes in the land use pattern. The project will not require zoning relief because it will not increase the degree of nonconformity previously proposed. Staff note that zoning relief is appropriate due to the proposed project's consistency with the uses and densities found on similar lots with local industrial zoning on this block of Terrace Street. I will now turn it back to Stephen. Thank you.

Thank you once again for your time today. That completes our presentation.

Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board?

Could you speak to any issues of parking that have come up, particularly given that Terrace Street is a narrow and very heavily trafficked street with already limited parking?

Yeah, I can speak to that. Originally, this project was approved back in 2011. So the site that is currently being used for parking was always envisioned to hold this a development. We understand the need for additional parking on the street. And working with the Boston Transportation team and our transportation team, they're envisioning improvements on the roadway.

The proponent has contributed funds to the transportation department to allow this to occur. Hopefully in the future, they would allow widening of the street to potentially allow more an improvement on the current industrial use of the street or, setup of the street.

But the the proponent has not set forth, specific plans that they, intend to pursue on parking.

Not for. Only for the

Steven, he's on. Joe Federico's on.

Joe, if you want to go into

Hello everyone. I'm Joe Federico. I am the developer for the project. As far as parking, are you referring to the parking, the on-site parking?

I'm, referring to both the on-site parking and any accommodations that need to be made on Terrace Street itself, is a very narrow street.

So as far as the on-site parking, we are going to be providing 24 on-site parking spaces on a Ground Floor, garage accessible through park through. There is no parking public parking on this side of Terrace Street. There are parking spaces on the opposite side of Terrace. So, we are not removing any parking that's currently on the street, but we are, adding 24 off-site parking spaces.

Through the chair. Just to add with the parking, who currently parks in the parking lot that exists now?

Okay. Go

ahead, Joe. Yes. The current parking lot there is for the renters at 166 Terrace. 166 Terrace, which was Phase one of this development is made up of both condo owners and renters. The condo owners have deeded parking spaces, under 166 in their enclosed garage and the exterior surface spaces are, for the renters of that building.

So, through the chair, now both developments will share the existing 24 or would it be just solely to 154 Terrace?

Those 24 parking spaces would be solely for the 154 Terrace Building.

Thank you. And, Councilor Durkin was present early in the meeting and, was there any reason for not reaching out to the city councilors, for your area for the project change?

There was no reason. That was a complete oversight on on my part and I take full responsibility for that. And apologize for not reaching out to the city councilor to notify her of this NPC.

I'll definitely Joe, we'll definitely meet with the counselor before going to the ZBA for arbitration. So I can definitely work with him on setting that up. I met with the counselor and their team on several occasions to discuss the project.

Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you, Steve.

Could you also elaborate on whatever community, engagement process was, pursued with, with this development?

So, this the MPC process that we have for this project was, what we call an expedited MPC. However, we're the the approval approval approval to It We're gives the option whether the counselor or elected officials would like to have the meeting or not. Speaking with the counselor, she felt that because the project has such a long history that it was appropriate to meet with the community. And so we conducted a public meeting where we discussed the project with the community. Understandably, a lot of the community members were unaware of that Wynn had sold the property and that it was being developed or that it was hoping to be developed by this new developer.

So we communicated and tried our best to be as polite and listen to the concerns of the community and in the board memo we tried our best to reflect some of the concerns that they have. Right now the proponent doesn't necessarily well, the proponent is working with one hundred sixty six, one hundred sixty four to continue to allow parking. Wind has, what is it, extended the lease for a month. And the proponent is willing to extend that up until he is capable of doing the construction on the site. So he's been working the best way that he can with the community on this change that occurred.

And speaking of construction, where will the staging for this project take place?

Joe, would you like to take that on?

Yes. So this is going to be a podium style building. So the first Floor would be steel and then five levels of wood above. Typically, on on these kind of buildings, we've always used the under the under the podium as the staging, for lumber and for materials. We have, like, roughly 12 feet in height from the concrete slab grade to the underside of the steel deck, which is sufficient height to get, equipment in and out of there and move, material that we keep under the building furniture storage as far as accessibility.

Also as I'm sure you know ISD requires a construction management plan. So we'll do our best not to interfere. Our other proponent will do its best not to interfere with traffic on the street. As you stated, it's already a tight squeeze as it is.

I I use the street, twice a day. It's a very narrow, street with very high volume of traffic. Very high. And received some concerns from neighbors about, traffic and parking, particularly because of the way, Terrace Street ends in essentially a very sharp right turn that, most vehicles take at a fairly high speed. And and I'm a little concerned about, the provisions that the proponent here may have made to address what is certain to be, major traffic congestion, particularly when Roxbury Community College changes its classes and, students use that street very heavily.

And I just didn't see anything in, what we've put forward here that addresses the issue of traffic and parking with the addition of this many units.

Hi, Chair Rojas, members of the board. Ted Schwartzberg, Assistant Deputy Director for Planning Review. And to follow-up on your comments about traffic and parking that this would require or this is under the parking ratio that's required by zoning. But it is consistent with BTD's off street parking guidelines which recommend zero to one space per unit here. And I certainly appreciate the point about dimension of the street.

And I remember when I first started working as a planner here, this was all industrial uses. And as my colleague Andrew noted, this slowly has changed over time. And one by one, for example, the former pickle factory that was right next door, now residential. And I know I can't speak for my colleagues on the 7th Floor, but I know that this is on BTD's long term list to study. But this is not in their immediate capital plans.

And when we were reviewing it, our inclination was to not put more cars into the street through the development. So by following BTD guidelines those are derived from the transit and walk resources. And in the course of our review we thought that it would be detrimental to the street in its current state to bring more vehicles in through off street parking and by reducing supply of parking off street we would reduce demand for on street travel. So that was the logic that informed the staff review about putting hopefully fewer cars into the neighborhood relative per unit with this new phase of the project. Hopefully that helps to clarify.

Thank you.

Okay.

You're welcome.

Any additional questions or comments? All right. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor, aye.

Aye. Opposed? Opposed.

And the ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you, Steven. Item number 22, we have contractual payments. I need a motion to pay our bills.

I move that we pay our bills.

I second that motion.

Okay. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Please pay the bills. And we are going to take a break. So the next couple items don't start until the public hearing at 05:30. So we will take a break until 05:30 and see you back for the last couple of agenda items.

Thank you. Hello. Welcome back. Okay. We're now going to start the public hearing portion of the meeting.

This is a public hearing before the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as the Boston Planning and Development Agency being held in conformance with sections three-1A. A and ADC-six of the Boston zoning code to consider the first amendment to the development plan for planned development area Number 521 Brigham Circle located at 1610 Through 1620 Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood to allow for clinic and accessory clinic as allowed uses within the PDA area. This hearing was duly advertised on 01/27/2026. This is a BPDA hearing on a proposed petition by the agency. Staff will first present their case and are subject to questioning by members of the agency.

Thereafter, anyone who wishes to testify about the proposed project will be afforded an opportunity. We are taking support and opposition at the same time. So if you're planning to testify via Zoom, please take time now to verify that your computer microphone is active and click on the hand icon on your Zoom control panel. This will signal to the staff that you would like to speak, and when your hand is raised, it will be blue. If you are calling in to the meeting and would like to testify, please dial 9 to raise your hand when I call for all testimony.

Staff will announce your name and allow you to talk. You must unmute your microphone and your webcam will not be active. If you're planning to testify in person in the boardroom, please line up behind the podium after the presentation has concluded and we will call on you. In an effort to accommodate all who would like to speak about this proposal, each person will be given up up to two minutes to comment. BPA staff will indicate when thirty seconds remain. At that time, please conclude your remarks so that the hearing may continue and others may be heard. Finally, the proponents are allowed a period of five to ten minutes for rebuttal if they desire. The open public meeting law requires that we ask if anyone in the audience if there is anyone in the audience who's recording the meeting. And if you're recording this meeting, please identify yourself now. Okay.

Seeing none. Additionally, please note that demonstrations of approval or disapproval from members of the public are not permitted during the meeting. And Tyler, you can now begin your presentation.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Secretary Polymus, and Director Shen. My name is Tyler Ross. I'm a senior project manager in the Development Review Division. The proposal before you is the first amended and restated development plan to PDA number 52 known as 1 Brigham Circle located in 16 located at 1610 To 1620 Tremont Street in the neighborhood of Mission Hill. On 11/14/2025, the proponent filed the first amended and restated development plan.

The proposed amendment seeks to add clinic and accessory clinic uses to within the site, specifically only within 66,700 square feet of the existing floor area on the 2nd And 3rd Floors of the original project's main building. The planning department hosted one public meeting on 01/07/2026, which was well attended and advertised in the local newspaper. The proponent also worked with local elected officials and community organizations to garner support for the amended and restated development plan to PDA number 52. I'll now turn it over to Andrew to go over the planning context before Joe Hanley from the development team presents. Thank you to the members of the public, elected officials, and city agencies who helped review this proposal. Thank you.

Thank you, Tyler. My name is Andrew Plumb. I'm the planner assigned to this project. The proposed project is located in a community commercial district of the Mission Hill neighborhood zoning district and is subject to the PDA number 52 zoning overlay. Located at the intersection of Traymont Street and Huntington Ave, the property marks the entryway to the Mission Hill neighborhood from the Longwood Medical Area.

The proposed amendment enables clinic uses in space previously designated for offices in the upper stories of the existing mixed use building. This is consistent with the surrounding area, active commercial uses on the 1st Floor of the building, and allows the proponent additional flexibility due to decline in demand for office uses since the adoption of the PDA. I will now turn the presentation over to the proponent. Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Secretary Pohimas, Director Shen, Attorney Joe Hanley, McDermott, Quilty, Miller, and Hanley here representing the proponent, which is AEW. Catherine Jerome's a senior vice president and is here with me. I am going to take you through the presentation very briefly. And just to start on the next slide, please, is the agenda for our presentation, introduce you to our team, talk about the public outreach to support this PDA amendment, and some of the dynamics of this site, and the PDA regulatory controls, and of course, what we are proposing to do, and some of the elements that we work really closely with the neighborhood on as part of this proposal. Next slide, please.

So I had mentioned AEW. They are the owners of 1 Brigham Circle. It's the second iteration of ownership. And they have been working with Howard Stein Hudson on the transportation aspects of this proposal and Sheppley Bulfinch as our architects and, of course, with our firm in zoning and permitting. And I introduce you to Kat and her colleague, Vishwa Shah, as well with AW.

He's put a lot of work into this. Next slide, please. I front ended this slide because this this asset, 1 Brigham Circle, really is a cherished community based mixed use development in Mission Hill, probably the poster child for that in the city of Boston. And so we thought about this PDA amendment, what we're here for tonight. We went first to the community, to the stewards in the community that were really part of of 1 Brigham Circle before AEW and before it was built.

And that was the Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, as well as the Community Alliance of Mission Hill, District City Council Durkin, who I believe was here earlier and provided support for this, proposal. And, we thank them for a lot of time over the last year that was put in on this, and I think you'll see that going forward. And also the support that we've gained from both organizations. Next slide, please. So the existing site overview, if you go to the slide following this, here is 1 Brigham Circle right at the intersection in the heart of Brigham Circle and Mission Hill.

It's the main business district, community commercial district at the intersection of Tremont, Huntington Ave, and Calumet Street, which goes up the hill. And you'll see the main courtyard that has a lot of activation and, of course, the building. What I think is important here too, and you're not seeing, is it's part of a 9.2 acre campus that includes a 5.5 acre park named after Kevin Fitzgerald, which is also a huge and beloved component for open space and programming and get togethers in partnership with the neighborhood keeps that going. And it's part of that community based development, not just the building and not just what's in it, but the people in the neighborhood who make it so special. So next slide, please, shows you sort of before this PDA amendment and what we're proposing.

I guess this would be today, not just before. This is now. This is a four story building. And on the main level, what you're looking at is the Tremont Street side. There's restaurant use, JP Licks, which is now soon to be a flower bakery, active retail.

And then you can see over to the left Stop and Shop. So that is a full size supermarket that is accessed off Calumet Street, which we call or the folks in the neighborhood call it the front the neighborhood front of this building. And when 1 Brigham Circle was conceived in the '90s, a lot of people in this community worked hard to bring a supermarket to a food desert and to bring activation. It was a blighted site. NHS was a big part of that and a partner in that development.

And so as they say, we stand on the shoulders of giants. And so we're really here to talk about some future proofing that we've been working on together. So the next slide will tell you, I guess, the after. This won't be done, but this is what we're proposing to add to the PDA. And you'll see it in the salmon color. And that is, right now, AW has an existing lease with MGB, Mass General Brigham, for offices professional offices, doctors' offices. That industry has been decimated. There is an exodus. There certainly isn't an expansion of it. That lease expires in 2028.

AW does not know whether they will renew. But we do know is if we don't prepare for something, we're going to have a vacant significant amount of vacant space for a really important anchor in the neighborhood. And so we asked the folks in the community to work with us on seeing about changing use category in the PTA to allow for an amount of clinic space. And that's what you're seeing here. So proposing 10,000 square feet on that second level plan left and then 38,300 and another 18,400.

So around 67,000 square feet. Not in total, there's still office space. But we think that provides for some flexibility. We don't have a user yet. That's why we're in Article ADC.

This case is merely to amend the existing PDA, its table of uses, to allow 67,000 square feet of clinic, an accessory clinic, in the space in Salmon so that it's an option for us to continue to work through the market. And we don't have vacant space in the future. We do know 2028 may sound a little far off. It's only a couple of years. And we do know that in the institutional and hospital world that two years is exactly how far out they plan for these things.

So there is some urgency, and that's why we're here. And that's why we're so grateful for the people in the neighborhood and the groups that have come together and helped us bring this to fruition. Next slide, please. So, the PDA regulatory controls on the next slide, will show you plan development number 52. This was approved by the the BP, the VRA in 2001.

1 Brigham Circle was delivered in 2003. There's been no amendment since, hence for the First Amendment. And as I said, Exhibit C to the current PDA is the table of uses, which does not include clinic. And we're looking to add that just in that specific manner for a potential future use. Three forty eight total parking spaces that exist today and won't change.

It's in a mix of surface parking, is off Calumet Street. Again, that accesses the stop and shop and some of the other uses and integrates into the neighborhood with the Kevin Fitz Park next to it. And there will be no changes to that or other parts. Next slide. So I'm going to go real quickly through this because this is a little bit conceptual.

But it's also something that we worked out with the community. There was concern or input and strong guidance in the neighborhood about, Okay, if someone does want to take advantage of this use, and if over 50,000, they have to come back for Article 80B with you. But we want to make sure that the main concerns are thought about upfront. And big components of this is how mobility works. We do know if we add clinic, it probably has a little more traffic than offices, right?

Certainly vacant offices. And how can we improve on that? So we tasked Howard Stein Hudson to look at really directing the neighborhood asked us to really direct a lot of the both foot vehicular and mobility traffic towards Tremont Street and away from the neighborhood. And so you'll see here concepts for rideshare, drop off, and the like. Next slide kind of brings us a little more into some of the other issues that we addressed.

The existing parking that I spoke to you about as surface parking and then two levels of underground garage parking, access both on Tremont Street today and on Calumet. And so it was important for the community that we come up with a plan so that we could direct folks who are driving coming to the clinic would come in through Tremont Street and out Calumet Street towards Brigham Circle. And if you know the neighborhood, what that means is it keeps the cars from going up Calumet Street and into aspect of the neighborhood, which is really important. So you're seeing some of these provisions and concepts as to how we work this out together. And you can see in this slide in gray hash the areas on the 2nd Level and above that would have direct access from the parking garage.

We'll have a tray of parking that's dedicated just for clinic so that folks aren't going in the building and getting lost and they know where to go. So we spent a lot of time on that together. Next slide shows you how that works on the upper levels. So again, not everyone is going to be coming by vehicle, but there will be. And we have accommodation.

And it was also important that we don't rely on the surface lot on Calumet because that's important for the neighborhood and for the active uses up there, like Walgreens and the Stop and Shop. And so this all kind of comes together. And I will say that we were able to get to an agreement with NHS and conditions in real detail with the community. And you'll probably see that in the support letters and should we hear from them tonight as well. Next slide just shows you how this comes together in the floor plates.

And again, as I talked about, way finding within the building. So we know that if we're fortunate enough to have a tenant that wants to utilize all of this clinic space. We'll be back to discuss this. But this idea was to make sure we had the sense of the neighborhood concerns integrated into that framework as we hopefully proceed to amend the PDA and its table of use to just allow that clinic in that limited amount of space. Next slide, please.

So that brings us to fruition. I know you saw this big piece. Obviously, the jobs are created today. We aren't building yet, right? This is to change that used as an opportunity and to prevent against the vacancy.

Obviously, talked about the second piece. The community is a huge driver here. Mean, I can't state enough how important for those of us who remember what Brigham Circle was in the '90s and what it has become through One Brigham and all the neighborhood leadership. It's really a fantastic ecosystem and an opportunity for our clients to be a part of. And of course, sustainability and other elements that AW is very committed to, we look forward to continuing that discussion as we hopefully have the opportunity to fill the building. So thank you.

Thank you. Does that conclude the petition? All right. This is a public hearing, and we are now taking public testimony. So if you'd like to testify in person, please step up to the podium and announce your name, affiliation, your position on the proposed project when you are called to speak. And if you are on Zoom and would like to testify, please raise your virtual hand.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Chiang, Maina Perez. I am the executive director for the Carpenter Labor Management. I'm here on behalf of thousands of union carpenters that live and work across the city of Boston to speak in favor of this project. This project, if I remember correctly, was originally built by Dimio Construction, one of the best general contractors there is. Many carpenters participated in this building this project. So therefore, we look forward to being back there again. Thank you.

Good evening, madam chair, members of the board. My name is Daniel Daly. I'm a lifelong Boston resident. And I represent the men and women of the Local one hundred three Electricians Union. People travel from all over the world for world class health care right in Brigham Circle and the whole medical area and doing God's work truly there. So I stand in support of this project and the jobs that it will bring for members of Local one hundred three. So thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, madam chair, members of the board. Tom Wood, a member, of Local seven of the Ironworkers, lifelong boss and resident. I know the area well. I'd like to thank, the proponents for doing the work, the hard work, and I rise in favor. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm going to take online. Pat Flaherty, you can unmute yourself. Pat, you need to unmute yourself.

Thank you. Thank you to the Board. My name is Pat Flaherty, and I am a resident of Calumet Street. And I'm also the Executive Director of Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services. Mission Hill NHS is in strong support of the proposed First Amendment to the PDA number 52 at Lund Brigham Circle to add clinical use as an allowed use up to 66,700 square feet on the 2nd And 3rd Floors, but not on the Ground Floor and excluding narcotic drug or alcohol treatment center location.

I wanted to say that the staff and board in Mission Hill, Maine with Housing Services, has met several times with the proponent, about this much needed modification. We have attended and participated in several community wide meetings, and we have executed an MOU with the proponent, as Joe indicated, to ensure that the concerns raised about the proposed amendment have been heard and the impacts will continue to be mitigated. Mission Hill NHS is a community based nonprofit development corporation, and we ran the original multiyear participatory planning process that resulted in Mission Hill's community the community's vision for 1 Brigham Circle and the adjacent Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park. We were actively involved in the purchase of the site from Harvard University, Harvard Medical School.

We ultimately put together the development and equity partnership that included, Mission Hill on the original development and ownership team. And although 1 Brigham Circle was sold fifteen years ago, Mission Hill NHS continues to have our office spaces here at this location. We continue to be co owners of, Fitzgerald Park, and we continue to work really closely with AEW, who we consider the new owners of Wumbergum Circle, and they've been here for fifteen years. Mission Hill NHS still sees ourselves as keepers of the community vision. We're especially concerned that the retail component stays vibrant.

Our grocery store stays open, our pharmacy, our neighborhood serving retail, and we believe the proposed amendment to the PDA is critical to the long term, viability of not only one Brigham Circle, but the entire, commercial center in Brigham Circle. From the very early planning process, it was clear that a mixed use, including office space, was necessary to serve as an economic engine for retail to be located at 1 Brigham Circle and to provide positive economic fallout for the surrounding commercial area on Huntington And Tremont Street. And for years, that's what happened. When Brigham and Women's nonpatient serving office space was here. There was a hustle and bustle of pedestrian activity to the areas area as workers, doctors, visitors crossed Brigham Circle, came here to shop, ate in our restaurants, utilized our retail.

And all of this changed in the post pandemic world when office space emptied out. That's true at the city of Boston, and it's true at 1 Brigham Circle. From our vantage point in our own offices here, we have seen the impact of empty and underutilized office space above us, fewer pedestrians, different and less diverse shoppers, fewer people crossing back

and forth.

Pat, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you've gone way past your two two minute time.

I'm I'm I apologize. I I was gonna get a warning, and I didn't see it. Just wanna say that as the original developers and the keepers of the community vision, we know that this change in use is critical to the vitality of our retail center in Mission Hill and we urge you to support.

Thank you. Chetan Green, you can unmute yourself.

Hello. Can you hear

me? Yes. We can.

Awesome. Good evening, everyone. My name is Shatom Green. I'm a lifelong Boston resident, also a business agent with the Boston Building Trade Unions. We represent thousands tens of thousands of members who live and work, right here in this area.

I, myself, I went to the elementary school up the street, the Farragut, Elementary School. And as a, union member, I also worked in a lot of the hospitals, whether building or servicing right in the area. We support this development. As was mentioned earlier, this was built all union over twenty years ago. And I can only imagine, you know, the workers that worked on that project, you know, working for a responsible contractor, what those benefits were, able to buy a, you know, buy a house in the area, support their families.

And it's good to see that, you know, developers, are holding that same responsibility to this day. So as the building trades, we support, this project. We believe it supports economic development for for not only, you know, for residents, but also people resident workers in the community. And, yeah, for that, we support we highly support this project. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chetan. Martin Beinborn, you can unmute yourself.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Martin Beinborn. I'm the President of the Community Alliance of Mission Hill, the local civic association of Mission Hill residents. Our group has met twice with the applicants for 1 Brigham Circle to discuss their proposal to add new health care clinical space in the existing building as presented. Like we came up with a number of stipulations that have been mentioned before, including precluded uses for addiction treatment, security measures, parking and traffic and the garage management. And in the end, we voted in strong support of the proposal with no opposing vote. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to testify this project either on Zoom or here in the boardroom? Madam Chair, this concludes the public hearing. Okay.

Thank you. We'll now move on to board members. Do you have any questions or comments?

Through the chair. For me, one Brigham is like the gateway to Mission Hill. My second job as a young apprentice was actually constructing this with Demio. So it definitely means a lot to me. But how quick times changes because, if I'm not mistaken, maybe six years ago, they renovated the office spaces on the 2nd And 3rd Floor as well. But I'm glad to see that, you know, the proponents are gonna try to put this to use and get this out on the market and keep this vibrant areas going. It cannot be empty spaces at 1 Brigham. So I appreciate your efforts.

Thank you.

The current businesses will continue to function while this is in process?

Yes. That's correct.

All the

retail yeah. Can you

move up to the microphone, please?

Yes, that's correct. All of the existing retail spaces will continue operating as is. This discussion is more just for the existing office space on Floors 23, And 4.

So Stop and Shop will not be disturbed?

Correct.

I shopped there.

And hopefully, we'll have more customers.

Yeah. I would just echo. I think many of us have an affinity for for 1 Brigham Circle. And I didn't realize that flower was coming into JP Lick, so that's good news for the neighborhood and bad news for my diet. But nevertheless, this is great. Thank you, Joe, your team to always engage with the community. That's special part of our city between Mission Maine and Mission Park and just some wonderful neighbors who literally live across the street or next to it. To be able to have access to what I'm sure will be high quality health care and health clinic is just wonderful. So I know that engagement will continue as things get built out. There isn't a tenant yet, you said, but obviously conversations are happening.

I would venture a guess. There may be some partnership with one of the area hospitals. So I would just say in some capacity I'm not looking to put you on the spot but with some of the garage parking they have perhaps there could be a good opportunity for staff to have some dedicated spots or something because obviously there will be a lot more parking than just with office space. Hope that happens.

Great. Any additional questions or comments? All right. Hearing and seeing none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Okay, next item.

Madam Chair, I will have to recuse myself.

Okay, that's great. Fine. Okay. This is a public hearing before the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as a Boston Planning and Development Agency being held in conformance with articles 88 dash two and eighty Dash 5 Boston zoning code to issue an adequacy determination pursuant to article 80 d of the Boston zoning code approving the first amendment to the Wentworth Institute of Technology 2024 through 2023 institutional master plan, and to petition the Boston Zoning Commission for the approval of the proposed first amendment and the associated map amendment and issue a preliminary adequacy determination waiving the requirements of further review in connection with the draft impact report for the Pike Residence Hall project filed by Wentworth Institute of Technology on 11/01/2025, and take all related actions. This hearing was duly advertised on 01/27/2026.

This is a BPDA hearing on a proposed petition by the agency. Staff members will first present their case and are subject to questioning by members of the agency. Thereafter, anyone who wishes to testify about the proposed project will be afforded an opportunity, and we are taking support and opposition at the same time. If you're planning to testify via Zoom, please take time now to verify that your computer microphone is active and click on the hand icon on your Zoom control panel. This will signify to the staff that you would like to speak.

When your virtual hand is raised, it will be blue. If you're calling into the meeting and would like to testify, please dial 9 to raise your hand. When I call for all testimony, staff will announce your name and allow you to talk. You must unmute your microphone and your webcam will not be active. If you're planning to testify in person in the boardroom, please line up behind the podium after the presentation is concluded and we will call on you. In an effort to accommodate all who would like to speak about this proposal, each person will be given up to two minutes to comment. BPA staff will indicate when thirty seconds remain. And at that time, please kindly conclude your remarks so that the hearing may continue and others may be heard. Finally, the are allowed a period of five to ten minutes for rebuttal if they desire. The open public meeting law requires that we ask if there is anyone in the audience who's recording this meeting.

If you are recording this meeting, please identify yourself now. Okay. Seeing none. And also, note that no demonstrations of approval or disapproval from members of the public are permitted during the meeting. So Nick, you can now begin a presentation.

Thank you, and good evening, madam chair, members of the board, and secretary Perjemus. I'm here before you to present the First Amendment to Wentworth Institute of Technology's twenty twenty four to two thousand thirty four Institutional Master Plan and the first project within the IMP, the Pike Residence Hall. The first amendment to Wentworth's IMP represents a significant enhancement to the vision approved last year. The amendment proposes strategic changes to three of the proposed institutional projects outlined in the 2024 IMP, namely the Pike Residence Hall, the West Quad Academic Building, now the West Quad Residence Hall, and the Huntington Dorm, now the Huntington Academic Building. These adjustments will add approximately $18.22 net new student housing beds to Wentworth's permanent on campus housing inventory, an increase of approximately 500 beds compared to the original 2024 IMP.

This significant expansion will enable Wentworth to house approximately 75% to 85% of its students on campus at the end of the ten year IMP cycle, up from approximately 55% today. This IMP will also allow Wentworth to provide significantly more beds on campus sooner than anticipated in the original IMP, giving Wentworth the ability to house students on campus while building new housing or renovating existing housing, improving public realm, creating a residential cluster in the center of campus, and the opportunity to build a signature academic building Avenue. The Pike Residence Hall before you for approval tonight represents the first project to move forward under this IMP. Replacing a surface parking lot and eliminating approximately 181 parking spaces, the new dorm will provide nine seventy two student beds, unlocking additional development potential for Wentworth and eventually housing the entire first year class. The dorm will also provide new Ground Floor amenities, including dining facilities, student life facilities, and a new signature courtyard that will be programmed to showcase student work on campus.

The proposed project includes significant upgrades to existing public realm, as well as new pedestrian connectivity. The People's Pike, an important East West pedestrian connection that connects Wentworth campus to MassArt, Huntington Ave, and Parker Street, will be improved with the project, making it more active, accessible, and welcoming throughout all four seasons. The Pike Residence Hall will also create a new North South pedestrian corridor, a 20 to 36 foot wide pedestrian pathway connecting Ruggle Street to the Pike, greatly enhancing connectivity for both Wentworth community and the broader neighborhood. Wentworth will also be providing significant dollars towards the upgrade and design of Ruggle Street, will include a new bus shelter and improved pedestrian experience on Ruggle Street. This work will total approximately $1,000,000 The First Amendment to Wentworth's Institutional Master Plan and Pike Residence Hall represents a bold vision for the future, one that prioritizes student success, environmental sustainability, and neighborhood connectivity by housing more students on campus and reducing pressure on Boston's rental housing market, eliminating parking and investing in public transit and creating new open spaces and pedestrian connections.

Before I turn to Alana Hames from Planning and the Wentworth team, I want to mention that this project also represents a success for the new review process. Utilizing our new tools, the review staff were able to deliver timely feedback reviewing the project in just six months, allowing Wentworth to begin construction this year. Thank you and Elana will now take you through the planning context.

Thanks Nick. Good evening Chair Roas, Director Shen, Secretary Polymus, members of the Board. My name is Elana Hames I'm the planner assigned to this project. As Nick mentioned, this IMP makes changes to three of the six approved PIPs and seeks Article 80B approval for one of the amended projects. We'll stay on this slide.

The proposed IMP amendment continues to align with existing citywide planning initiatives. Other changes to the IMP through the amendment include the continued development of an open space framework, a strong civic identity, and an inclusive campus. The Wentworth campus forms an important connection between the Emerald Necklace Park system and the Southwest Corridor. The proposed front lawn from the approved IMP and the redesign of the pike in this amendment work towards the goal of connecting the emerald necklace to other systems as outlined in the city's twenty twenty three to 2029 open space and recreation plan. Changes to the Pike Residence Hall also better support the Avenue Of The Arts design guidelines for Huntington Avenue through setbacks from the public realm.

Changes to the PIPs, including the iterations on the Pike Residence Hall, resulted in an increase in sunlight hours to the open spaces on campus and less than two hours maximum shadow per day on the opposite sidewalk, key goals of those design guidelines. The IMP continues to align with other citywide plans, such as housing a changing city, Boston 2030, through the amendment by netting an additional approximately 500 student beds, as Nick also mentioned, compared to the approved IMP, tying into the goal of creating 16,000 new undergraduate dorm beds for Boston colleges and universities by 2030. Projects completed under this IMP, including the Pike Residence Hall, will continue to undergo post board design review at the planning department during which process staff will continue to address wind mitigation, programming and planting of open space for year round use, and transportation elements. Thank you and I will turn it over to the development team to present in more detail.

Good evening. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. We're so happy to be here. I want to start. My name is Mac Gruber.

I am the SVP for Finance and Administration at Wentworth. I just want to start by thanking our community partners, particularly our Wentworth task force for their input and continued partnership as we work to improve both Wentworth and the community that we are proud to be a part of. I want to send a special thank you to the city planning staff and other members of city staff, given the time frame that we were under and the effort that we made to work together, it was a real collaborative approach. And I think, as Nick mentioned, a demonstration of what Article 80 modernization and real partnership amongst institutions and the city can provide. We're super excited to provide some additional information about institutional master plan amendment as well as the new dorm project.

The new project will unlock and the new IMP will unlock enormous opportunities for Wentworth, including the addition of nine seventy two beds in roughly two years, which will allow us to house our first year class. Our students retain and persist better when they live on campus. We can create additional amenities for us and for the community, including the changes to open realm public realm and open space. And so I would just like to say thank you to everyone. And I will turn it over to Matt Pierce, who is our design lead for the project.

Thank you, Matt. Good evening, members of the board. I wanted to first start echoing some of Matt's comments. I think we had a really fruitful collaboration both with planning staff and with the Civic Design Commission, which both together I think brought really diverse perspectives to bear on the project and their different expertise to get us to the result that I think allows this project, both these projects to reach their greatest potential as contributions to the urban fabric of the city. We'll first start off with the IMP amendment and then move on to the large large project review.

The area indicated in the blue outline on the plan on the screen is the limitation of the amendment to the master plan which affects as Nick explained about three buildings within the larger campus master plan. Next slide. On the left hand side is the plan from 2024. The right hand side, the proposed IMP amendment. As Nick described, on the left hand side on the 2024 plan slide, that building on Huntington Avenue at that time was seen as a residential building and the academic building was to the right on the quad and the Pike Residence Hall to the south.

And one of the major changes with the IMP amendment is the switch to an academic use on Huntington Avenue, which provides Wentworth a great presence on the Avenue Of The Arts and I think is very appropriate to the way that the other important institutions both educational and the arts also engage with the avenue. That also triggered a change to the landscape design. And looking back at all the recorded meetings from the process reviewing the 2024 IMP, there were some parts of the landscape design that still merited further improvements that we feel like we're in reconfiguring these two buildings and also the larger footprint of the new Pike Residence Hall, we're able to also address some of those reservations about the landscape design and really improve that through this process as well. Next slide. In the 2024 master plan, there was a landscape framework that was established that established four different types of outdoor spaces that were part of a palette of landscape within the Wentworth campus and that framework still holds true in the amendment to the IMP.

The parts that are affected by the amendment are shown in blue on the left where it says recharge and that was a place where there was in the twenty twenty four one larger open space that sort of connected to the Pike but then wrapped around the north side of the Pike Residence Hall and that has been broken into two spaces for recharge and for relaxation that are now both connected to the pedestrian pike and get great solar access as well. Next slide. This is a section cutting through that pike looking to the north. And it really shows how we've organized and with a lot of work together with the planning staff and the BCDC, the organization of this ensemble of buildings on the skyline and also the kind of cadence of alternating open space building, open space building in a way that's going to create a really exciting pedestrian experience along this important pedestrian connector. And as I mentioned, on either side of the Pike Residence Hall taking what was once an open space that wrapped around to the north side of the building was largely in shade, turning that into two spaces that connect directly to the pedestrian pike, bring activity to the pike and also get great solar access as well.

This is a Ground Floor plan of the amendment to the IMP. In purple are shown spaces on the Ground Floor that are academic uses. The orange spaces are student commons or student lounge spaces, social spaces on the Ground Floor that will really activate the landscape. And the salmon colored spaces, the dining on the Ground Floor which will be open to the broader academic community. And I think two really important aspects on this macro scale plan to point out was again the work on really activating the pike, figuring out how best to interface between those new open spaces in the pike and also between the building and the pike to create a nice zone to transition from the space of sort of the thoroughfare, the movement, the walking portion of the pike to creating these transition zones for people to hang out, activate the entries to the building, and also the improvement to the North South connection between Ruggles Street and the pike, which is much more clear now than I think what was shown in the 2024 IMP and really successfully orchestrates the interaction between pedestrians in a real pedestrian first environment and manages the interactions with vehicles, greatly reduces the number of cars on the surface of the site and also that we're entering the site.

The 2024 IMP had an underground garage with a capacity of, I believe, 180 cars. Now there are 17 surface parking spaces. So we're bringing pedestrians through the site. There's a great reduction in the amount of vehicular traffic. And then a lot of coordination in minimizing the amount of loading area and really sequestering that off so that it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of the open space to the south and also to the pedestrian movements between Ruggles and the Pike.

Next. If we zoom in, you can see the Ground Floor, the pink areas inside of the building are those student spaces with the dining on the left hand side, the student commons on the right hand side. And we worked really closely again with staff and the BCDC to create a strong relationship between those interior uses and those interior activities and the outdoor spaces, the landscape spaces that they are the backdrop for. So there's a courtyard on the left hand side between the Pike Residence Hall and the MassArt Treehouse. There will be a very flexible open space.

It has a pervious, permeable stone surface that is very flexible for furniture layout for that supporting outdoor dining in conjunction with the dining hall. It also is a place that people are passing through as well from Huntington Avenue through to the Pike. Then on the right hand side, a complimentary courtyard with a lawn adjacent to the Pike. And both of those spaces were really studied carefully in terms of the environmental conditions and the shadows that will be cast by the buildings to position the tree canopies to the north end of those spaces where there will be more shadow from the buildings and then pulling back the tree canopy at the south side where you get more solar access. And again really creating a zone of interaction along between the Pike and the Pike Residence Hall and those courtyards.

Next. Next slide. There we go. And this is the same plan in Phase one at the time of the completion of the Pike Residence Hall before the Huntington Academic Building comes online and the Quad Residence Hall. So same courtyard to the left that is the part of the Phase one and that North South connection importantly too will be part of that first phase and is basically designed to create a great pedestrian connection both in this first phase with those existing buildings to the right and in the phases when there's an open space, a courtyard to the right and also the Quad Residence Hall.

Next. Looking at the massing of the buildings, this was something that also we looked at quite carefully and discovered the relationship it's pretty consistent throughout the length of Huntington Avenue where that diagonal cuts through against the grid of the neighborhoods. And generally what happens is the buildings that are set back from Huntington Avenue fall into that city grid, the neighborhood grid, which is what we have done with these buildings, which all essentially are long linear buildings that are parallel with the MassArt Treehouse. And you get the sort of alternating building in open space, but also they kind of slide and forth north and south relative to one another to create a really lively skyline. We worked quite a bit also with planning staff on the heights of the Pike Residence Hall, which has two wings that sort of break down the scale of the building and accentuating the different heights between those to create some hierarchy on the skyline.

And finally the Huntington Avenue Academic Building, the upper tower will align with the neighborhood grid and the MassArt Treehouse while the base, the lower 80 feet of the building will align with Huntington Avenue and reinforce the street edge in the way that's consistent with the Avenue Of The Arts guidelines. Next. Two views looking both east and west on Huntington Avenue and you can see where the Pike Residence Hall becomes parallel with the face of the MassArt Treehouse. And on the right hand side looking south, the variation in height of that Pike Residence Hall that creates a little negative space on the skyline and some hierarchy between the future academic building and the residence hall. Next.

And views from the south looking to the north from Ward Street, the view on the right hand side I think really illustrates well that that relationship between the parallel towers with MassArt Treehouse on the left hand side, the academic building in the center, and then the two layered Pike Residence Hall to the right. Next. So that concludes the amendment to the IMP and now we'll move on to the large project review for the Pike Residence Hall. And a few highlights, I think some others have mentioned a few of these. Nine seventy two student beds in this building, which is up from 400 in the original IMP.

And that really the goal the reason for that was a goal of housing the entire first year class in one kind of foundational experience. So they all get the same experience, that relationship building that will help them make connections that help with their student success throughout their academic career at Wentworth. That Pike Residence Hall includes a campus dining on the Ground Floor open to the larger academic community, an admission center, student lounges on all floors including the Ground Floor, all floors of the building and the Top Floor, Ground Floor bicycle room, a substantial reduction in the number of parking spaces, reduction of 181 spaces on-site. And along with that a reduction in impervious surface between the new building obviously being pervious, but the courtyard space being a pervious surface. And finally the improvements to the pedestrian connections both along the pike and between Ruggles and the pike.

Next. We have a few ground level views walking around the public realm around the building and this is a view from that courtyard on the west hand side between the tree house would be off the screen to your left. And in the foreground here or the building in the foreground, that's the two story dining pavilion. It's very transparent. The entry is off of this courtyard to really activate bring people through the courtyard and activate that space.

And there's sort of a warm base to the building and the curtain wall mullions that weaves its way up through the precast concrete facade as you move up through the building. And this is where we also have that pervious stone surface that's very flexible and allows for flexibility in arrangement of seating and also I think as Matt mentioned or Nick mentioned earlier, a place for displaying student work within the courtyard. Next. As we move around to the Pike, the dining is on the left hand side, the student Ground Floor commons is on the right hand side. And this is where we really spent a lot of time trying to calibrate the right relationship between the frontage of the building on the Pike and the kind of thoroughfare of where people are walking on the Pike which is such an active space space and created this interstitial zone.

So it's really the front porch of the residence hall where people can stop and engage, see their friends coming by and that can become a really active edge along this pike. And looking back towards Huntington Avenue, again with that interstitial zone between the kind of walking zone on the left hand side, the planted and bench seating zone in the center and then that two story student commons to the right. Next. If we swing around to, this is the future east open space, the East courtyard. This is where the two story pavilion for the student commons on the Ground Floor is very transparent, looks out onto that space.

Has the 2nd Floor admission space that also looks out. So it would be a great reciprocal relationship between the interior activity of the space and the future courtyard and lawn. Next. Then in this view looking north towards Ruggle Street, this is that pedestrian connection that think is very clear and really pedestrian focused and prioritizes the pedestrian experience. Minimum 20 feet wide, on the left hand side you see the activation of the student commons through the glass.

Next. The overall plan similar to what was in the same as what was in the IMP, again accentuating in this first phase where those existing buildings remain. We do still have that North South connection in the first phase between Ruggles and The Pike. Next. And zooming in on the relationship between those interior spaces and the landscape in the first phase before the future West Quad residential building.

Next. And then the materiality of the campus that informed the design of the residence hall, some of the more neutral tones of the more modern buildings combined with the warmth of some of the historic buildings on the campus. Next. That weave together to create this combination of a very textural and finely crafted facade that we think is representative of the unique culture of Wentworth in making and construction and emblematic identity for them on the skyline. Next.

A view looking west on Huntington Avenue, Sweeney Field is to your left, MassArt is in the center. Next. And finally looking back towards Huntington Avenue from the Pike. Next. So in summary, a few of the major benefits of both the IMP amendment and the Pike Residence Hall.

Again, the creation of nearly 1,000 student beds, which will free up capacity residential capacity within the neighborhood. The contribution to student success with this holistic first year experience for all the students. The shift in location of the academic building to Huntington Avenue creating that great academic presence on the Avenue Of The Arts. And the improvement to the south facing open spaces connecting to the Pike and activating it. And finally the improvement of the connectivity of the public realm both within the campus and as it reaches out to the colleges of Fenway and beyond. And that concludes our presentation.

Okay, great. Thank you. As

this is a public hearing, hearing. We're now going to take public testimony. So if you'd like to testify in person, please step up to the podium and announce your name, affiliation, and your position on the proposed project. And if you are on Zoom and would like to testify, please raise your virtual hand now.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shaim, Maina Perez, Executive Director for the Carpenters Labor Management Program. Once again, thank you for all the hard work you do in helping moving the development in the city forward. It is with great pleasure I'm representing thousands of my members and dozens of general contractors and subcontractors that built the city of Boston to support this great institution. Our members have joined work opportunities at Wentworth. And thank you for hiring responsible employers all the time.

But also, we participate in continuing education programs where many of our members have obtained their bachelor's, several of them their master's. And Wentworth has shown to be a true partnership of the community. Because of that, we are here with pleasure to support this project. And I will take a minute to say thanks to the office of Mayor Wu for allowing the community to be part of the process. Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. My name is Daniel Dailey, lifelong Boston resident. I just want to say the young minds that are nourished at Wentworth Institute, a wonderful place, will go on to shape and design and build the city of Boston's future. So to reflect what Miner said, my local union one hundred three has a partnership with Wentworth Institute that gives young electricians and old electricians pathways to get electrical engineering degrees at a very affordable price. They've been a great partner with the city of Boston for my whole lifetime. So I strongly support this project and, and appreciate this process. Thank you.

Madam chair, members of the board, Tom Ward, lifelong boss and resident. I obtained a welding degree a long time ago at Wentworth. They've always built everything good down there. Good means union and, good union jobs, support a family, pay a mortgage, pay your taxes. I'd like to thank the group and, I rise in favor. Thank you.

Tony Ardley, you can unmute yourself.

Thank you, members of the Board, Madam Chair and Secretary Polymus. My name is Tom Yardley. I'm Vice President of Area Planning and Development for Longwood Collective. We're a nonprofit representing 22 members in the Longwood Medical and Academic area, including the proponent. Thanks for the presentation.

We're here to express our strong support for the project under the institutional master plan amendment. This includes the Pike Residence Hall, which has been explained will allow first year class to be accommodated on campus and relieve pressure on neighborhood housing by reducing student housing demand off campus. We note that under the amended IMP, these changes are relatively minor. The proposed plan is very transformational to the campus and I think it will be a great addition to the neighborhood. The replacement of the previously proposed student residence hall with the Huntington Academic Building will create a presence on Huntington Avenue and help enlighten the street level.

I think that's a very good move. The elimination of the underground parking will reduce conflicts with this heavily pedestrianized area, especially on Ruggle Street, which is a heavily traveled gateway into Longwood and restricting vehicles to right turn only helps mitigate some of the congestion challenges that can happen in the neighborhood. We urge the Board to approve the project as currently proposed. Since the earlier draft of the IMP was filed some time ago, the development climate has become very challenging despite these difficulties. We congratulate City Planning staff and Wentworth and its team to finding a path forward that meets the IMP goals and mitigates impacts to local housing.

Wentworth is a long trusted partner and neighbor to Mission Hill residents providing scholarships, merit based aid and running the Boston Pipeline Careers Initiative amongst many other great neighborhood sort of contributions. So thank you for the opportunity to comment and we're excited to see this project move forward.

Thank you. Pat Flaherty, you can unmute yourself.

Thank you. My name is Pat Flaherty, and I'm a resident of Mission Hill, and I'm the Executive Director of Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services. I have represented Mission Hill NHS on the Wentworth Task Force for many years now, and we would like to go on record in strong support of the IMP amendment and the Pike Dorm project. The IMP amendment really, demonstrates the commitment of Wentworth, to the city of Boston and the Mission Hill community, of its commitment to on campus housing and moving students out of our residential family housing. We commend Wentworth for modifying the INT to put forth as its first project such a large on campus student housing development, replacing a 400 bed dorm with a 972 bed dorm core to its campus.

This is very important to the Mission Hill community, and, hopefully, at some point, we will be taking back housing for families again on Mission Hill. We truly appreciate Wentworth's partnership with the Mission Hill neighborhood and its willingness to take time to listen to its abutters, to understand its neighbor neighbor's concerns and needs, and to go back to the drawing board when necessary. It's a true iterative process with the community. And Mission Hill NHS would like to urge you to support the Wentworth Institutional Master Plan Amendment and the 900 and 972 bed pipe dawn project. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Pat. Chetan Green, you can unmute yourself. Hey.

Good evening. Thank you, members of the board, madam chair. Appreciate the facilitation of these, highly important meetings and for community voice and worker voices to just be heard. I'm a lifelong Boston resident, agent with the building trades, and we represent tens of thousands of of members and their families who live and work, right here in the area. I think it's important that when we talk about, economic development that we mentioned apprenticeships.

Right? Apprenticeships ensure that you know, especially union apprenticeships ensure that workers have a voice on the job, but also have access to training. They also have access to health care and retirement benefits. Right? And as a young worker, sometimes you may not know these opportunities exist to you, but, what responsible partners and contractors, such as Wentworth, the community can benefit hugely hugely to the development that's going on, as well as, you know, not everyone is gonna be a college student, although there are still opportunities for workers to still, have pathways into into colleges like Wentworth.

But, we just need good opportunities, good opportunities that give you the confidence to think about, you know, buying a house, raising a family, things of that nature. So, we we are in full support of this, project, the IND amendment, as well as the large project review, and, we just look forward to the continued great work that's gonna happen, to do this partnership. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chetan. Is there anybody either on Zoom or in the boardroom who would like to testify about this project? Madam this concludes the public hearing.

Okay. Thank you. We'll now move on to, board members. Any questions or comments from the board?

Through the chair, I'll brief. Quick question for the height. How tall is the building, stories or feet, whatever?

I can't remember if you tell. What's the exact height in the end?

Well, how many stories?

Two zero two feet. Two zero two feet.

About 18, okay. Eighteen, nineteen stories. That's good. I think the Pike Building, it's a beautiful building. And I've definitely heard from you and I've heard from people speaking that the Mr. Hill Fenway area, it's great to see some relief, you know, on so families have an opportunity to stay or come back to the Mitchell Hill area. I love what all the colleges are doing in there and getting the students into dorms. So, I appreciate, your thoughtfulness in the construction construction as well. Responsible contractors is always my plight. So thank you very much. That's all I have.

Okay. Additional questions or comments?

Madam Chair, just briefly, first of all, congratulations to Wentworth on what seems like a really thoughtful process. It's great to see when the proponents' goals and the community's goals and the city's goals all all are the same. And so just appreciation, appreciation for all of the extra dorm beds. That's a significant addition

to the inventory, not only at Wentworth, but throughout the city. And I just my experience is, Wentworth does a really nice job with the community and so they should be commended for that. Thank you.

Thank you. Additional questions or comments? I, too, don't want to be repetitive, but just echo the gratitude for prioritizing the housing first and that connector first as being your priorities on this IMP. We really, really appreciate that. And yes, when all of our goals are aligned, it's really great. And again, appreciate your partnership with organizations like our union groups and other initiatives that you have with residents of Boston.

Appreciate that.

Good. Through the chair. One, I have to say too. I grew up in the area, and I still when I'm mostly coming back to Mission Hill, it's usually something that Wentworth is holding. Last time I was there, not that long ago, was a youth build graduation. Graduation.

Oh, Oh, yeah. Yeah.

And, you guys do a ton of things for the neighborhood, as everyone said. So I just want to make sure I said that. And I hope, please continue doing what you guys are doing.

Okay. All right. If there are no other questions or comments, I believe a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Congratulations. Good luck. And thank you.

Thank you very much.

We'll let people clear out. And that was the final item on the agenda before the director's remarks. All right, thanks everyone. Okay, Director Chen, the floor is yours.

Members of the Board, I want to start my report by just saying how excited we are here. We are how excited we are about the launching of the Planning Academy that you got a presentation on. We're hoping that this program is not only going to be educational, but also a fun and interactive learning experience for our residents, so that they can become more involved and informed in our planning processes and then become effective advocates for what they want to see in their neighborhoods. The application is of course live and you heard today that we have more than 60 applicants already for a cohort of about 25. And we are looking forward for to identifying the first cohort and establishing this as a way of supporting our residents and gaining the tools, knowledge and confidence to have a voice in planning the future of our city.

I have to recognize in particular, Diana Fernandez and her team and Caroline in actually really working through the curriculum. Actually eight meetings to try to do a introduction to planning and development is really a great challenge. We just had a very successful public hearing on Wentworth tonight to advance the amendment to the institutional master plan. The amendment includes a larger reimagined residence hall that will deliver five seventy two rooms more than the original master plan. So it will deliver just under 1,000 new rooms in a single building, more beds that were originally envisioned.

And this of course will further alleviate some of the burden on of students on existing housing stock in the Fenway and Mission Hill area and reduce the number of students from Wentworth living off campus. As part of the amendment, Wentworth has also agreed to improve the current East West pedestrian path known as the People's Pike and connecting it to other Longwood institutions in the area. There was also a new North South connector connecting Ruggle Streets to the Pike that will strengthen access to public transportation on Ruggle Streets and a Ruggle station. This by the way, I think it was sort of mentioned, but is really the first institutional master plan that underwent modernized Article ADC process. And it was actually, I think the shortest institutional master plan amendment that we've done in a while and a showcase of the success that we've been having in sort of streamlining our processes.

The Board approved two certificates of completion tonight. The first project is Parcel 12, which is the air rights development at the Back Bay, right at the intersection of Boylston Street and Newbury Street and Mass Ave. Some people think of it as the car guru In addition to the beautiful Air Rights Plaza that was I think some of the most dynamic lighting for the Christmas season. This project delivered $4,200,000 of linkage funding towards affordable housing and just over $800,000 in linkage funding to job training. In addition to some of the public realm improvements, there were series of monetary contributions made $75,000 to supporting planning, design, permitting, construction and or maintenance needs for the improvements to Charles Gate Park, dollars 75,000 to the Boston Parks and Recreation Department's Fund for programming and improvements to Symphony Park, dollars 50,000 to the Boston Street Improvement Fund for maintenance improvements and beautification efforts along Boston Street and $20,000 to the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee for costs associated with lighting of statues on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

The second project is the Building A in Austin Yards near Boston Landing over in Brighton. The creation this project created the Austin Community Green. It contributed $40,000 to the Parks Department. It's also making annual contributions to support a neighborhood shuttle that will travel to different parts of the neighborhood in collaboration with the Austin Brighton Transportation Management Association. And then there's actually the project contributed $1,250,000 to support people actually looking to buy homes in the Austin Brighton area.

I'm going to end my report by just providing a short summary of the approved projects tonight. There were two new development projects that were approved, totaling 33 new residential units, which were all income restricted. Of course, we've already described the large nine seventy two dorm beds that's part of the Pike Residence Hall. These projects will amount to 270,000 square foot of development that will represent approximately $260,000,000 of private investment. Investment.

Constructed during construction, it will create two fifty construction jobs and that will also generate 125 indirect jobs as part of the project. That concludes my report for tonight. And thank you again.

Thank you.

And finally, I need a motion to adjourn this meeting.

I move that we adjourn our meeting. I second that motion.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much, everyone, and we'll see you next month.

Thank you. Thank you.

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