Bpda Board of Directors - Regular Meeting

Afternoon. My name is Raheem Shepherd. I am vice chair of the BPDA board. Sitting in for chair Rojas who will join us part of the meeting. Thank you for joining the 05/14/2026 economic development and industrial corporation of Boston 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 Boston City TV. 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 part of the city of Boston office of cable communications at Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and Verizon Files channel 962, and livestreamed at www.boston.gov/cable.

If there is anyone in the audience who is recording this meeting, please identify yourself now. With that, we will start off with a roll call. Miss Bennett?

Present.

Mister O'Malley? Here. Not at this one. So then Anne chair is present. Thank you very much. Item number one, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of the 04/16/2026 board meeting.

So moved.

Second. There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Item number two, request authorization to enter to a license agreement with the MassBay Brewing Company Inc for use of Parcels S 3 And S 2 in the Raymond L Flynn Marine Park to host an outdoor hospitality space and to allow Hubsports Boston adult sports leagues from 05/15/2026 through 12/31/2026. Maureen.

Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. Harpoon has been a tenant of the BPDA since 1987 and is located at 306 Northern Avenue in the Raymond Aufland Marine Park. Since 2020, the BPDA Board has approved annual license agreements to temporarily change the permitted use of Parcel S3 and a portion of Parcel S2 of the Harpoon leasehold area into an outdoor hospitality space, as well as permitting the hosting of Hub Sports Boston, Adult Sports Leagues, and Pickleball. Currently, BPDA staff has entered into a thirty day license agreement to assist Harpoon with reopening the hospitality space as soon as possible.

Harpoon understands that the thirty day license shall only be extended and made operable for the terms and conditions substantially consistent with the board memo and term sheet included here upon board approval. The license shall commence May 15 and expire on 12/31/2026. Fixed rent shall be calculated at 13.75% of all gross revenue collected from all activities on Parcel S2 And S3. Additionally, during each of the Harpoon's allowed festival weekends per their lease agreement, Harpoon shall be allowed to temporarily close the hospitality space and include Parcel S2 And S3 as part of the festival area. Harpoon will not be required to pay a fixed rent of 13.75% of all gross revenue for each of the festival weekends.

PPDA staff recommends that the director be authorized to enter into a license agreement with Harpoon to operate an outdoor hospitality space on Parcel S3 And S2 in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park during 2026. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you Maureen. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you again.

Item number three, request authorization to enter into a license agreement with the Massachusetts Port Authority for use of the BPDA owned, BPDA owned sidewalks within the Raymond L Flynn Marine Park for the installation of wayfinding signage for a period of three years commencing 06/01/2026 and ending 05/31/2029 with two one year term renewal options. Maureen?

Thank you. Several large major events have been scheduled to take place in the city of Boston in 2026, including but not limited to the FIFA World Cup and Sail Boston. Sail Boston will feature an international fleet of tall ships celebrating the two hundred

and fiftieth anniversary of the United States. The event is expected to draw millions of visitors to Boston.

The festivities will kick off on July 11 with the grand parade of sail, followed by free tall shipboardings and events hosted across the seaport, Boston Harbor, and the Raymond Elfland Marine Park. Currently, the Raymond Elfland Marine Park in the South Boston Waterfront lack a cohesive pedestrian way finding system. Massport has recently approached BPDA staff to propose a system of stanchions which will serve as way finding signs across the area and within the Raymond Offlin Marine Park to direct the millions of pedestrians expected to visit the city during the twenty twenty six events. Massport has proposed 20 stanchions at critical pedestrian decision points with four stanchions being positioned within the Raymond Offlin Marine Park. One at Summer Street at Drydock Ave, one at Harbor Street at Drydock Ave, one at Harbor Street at Northern Ave, and the fourth at Drydock Ave at Design Center Place.

All stanchions and locations must be approved by BPPDA staff and all installations, maintenance, and removal shall be in accordance with existing BPDA standards. Operationally, the City Of Boston, Massport, and BPDA will benefit from the proposed way finding signs, which will assist unexpected influx of visitors in locating local attractions, including but not limited to the Harbor Walk, Menino Convention and Exhibition Center, and the Flynn Cruise Port. Massport intends to install and maintain at Massport's sole cost and expense the stanchions prior to the commencement of the large major events that is scheduled. Due to the mutually beneficial nature of the Massport funded signage, no fee is proposed. The proposed license shall be for three years commencing on 06/01/2026 and expiring on 05/31/2029 with two single additional one year option terms that may be that may be exercised at the sole discretion of the b p of the PPDA director.

Staff recommends that the director be authorized to enter into a license agreement between the EDIC and Massport for the use of BPDA owned sidewalks within the Raymond Alphlin Marine Park for the installation of wayfinding sites. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. This is these are two great things going on for the city of Boston with the anniversary of the country and the World Cup of soccer. So that's great to have, some representation in Boston. With that, are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, what's the pleasure of the body? Excuse me. Is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you. Item number four, request authorization to extend the lease agreement with the city of Boston's transportation department to use the Suite 50501 at 12 Channel Street for a period of five years commencing 08/01/2026 and ending 07/31/2031 with one five year term renewal option. Maureen?

Thank you. BPDA currently occupies Suite 501, which is approximately 4,895 square feet of space located on the 5th Floor Of 12 Channel Street. In 2016, the BPDA board approved a five year lease to be used as ancillary office space. In 2021, the BPDA Board approved a three year lease extension with two one year option terms, which are now scheduled to expire on 07/31/2026. Staff is now proposing a five year extension that will commence on 08/01/2026 and expire on 07/31/2031 with one five year option term that may be exercised at the sole discretion of the PPDA director.

Due to the public service nature of this occupancy, no license fee is being proposed. However, BTD pays Eversource for all electricity used in the suite. Staff is recommending that the director be authorized to enter into the license agreement the lease agreement, excuse me, with BTD for Suite 501 at 12 Channel Street for a five year term with the five year option term. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing it and hearing none, is there a motion in order?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank

you. Thank you.

Item number five, request authorization to execute a contract renewal for black for Blackbaud for the NXT, excuse me, cloud recording system for a period of twelve months commencing 05/07/2026 and ending 05/06/2027. And for a total contract amount not to exceed 64,940 and 10¢. Michelle.

Good afternoon Vice Chair Shepherd, members of the Board, Secretary Pohimas, Chief Shent. My name is Michelle Goldberg. I'm the Director of Finance in the City Planning Department for the BPDA. While much of the agency's operational business is being managed through city systems, the BPDA still needs to maintain financial systems for its remaining business activity. Currently, there are four different business units within financial edge, the BRA, the EDIC, OWD, and BLDC.

I won't explain the acronyms. Each one of them requires a different accounting standard. We include accrual accounting, intergovernmental accounting, nonprofit accounting, and grant accounting. Blackbaud specializes in the unique needs of these types of entities and remains the preferred provider. Technology changes rapidly and we reserve the right to review our needs on an annual basis to ensure alignment. Therefore, we seek your authorization to enter into a one year agreement with Blackbaud for financial ed services. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you.

You. Item number six, request authorization to amend a contract with South Coast Improvement Company to complete canopy and platform report, excuse me, repairs at 12 Channel Street in the Raymond L Flynn Marine Park to extend the construction completion date to October 2026 and to increase the contract amount not to exceed 726,800 for a total contract amount of 5,496,774 and 10¢. Sandra.

Thank you members of the board. I'm here today to request authorization to amend the construction contract with South Coast Improvement Company for the 12 platforming canopy repair project. This is located in the Raymond Elfin Marine Park. This matter was before you last in December of for the first time in December 2024 for the initial contract award and again in January I'm sorry, January 2026 for his First Amendment. As a reminder, 12 Channel is a nine story masonry building constructed in 1941 for the U.

S. Navy. It features a loading dock platform and concrete awning that wraps around the building and it supports critical tenant operations including shipping, receiving, and building egress. The project addresses the deterioration caused by prolonged exposure to marine and harsh weather conditions, including pulp concrete and corroded reinforcing steel. Since our last amendment, we have encountered additional deterioration in the East Loading Dock, specifically within the existing wall full slab construction.

The deterioration has progressed and to maintain the structural integrity, more deck panels must be replaced than we originally anticipated. To ensure structural integrity of the platform, our project engineer, Gail Associates, has recommended a more robust replacement system in the project. This includes a design shift and transitioning from a current waffle slab construction to a thicker slab design. It also incorporates use of epoxy coated reinforcing steel and wire mesh. And for long term protection, it's including a specialized waterproofing system and it will be added to minimize the long term marine climate damage.

Additionally, due to earlier unforeseen repairs to the canopy supports, the project schedule extended into fall and winter months requiring cold weather protection measures which have increased project costs. We are requesting a 15% increase of $726,800 This figure does include a 15% contingency to cover the approved change orders. This amendment will bring the final contract amount to $5,496,774 Given the importance of maintaining the functional loading and egress conditions for the tenants, These upgrades represent a necessary investment to ensure the long term performance, safety, resilience of the structure. Thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Are there any questions or comments from the Board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you. Item

number seven, personnel. Mike. Thank you, vice chair, members of

the board, madam secretary, and director Shen. We have a number of items for your consideration on the EDIC agenda with the exact details included in the board memos. We have one status change in the administration division, Michelle Goldberg, chief procurement officer. We have one contract in the director's office, Brian Awe. We have seven internships in the communications division, Matthew Hauke.

In the Real Estate Division, Lucy Atkinson, Alison Regrisen, and Shane Lundergen. In the Urban Design Division, Vashita Gourla. And in the Development Review Division, Molly Peng and Jack Deneen. Also, in November 2024, the Salaried Employees of North America, also known as CINA, division of the United Steel Paper and Forestry Rubber Manufacturing Energy Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL CIO CLC, was elected by the majority of an identified unit of EDIC employees as their representative for the purpose of collective bargaining. After a period of negotiations, the union and management reached a tentative agreement that was unanimously approved by the membership.

This agreement is a one year initial contract that covers a period of 07/01/2025 through 06/30/2026. This initial contract outlines the terms and conditions of employment and maintains existing work rules and practices, including hours of work, sick time, vacation time, personal and parental leave, holidays, and residency requirements. And also health care will continue to be provided in its current manner. We are asking for a vote to approve the collective bargaining agreement between EDIC and the salaried employees of North America, CINA, and related expenses retroactively effective to 07/01/2025. And I'll answer any questions you may have.

Thank you. Just the regular vote or yes, just making sure. All right, are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you. Thank you.

Asking for a motion to adjourn the EDIC meeting.

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Alright. Thank you for joining the 05/14/2026 Boston Redevelopment Authority Board meeting. At this time, the Boston Planning and Development Agency is hosting a public meeting 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, Boston City TV. At the time at the same time, excuse me.

For more information and updates, visit bostonplans.org. Open public meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded. Please be aware that an audio and a visual recording of this meeting is being made in the broadcast by Boston City TV, which is part of the Boston City of Boston office of cable communication at Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and Verizon Files channel 962, and live livestream at wwwboston.gov/cable. If there is anyone in the audience that is recording this meeting, please identify yourself now. Thank you.

And we will start this meeting with the roll call of officers. Ms.

Bennett? Present.

Mr. O'Malley? Here. And myself, the chair, is present. Thank you. Today, we definitely have a special guest. Thank you for being live in person. Counselor Durkin, if you have anything to say, please come to the mic.

Well, usually, I address, the board and say, dear chair Rojas, but dear vice chair Shepard and members of the board. And famously, I'm very close with Director Shen, so great to see you. As District eight City Councilor, I'm I'm speaking in support of the West End Library redevelopment, which is a huge opportunity for the city and the mayor's office of housing. I wanna thank Sheila Dillon, Joe Bakker, and their steady commitment over many years to help carry this project forward. The development has spanned nearly my entire tenure on the city council, and I've had the opportunity to see firsthand the level of thought and care that has shaped it.

I also want to thank residents Karen Cord Taylor, John H. Chats, and Suzanne Besser for their early support of this effort and for seeing the potential of what this site could become for the West End and Beacon Hill communities. Their belief in a project that combines affordable housing, public space, and an updated library to help create momentum and community, has made this project possible. What makes this project so meaningful is it delivers strong public benefits, And really, the benefit here is affordable housing. And together with the public library, which serves two neighborhoods I represent and is my public library and where I vote, so I'm particularly excited, Residents have been involved in the whole process.

This development has undergone both mayor's office of housing, RFP process, and article 80 review, ensuring the level of review and attention, this important parcel deserves. This project exemplifies community led development where neighborhood priorities and public benefits remain at the forefront. At the same time, I do want to acknowledge that there are some concerns about loading operations, move in, move out, and waste collection, safety as it pertains to transportation. And I just want to affirm for my constituents that I am in full support of this project, but that this approval today does not preclude TAPA review, and we're going to have an extensive process around the curbside loading. Importantly, this project prioritizes pedestrian and public space on a narrow block of Cambridge Street where sidewalks have been insufficient for the volume of people traveling each day by eliminating on-site parking, which I famously love.

Just kidding. The project creates an opportunity to dedicate more space to people on foot while supporting a more walkable, sustainable, and accessible urban environment. Beyond the housing and library components, this proposal also delivers additional significant improvements, including expanded green space and upgrades one of the busiest bike corridors. Together, these improvements can help close long standing gaps in our built environment and street network that is crucial to the success and vitality of our neighborhoods. I think it's I'd be remiss if I didn't mention POA and CAST Capital and how much work they've put into this project.

They have immense experience in the city of Boston, which gives me confidence that they're in their ability to complete this project. And the West End and Beacon Hill neighborhoods need quality affordable units, and I wanna recognize their commitment to to the environmental sustainability. For these reasons, I urge you to approve the proposal before you today, and thank you for your consideration of my comments. And I also want to speak briefly in support of 419 Boylston Street, which is an office to residential conversion. I know that there's no public testimony for this today, but we do have a lot of support from the community on this conversion.

And I just want to acknowledge that there are some concerns about and as an elected official, I get to state this about union construction. So I urge the developer to use union construction. I want to echo the support of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. And I want to thank the leadership of my constituent, John Weil, who does a great job with the Office to Residential Conversion Program at the city. And it's incredibly important that this is really a preservation effort in the city, and we're all really thrilled that this project is happening. So I'm in support of those two projects and hope it's not too long till I see you all again. I love being here. Thank you.

Thank you, counselor. Item number one. Before I do item number one, would like to say that president Rojas will be in attendance. Sorry for that. We go right there.

I didn't become president, though. Like, I'm chair.

Chair. I'm president, chair.

I second that motion, mister chair. Yeah.

I call you my president. There you go.

I like the sounds of

that. Yeah. I'm president.

Item number one, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of the 04/16/2026 board meeting.

So moved.

Second.

Second. All in favor.

Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Mr. Vice Chair, I have to recuse myself from this next item. Thank you.

Item number two, request authorization to schedule a public hearing for on 06/18/2026 at 05:30PM or at a date and time to be determined by the director to consider the first amendment to the master plan for plan development area number 128 Slash L Street Station redevelopment redevelopment at 776 Summer Street in South Boston and the phase two development plan for planned development area number 128 Slash L Street Station redevelopment and to consider phase two project as a development impact project. With that, we will go straight into the vote. Are there any questions or comments first? None, seeing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Do we have a second? Second. There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. We can get Matt back in here.

I'll send Matt in that I'm recusing for this next one.

Yep.

Sorry.

Let's give Matt a quick second and we'll continue on with item number three.

We

need you. No. I didn't realize

it was so close. Sorry.

Item number three, request authorization to submit applications to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts executive office of housing and economic development, mass works infrastructure program, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts executive office of housing and livable communities, housing works infrastructure program in support of various projects in the city of Boston and to enter into a grant agreement with respective development entities and proponents of said projects for the use of funds from the mass works and housing works infrastructure programs. Michelle? Floor,

please. Good afternoon. Vice chair Shepherd, members of the board, Secretary Bohemia, Director Shen. I'm Michele Goldberg, Director of Finance. Before you is a request for authorization for the BPDA to conduct the necessary steps to carry out the application process and administration of funds awarded through the Mass Works and House Works Infrastructure Program.

This program helps cities and public entities get funding to support development projects that will spur economic growth and job creation by enhancing housing, transportation, infrastructure, and community development. The city of Boston through the BPDA has utilized these programs to facilitate growth and make sites development ready. The memo provides an outline of the various projects under consideration. Given the state's timeline, we seek authorization to proceed in order to meet the required deadlines. In collaboration with Boston Housing Authority, the mayor's office of economic development, the mayor's office of housing, and the office of intergovernmental relations will participate in the review process to select the projects that will be submitted.

With that, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Are there any comments or questions from the board? Hearing seeing none, is there a motion on the floor? So moved.

Second.

All in favor. Aye.

Aye.

Any oppose? Ayes have it.

Thank you. Our

next two items will be read off together but then have separate votes at the end. So I I will start with item number four, request authorization to enter into a license agreement with TFC thirty Winter LLC for use of the exterior of the property at 30 Winter Street for a June to October 2026 place making activation event as part of the design vision tactical urbanism project. Item number five, request authorization to enter to a license agreement with the BRM LLC to install temporary public facing and exhibition on street level windows at the China Trade Center located at 2 Bullston Street supporting a color flows at Liberty Plaza from June 11 to 08/01/2026. And with that, Samantha? Nope.

Help me out. Breeze. Breeze. I apologize. Nothing on the paper. Sorry.

It's okay.

Thank you and good afternoon, mister vice chair, members of the board. My name is Breeze Outlaw. Hi, Breeze. How you doing? Back in December 2024, the design vision was adopted to help guide future design strategies informed, to inform how the built environment is shaped to elevate the quality of urban design. Oh, I

have some slides. Next slide, please. You can go to the next one.

Okay. The design vision reimagine the design of streets, open spaces, as well as housing. Streets were identified as the first opportunity to explore activation since many communities already activate their the public spaces in the public realm. Next slide. I'm pleased to share that last year, last fall, was our first time doing an activation for Colorfulz on Winter Street.

It was hugely successful with over 90% of downtown residents saying that Winter Street felt more welcoming. We were able to support local businesses as food vendors to, help with the programming as well as the businesses along Winter Street, reporting higher foot traffic as well as increase in sales. Next slide. These are just some snapshots of the activation itself. We were able to have colorful seating and planting along the street.

We also had lawn games as well as food trucks and special events. A diversity of different folks were coming out to support the activation, throughout the six weeks that it was active in the fall. Next slide. This is showing a aerial view of the public art that we installed. This act this helped tremendously in regards to, bringing the the street back in regards to its vibrancy, and everyone appreciated that this was an added element to it.

Next slide. Okay. So we would like to bring Colorful's back to Winter Street, and also expand it to a second location, Liberty Tree Plaza in Chinatown.

Go to the next slide.

Winter Street will bring back it will run from June 11 to October 31 during the pedestrian hours of 11AM to 6PM. It would include, again, the furnishings, the colorful furnishings and plants, food trucks. We will have a light pop up flexible programming at thirty winter. The license agreement will allow us to do that, and most of that is about making sure we deter unwelcoming behavior that usually happens in that space. Next slide.

We will also and this is a site plan illustrating the mural installation that we'll do. So we'll be adding public art to this as well, to continue bringing that welcoming and vibrant, energy to this space. And that concludes that piece of Winter Street. In the next slide, I will introduce color flows at Winter Street at Liberty Tree Plaza. This will be a different vibe, different energy in regards to color flows, mostly being informed by the context of Chinatown and the way it's used.

This will run from June 11 to August 1 from 10AM to 5PM, and again be an added, enhancement to the public realm, being a public space that people can come to as they traverse from, different neighborhoods. This will also be a site that is curated by theme of with care, and it will be a site that will be reinterpreting the site legacy as a civic gathering space historically and then, layering on contemporary artistic expression and cultural programming. That cultural programming will include, as you can see from this rendering, lion dance, performances. And then we'll also have food vending from a ship in a shipping container by local Chinatown businesses. And then we'll be installing three different public art installations that I'll go into further on the next slide.

This first one is the storefront window mural. It will this is what the license agreement will allow for this temporary installation of this. The imagery is depicting the the cycle of transition, and so they're putting a traditional Chinese scroll print and superimposing everyday Chinatown experiences, and leveraging that as a way to, demonstrate care. Next slide. The second one is a over overhead fabric installation.

And this is really about taking the traditional medicinal white flower oil, which is used for healing. And so the banners will be representing healing and protection over the site during the activation. And the next slide. And we'll be wrapping the shipping container that we'll be using for the food vendors. And this is inspired by the Chinatown worker statue.

And so the artist has ink printed and digitized objects that are used by gar garment workers, grandmothers, restaurant workers, and using those as a symbol of small gestures and their labor as it supports the community. And so, you know, you have frog buttons, mesh baskets, incense, a lot of different items that will be reflecting on that. So just wanna give you a sense of what to expect and what you'll see. Hope to see you there. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Breeze. Thank you for that presentation. I will reread each number and we'll vote on them separately. So item number four, request authorization to enter to a license agreement with TFC thirty Winter LLC for use of exterior of the property at 30 Winter Street for a June to October 2026 place making activation event as part of the design vision tactical urbanism project. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Any

opposed? Ayes have it. Item number five, request authorization to enter to a license agreement with BRM LLC to install a temporary public facing art exhibit exhibition, excuse me, on street level windows at the Chinatown Trade Center located at 2 Boysen Street supporting color flows at Liberty Plaza from June 11 to 08/01/2026. Are there any questions or comments from the board?

I I do have a comment, or quest both a comment and a question, mister chair, and and I I saved it for this one. So, Breeze, thank you. The importance of public art,

of activation of space is so critical, especially in a post 2020 world where we don't see as much activity downtown. So I

love this. I love seeing it. I've worked in and around Downtown Crossing for twenty plus years, my entire professional career, and it's it's always exciting to see. My question is this, why are we limiting the Chinatown activation, for essentially six weeks and ending it on August 1?

That's a great question. Most of that is due to constraints, in regards to the budget, but also with this being the first time that we're activating the space, we're paddling pile like testing it out.

Yep.

Last year for Winter Street, it was a short term activation. We had huge success from that, and so we're returning for a longer period. I imagine we can do the same for this one, given the investment that we're putting in and the partners that we have.

Fair enough. That makes sense. And I look forward to seeing it, and I look forward to seeing it even longer next summer. Awesome.

Thank you.

You. Agree. This is fantastic. Thank you, Breeze.

Thank you so much.

If there are no further questions or comments, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you Breeze.

Thank you.

Item number six, request authorization to enter into a license agreement with the Wharf District Council for the use of a portion of Long Wharf between the Custom House Block and the and the BPDA pavilion to place an informational kiosk, bring awareness for the forecasted vulnerability of the Boston's Wharf District to sea level rise for a period of six months commencing 06/01/2026 and ending 11/30/2026 with two six month term renewal options. Samantha.

Good afternoon, vice chair, members of the board, madam secretary, and director Shen. I'm here to request approval to enter a license with the Wharf District Council for approximately 20 square feet at the end of Long Wharf between the Custom House Block and the BPD Pavilion. Established in 2010, the Wharf District Council is a five zero one(three) nonprofit neighborhood organization made up of large and small businesses, residential condominium associations, nonprofit institutions, and individuals who work and live in the Wharf District. The Wharf District Council works to better the Wharf District and its future by bringing community members, businesses, and nonprofits together to discuss matters impacting the community. The Wharf District Council is proposing to place an informational kiosk at the end of Long Wharf.

The proposed informational kiosk is intended to bring awareness to the of the forecasted vulnerability of Boston's Wharf District to sea to sea level rise and initiatives underway to plan and construct a resilient waterfront. The kiosk will also include a QR code that patrons can scan to learn more and stay informed. The target audience for the kiosk is Boston residents, workers, and tourists. Staff recommend entering into a license agreement with the Wharf District Council for a six month license term, which will commence on 06/01/2026, and end on 11/30/2026, whereupon at the discretion of the director, the license can be renewed for up to two additional six month terms after November 2026. There will be no fee for the use of the license area due to the community benefit nature of the per property use.

BPDA staff recommends that director be authorized to enter into a license agreement with the Wharf District Council for the use and occupancy of a portion of approximately 20 square feet to place an informational kiosk at the end of Long Wharf between the Custom House Block and BPD Pavilion. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number seven, request authorization to amend the license agreement with CAP Long Wharf LLC for the use of approximately 15,000 square feet of land adjacent to the Chart House restaurant on Long Wharf for monthly customer and visitor parking for a period of one year commencing 06/01/2026 and ending 05/31/2027. Samantha?

Good afternoon, vice chair, members of the board, madam secretary, and director Shen. I'm here to request authorization to amend the existing license agreement between the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Cap Long Wharf LLC, a Capital's property affiliate, to extend the term expiration date to 05/30/2027, and to establish a new license fee for the use of approximately 15,000 square feet of land adjacent to the Chart House restaurant on Long Wharf for monthly and visitor parking. In 2015, Cap Long Wharf LLC purchased the Long Wharf LLC properties and BPDA consented to the assignment of the above of the above reference license to Cath Long Wharf. Capital Properties is privately founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1977. Capital Properties has developed, acquired, and managed over 18,000 apartment units and 8,000,000 square feet of office space in major markets, primarily between Boston and Atlanta.

BPD staff has analyzed the current market for surface parking and has determined that it is in BPD's financial and regulatory interest to extend the existing license with Cap Long Wharf LLC rather than BPD take on the responsibilities and expenses of operating the lot itself or with outside contractors. Staff is therefore recommending that the license term expiration date be extended extended to 05/31/2027 on the same terms and conditions as the current license and the only exception being that the monthly fee payable to the b p d a will increase to $1,664,216,462 thousand dollars per month and 199,710 thousand dollars per year. The new license fee is consistent with the market and is a 5% increase from the previous license rate. BPA is only is currently only contemplating a one year agreement with CAP Long Wharf as the site is anticipated to be converted to a new open space and a gateway to Boston Harbor Islands. BPA staff recommends the director be authorized to amend the license the existing license with Cap Long Wharf to extend the expiration date of the existing license agreement to 05/31/2027.

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

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you. Thank you.

Item number eight, request authorization to assign the lease held by Clifford Long, trustee in second Mass Ave Realty Trust for Building 1120 within the historic monument area of the Charlestown Naval Yard Navy Yard to the US Constitution Museum Inc. Liz?

Thank you, vice chair. Good afternoon, members of the board. I'm here today requesting authorization for the reassignment of the Building 120 lease from Clifford Long Trustee of Second Mass Ave Realty Trust to the USS Constitution Museum Inc. Building

120

is located adjacent to 6th Street within the historic monument area of Charlestown Navy Yard and consists of an approximately 14,875 square foot three story office building. By way of background, the leasehold interest was originally acquired through the public auction in 1996 by Navy Yard Dispensary LLC and later assigned in 2005 to Clifford Young, trustee of Second Mass Realty Trust. The current tenant has requested BPDA consent to extend, the requirements under the lease and to assign its remaining leasehold interest to the USS Constitution Museum, Inc. The USS Constitution Museum is a nationally recognized nonprofit cultural and educational institution located within the Charlestown Navy Yard. Established in 1972, the museum serves hundreds of thousands of visitors annually through interactive exhibits, educational programming, and public events focused on the history of the USS Constitution and the United States Navy.

The museum plays an important role in activating and preserving historic monument area while complementing the efforts of the National Park Service and supporting tourism and public engagement along the Charleston Waterfront. Under the proposed assignment, the leasehold interest would be transferred for no monetary consideration and no substantive changes to the existing lease is being requested. The USS Constitution Museum would continue to remain responsible for all obligations under the lease, including the payment of annual base rent of 14,400. Staff believes the proposed assignment supports the continued stewardship and activation of this important historic asset and is consistent with BPDA's long term goals for the Charlestown AV Yard. Accordingly, staff recommends the approval of the requested authorization for the director to consent to the assignment and execute our related agreements and documents.

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

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, what's ayes or a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next two items, item number nine and number 10. These two items will be presented jointly, with separate board votes to follow. So I'll read through both of them and then we'll go through the presentation and we'll do what we have to do up here to vote. Item number nine, request authorization to extend the tentative designation of Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association Inc for the sale and the redevelopment of Parcel S Dash 12 B in Washington Park Urban renewal area. Project number mass R Dash 24 known as 16 through 20 Townsend Street in Roxbury for one year until 05/31/2027.

Item number 10, request authorization to extend the tentative designation of Garrett from Charlie Neighborhood Association Inc for the sale and redevelopment of Parcel S Dash 12 C in the Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number mass R-twenty 4 known as 48 Townsend Street in Roxbury for one one year until 05/31/2027. Ben?

Thank you, Vice Chair Shepherd and members of the board. 16 To 20 Townsend Street and 48 Townsend Street consist of approximately 12,017 square feet of vacant land, respectively. The board granted Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association tentative designation as the developer of both properties on 05/16/2024, and extended this designation last May. The developer proposes an urban wild for 16 To 20 Townsend Street and a community garden on 48 Townsend Street for community and educational uses, providing for both food and security and access to nature and open space. The proposed designs for the community garden include raised plant beds for growing produce and herbs.

Since the 2024 tentative designation award, the project team has received phase one environmental reports for the property, further development conceptual plans for the proposal, and applied for funding. Most recently, the project received partial project funding for the 48 Townsend Street Community Garden in the form of CPA funds and is waiting to hear on a funding request to the mayor's office of housing for the remaining amount. If awarded by MOH, this would allow them to start construction potentially later this year. In this light is my hope to come before you within the next few months, maybe the next month, to request final designation for 48 Townsend. For 16 To 20 Townsend Street, the developer is sinking through the myriad of funding sources to help fund the project, which we are confident they will be able to do.

During the requested and proposed tentative designation period of one year for both projects, the developer plans to seek and secure funding as well as round out any remaining design items and permits needed to construct the project. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Ben. Alright. To have a vote, I will read number nine and number 10 again. Item number nine request authorization to extend the tentative designation of Gastron Trotter Neighborhood Association Inc for the sale and redevelopment of partial S Dash 12 B in the Washington Park Urban renewal area. Project number mass R Dash 24 known as 16 through 20 Townsend Street in Roxbury for one year until 05/31/2027. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Ayes have it. Item number 10, request authorization to extend the tentative designation of the Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association Inc for the sale and redevelopment of a parcel S Dash 12 C in the Washington Park Urban Renewal Area. Project number Mass R Dash 24 known as 48 Townsend Street in Roxbury for one one year until 05/31/2027. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Thank you.

Another announcement. The next four items will be presented jointly with separate board votes similar to what we just did. I will read off all four of them. Item number 11, request authorization to award tentative designation status to ace done for the sale and redevelopment of 11 Through 13 Catawamba Street. Yes.

Located in the Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number, mass r dash 24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal proposal. Item number 12, request authorization to award tentative designation status to a joint venture between K and G Realty Corp, Genuine Construction and Consulting LLC, and E Rise Builders Inc. For the sale and redevelopment of 14 Kalawamba Street located in Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number MassRDash24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal.

Item number 13, request authorization to award tentative designation status to a joint venture between historic built, Stack Architectural, and MCMI for the sale and redevelopment of 19 Laurel Street located in Washington Park, urban renewal area. Project number MassRDash24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of a welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal. Item number 14, request authorization to award tentative designated status to Ambry Development for the sale and redevelopment of A Hundred Rufin Street located in the Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number, Mass r Dash24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of a Welcome Home Boston phase three request for proposal. I just wanna make sure.

Okay. That is good. The floor is yours.

Thank you so much, vice president and afternoon, members of the board. I am here to recommend tentative designation status of four development teams for the sale and redevelopment of four parcels in Roxbury as part of the Welcome Home Boston phase three RFP. I have a brief slide deck, to summarize the RFP in each of the proposals. So, in 2022, the mayor's office of housing, launched the Welcome Home Boston initiative with the goal to create new family family sized condo units on vacant city owned land. This actually tested a new cluster approach of offering a group of parcels in geographic proximity to a single scattered site request for proposal, or RFP, which established a more effective disposition process for small infill parcels that have been proven more difficult to move.

Building on the first two phases, which yielded a total of 144 affordable homeownership units at 80100% at IMI, for air and medium income, DPPDA joined forces to lead Phase three to combine the resources, expertise, and land portfolio of each department for a comprehensive disposition effort. Next slide, please. So Phase three specifically targets households earning between 120% to 130% of the area median income, who are identified as this missing middle demographic that are currently underserved by existing affordable housing programs. These families earn too much to qualify for traditional income restricted programs, but too little to compete in Boston's increasingly expensive housing market. This need was echoed through the numerous public comments that we received during the community meetings and our surveys.

Next slide, please. So as far back as November 2024, MOA MOH and BPDA staff, worked in close coordination with Boston's development community to identify at the building blocks of a program that could support housing for dismissal middle. On the next slide, summarizes our community engagement, which began in early twenty twenty five. So, the community engagement for this project spans, it was extensive and kind of spanned all, medium and formats, including six public meetings, and tailored outreach to abutters, neighborhood associations, and elected officials, as as well as the first home survey that received over 140 responses across all neighborhoods of Boston. The community process echoed a strong need, for homeownership options for families in this demographic and identify key preferences and trade offs of the first time homeowners, as well as the list of priorities that the neighborhoods had, that could help guide the proposals.

Next slide, please. So, combining our own research and feedback from, both the development industry and the neighborhood communities, BPDA and MOH staff, formulated this framework for Phase three. So, starting with the city led preliminary due diligence, which reduces risk, leveraging public land reduces acquisition costs, and encouraging innovation in housing delivery reduces soft and hard costs. These savings are designed to deliver more affordable units to first time homebuyers without the need of additional public subsidy. Next slide, please.

So on 07/17/2025, WPDA Board authorized the Welcome Home Phase III RFP. The final RFP, which was released on 06/30/2025, included 11 parcels comprised of seven owned by the City of Boston under the care and custody of the mayor's Office of Housing and four parcels owned by the BPDA organized as nine distinct sites. So these properties range in size from approximately 3,000 to 6,500 square feet and have an appraised value of approximately $300,000 each. These parcels were offered at a nominal fee of $100 each. Next slide, please.

So the development objectives of the RFP focus on the creation of quality homeownership units at the lowest possible sales price and the community priorities that were identified through the public process. And the comparative evaluation criteria on the right, sets out five areas in which the proposals would be assessed. On the next slide. So, at our proposal deadline on 10/15/2025, the BPA received 11 proposals, and we held two community meetings where the developers presented their proposals directly to the community and the internal evaluation committee, which consisted of 13 staff from both BPD and MOH evaluated the proposals to select the best, selection for each site in accordance to the criteria that was set forth and the public feedback received. The next slide summarizes the seven teams that the committee is recommending for all nine sites offered in the RFP, which are expected to create 41 anticipated units.

I think we could advance one more. So, as you may recall, the sites are under two different ownership. So accordingly, the five sites owned by the MOH in sort of this yellowish color were designated by the PFC in the April 29 meeting. So the four votes before you tonight are for the Roxbury sites owned by the BPDA highlighted in blue. Next slide, please.

So here's a map of the four sites in Roxbury for today's vote. So they're all kind of situated along Humboldt Ave. There's a cluster of three sites at Catawba Street and one further away at 100 Luthven. These are all kind of in predominantly well settled residential areas, just these random vacant lots kind of in between these duplex and triplex kind of fabric. Next slide.

So the first site on the vote is 19 Laurel, which is a 3,300 square feet site. For here, we're recommending HB SAMCM, which is a joint venture between Historic Built, the developer, Stack Architecture architect, and MCM Builders, the general contractor. They are proposing three units and three parking spaces, And the committee thought this proposal did a really commendable job mediating the difficult site. This is a really narrow site with difficult dimensions, and they did really well with the constraints here. On the next slide.

On 11 To 13 Kaftabah, this is a 5,570 square feet vacant parcel where we're recommending Acidone, which is a CDC and also the developer from Welcome Home Phase one. They're proposing six units and three parking spaces. And, something to highlight on this proposal was really strong community support, as well as the design that was very responsive to the public feedback. On the next slide, we have 14 Catawba, which is right across the street. This is a 4,950 square feet parcel of land where we are recommending 14 Catawba JV, which is a joint venture between K and G Realty, eRice Builder, Generating Construction, who are actually developers from Alkamom Phase two.

And they are proposing three units and three parking spaces. And again, we selected this proposal based on their design, which was very responsive to public feedback. And I'd also like to note that they will be trying out this panelized construction as part of this innovation in housing delivery mode. Next slide, please. So our last site of the vote tonight here is 100 Ruthven, which is a 5,394 square foot of land.

We are recommending Embry Development, who is also a welcome home Phase III developer, who is and they are proposing six units and three parking spaces. And in addition to the design that was very responsive to public feedback, we are very impressed with the strong DEI plan of this proposal as well. So, on the next slide, I'll put up the summary of the proposals that we're recommending again. We're really proud to say we're advancing with a 100% of all the sites we went out, on the RFP. This is a significant improvement from the previous phases, which typically yielded about a little more than half.

I think this is largely attributable to the rigorous level of due diligence that we did. It was painful, but it definitely paid off. And we are having two projects that are testing the innovation strategy, as well as three teams that are testing a joint venture model to create more efficiency between the project teams. And we're also happy to see many alums of the previous phases, which is very well in alignment with previous Welcome Homes goals to support, emerging and minority developers. So at this time, I am recommending tentative designation of a period of twelve months for these four development teams, during which time they will be advancing their entitlement and assembling their financing before we can return to the board for final destination and conveyance of the property.

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

Thank you. I will read each item 11 through 14 off individually so we can have separate votes for each parcel. So I'll start with, item number 11, request authorization to award tentative designation status to eight I'm gonna call it Ace Talk Ace Done?

Yeah.

Okay. Ace Done. Yep. For the sale and redevelopment of 11 Through 13 Catawamba Street located in the Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number of Mass R Dash 24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal. Do the board members still have any questions or comments?

I'll throw my comments for this one for all of them which is I know Director Chen is always champing at the bit to figure out what my favorite project will be. It's odd to give just tentative designation but I'm going to award it for all these projects because the Welcome Home Boston pro program is so important. This has been something we as a city have been grappling with for four hundred years. And, I particularly love the design of Laurel and Ruthven. Those are nice looking buildings. So, like, I I urge everyone watching, like like, let's get more interesting architectural with with these projects. These look great. I'm so excited. And I guess this is a question, Yoon. So the these are the the BPDA properties.

So we have oversight. The the other ones in Hyde Park and Dorchester, that's MOH and they've already advanced that. They've given their equivalent of tentative designation status.

Exactly. So all these projects will

be happening concurrently and hopefully groundbreaking in the same general timeline.

That's what we're going to try to do.

Great. Okay, thank you. Are there any other questions or comments

before

Just the congratulations. This is great getting to this 100% award.

Thank you. Is there a motion on the floor? So moved.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

Ayes have it. Thank you. Item number 12, request authorization to award tentative designation status to a joint venture between K and G yep. K and G Realty Corp.

Are we on 12?

Oh, well. I have to read them.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Nope. All good. Silly me.

Venture between K and G Realty Group, Genuine Construction and Consulting LLC, and E Rise Builders Inc for the sale and redevelopment of 14 Catawamba Street located in Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number of mass R Dash 24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So move.

Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it. Item number 13 requests authorization to award tentative designation status to a joint venture between historic build stack architecture and MCMI for the sale and redevelopment of 19 Laurel Street located in the Washington Park urban renewal area project number mass r dash 24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the welcome home Boston phase three request for proposal. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So move. Second.

There's a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Item number 14, request authorization to award tentative designation status to Ambry Development for the sale and redevelopment of 100 Roof Rufin Street located in the Washington Park urban renewal area. Project number mass r Dash24 in the Roxbury neighborhood as part of the Welcome Home Boston phase three request for proposal. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Item number 15, request authorization to adopt an order of taking for the taking parcel located at 212 Stewart Street in the South Cove urban renewal area project number mass RDash92 and authorization authorize the director to enter into the executed deed for the GUGV the second twelve twelve oh, excuse me, two twelve Stewart Property Owning LLC and indemnification, excuse me, agreement in any and all other related instruments, agreements, and documents in the connection with the taken parcel for the project. John?

Thank you, vice chair and members of the board, secretary Paul Hamas, and director Chen. My name is John Splane. I'm an attorney in the office of general counsel. Before you today is a request for authorization to adopt an order of taking for taking parcel in connection with the project located at 212 Stuart Street and authorize the director to enter into and execute a deed to GUGV to two twelve Stuart Property Owning LLC, an indemnification agreement, and any and all related instruments, agreements, and documents in connection with the taking parcel, which the director in his sole discretion deems appropriate necessary and upon terms and conditions determined to be in the best interest of the BPDA. For background, this project was approved by the BPVA Board on 06/15/2017, and completed construction on 08/11/2022.

The developers, since the completion of construction, has determined that approximately 43 square feet of the building, encroaches on the air rights of the city. In order to provide a clean title for the project and alleviate this encroachment, this order of taking and transfer is being sought. This taking was previously approved on 09/18/2025, and the BPDA Board approved this taking at that meeting, and it has since expired, and thus this subsequent Board action is being sought. This transfer shall be done for the monetary consideration of $15,000 an amount determined by an appraisal completed by Huntsman Appraisal Services. Based on the foregoing, staff recommends that the Board adopt an order of taking for the taking parcel in connection with the project at 212 Stuart Street and authorize the director to enter into an executed deed, with this 212 Stuart Street property owner, an indemnification agreement, and any and all other related instruments and agreements and documents in connection with this taking parcel for the project.

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

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you everyone. The

next two items will be presented jointly with separate board votes to follow. So I will read both items, item number 16 and item number 17. Request authorization to adopt an amendment to the plan downtown that includes new Chinatown historic context design guidelines, which will guide the BPDA and the community on the design, development, and review of the projects that enhance Chinatown's unique and historic fabric. Item number 17, request authorization to adopt one text amendment for article 43 article eight to establish new Chinatown neighborhood district zoning regulations and two text amendments for the new article 34 and article eight to establish a new set of institutional zoning districts. And number three, additional minor text amendments in the article two, article three, and article 23, article 31, article 49 a, and article 89 to ensure consistency throughout the code and for map addendums to zoning map one CGN.

With that, Jack, floor is yours.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Vice Chair Shepherd, members of the Board, Chief Shen, and Secretary Bohemiahs. My name is Jack Halverson. I'm a planner on the zoning reform team here, and I'm really excited to share with you today new proposed zoning for Chinatown and a new set of Chinatown design guidelines. Next slide.

This initiative started with Plan Downtown, where it became clear that Chinatown would need its own rezoning process. Chinatown serves as a historic gateway for immigrants and their families and a hub for housing, jobs, diverse businesses, and cultural activity. The neighborhood has faced challenges like urban renewal, highway construction, and development pressure, but continues to be a vibrant center for a diverse range of residents, workers, and visitors. Next slide. The first key phase of this process was planned downtown itself, which was adopted 2023.

In 2024, from April to April, we held a series of public meetings and workshops focused on specific zoning goals for Chinatown. Then in 2024, the Planning Department released the first Chinatown zoning draft and design guidelines. From then until February, we held many public meetings and office hours, both in person and virtual, and some of which were targeted specifically towards property owners and business owners. We engaged directly with over three fifty people and collected over 700 written points of feedback on the first draft of this proposed zoning and the design guidelines. Since the 2025, we've been refining the draft zoning and design guidelines based on feedback we heard on those first drafts.

And just last month, we released an updated draft of both items and held a final closeout public meeting. Next slide. So now I'll provide a quick overview of each of the new proposed zoning districts before getting into more detail on each of them. The Residential 1 or R1 subdistrict is focused on maintaining what's happening today in the older row house areas of the neighborhood. The Community Commercial or CC subdistrict includes the commercial heart of Chinatown and is aimed at preserving the existing small businesses and affordable housing, but also making it easier to open new businesses and update and renovate buildings.

The Residential 10, or R10, subdistrict is intended for the larger apartment building parts of Chinatown and seeks to continue that character. The Skylow CT Subdistrict is a new application of the recently adopted skyline zoning and is centered along Essex Street where Chinatown meets the rest of downtown to the north. The Institutional 2, or IS 2 District, is a new institutional district mapped where the Tufts Medical and Tufts University campuses are. And finally, the Air Rights subdistrict, or AIR, is where the highway and the on and off ramps are. This subdistrict is really unique in that it actually uses the same regulations as the neighboring R10 Subdistrict, but it allows for PDAs, which will be essential in enabling any kind of development over the highway there in the future.

Next slide. The R1 Subdistrict is a primarily residential district mapped where there's an abundance of these legacy row houses, including the Johnny Court area and between Tyler Street and Hudson Street. The zoning here represents a down zoning to protect these low rise, small scale residential properties and some small scale commercial activity there. For dimensional regulations, the maximum height is actually reduced from 80 feet to 45 feet, and a maximum building floor plate of 1,500 square feet helps to maintain the small building scale here. Yard requirements allow for the party wall condition of row houses and allows for some minor additions to the rear of the properties.

Next slide. The land uses focus primarily on residential units, allowing anything under 15 units by right. Other small scale commercial uses are made conditional, like offices and social clubs, to reflect that there are family associations and other nonprofits here that operate on different floors of these buildings. Larger, more impactful land uses are forbidden in the R1. Next slide.

The CC Subdistrict is mapped in the heart of Chinatown's commercial area, primarily along Tyler Street, Hudson Street, Beach Street, and Harrison Ave. The regulations here are really aimed at making it easier for businesses to open and renovate and to maintain the smaller active storefronts that exist there today. The maximum building height here would be 80 feet, which is largely the same as today. And we're introducing a maximum building floor plate of 2,500 square feet. This would allow for the consolidation and redevelopment of two typical small parcels.

Next slide. Land uses here are aimed at maintaining the vibrant commercial activity of the area, particularly by allowing for restaurants, retail, and service establishments to occupy any floor of the building, which is a very common condition today. Residential uses are made conditional on the Ground Floor to promote a more active streetscape, and much larger uses like hotels, labs, and large offices would be forbidden. Next slide. The R10 Subdistrict is mapped along the southern and eastern portions of the neighborhood where there are currently larger apartment buildings.

The subdistrict better regulates these higher density residential areas, including recent development projects, and are designed to create better amenity space for both residents of these buildings and the broader community. One important thing to note here is that we had originally included an affordable housing overlay in our first zoning proposal, which would have allowed buildings to be taller as of right, provided they include a significant amount of affordable housing. However, the feedback we got around affordability levels and heights in our community conversations was extremely varied and often conflicting. So reaching an appropriate consensus around the future of that overlay was challenging. Instead, we anticipate that future projects may intend to exceed proposed zoning here and would only be approved through an Article 80 process that includes extensive community engagement and support.

That being said, for dimensions, a maximum building height of 155 feet brings some of these larger apartment buildings into compliance compared to today's 100 foot maximum. We've also included minimum outdoor amenity space and permeable area of lot to encourage better usable outdoor space for residents of any future buildings and the broader community. There are also required step backs above 70 feet where the project abuts any historic buildings. Next slide. Residential uses are allowed throughout the subdistrict along with other supportive community serving uses like grocery stores and community centers.

Other neighborhood amenities are either allowed or conditional on the ground floor, like restaurants and retail. And larger uses are made forbidden, including hotels, labs, larger offices, and entertainment and events. Events. Next slide. The Skylow CT is mapped along Essex Street and really aims to maximize opportunities for the conversion, adaptation, and expansion of buildings.

This is the first addition to the Downtown Historic Dimensional overlay, which is exciting because it's an opportunity within zoning to acknowledge the cultural and historic significance of the buildings here. This area also previously had that affordable housing overlay proposal that I mentioned before, but has since been removed after our engagement conversations. The dimensions are the same as the Sky Low Subdistrict that exists already in Article 31, and the historic dimensional overlay limits the maximum height here to 155 feet. It also requires ground floor amenity space for larger buildings or larger properties and has higher building lot coverage to reflect that existing context in Chinatown and the rest of downtown further to the north. Next slide.

Again, the land uses here are already established as part of the Skylow District adopted into zoning last fall. Some key highlights are allowing for a greater mix of commercial activity and making larger uses, like large hotels, offices, retail, and entertainment conditional use. Next slide. This last district is a bit unique in that we're actually creating a new institutional districts article separate from the Chinatown neighborhood article. This means that institutional districts here could be mapped in other parts of the city later on as well.

This IS2 District is proposed to replace the existing institutional subdistrict in Chinatown under the Tufts University IMP and the Tufts Medical Center IMP. The IS2 District is intended for denser urban environments where there are medical or academic institutions, and mapped where there's a contiguous collection of institutional property within an IMP. Importantly, IMPs will still supersede this new underlying zoning. In our conversations with institutions as part of this effort, it was incredibly important to restate this fact throughout the new zoning article. However, this will still make it easier, especially for small changes, to institutional properties that utilize the Article 80 process rather than the IMP process for things like a change of use in the building.

There aren't many dimensional regulations for the IS-two District because any major redevelopment associated with an institution would go through the IMP or Article 80 process. And the lot coverage and building floor plate dimensions here are relatively high, and the maximum building height of 300 feet better reflects the existing context of these large scale institutional holdings. Next

slide.

The institutional land uses not only allow for higher education and health care, but also some supportive uses that are often associated with campuses, like retail, restaurants, grocery stores, and offices. We've also made residential uses allowed, provided that any residential project goes through Article 80. This was specifically a point of feedback from both the community and our institutional stakeholders. Conditional uses include large hotels and entertainment and events, as well as research labs. Research labs could only be constructed here outside of the IMP context if the majority of the building is another use, not just an entire research building.

Next slide. Another key change that we've made is adding more provisions around flood resilience. A large portion of Chinatown is within the Coastal Flood Resilience Overlay District, or CFRAD. The change here makes it so that no new residential units can be constructed below these flood elevation lines. So in many cases, basements can't be converted into residential units.

This will help improve the safety of our housing in the neighborhood, and this actually already applies for larger projects with at least 15 units. Next slide. And finally, the design guidelines. Adopting the design guidelines as an amendment to plan downtown is a separate vote before you tonight and follows suit with downtown's design guidelines that were adopted last year. These guidelines serve as a tool for city staff, designers, developers, and the community to further shape projects based on historic context and offer clear guidance for enhancing the Chinatown neighborhood.

In addition to specific guidelines, which I'll get into on subsequent slides, we added a section here around family, village, and merchant associations in the neighborhood. These all have a significant historic, current, and future role in the community, so highlighting them in the design guidelines further supports their continued involvement in Chinatown going forward. Next slide. The guidelines emphasize finding adaptive reuse opportunities in the former textile buildings along Essex Street, and they also suggest continuing the rhythm and scale of Chinatown's vibrant storefronts and facades. Next slide.

They also highlight the significance of Chinatown's legacy row houses dating back to the beginnings of the neighborhood. Also, as larger residential growth emerges in other areas of Chinatown, new projects should create community spaces and public realm improvements that the whole neighborhood can enjoy. Next slide. And finally, the guidelines also encourage projects to find opportunities for public art that highlights the history, culture, and voices of Chinatown. Next slide. Thank you all so much for your time and attention this afternoon. Happy to take any questions that you have.

Thank you. I'll read item number sixteen and seventeen individually for individual votes. Item number 16 requests authorization to adopt an amendment to plan downtown that includes new Chinatown historic context design guidelines, which will guide the BPA and the community on the design development and review the projects that enhance Chinatown's unique and historic fabric. Are there any questions or comments from the board?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Jack, thank you for that very thorough, presentation. Obviously, don't need to tell you we all agree what a special important neighborhood Chinatown is. Wonderful people, wonderful businesses.

It makes perfect sense to do our own process for Chinatown as opposed to planned downtown. So I'm with you on that. With you on virtually everything except one question that's sort of been stuck in my cross since we got wind of this. The downsizing in R1 is fairly significant. Are we setting ourselves up, you know, at a distinct disadvantage when you and your colleagues and so many of us are spending so much time trying to fix well meaning but I would argue very restrictive aspects of the zoning code by purposefully downsizing.

I know it's not a huge part of this plan. I understand sort of the iconic row houses but also as we're removing residential from below ground, which is smart, I mean we hear about gentrification, we hear about displacement, it seems to me that we're setting ourselves up for a disadvantage of potentially building more housing in the neighborhood. Neighborhood?

Yeah, thank you for that. So the warehouse areas in Chinatown now constitute about three blocks or so. I would say they're mostly characterized by being naturally occurring affordable housing in the neighborhood. And so there are pretty significant concerns from the community around displacement that could happen from the development that could happen in these areas if we were to up zone or even keep the zoning as it is today. It is partly a preservation strategy to keep the character of the row homes.

But again, similar to the other parts of the neighborhood where I mentioned the affordable housing overlay, affordable housing is really one of the key points in the planning document itself for Plan Downtown in Chinatown. And so we could imagine down the road, Article 80 projects always have the opportunity to apply for variances and go through the So community process to get to on a project by project basis, I think we'd want to be able to evaluate that better in this area. I

mean, I'm going to vote for this. You haven't sold me. It sounds like, though, some of the things that we hear at community meetings.

Yeah. I'll I'll also say that, this is a a great question. And in many areas of the city, right, we've started calling our zoning that, while legally is an up zone, a right size because the zoning is so far below the existing buildings, in this instance, it's it's still a right sizing. The zoning is actually currently significantly above the existing buildings, and we're bringing that zoning envelope down to a size that reflects those existing buildings with a little bit of wiggle room to do an addition, to add a floor if you're losing basement space to flood proof your area. So it's taking that same approach that we are taking in other areas where we're trying to make sure our zoning works for the existing context and structures in these areas where we're we're not envisioning significant growth.

Legally, that's a down zoning, even though it's a rightsizing in other areas of the city. Right? We do that same rightsizing that legally is an upzoning that's just bringing it to that same baseline.

Baseline right now is 80 feet. This would make it 45 feet. Correct. It's a significant reduction. I would argue the market has dictated that having a higher ceiling doesn't necessarily mean people take advantage of it. I mean, could go round and round and

sort of this JULIET

I totally hear you. And I think this is also a really good example of exactly why this was a two year long community process with the need to come to some of these compromises is they're, right, really, really engaged community in Chinatown with really different opinions on what is the most appropriate for different areas of the the neighborhood and a consistent agreement that they're going to have to keep working together on each project or change that comes forward in order to continue to keep Chinatown functioning as Chinatown in the city.

Appreciate the conversation. Thank you.

Thank you.

Definitely, Matt. Thank you for the question. Are there any other questions or comments?

I would just say every one of these district plans and zoning updates, it's obvious to us the work that's reflected in kind of giving birth literally just birthing each one of these plans and the effort and dialogue that goes into it. I know it is a neighborhood with very strong and not always agreeing opinions. And so kudos to you guys for landing something that I think will be a good a good template going forward.

Yeah. That's two years and plus plenty more dialogue to go with that. So thank you. Thank you very much. So are there any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor? So moved. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it. I will now read item number 17. Request authorization to adopt one, text amendments for article 43 and article eight to establish new Chinatown neighborhood district zoning regulations. And number two, text amendments for new article 34 and article eight to establish a new set of institutional zoning districts.

Three, additional minor text amendments in article two three twenty three twenty one forty nine a and article 89 to ensure consistency throughout the code and for map amendments to zoning map one c g n, the Chinatown District. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

Second. All in

favor? Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Item number 18, requests authorization to petition the zoning commission to adopt tax amendments which one, implement updates to article 11 of the zoning code that established new citywide zoning regulations for signs and to remove outdated signage regulations from the code. Cyrus and Lizzie, floor is yours.

Good afternoon, vice chair Shepherd, members of the board, director director Shen and secretary Paul Hemis. It's a pleasure to be here with you all today. My name is Cyrus Masselli, and I'm a member of the urban design team here. And I'm joined by my fellow urban design colleague, Lizzie Turek, to share a little bit about the department's sign code modernization initiative. Next slide.

Sign code modernization is a project that ultimately seeks to make it easier for small businesses to put up new signage. This is something that takes a significant amount of time now. The project proposes to do this through three main goals. One, it seeks to update zoning to adopt appropriate but flexible rules that allow the vast majority of common everyday signs to be permitted by right. This will help expedite review and permitting for small businesses.

Two, the project proposes to refine the applicability of planning department design review. While by right approval pathway is appropriate for many signs, it's not appropriate for all, especially those with outsized visual impacts on the public realm. And three, we want these rules and processes to apply equally citywide to simplify process, improve accessibility to it, and allow for the development of different sign cultures to arise across the city organically. Next

slide.

This project has been important to pursue for many reasons, but one of them being that signage provides real value to our city and our communities. In addition to being a wayfinding guide or means to attract patrons to businesses, signs also represent an element of the built environment that reflects the history, identity, and expression of place. Accordingly, providing opportunities for unique and creative science to take root is critical to creating streetscapes that are vibrant, textural, and reflective of the people that live and work there. Next slide. SignCode Modernization initially launched in 2024.

We held a public meeting introducing the project at March, which was followed by a period of research, development, drafting, and internal testing. We began our interdepartmental coordination in 2025, and in 2026, moved to public process and now implementation. Our draft recommendations were released to the public almost two months ago and were accompanied by a public meeting to discuss in late March, four office hour sessions throughout April, and a forty five day public comment period ending May 1. We received a lot of really helpful feedback from these comments, much of which was incorporated into our final recommendations. A public meeting discussing those, was held last Thursday.

Next slide. A disclaimer before we jump further into content. Due to First Amendment rights and established legal precedent, it's important to note that the regulation and review of signage must focus on certain things. Things that the planning department can comment on and regulate include the size and location of signs, the types of the types of signs that are and are not allowed, and how signs may be illuminated. Things like the content of signs, such as language or logos, or the expression of that content, including through things like color, font, or imagery, are protected as expressions of speech and thus sit outside of our scope.

The same applies to public art and murals. Now I'm gonna pass it over to Lizzie to talk about some of the context of the project and some of our proposed recommendations.

Thank you, Cyrus. If you can advance to the next slide, please. To better understand why sign code modernization is needed, it's helpful to look at how sign rules and review works today. The majority of regulations are currently found in Article 11 of the zoning code, which was originally written in 1972 and since then almost no updates have been made. Its contents simultaneously under and over regulate signage in the city and are presented without a clear structure or hierarchy.

In addition to Article 11, the zoning code also lays out signage requirements in 25 other zoning articles. These requirements are also outdated and almost all are between twenty to thirty years old. They're hard to find and typically buried at the bottom of Additionally, they frequently refer back to the provisions of Article 11 which creates confusion as to what regulations apply, where and when. Next slide please. Due to these outdated regulations, today's signage review process has evolved to exempt ISD from code enforcement leaving the review process in the hands of the planning department.

Collectively, our team reviews about 900 signs per year via discretionary review process where size and placement is often negotiated instead of regulated. This takes time and we're often not the only entity who's reviewed is required. Because of this, permitting timelines, as we've heard from signed vendors and learned in our analysis, takes an average of four point five months to complete and oftentimes even longer. To fix this problem, we're proposing updated zoning and a review a revised review process for citywide signs. Next slide, please.

To inform our recommendations, the team took a rigorous approach to research and analysis. The process included reviewing and collecting data on use, district, size, and types of sign for every single sign, every single approved sign package over the past two point five to three years. We found, to our surprise, that there was almost no difference in the number, type, or size of signs proposed across different business geographies. In addition, we reviews the existing sign codes about 15 other peer cities and analyzed several sign research publications. We also pursued several rounds of test fitting and modeling to help hone our requirements.

Advance the next slide please. Based on these efforts, we landed on an approach that established four different categories of signs each with their own rules and associated review processes. That's allowed, conditional, forbidden, and assigned sign types. Next slide. So allowed sign types represent the vast majority of the signs that we see in the city and are those that are most commonly associated with the typical Main Street business.

There are six types of loud signs as seen on the screen, wall signs, canopy, projecting, window, awning, and freestanding signs. And Article 11 establishes appropriate but flexible dimension requirements and illumination controls for the sign types. Unlike today, allowed signs will still undergo an administrative review at ISD and if compliant, may be permitted by right without design review. We anticipate 80 to 85% of allowed signs to be compliant with these new rules and to be able to be permitted within thirty days. Allowed signs that are noncompliant with the code would need to go to the ZBA for a conditional use permit. I'm gonna hand it to Cyrus to further explain these impacts on the next slide.

Thank you. Reestablishing an administrative review and approval pathway for everyday signs will have a significant impact on increasing permitting speeds and advancing permitting reform. In fact, we anticipate these updates, to reduce the time to permit for small business signs by roughly 80% from existing. And when you extrapolate that across all proposals, that reduction equates to nearly a hundred years of cumulative sign permitting time saved annually. This saves small businesses valuable time and money, but also by simplifying review helps ISD and public works standardize the enforcement of science.

So a win win there. Next slide. While this expedited review is great for most science, the planning department recognizes that some, like conditional science, need additional review. Because of their outsized impacts on the public realm, conditional signs will require both planning department design review as well as a conditional use permit from the ZBA, a stricter standard than what currently exists for most. The signs that are applicable to this type of review are high building signs, roof signs, marquees, and electronic signs for entertainment and hospital uses.

Next slide. Forbidden signs constitute an even smaller percentage of these signs and are defined as those excessive in scale or with potentially harmful impacts on the public realm. They include the signs that you see on your screen. And such signs would only be allowed to be permitted after obtaining a variance from the ZBA. Next slide.

To ease the transition and improve accessibility to this new process, we also intend to supplement the Article 11 updates with a how to guide that explains the permitting process and clearly walks through the types of review and submission requirements for obtaining a permit. Additionally, we're developing new design guidelines that will explain best practices and encourage quality design for science.

Next slide please. Before we wrap up, I just wanna take a moment to acknowledge our interdepartmental partners and coordination, which was a hugely valuable part of our vetting process, especially in refining our recommendations, revolving around updates to permitting, and the streamlining of review. As you can see, there are a lot of actors that are involved in signage review. Advancing this project really wouldn't have been possible without their collaboration and support, and we're grateful for the guidance and help that they've provided us in helping to move this along. Next slide.

Looking ahead, we anticipate the implementation of sign code modernization to occur mid summer. This sets us up to see and study some initial returns in the fall. We wanna make sure that we're doing what we're setting out to. To help ease the transition of review responsibilities, planning department staff are also gonna be providing ISD with support at both intake and in review, from adoption through the winter. And our supplemental materials, as Lizzie mentioned, which include both new submission requirements and the How To Guide are expected to be rolled out and socialized alongside the implementation of our zoning.

Next slide. And with that, we'll close out. Thank you very much for your time and Lucy and I are available to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Are there any questions or comments from the Board?

Thank you, mister chair. So just to be clear, wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man will not be allowed?

Un unfortunately not. I would

very good.

No. I I think this is great. How many so the original code had 16,000 words fifty years ago. How many words will this have?

4,500 that are all gonna be located in a single article in the code and cover about twice the amount of material.

Perfect. No. This is great. And listen. I I anything we can do to streamline processes like this, the better. I would just say, and I I think we all agree with this. Going through the deck, there were so many iconic Boston Boston signs that we love, and we don't want to lose that. And so I just hope that that's and I don't think it's the case. But I hope as we talk to these businesses who may make a decision about something quick and easy or something maybe a little more nuanced, we'll have that the cow head at JP Licks, the boing, the modern pastry, so many great signs that we don't do anything to dissuade those because they are such an important part of our city's character. 100%. Thank you. Are there

any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor? So

moved. Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Any

opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Thank you

very much.

Item 19, request authorization to issue a certificate of completion for the successful completion of the 1595 through fifteen ninety nine Columbus Ave project pursuant of section c four of the cooperation agreement by by and between the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as Boston Planning and Development Agency in the 1595 through 1599 Columbus Ave Owner LLC dated 04/22/2022. This is a sort of completion, no presentations. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. There's a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Item number 20, request authorization to issue a certificate of completion for the successful completion of 200 Seaport Boulevard project, also known as the Commonwealth Pier revitalization project pursuant of section c four of the cooperation agreement with by and between the Boston Redevelopment Authority, doing business as Boston Planning and Development Agency, and Commonwealth Peer Trust II, the proponent dated 09/15/2020. Another, certificate of completion. Are there any questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

There's a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Item number 21, request authorization to issue a certificate of completion for the successful completion of improvements on Parcel J Dash 1 in the downtown waterfront Faneuil Hall urban renewal area project number Mass R Dash 77 located at 150 Milk Street pursuant to the section three zero four of the land disposition agreement by and between the BRA and the Jenny Building Associates Limited Partnership dated '20 excuse me, 05/20/1983. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Seeing and hearing none, there's a motion on the floor.

So moved.

Second. There's a second. All in favor?

Aye. Any

opposed? Ayes have it. Item number 22, request authorization to issue a determination waiving the requirement of further review pursuant to section 80 a dash six of the zoning code in connection with the notice of project change submitted on 03/16/2026 by Braintree ninety Alton LLC for the construction of a 111 residential rental units, including 14 IDP units and eight voucher units, fifty fifty eight car parking spaces, and a 111 bicycle spaces located at 90 Braytree Street. And number two issue of cert certificate, certification and compliance under the section 80 b dash six of the code upon successful successful completion of article 80 review process and three, enter into affordable rental housing agreement and restriction cooperation agreement and transportation action plan agreement in connection with the proposed project and take all related actions. So

Good afternoon, chair Shepherd, members of the board, secretary Paul Jimis, and director Shin. My name is Zoe Duvall, and I'm a project project manager in development review. I'm here before you to present the expedited notice of project change for the 90 Braintree Street project. Next slide, please. Originally approved on 03/10/2022, this project is approved to include a new six story residential building containing a 111 rental units with 22 affordable units, 59 garage parking spaces, a 111 bike parking spaces, artist workspace, and 9,500 square feet of useful open space.

The proposed projects changes the proposed project change seeks to remove the below grade parking component of the previously approved project and replace all 59 spaces with a first floor stacker system, a change which would result in reorientation of the unit mix, floor plans, and green space with slight massing and penetration changes to accommodate the adjustment. The originally approved unit count of 111 rental units will remain along with the originally approved 111 resident bike parking spaces, 22 visitor bike parking spaces and open space square footage. All of the previously approved mitigation and community benefits items will remain and include monetary contributions to the Alston Brighton CDC, the Parks Department for allocation to the abutting Penmen Park, and bike share and bike lane improvement contributions. Next slide please. The proposed removal of this upgrade parking would result in the previous 10 locked units to be replaced with a mix of studio and one bedroom units resulting in an updated unit mix of 52 studios, forty nine one beds, and ten two beds.

The previously proposed three bedroom units were removed as part of this proposal. Additionally, the proposal includes a revision of the affordable unit breakdown to include 14 inclusionary development policy units and eight voucher units in replacement of the previously proposed 22 IDP units, of which five were designated as artist live workspaces. On 03/16/2026, the proponent the new proponent N6 properties filed a notice of project change under expedited review for the proposed changes. The filing initiated a thirty day comment period that concluded on April 15 after the filing was distributed to the IAG and to the Back Bay neighborhood distribution list and posted on the planning department's project web page. A public meeting was to be held at the request of public officials.

No public meetings were requested or held for the project changes. Thank you. And that concludes the presentation. The development team is also here to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you. Are there any

questions or comments from the board? Hearing and seeing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you.

Yes. Item number 23, request authorization to one issue certification of approval for the proposed development located at 419 Boylston Street pursuant to article 80 e small project review of the zoning code and to enter number two, enter into a pilot agreement. And number three, adapt adopt demonstration project plan under the Massachusetts general law chapter one twenty one b section 46 f. And number four, adapt certain findings relating to the demonstration project plan. And number five, accept a quiet claim deed for certain temporary limited property interest in the project site and to take all related actions.

Zoe Yu.

Thank you. Good afternoon again. I am here before you to present an applicant of Mayor Wu's Office to Residential Conversion Program, the proposed Article ADE small project located at 419 Boylston Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, and the proposed 121 B agreement to effectuate the residential conversion incentive pilot program. Next slide, please. On 08/29/2025, Monarch Development, the proponent, applied to Mayor Wu in the BPDA's Downtown Residential conversion incentive pilot program authorized by the BPDA board on 10/12/2023.

Based on BPDA staff review under article 80 and under review and review under the pilot program, the proponent has been selected to receive a pilot agreement based on the pilot program criteria. The proponent will, upon approval by the BPDA board, enter into a pilot agreement among the city of Boston and the BPDA. In order to comply with the rules and regulations under Massachusetts general law Chapter one twenty one b section 16, the BPDA must take a property interest in the project site. On 01/13/2026, the proponent filed a small project review application, submit submission of which initiated the small project review. The planning department hosted a virtual public meeting on 01/26/2026, which was well attended and well received.

The public meeting was noticed on the planning department's events calendar and sent to the Back Bay neighborhood distribution list. The comment period ended on 03/14/2026. The project site is located on the North Side Of Boylston Street between Berkeley Street and Arlington Street and is well served by multiple public transportation options. The site currently consists of an eight story 48,405 gross square foot vacant office building with vacant retail space on the 1st And 2nd Floors. The proposal seeks to retain the existing retail uses on the 1st And 2nd Floors next slide, please and convert the vacant office floors into 41 residential rental units consisting of 27 studio units and fourteen one bedroom units in approximately 37,385 square feet of gross floor area.

The proposed project will also contain 43 resident bike parking spaces in the basement and four on the 1st Floor with eight exterior visitor bike parking spaces. The proposed project will preserve the existing building envelope, structural system, and primary facade openings. The proposed project scope is limited to interior work with the combined buildings with the combined with the building at the site with no expansion to its existing footprint or facade. Thank you. And that concludes the presentation. Again, the proponent team is also here to answer any other questions you may have.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board?

I have a quick question. I love these conversion projects, all four of them. But in this one, the IZ units are disproportionately studios. Typically, they're a little more proportional to mix generally of the building. Is there a reason for that?

I think we went back and forth with a few different unit mixes. I know the project team is here and I can defer to them for, maybe an explanation of why they went a certain route.

Mark Allincar, President of MMP Design Consultants. The reason for that was just to maximize the number of units to for the building and also how the building is shaped in a rectangular manner. To maximize that, you would almost have to put the layout for four units in the front of the building facade and four in the back because you also have to make sure to balance it out the real state of the windows and make sure that you're all up to code. So that was mainly maximize the number of units given the housing issues that we're all aware of. Okay.

I guess just a general comment. I don't want to hold this project hostage over it. But I think typically, it seems like the department does a really good job of ensuring that there's a fairly similar distribution with the affordable units. And so I think we just want to watch for that with these projects. Thank you.

Questions or comments? For myself, would just say we all can see that office to residential exploding at a good rate and we're very happy to see that. All I would ask is that during the construction, we use responsible contractors. And definitely, with the historic tax credits and things, maybe not on this project, but on other projects similar, again, just responsible contractors is key. These are unique areas of Boston that are having the ability to transform.

And we just like to keep responsible contractors. And the chance for young men and women that come out of trade schools to be a part of it through the apprenticeship program. Thank you very much. There any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

Ayes have it. Thank you.

Take a break and that's it.

Give me a hug. Would love to. Alright, we're gonna take ten minutes, five minute recess.

Like this chair.

But you don't know, you don't know. And this is a public hearing before the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as the Boston Planning and Development Agency being held in the conference room with article 88 dash two and eighty c dash five of the Boston zoning code. To approve the proposed phase two building c development plan for planned development area number 94 Bartlett Place Bartlett Station and Bartlett Drive in the Nubian Square area of Roxbury. The hearing was duly advertised on 04/28/2026. This is a BBDA hearing.

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

When your hand when your hand is raised, it will be blue. If you're calling in into the meeting, you will and 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 mic. Your webcam will not be active.

If you are planning to testify in person in the boardroom, please line up behind the podium after the presentation has been concluded and you will be called upon. 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. BPDA staff will indicate when thirty seconds remain at the 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 to rebuttal if they desire.

Open public meeting law requires that we ask if there is anyone in the audience who is recording this meeting. If you are recording this meeting, please identify yourself now. One second, Jason. Before you start the presentation, I would also like to say, let's not have any, what is it, demonstrations of approval or disapproval during the presentation and during this meeting. So Jason, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Chair Shepherd, members of the board, Secretary Vohimis, and Director Shen. My name is Jason Farrell, and I'm a project assistant with with the Development Review Division at the Planning Department. I'm here today to discuss the Bartlett Station project, also known as Bartlett Place Lot C project, and the associated PDA development plan titled Phase 2 Building C, located within the previously approved PDA number 94, also known as Bartlett Place master plan in the Nubian Square area of the Roxbury neighborhood. The proposed development at Bartlett Station is the only project within the Phase two Building C development plan. The development plan and project proposed construction of a four story building containing 61 mixed income homeownership units, of which 12 are income restricted and four are dedicated to artist live work.

The building will include a below grade parking garage with 51 spaces and other rental residential amenities, including, but not limited to, 61 long term and short term 61 long term and 14 short term bike spaces, a private inner courtyard, and gallery space for artist use. The project notification form was filed on 11/18/2025, initiating a thirty day comment period. The associated development plan was filed on 12/22/2025 initiating a forty five day comment period. The project and development plan were reviewed under the Article 80 review procedures laid out in sections 80B and 80C of the code. The planning department hosted meetings with the Bartlett Place master plan project review committee on 12/17/2025 to discuss the large project and 01/17/2026 to discuss both filings.

The planning department hosted a public meeting on January 6 to discuss both filings. Furthermore, the project was considered by the Boston Civic Design Commission, also known as BCDC, on 02/03/2026, and the BCDC Design Subcommittee on 03/24/2026. The project was approved by BCDC on 05/05/2026. I will now turn it over to Ford Del Vecchio for a presentation on the planning and zoning context for the project.

Thank you, Jason. Perfect. The project site is situated entirely in Planned Development Area 94 identified in the master plan as Bartlett Place Phase 2, the site is designated for up to 61 dwelling units and accessory parking within a structure limited to 110,000 square feet of gross floor area and a height of 50 feet. The currently proposed project remains within these established regulatory parameters. Geographically, Bartlett Place serves as a vital link between the Nubian Square business district and the residential communities of Highland Park, St.

James, and St. Joseph. The site's former use as a transit yard historically created a significant void in the urban landscape, disrupting the continuity of the neighborhood and leaving a vacant gap along Washington Street, as exemplified in the larger picture. The Roxbury Strategic Master Plan, the picture in the bottom right notes that the area of Washington Street should be developed with emphasis on re knitting the neighborhoods on either side of it. Residential and or mixed use development should be considered here. The proposed project along with earlier phases master plan, repairs this urban fabric by introducing active mixed use buildings along Washington Street while transitioning to smaller scale townhouses and apartments on Bartlett Street, Gilt Street, and Lambert Avenue to better reflect the surrounding residential context and reinforce the goals outlined within the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan. Thank you. And I will now hand it off to Mike Ross to describe the plan in more detail.

Good evening, madam secretary, mister director, mister chair, members of the board. My name is Mike Ross. I'm an attorney at the law firm of Prince Lobel. And I'm here today, online with architect, Nirjis Bubenelis and consultant Beverly Johnston. We would like to thank the project managers, Jason Farrell and Camille Platt DeCosta for their strong and consistent professional approach to our project.

We would also like to thank the project review committee that worked with us on this, the Roxbury community, the Civic Design Commission, and its very capable staff for working with us throughout the process. We represent a family run development team where its founder Nelson D. Oliveira arrived in The United States just decades ago with $50 in his pocket. He built this development group with his now with his son from the ground up. And in addition to this project that's in front of you today, he is completing a 37 homeownership building, Building 4, on this site and is in the final stages of permitting 28 homeownership projects also on this site.

What you're looking at here, as previously described, Bartlett Yards and proposed building, Building C now called Bartlett Station, is this long held community vision that the leaderships of the city, the community of Roxbury, New Western Community Dad, and others helped bring to fruition. We're proud to be here today to offer this latest proposal, Bartlett Station, which will represent the full permitting of this 8.59 acre and virtually the majority of it, has been constructed. The next slide shows Bartlett Station on its 39,273 square foot vacant lot. It will be comprised, as mentioned, 61 mixed income homeownership units. 12 of them are affordable.

That's 20%. And there will also be four artist live work units in the site. There's a gallery. There's 51 parking spaces and 62 bicycle spaces. Next slide, please.

Project actually, more slide, if you don't mind. Thank you. The project undulates in height from three four stories above grade, depending on the building itself, but also the topography of the land, in that the land slopes down one story, from Bartlett Station Drive, which is the front door of the building. What you're seeing there is the courtyard side of the building. And that's a full story below Bartlett Station Drive.

So the topography helped direct some of the building programming itself. In addition to the open space with the courtyard, on the left wing of the building from what you're seeing there, there is a roof deck above that. And it's connected to a building amenity. And these are homeownership units as well. So that will provide some great outdoor space for the residents who own their units and live in the building.

Next slide, please. This section shows the kind of spanning more than just the building site, this section shows the topography of the entire site itself. The next slide shows the height differential from the front of the building on the left to the rear of the building or the other side of the building on the right. And then just one other slide just showing a section just to give you a feel of the building and what you have there. Next slide, please.

These elevations show the facades and materiality of the four main sides of the building. The top elevation shows the main entrance side of the building. That's the Bartlett Station side of the building with the main residential entrance is it's on the left and and you can see the brick masonry three floors above it. That is that is the main entrance of the building. And then in addition to these masonry materials that you see in that darker color and that burgundy color, the remaining materials will be cementitious lapsiding, some sort of cement based lapsiding.

And they're shown on the slide there as well. Next slide, please. This is a shot coming from Washington Street on Bartlett Station. And you can see the building ahead with that roof, that left wing roof deck wing that you're looking at on the right there. Next slide, please. So this is a view of the side of the building as you make your way up towards Bartlett Station Drive. You can see the roof deck there on the right. And then on the left, the corner is where the gallery is. And the next slide, it's a better shot. It's a shot from that corner.

And that's where that gallery is. And the gallery will be used for a gallery, but it can also be used for different staging and different kind of public facing events and that kind of thing. The next slide. So now we're moving to the other corner of Bartlett Station Drive. It's the corner of Bartlett Station Drive and Bartlett Street.

And then that main entrance there on the right, to the right of that main mass there, the darker masonry material. Next slide. And we are back here now at the courtyard side of the building. And that corner there is where the garage entrance is, the garage entrance to the 51 parking spaces. And then finally, this last slide here, this is just finishing an evening shot of the main entrance of the building on Bartlett Station Drive. And, that's what I have for you today. I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any. Thank you. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. This is a public hearing, and we will now take public testimony. If you would like to testify in person, please step to the podium and announce your name, affiliation, and your position on the proposed project when you are called to speak. If you are Zoom and you would like to testify, please raise your virtual hand.

Thank you, mister chairman, members of the board, madam secretary director Shane, Minor Perez here representing the Carbon Trust Union. We'd like to go in record support of this project. Thank you.

Good evening, members of the board. My name is Daniel Dailey. I'm a lifelong Boston resident, and I'm also a business representative for Local one hundred three with the Electricians Union. Boston needs housing, and our residents need jobs. And this a is perfect example of how this, can get done with contractors that respect the Boston residency job policy and support the men and women who live in Boston and support our small businesses and vote in our elections. So I wanna go on record as in support of this project. Thank you.

Is there anybody online who would like to testify about the Bartlett Yard project? Please raise your virtual hand. Chair, there is no one on line to testify.

Thank you very much. Do any of the board members have any questions or comments?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Councillor Ross, thank you for that great overview. I think it's a testament to the support of this project that there is such little chatter online. I certainly support it. We'll be voting in favor. I think it's a good looking building. Appreciate the commitment to affordability. Quick question. With the 20% income restricted units, does that include the four artist lofts, is that separate?

That's a great question. It includes one of the four artist lofts. There's a matrix of it. But it was one of the discussion points that we went through with staff. And I think initially it wasn't, but then we brought one in.

Okay. I think that's fantastic. And obviously love the sustainability piece, electric heat pumps, high energy. I love the roof deck too. So I'm not going to this question, I'm not including the roof deck, but you've got a fourth level. Is there it's obviously pre wired for PV panels.

Is there any thought about installing some photovoltaics on top?

That's a good question. We did have a conversation about it. I think Nirius could probably answer that better than I could because I'm not entirely sure we landed on that. I can tell you that that roof deck that we have is on the 3rd Floor above that wing. And then the rest of the top of that building is all for mechanicals. And it would be completely appropriate for the photo tech. So I don't know how you would get Nir just to zoom in here. There he is.

Yep. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening, members of the board. Good evening, guests and team. So to answer the Nerdy Rugnales from KDI Architects in Saint Laurent. Thank you. To answer that question is, I don't know if there's full commit commitment yet done by the by the owner for the photovoltaics, but it will also depend on the on the done process and with the passive house consultant model modeling, see how we are with the generation. But we have a full upper roof available for for for PV paths. So it it will be determined.

I'm I'm glad to hear you're having the conversations. I'd urge you to, go beyond that. I mean, having these these these incredibly efficient heat pumps to marry that with some on-site renewable generation is going

to be enormously attractive to residents and obviously lower the footprint and go above beyond.

So I think it's a great opportunity and glad to hear the conversations will continue. Thank you.

I'll pass your recommendation along to our team.

Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved.

Second. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? Ayes have it.

Thank you very much. Have a great night. All good.

All right. This will be our, second public hearing. This is a public hearing before the Boston Redevelopment Authority doing business as the Boston Planning and Development Agency being held in the conf conformance of the Massachusetts general laws chapter one twenty one a and the acts of 1960 chapter six fifty two, each as amended in article 80 b large projects review of the Boston zoning code to consider the proposed one twenty one a application filed by the Weston Library Preservation Associates LLP and to one adopt the adopt a report and decision on the Weston Library project located at 151 Cambridge Street in the Boston's Weston neighborhood. Two, issue a scope and determination waving further review pursuant to article 80 b large project. Review of the zoning code for the Weston Library one twenty one a project and three issue, certification of compliance under the section 80 b dash six of the code upon successful completion of the article 80 review process and four into into a cooperation agreement.

This hearing was duly advertised on 04/28/2026. This is a BPDA hearing on proponents on proposed petition, sorry, by the agency staff members. We'll first present their case in our subject by into questioning by the 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. If you're planning to testify via Zoom, please take the time now to verify that your computer microphone is active and click the hand icon on your Zoom control panel.

This will signal to staff that you would like to speak when your hand is raised. It will be blue. If you are 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.

Your webcam will not be active. If you are planning to testify in person in the boardroom, please line up behind the podium after the presentation has been concluded, and you will be called upon. And an effort to accommodate all who would like to speak about this proposal, each person will be given up to two minutes to comment. B BPD 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, proponents are allowed a period of five to ten minutes for rebuttal if they desire. Open public meeting law requires that we ask if there's anyone in the audience who is recording this meeting. If they if you are recording this meeting, can you please identify yourself? With that, thank you. Kimmel?

Thank you, vice chair Shepherd. Good evening, members of the board, Shen, and Secretary Paul Jimis. My name is Camille Plattacosta, and I'm a senior project manager here. The proposed 121 A project before you is an Article 80 large project located at 151 in the West End, also known as the West End Library Redevelopment Project. Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc, also known as POA and CAST Capital, proposed to demolish the existing library building to construct a new mixed use two story branch library and approximately 119 income restricted rental residential units across an additional 12 stories.

The residential unit mix will range from studio to three bedroom apartments with units available for families, seniors, and individuals earning less than 80% of the area median income. The new two story branch library will be more than double the size of the current library, and the design of the space will be informed by community feedback gathered during a comprehensive programming study carried out by the BPL in 2020 and 2021. In addition to a new mixed use building, the proposed project includes an outdoor plaza and shared community amenities designed for library visitors, residents, and the public. The proposed project will not provide any on-site vehicle parking spaces, but will provide up to 160 bicycle parking spaces. The proponent has held discussions with Historic New England, the owner of the Otis House, and has confirmed that Historic New England is amenable to the removal of the existing surface parking to establish an enhanced public realm between the project site and the Otis House.

In April 2023, the City of Boston Mayor's Office of Housing issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the branch of the BPL located at 151 Cambridge Street. The site consists of approximately 0.51 acres of land bounded to the south by Cambridge Street to the west and north by property owned by Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH, and utilized as part of the Charles River Plaza and to the east by property on which the Otis House is located. The objectives of the RFP were developed in close collaboration with other city agencies, including the BPL, as well as with key community stakeholder groups such as the West End Civic Association, Beacon Hill Civic Association, Historic New England, and others. MOH received eight proposals for the redevelopment, and in December 2023, the Public Facilities Commission, in close coordination with BPL and MOH, approved the developer designation of POA and CAS Capital to lead the redevelopment effort. The letter of intent to begin the Article 80 process was submitted in August 2024.

Subsequently, the project notification form was filed on 01/08/2025. A public meeting was held on 02/12/2025, which was circulated to the Planning Department's West End listserv and published in local newspapers, as well as neighboring groups in Beacon Hill and the West End that were part of the initial community planning process. The meeting was well attended and was followed by two subsequent in person meetings outside of the Article A process on 11/12/2025 and 03/19/2026. POA and CAST have laid out how different types of vehicles will be able to access the site in this plan. The proposal is based on investigation and analysis by the proponent team, as well as detailed ongoing input from city staff and BPL, planning, housing, transportation, disabilities commission, public facilities, and city operations.

Safety is the number one priority for the vehicle access plan, as it is for the sidewalk improvement plan and bike lane plan along Cambridge Street. The proponent team and the city team conducted independent analyses of a few different options for getting vehicles onto and off of the site, ultimately agreeing that the proposal described above is the safest strategy with the best achievable outcomes given the very tight and complicated site. Traffic removal and pickup times will be coordinated with POA and a private trash hauler to ensure timing does not interfere with heavy traffic times on Cambridge Street. With that, I would like to thank the members of the public, elected officials, the West End community who have consistently worked within the RFP and Article 80 processes over the last two years and helped to shape the project that you are about to see. I'll now turn it over to David Leonard of the Boston Public Library to say a few words, followed by Ford Del Vaccchio to walk us through the planning context that was considered in reviewing this project before the development team begins their presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Camille. For the record, I'm David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library, a position I've now held for ten years and have been following this particular project initiative since its beginning and its inception. So I'd just like to speak in favor of continuing this project. It is one of three innovative opportunities that are currently active to deliver not just a modern and suitable responsive branch library to the local communities, but also to make a substantial contribution to the city of Boston's housing challenges. And so this project, once approved, will follow on the heels of our Chinatown initiative also.

As you heard, the current branch, which is about 9,000 square feet, will more than double in size, allowing us to offer the full range of service that every community in Boston really should have access to locally in their neighborhood. In particular, the larger children's space, the larger teen's space, which it doesn't have today, and a functional community room with seating for up to 125 people is really taking the space to a modern standard. There will also be classroom and conference rooms for meetings, which are a vital library service to our communities today. In response to community interest in exterior space, the branch itself will also have its own dedicated reading garden accessed through the branch that will allow patrons to access the exterior of the space as well, including access to some green space slightly back from the bustle of Cambridge Street. So of the number of projects that we initiated with our city colleagues, this one had the strongest endorsement very early on from the local community about the viability of this project on this site.

And you've heard in the initial introductory presentation the amount of feedback that has been garnered through the process. And so we are excited to see this move forward. And while the timing is still under review, the city of Boston is committing capital dollars to ensure that the project will complete itself once the timeline is approved. Thank you for your time today. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Good evening, Vice Chair Shepherd, Secretary Palimas, members of the Board, and Director Shen. My name is Ford Del Vecchio, I'm the planner reviewer assigned for this project. This is the correct slide, so thank you. In February 2018, the Mayor's Office of Housing launched the Housing with Public Assets initiative to identify municipal facilities that could double as sites for new housing.

The West End Library emerged as a premier candidate for this mixed use approach, offering a unique opportunity to preserve essential library services while integrating residential units. Located on a 0.51 acre site at 151 Cambridge Street, the project sits within the Cambridge Street North Side Protection Area in a restricted parking overlay district. Proposed library and residential uses are permitted under current zoning, while the building's design is contextually scaled, it would exceed current zoning maximum dimensions. Beyond the building's uses, the project introduces a significant neighborhood benefit, a new outdoor plaza situated between the development and historic Otis House. Although the zoning district does not mandate public open space, this plaza will replace a gated surface parking lot and serve as a vital amenity, increasing the library's visibility and strengthening the physical connection to nearby cultural landmarks.

Taking a wider lens by reintroducing residential use with an active Ground Floor, the project represents a thoughtful evolution of the site, once again establishing a contextual urban mixed use condition in this part of the West End. Thank you. And I will now turn it over to the development team to present in more detail.

Chair, could we take representative Livingstone out of order?

Yes. Let's do that.

Representative Livingstone, are you on?

Yes. Thank you. And, thank you for taking me out of order, to the chair and and to the members of the committee. I'm here to testify in favor of this project. I I remember when, John Ashat, Susan Vesser, and Karen Cortehler years ago told me the city should be doing something like this, identifying this site that led to the city program that's now led to, us being here today.

This project delivers solely needed, housing and affordable housing in the Beacon Hill West End neighborhood area. It, will deliver a much better library than currently exists there, which we agree, community benefit. And there's been a robust process where this, project's been shaped from the r through the RFP process to picking, POA as one of, I think, seven people that the seven organizations that applied for this to then shaping the POA's project. The the only complaint I've heard from the community, to the to the latest has been, about deliveries. I as I've looked at the project and I've thought about it and and talked to communities, I think POA has come up with the best solution for that where there's a a hidden, essentially, drop off, in front of the building, that will be used by the library truck.

And then, also, I would imagine will will be delivery trucks will find that. And then they've promised that trash deliveries, which will have to happen on Cambridge Street, which is incredibly busy, will only happen in the morning before rush hour. And so with that, I I hope you approve it. I really appreciate you taking me out of order. Thank you.

Thank you, representative. We'll take one more elected official. That'll be councilor Ruth Z. Ruth Z, if you're available.

She's not on right now, so we'll have to come back to her.

Okay.

Thank you, rep Livingstone, and good evening, everyone. My name is Mel Miller. I'm a project manager at Preservation of Affordable Housing or POA. I'm joined by my colleague Mina Jacob and Amanda Oh, along with our development partner, Patrick Kimball of CAS Capital. We have members of our design team and our council in the room and online. And sorry, I just want to say thank you to the secretary, thank you to the vice chair, and also to Director Shen, and members of the board. So as we've heard by now, we all know the site is occupied by the existing West End branch of the Boston Public Library. It is a one story building that is functionally outdated and underutilized given the site, configuration, and limited uses. At the same time, the site is very well located. It's just a quarter mile from where we are currently.

It is sitting along Cambridge Street in a dense, transit rich area directly adjacent to the historic Otis House. Next slide, please. So the project includes 119 income restricted housing units and approximately 19,000 square feet for the new West End Library branch. In total, the building will contain approximately 176,000 square feet, rising to 14 stories and approximately 165 feet in height. The project has a floor area ratio of approximately eight, really reflecting the efficient use of this transit oriented, centrally located site.

Next slide, please. So the 119 affordable apartment homes are distributed across 12 stories of housing over the two story library space. The unit mix, which you can see in the top right here, is providing a variety of housing options ranging from the mix of studios up to three bedroom apartments, all of which will be affordable to households making below 80% of area median income. And before we move on to more renderings and looking at various angles of the development, I just wanna highlight here upfront the design strategy. So as we can see, right, the massing's really broken up, and that's done so intentionally based on both the neighborhood context and also the uses themselves, with the library at the base and its connection to the public realm being expressed on those first two floors, and then, of course, the residential component above it.

Next slide, please. So I think as we as has been established, this is a very constrained site. And just to kind of orient us, we see its relationship here to Cambridge Street running alongside the right of the screen, along with Otis House just at the top right here. The layout does reflect extensive coordination with the city and design team in order to maintain clear circulation, support library operations, and integrate the new outdoor civic plaza. That plaza itself really is a key organizing organizing feature of the site, creating this welcoming and visible connection between Cambridge Street, the library, nearby Otis House, and the broader community, recognizing that this is a neighborhood with very limited open space.

In coordination with the city, the site plan also features an extended sidewalk along Cambridge Street, which was really done in an effort to enhance the public realm and improve pedestrian and cyclist safety. If we look at the building for a moment, you'll see this better more detailed on the next slide, but access points are carefully located to separate the library and residential functions. Specifically, we see the entrance to the library sort of in the center right of the screen. The residential component is coming just off of the pedestrian plaza, which lies in between the building and Otis House. And then you also see the double doors on the bottom right, which are leading to that private library garden that David had mentioned earlier.

While we're on this slide, I'll also just highlight the landscaping plan, which consolidates planting areas and introduces new trees while also providing 28 short term bicycle parking spaces in convenient locations across the site. So if we look at the next slide, we see how this site plan starts to come to life. Sorry, next slide, please. So we see how the site plan starts to come to life when we look at the preliminary site logistics plan. We've heard a bit about this already, right?

But I think high level, just want to note upfront, it reflects close coordination with the city with a focus on minimizing conflicts, improving safety, and maintaining a high quality pedestrian environment along Cambridge Street. As a result, the design intentionally consolidates most loading and servicing along Cambridge Street, allowing the plaza to remain primarily pedestrian focused. So we see this green arrow going through the pedestrian plaza, and And what that is indicating is for service I think it's a service access way for the transformer access only. That is the only vehicle we anticipate to be within the pedestrian plaza. It would access the transformer at most for a schedule two times per year, and then, of course, emergencies happen.

Beyond that, we see the library van situated at the base of the entrance to the plaza off of Cambridge Street. This is its designated space that's anticipated to be used for short term daily deliveries along with operational needs as needed. And so the last thing I'll touch on, which we've heard a bit about already, is how residential operations are anticipated to go, which is, again, to use Cambridge Street. I'll focus on both trash and then move specifically, we anticipate that happening, four times per week, again, with working with haulers who can, operate during non peak hours for traffic. So again, selecting a hauler that can work that can do pickups before 7AM, ideally before 6AM.

And then move in and I'll say, sorry, trash will be brought to the curb. You see dumpsters sort of in the center bottom of the screen. That's where they will be housed until trash is picked up and then brought back into the building's internal trash room. Move in, move outs, again, will be managed from Cambridge Street through scheduled windows during non peak hours to minimize disruption. We talk about 119 units.

The biggest activity will happen during the building's lease up, which we anticipate to be over a five month period, 119 units that comes out to a few dozen units each month, a few units each week, and so making sure that those are strategically and well scheduled and managed during, again, non peak hours to minimize disruption. So on the next slide, we can begin to take a look at a few of the elevations. So here we see the north on the left, which is the building's backside, and the south elevation, which is the building fronting Cambridge Street, which really reflect the project's massing strategy and context sensitive design that I had noted earlier. The elevation step and articulate the facade perceived height, introduce visual interest, and respond to neighboring buildings. The housing above and the library below are clearly expressed while also remaining this cohesive single building.

On the next slide, we see the west elevation, which to orient us now, we see the libraries on the bottom right. And so we're looking at the side of the library. This would also be the side where the reading garden would be. And we further see here how the building engages with its surroundings and addresses scale along Cambridge Street. And then lastly, if we look at the next slide, the east elevation, we're continuing the same design language careful attention to setbacks and building articulation.

And so what we see here is the residential entrance at the forefront, the library at the background with the library's edge meeting the building's edge. And so I'll just end by looking by discussing a few of the project renderings, really to get a better sense of the completed building and public realm. So you see the on the left along Cambridge Street sorry, the whole building on the left along Cambridge Street. And then in the bottom right, we get a better understanding of the library coming alive along with the pedestrian plaza on the top right. And then just lastly, on the next slide, we see a few additional views of the building and plaza along with a nighttime rendering in the top right that helps illustrate lighting and visibility at the plaza in the evening as well.

So with that, we can go to the next slide and just want to say thank you to the city for its continued partnership. And we look forward to the ongoing coordination.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. This is a public hearing and we are now taking public testimony. If you would like to testify in person, please step up to the podium and announce your name, affiliation, and your position on the proposed project when you are called to speak. If you are on Zoom and would like to testify, please raise your virtual hand.

I'm sorry. Councilor Lujan is online, so I'd like to just take her before we start public testimony.

Counselor?

Hello. Can everyone hear me?

Yes. Yes.

Hi, everyone. Ritzy Lujan. I have large speak council here. Sorry. I was on here earlier and just couldn't get to unmute on time, but I just wanted to come and, voice my support for this project. I wanna thank all of the members. I think Rep Livingstone did it really well, sending out so many, like John, and so many others who were so involved in making this happen, answering two issues at the same time, making sure that we are preserving and working on our libraries as public goods, and helping with our affordable housing issues. And so wanna express my support. I wanna thank all of the residents who have had input, all of the folks who have come together to bring us to where we are now. I do know that there are some outstanding issues around curb cuts and deliveries as discussed, but I also know that we will have what it takes to work on those issues, as this project move forward.

So thank you for, for taking me, and just wanna, again, voice my support for this project. Thank you, counselor.

Thank you so much, mister chair, members of the board, including some former colleagues of mine. I'm Kenzi Bach. I have the honor of leading the Boston Housing Authority, and formally had the honor of being the city councilor in this district, District 8. And this is my local library, the West End Library branch. So I just wanted to come with all of those hats on to just say how excited I am that this project has reached this point and express my full throated support both in my personal capacity and on behalf of the BHA, which is very excited about the fact that a portion of the units, in this building will house very low income families that we house all over the city.

And in a part of the city where we don't have very much housing, that supports those families, but a part of the city that has a very deep history of housing families, we know that the West End before it was cleared was a vibrant immigrant neighborhood full of families, including a large number of low income families. And I was looking David Leonard, who's here, his institution has a wonderful tool called Atlas Scope where you can look at any part of the city and see what was on it in various years. And before this site was cleared, it had 10 family dwellings on just this parcel where we have the West End Library now. So I think, you know, the idea that we would come full circle and manage to put housing for families and for seniors back on this site, but do it at the same time with this state of the art library, is just a really exciting thing for the neighborhood. And from my perspective, when the West End was cleared, we did have a whole lot of low income people who moved out and were never able to move back.

And the initial development was very much all market housing. But then in the decades since, both the Beacon Hill and West End neighborhood really supported getting more affordable housing in the West End. And so there's a number of signature projects from Blackstone apartments to West End Place to on the Beacon Hill side using former city schools like the Peter Faneuil School, two fifty Cambridge, as sites for, affordable housing. But even all of that work, which I'm somewhat proud of, by extension because my grandfather was a big part of it, at this point happened forty, fifty years ago. And it's been a long time since we had an opportunity to house more families at the site.

In that period, we've seen a steady loss of families, especially with children, from both the West End and Beacon Hill. And it's something that I know from when I was a counselor is a really important priority to the neighborhood to make sure we have families of all incomes. And that's the great thing, this is a mixed income building, who are able to come and live here and benefit from the incredible services that the library, which is very treasured by the neighborhood, provides. So I want to they've been lifted up a couple of times, but I want to lift up again John A. Schatz and Susan Besser and Karen Court Taylor, who really were the only people who wrote a sort of Microsoft Word response to the city's public assets.

Asked that everyone else was a developer, but these were neighborhood leaders saying, yes, we'd like to see this here. And there's just been many, many hands since that point. But we're just very excited to see it reach this point. So I want to thank everybody who's been part of it and put in a strong voice of support for the project tonight. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. I've never done this before, so just bear with me. My name is Steve Zaidman, and I live at the Blackstone, and a tremendous place, a wonderful place to live. I grew up in the old West End Of Boston and lived there until it met its demise in 1958. And thanks to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, kept lists of every single person who was displaced from the West End.

At eight years old, my name was on that list. That's how I'm living at the Blackstone right now. Tremendous community, wonderful place to live. The staff at the Blackstone is tops. You can't beat it. I've seen five directors since I've been there, and currently, it's the best that it's ever been. But what's unique about that is that, like the old West End, it was a melting pot. It is a melting pot. We have certainly black, white, Hispanic, Asian people living in the building, 145 units in there. Everybody gets along.

How is that possible? But you know, it's true. I think it is due to the staff that we have there. And POA, I know some of you yes. We've never met before, by the way. So I was hoping somebody would be here for POA. But you do a great job. It's a great place to live. And the thought of having another POA property which I followed the whole progress of this. And I was hoping and I was so happy that POA was awarded this development contract.

It's a wonderful thing. And with the library remember, the old library, which used to be at the corner of Line Street and Cambridge Street, And my aunt and uncle owned a rooming house up on Line Street where that research building is right now. So I spent a lot of time in that neighborhood growing up. And I just for whatever it's worth, I grew up around the corner, at the corner of Brighton Street and Allen Street. And I once met Leonard Nimoy sitting on the steps of St. Joseph's Church. And why is he sitting here? His son was across the street. That. They were filming that documentary for Channel two.

So I started to talk to him. And when I told him I was from the old West End, his eyes just lit up. And we started playing the Jewish geography. Did you know this one? Did you know that one? And it turned to the Winchell School. Who was your first grade teacher? Well, I think everybody in the West End had Ms. McGovern. And so it seems. Kenzie might know. Might have heard those stories. But I just wanted to speak in favor of this project. I thank everybody. Thank you all for what you do.

I've never been aware of that. But it's a great thing, and I think I think it's gonna be a great thing for the city as well. So thank you all.

Thank you.

Thank you, vice chair Shepard, members of the board, madam secretary, director Shed. My name is Mark Delasio. I am a business representative for the Capital Union Local three twenty seven in Boston, and, we just wanna be on the record as being in full support of this project. Looking forward to it, it looks like a beautiful project and it's going be a great addition to the neighborhood. Thank you.

Good evening members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Daniel Daly. I'm a lifelong Boston resident And I'm also a business representative for Local one hundred three with the electricians. And Boston needs housing, Boston needs jobs, and we certainly need libraries. So I'm in full support of this project. It's wonderful. And I love the story back then. My brother-in-law was a West Tender. Get to talk to him. So thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Colin, Zik, you can unmute yourself.

All right. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

All right. Very good. I'm not sure why the video is not on, but I'm going to proceed anyway. So I'm Colin Ziek. I'm the current President of the Beacon Hill Civic Association.

As several of the speakers have said, the idea for this project came from leaders of the Beacon Hill Civic Association. And as an association, we are strongly in support of the project. We appreciated the collaborative nature of the RFP process, and we look forward to refining the project consistent with the public comments that we have made. As was alluded to by some of the other commenters, we do have concerns about some elements of the design, despite our full throated support of the project. We are concerned that there are seeding elements of the design that will lead to negative uses.

As someone who has lived in this neighborhood for thirty five years, I have seen an explosive use of illegal drugs in and around this area, including this week reporting active drug use under the Appleton Footbridge. This is a concern that we don't want to have travel up Cambridge Street, and we think the seating area needs to be adjusted accordingly. As was also alluded to, we have concerns about the traffic and parking element of this. If you look at another affordable housing location on Cambridge Street, 250 Cambridge, there is a significant problem with the driveway there being blocked by food delivery drivers. We think this needs to be accounted for.

We also think that the timing of the pickups and drop offs and so forth need to happen are probably not best addressed at six to seven in the morning when shifts change Hospital. That issue will only be exacerbated by the completion of the two new Mass General buildings, and we think that needs to be addressed. We hope that these will be addressed as we go forward. And finally, the one thing we noted Mr. Leonard from the BPL, this project is going to take about two point five to three years and put the library out of service.

There is no current plan to put a replacement library or significant library services in place of the missing library, and we think that needs to be addressed. But again, we support the project, and we look forward to refining these issues. Thank you.

You. Elena Ushikova, you've had your hand up and down. I'm not sure if you were trying. Ahead, Elena. You need to unmute yourself.

Hi. My name is Rina, and I'm very thankful for your presentation. But I'm going to give my arguments, in opposition to this project. I'm leaning two, two buildings away from the project, which is, planning to be there. So I know this area very well.

I'm actually here from every single day from morning till night, And I do know this location very well. So in the pictures, it was seen that the new project is going to be between Audi, Audi's house and MGH. That's correct. But it's very dense location. And the space between the project and MGH, it's just tiny.

It's just building to building. So my first argument against or in opposition of this project is density. Very little space, very small location, and very close to the Ottie's house. Plus, next to the Ottie's house, there is another. There is a there is a church. So this is actually a historical area. And the new building, it's going to be residential building. Well, I don't think it's appropriate right here. Speaking about the library, you mentioned it's going to be a mixed use approach. But I'm the member of the library.

I'm very much satisfied with this library. And the most the strongest argument is infrastructure around that. The roads are very, very bad around. So the traffic is terrible. And actually, you know, there is only one grocery store in this area. It's just Whole Foods Market. Nothing else.

Are you finished,

Elena?

No. Actually, almost finished. I have a question. What was, the goal? What was the argument to choose this specific location? Because I don't understand why the library, which we have right now, it is not a good building. I mean, it's pretty good. So why this particular location was chosen for the new project?

So the proponent doesn't respond directly to questions, but the board members will take your question under consideration or may ask the city All right. You've passed your time. Was there any concluding remarks you wanted to share?

Yes. One more thing. Shadow and Lion. You mentioned that new trees will be grown over there. But I know I mean, I can see a lot of new trees are being planted here, but the old ones are actually dying because there is not enough sunlight here and a lot of shadow.

And even near the whole foods market, which is close to the project which you are planning, people usually enjoy, used to enjoy enjoy sunlight. But the new tower of MGH, and if this new building will be behind that, there won't be light at all. Not speaking about the sun. And not speaking about the sun for growing trees.

Okay. Thank you very much, Elena. There is nobody there's nobody else online.

Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board?

Yes, thank you Mr. Chair. I am very, very excited to vote in support of this project. I remember vividly being with a different mayor. I was in a different role talking about leveraging publicly owned properties to help develop more affordable housing, and and none were more exciting for us to explore than libraries. So thank you, mister president, for your great leadership. This is an exciting project, not only for the housing that it will bring back to the West End. And, sir, I have to tell you, you said this was your first time testifying. That was one the most compelling testimonies I've ever heard in my time here, so thank you for being here. But it's important to note that, the historical aspect.

12,000 individuals were displaced from the West End in the name of urban renewal back in the 1950s and early '60s. And we are slowly but nevertheless rectifying that with projects like this. It looks good. It's going to be transformative for the West End branch. I mean, we've seen what other branches, particularly my favorite Jamaica Plain branch with with with it have seen been untouched for decades. You know, now, I just given you see more people use them, more young people use them. It's really, really exciting. So support this unconditionally. I'm nothing if not consistent. The fact that it's gonna be 12 or 14 stories, will there be any photovoltaics on the roof?

I know there's some restrictions where we are because I know this building, for example, isn't a good candidate, but can you talk about that?

Yeah. So I'll say the building will be designed and built to passive house standards along with LEED Gold Certification. However, my understanding is that just given the footprint of the roof, the PV system was just not able to the roof wasn't able to support the system.

And that makes sense. It's very it's the way that it's narrow than it would need, but it's good to hear on the Passive House standards would be great as well. So yeah, I'm excited to see this and thank you all the members of the community and those who have taken the time to weigh in on being part of this process.

It's a

much better project for your advocacy.

Thank you. Doctor. Thank you.

To me this is the best kind of public private partnership. You know that we've got an incredibly exciting reuse of a public asset that will result not only in new expanded state of the art library, but significant affordable housing. And to Kenzi's point, deeply affordable housing, which were successful as a city. We see a lot of these projects coming through developing affordable units. But not all of them reach to a 30% area median family, which is is something to be really proud of.

And so I'm really excited to see this. I hope it becomes a model for other public facilities around the city to create more affordable housing while we redevelop those public assets that the city owns and manages. So kudos to POA, kudos to MOH, kudos to the community members that have worked tirelessly to make this the best project it can be. Obviously, there's still some details to be worked on. But I think this is just a great moment for the project. Thanks.

Yes. I I would just ask quickly for the team. First of all, thank you for your thoughtful suggestions and plans for the trash removal. But I I would just say, if you could please monitor it as we go along and, just stay, in relationships with the community to make this process as smooth as possible. Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? Seeing and hearing none, is there a motion on the floor?

So moved. Second.

There's a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Be right.

2024.

24. Yeah.

Oh, maybe 4. I'm ready for it. Wishful thinking.

Alright.

We can go. Item number 24, request authorization to one, issue a scope and determination waving further review pursuant to section 80 a dash two and section 80 b dash 5.4 d of the zoning code for the proposed 50 Congress Street project and two, issue certification of completion for the proposed project pursuant to section 80 b dash six of the zoning code upon successful completion of the article 80 b large project review process. And three, accept quiet claim deed for the certain temporary and limited property interest in the proposed projects project site and four into into a contract for payment in lieu of taxes among the city of Boston, the BRA, and the proponent in connection with the proposed project and to take all related actions, including without limitations, executing the delivery, a cooperation agreement, and transportation access plan agreement. Dilla.

Good evening, Vice Chair Shepherd, members of the board, director Shannon, secretary Paul Hemas. My name is Dylan Norris. I'm a project manager in the development review division of the planning department. I am here today to present an applicant of Meriwu's downtown to office Residential Conversion Program, the proposed Article 80 b large project located at 50 Congress Street in the downtown neighborhood of Boston, as well as the proposed 121 b agreement in order to effectuate the Downtown Residential Conversion Incentive Pilot Program. You can go to the next slide.

On December 2026, 50 Congress Street LLC, the proponent applied to Mayor Wu and the BPDA's Downtown Residential Conversion Incentive Pilot Program. The pilot was authorized by this Board on 10/12/2023. Based on BPDA staff review under article 80 and review under the pilot program, this proponent has been selected to receive a pilot agreement based on the pilot program criteria. The proponent will, upon approval by the BPDA board, enter into a pilot agreement among the city of Boston and the BPDA. In order to comply with the rules and regulations under Massachusetts General Law Chapter one twenty one b section 16, the BPDA must take a property interest in the site, which refers to the quick claim deemed that you mentioned earlier.

On January 2020, twenty six, twenty twenty six, the proponent filed a letter of intent with the planning department. Based on the, letter of intent submitted, the planning department staff recommended that the director issue a letter of waiver for the formation of an impact advisory group. Proposed project does not include any major external construction as it is adaptive reuse of the current underutilized commercial space. It is an applicant of the pilot program and complies with the requirements of the executive order and thus the IAG formation, should be waived. A project notification form was filed with the BPDA on 02/27/2026, submission of which initiated the large project review.

The BPDA hosted a virtual public meeting on 03/24/2026, which was well attended and well received. The public meeting was noticed on the BPA's events calendars and sent to the downtown neighborhood distribution list. The comment period on the project notification form ended on 03/30/2026. You can go to the next slide. The project site located at 50 Congress Street, consists of an approximately 20,000 square foot parcel bounded by Exchange Place to the North, Kilby Street to the East, and Hawes Street to the South, as well as Congress Street to the West, within Downtown Boston and the Financial District area.

The project site is currently occupied by an existing 10 story office building with a gross floor area of approximately 181,000 square feet. Next slide. The proposed project will convert the existing 10 story building into approximately 169 residential apartment units, including 135 market rate and 30 restricted units spread over nine studios, sixteen one bedrooms, and nine two bedroom apartments to be offered in qualified applicants earning no more than an average of 60% of the area median income. The proposed project will also include approximately 7,300 square feet of ground floor commercial amenity space, our commercial retail space and potentially consisting of a similar restaurant and neighborhood serving uses. Thank you and that concludes the presentation.

The proponent team is available to answer any questions that the board have related to project. Thank you.

Are there any questions or comments from the board? Again, love to see office conversions being done. Think somewhere around 25 applications in the city of Boston, historical sites and people have the opportunity to become residents in the neighborhoods of the city of Boston. All I would ask again is that during the construction process, we use qualified and general contractors and subcontractors that follow apprenticeship language and things of that nature so that young men and women in the city of Boston can have the opportunity to be a part of the growth of the Downtown Boston area. Seeing and hearing no other questions or comments, it's a pleasure of the board.