Bpda Board of Directors - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

I am the chair of the VPDA board. Thank you for joining the August 13th, 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 and at City Hall in our boardroom on the ninth 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 the office, no, made and broadcast by Boston City TV, which is a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communications at Xfinity Channel 26 and RCN Channel 13. Oh, and Verizon Fios Channel 962. It is also being live streamed at boston.gov slash cable. Now, if there's anyone in the audience who is recording the meeting today, I just ask that you please identify yourself. Hearing and seeing none, we'll start with the roll call. Ms. Jacques? Felicia Jacques, board member.

Thank you.

Mr. Shepard? Present. Mr. O'Malley? Here. And I, the chair, am present. Item number one, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of July 16th, 2026 board meeting. A motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Item number two, request authorization to amend the lease with Mass Robotics, Inc. to add Suite 401 to the lease premises at 12 Channel Street in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Dennis.

Thank you. And Felicia, it's been quite a long time since I've passed across, but I was very happy to hear you donating your time to our board. Thank you.

Oh, wonderful. Good to see you.

Thank you.

Mass Robotics Inc., or Mass Robotics, has been a tenant in 12 Channel Street since 2016. They provide workspace for innovative robotics and automation startup companies. Very similar business model to that of WeWork, where they charge a fee for the use of the premises by startup companies, provide workspace, meeting rooms, shared equipment, et cetera. The lease has been amended five times since 2016, always to accommodate the expansion or contraction of lease space. Effective December 2024, Mass Abotics leased 51,000 square feet in four separate suites, two comprising the entire second floor of the building, and two non-contiguous smaller suites on the fifth floor of 12 Channel Street. Simultaneously, to 2024, 12 Tranel Street was on the verge of significant vacancies on the horizon, with the departure of EastWest Manufacturing from the entire third floor and the imminent and pending vacation of Global Protection Corporation vacating the fourth floor and most of the seventh floor. In January 2025, the board approved staff's recommendation to remove the fifth floor suites from the mass robotic space and add the entire third floor to the premises. They currently lease 69, I'm going to round, they currently lease 69,000 square feet comprising of the entire second floor, the entire third floor, and a small 500 square feet on the first floor. And they are continuing a tendency at will in one of the smaller suites on the fifth floor, 14,000 square foot space. The occupancy of suite 502 on the fifth floor is scheduled to end within a few months, and it's not factored into any of the square foot numbers that I'm sharing today. Uh, mass robotics had previously expressed an interest in the now vacant fourth floor of the 12 channel street to help secure their long term growth planning. Staff was very motivated to negotiate with an existing tenant rather than seeking a new tenant for the fourth floor in the market. Mass robotics, in this case, they benefit from operating efficiencies with three contiguous floors. In the planning department, we can now go to market with the smaller floors on the fifth floor, which are more marketable and easier to rent. The economics of the transaction are in the memo and the term sheet, but I'll summarize for the public record. Staff believes that the current market for upper floor functionally obsolete industrial space in the seaport is $18 to $23 per square foot triple net. Mass Robotics currently pays $19.10 per square foot for their existing premise, which is scheduled to go up to $21.50 next year. The current lease expires in 2032. Staff negotiated with Mass Robotics and we are proposing the following. Mass Robotics will take on the fourth floor to add it to their lease premises. No additional rent will be paid by Mass Robotics for the fourth floor during the first year of the amended lease. In exchange, the expiration date of lease will be extended from 2032 to 2036. So we'll get four more years of commitment from Mass Robotics. The rent will increase back to the $21.55 in September of 2027. By virtue of the free rent on the fourth floor, they're all in per square foot is a little over $12. But that's just temporary for about a year. It's important to point out that the planning department is not contributing to the cost of the relocation. We are not contributing to the cost of the required build-out, and we are not paying a real estate commission, which would likely have been between $250,000 and $500,000 were an outside broker involved in a new lease. There's no actual cash flow reduction, so it's very easy to budget for the coming year. Guaranteed rent over the remaining current lease will go up by almost 20% by virtue of this accommodation. Factoring in the next 10 years for the new lease, it'll still go up between 7% and 15%. And that's forecasting depending on what would have happened to the 4-4 if we didn't lease it to Mass Robotics. If we did a five-year lease, it would go up about 7%. If we did a 10-year lease, which effectively we are now, it would go by 15%. So sorry for rambling, but I am requesting approval of the lease amendment for Mass Robotics at 12 Channel Street.

Thank you very much. Any questions or comments from the board? All right, hearing and seeing none, motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Dennis. Item number three, request authorization to issue a request for qualifications for designer services for electric service upgrades at 12 Channel Street in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Tyler.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. We are requesting authorization to advertise and issue a request for qualifications to procure an engineering design services for the electrical service upgrades. 12 Channel Street is a nine-story industrial building originally constructed around 1941 for the US Navy. Today, the building supports a diverse mix of commercial, manufacturing, technology, nonprofit, and restaurant tenants, approximately 350,000 square feet. The existing electrical infrastructure has exceeded its useful life and no longer meets the operational needs of the building. Portions of the electrical equipment have been identified as recalled, creating life safety concerns. The current electrical distribution system is also operating beyond its intended capacity, resulting in occasional outages that affect multiple tenants. Upgrading the electrical system is essential to improve building reliability and safety. The project will position the building to meet future tenant electrical demands, support future building electrification and burrito compliance, allow future HVAC improvements, and relocate the main electrical room to comply with current flood elevation requirements. The selected consultant will provide design, development, construction documents suitable for public bidding, public bidding assistance, construction administration services during the future construction phase. Throughout the design process, the consultant will coordinate closely with BPDA staff to develop the most practical and cost-effective solution. The consultant will be selected in accordance with Mass General Law Chapter 7C and all applicable City of Boston procurement requirements. Funding for the design phases included in the FY27 capital construction budget is not to exceed $275,000. Therefore, staff recommends the clerk be authorized to advertise an issue or request for qualifications for a qualified engineering consultant to prepare the design documents for the electrical service upgrade project. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

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

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? You guys have it. Request authorization to issue a request for qualifications to hire a licensed design consultant to provide design services resulting in construction documents for window replacements on the ninth floor. of 12 Channel Street in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Tyler.

Thank you again. We are requesting authorization to advertise and issue a request for qualifications to procure an architectural and engineering design services for the 12 Channel Street ninth floor window replacement project in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. This is the first time this matter has been before you. 12 China Street is a nine-story masonry building originally constructed by the U.S. military in 1941 as a naval storehouse. Today, it serves a wide range of industrial, manufacturing, technology, nonprofit, and public sector tenants, including the Boston Transportation Department, Mass Robotics, and Parallel Fluetics. Many of the building's original windows remain in service and have reached the end of their useful life. These windows contribute to significant energy loss and water intrusion, affecting building performance and long-term maintenance costs. Replacing the windows supports BPDA's efforts to improve building efficiency and helps move the facility toward compliance with Boston's BRDO requirements. The building currently has approximately 115 original windows and several louvers still requiring replacement. Because replacing every remaining window is estimated to cost approximately $9.5 million, the work will be complete in phases. This project focuses on developing the design for replacing the ninth floor windows while maintaining the building's established window standards and appearance. The selected consultant will evaluate the existing ninth floor windows, identify deficiencies, develop solutions that improve energy efficiency, and restore watertight conditions. Prepare construction documents for public bidding. Provide bidding assistance, construction administration, and project closeout services as funding allows. Evaluate temporary repair options for the remaining original windows to preserve them until future replacement phases. The consultant will be selected in accordance with Massachusetts Journal of Law Chapter 7C and all applicable city of Boston procurement requirements. Funding for the design phase is included in the FY27 capital construction budget. Therefore, staff recommends authorization for the clerk to advertise an issue and request for qualifications for a qualified design consultant for the 12-channel street, 9th floor window replacement. Thank you. If you have any questions, I can answer them at this time.

Okay, thanks. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay, hearing and saying none, a motion is in order.

So moved.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Tyler. Item number five, request authorization to issue an invitation for bids for the installation of physical security infrastructure for parcels C1 and C2 located in the Raymond Alflin Marine Park. Sandra.

Thank you. Madam Chair, members of the board, we are requesting authorization to advertise and issue an invitation for bids for the installation of physical security infrastructure at the C1 and C2 parking lots within the Raymond L. Flame Marine Park. Raymond L. Flame Marine Park is a 190-acre industrial park owned by the EDIC. Over the years, the park has evolved from traditional cargo shipping facilities into a diverse hub of manufacturing, research, technology, pharmaceutical, and maritime industries. The project focuses on the adjacent C1 and C2 parking lots located off of Terminal Street. Design services, construction documents, and estimates for this project were completed by CHA Consulting under a design contract previously authorized by the EDIC Board in October of 2023. The project will improve the security and monitoring capabilities of the C1 and C2 parking lots. These improvements will provide enhanced surveillance, improved operational security, better protect BPDA assets, tenants, employees, and visitors throughout the section of the Marine Park. The construction project includes installation of new surveillance cameras and camera stations, installation of point-to-point telecommunications equipment, new perimeter and entrance security surveillances, electrical work to remove existing equipment and install new conduit systems, trenching, underground conduit installation, asphalt saw cutting, and pavement restoration. The project will be publicly advertised and an invitation for bids in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 149. The construction contract will be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Following the bid process, staff will return to the board seeking authorization to execute a construction contract. The estimated cost for this construction is $444,422. Funding for this project is included in BPDA's fiscal year 27 capital construction budget. Therefore, staff recommends authorization for the clerk to advertise and issue an invitation for bids for the installation of the physical security infrastructure at C1 and C2 parking lots within the Raymond and Flynn Marine Park. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

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

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Sandra. Thank you. Item number six, personnel. Teresa.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have several items for your consideration on the EDIC agenda with the exact details included in the board memos. We have one contract in the director's office, Jacqueline Martinez. We have one internship in the Office of General Counsel, Tyler Jakowitz. And we have one resignation in the urban design division, Christina Rico, who serves as the assistant deputy director of design.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board? All right hearing and seeing none emotion is in order. So move 2nd, all those in favor. I opposed the guys habit motion passes. I just want to say, welcome to the to the intern and to Jacqueline. He'll be helping out. And as well, as, you know, thank you so much Christina for all of your of your contributions to the agency over the years. you've been a critical part in helping us shape the city. So I hope you're proud. I wish you best of luck in anything that you do in the future and know that you have friends here. So with that, I need a motion to adjourn this meeting.

Motion to adjourn. I second that. All those in favor? I second that.

Oh, you second that? You can't second and make a motion. Wait a second. I'm sorry.

Okay, so moved.

That's what they do in the union. All right, so all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Meeting adjourned. OK, starting with the next portion of our meeting, thank you for joining the August 13, 2026 Boston Redevelopment Authority 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 and in our boardroom on the ninth 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 a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communications at Xfinity Channel 26, RCN Channel 13, and Verizon Files Channel 962. It's also being live streamed at boston.gov slash cable. If there's anyone in the audience who's recording this meeting, I ask that you please identify yourself now. Okay, seeing none. And also please note that demonstrations of approval or disapproval from members of the public are not permitted during the meeting. Thank you. We'll start with a roll call. Ms. Schock?

Here.

Mr. Shepherd?

Present.

Mr. O'Malley?

Here.

And the chair is present. Item number one, request authorization for the approval of the minutes of the July 16, 2026 board meeting. A motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Item number two.

Excuse me, Madam Chair, I'll be recusing myself from item number two.

Thank you, Mr. O'Malley. Item number two, request authorization to enter into a license agreement with the New England Aquarium Corporation for the use of a portion of BPDA-owned property located at East India Row in the downtown waterfront area until March 31st, 2027. Samantha.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the board. I'm here to request approval to enter a license agreement with the New England Aquarium Corporation for use of BPA-owned property located at East Indian Row for the purpose of utilizing a BPA-owned food vending kiosk. The downtown waterfront area is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city of Boston. making it a valued location for food vending. The location for the downtown waterfront food vendor kiosk program is on the Boston planning and redevelopment and development owned land strategically placed between East India Row adjacent to the Simmons Theater. The Downtown Waterfront Food Kiosk Program is an opportunity to support tourism in the City of Boston and creates opportunities for local business vendors to sell food and beverages to the public. The New England Aquarium has rented a food kiosk from the BRA to sell food and beverages to thousands of visitors each month for the past 10 years. This kiosk is a great complement to other kiosks that rent from the BRA on Long Wharf. The New England Aquarium will remain solely responsible to secure all necessary permits, and the proposed license will allow for an eight-month license, which will commence on August 17, 2026 and expire on March 31, 2027. The license fee for proposed license shall be $5,880 per month, payable in advance on the first day of each month, commencing on August 17, 2026. The license fee is a 5% increase from the previous license rate. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

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

So moved.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you. Thanks, Samantha. Welcome back. Item number three, request authorization to amend the lease with Urban College of Boston, removing suite 100, located at 2 Boylston Street from the lease premises and restructuring rent payments through 2032. Liz.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. The board previously voted in March of 2026 to amend Urban College of Boston's lease by restructuring the rent to reflect current market conditions and extending the lease term through 2032. I'm here today to request authorization to further amend that lease to remove the first floor space, suite 100, and adjust the rent accordingly. Urban College is a longstanding non-profit tenant at 2 Boylston Street, providing higher education and professional advancement opportunities to traditionally underserved communities. UCB Urban College currently leases approximately 15,092 square feet on the first and second floors of the China Trade Center. During our first lease negotiations, UCB expressed uncertainty about its long-term need for the first floor classroom space. Staff agreed to revisit the space requirement after securing the longer-term commitment. UCB has now determined that it no longer needs the first floor space. Staff is therefore recommending removing 3,567 square feet on the first floor, reducing UCB's leased premises to 11,525 square feet on the second floor. The rental rate will remain the same, which is $21 per square foot, with 3% annual increases until 2032. effective August 1st, 2026 annual rent base will decrease from approximately $316,932 to $242,025. While this represent approximately a 24% reduction in annual rent, the extended lease provides BPDA with guaranteed rental income through 2032. That is projected to be 84% greater than the forecasted rent if UCB had vacated at the original lease expiration in 2027. The amendment also returns our first full space to BPDA, allowing us to market it to another tenant or user. We regularly receive inquiries through the planning department's portal. Today's request is to authorize the amendment to remove Suite 100 from UCB's lease and restructure the ramp based on the remaining 11,525 square feet. Thank you, and I am here to answer any questions you may have.

Okay, thanks, Liz. Any questions or comments from the board? All right, hearing and saying none, a motion is in order.

So moved.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Both the ayes have it. You can get something to work out down there. Item number four, request authorization to assign the lease held by Second Mass Ave Realty Trust for Building 120 in the historic monument area of the Charlestown Navy Yard to the USS Constitution Museum Incorporated.

Thank you again. In May of 2026, the Board previously voted to approve the transfer of Building 120 lease from Clifford Long, Trustee of Second Mass Ave. Realty Trust, to the USS Constitution Museum. I'm here today to request that the Board expand that authorization to include two intermediate transfers necessary to complete the donation. Building 120 is a three-story building, approximately 14,875 square feet office building located within the Charlestown Navy Yard. Mr long intends to donate the remaining leasehold interest to the U. S. S. Constitution museum to structure the donation for tax purposes. The interest will 1st transfer to 2 long family trusts then to then to Clifford and Kim long individually and finally to the U. S. S. Constitution museum. These intermediate transfers were always part of the intended transaction. However, Museum Council has requested a certificate of vote that specifically identifies and authorizes each transfer for recording purposes. The ultimate recipient and purpose of the transaction has not changed. The existing lease terms will remain in effect, including an annual base rent of 14,400 plus percent interest, with no anticipated negative financial impact to BPDA. Staff recommends approval of the intermediate transfers and authorization for the director to execute all necessary documents to complete the assignment. Thank you, and I'm here to answer any more questions you may have.

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

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Liz. I do want to just give a shout out to the real estate Division, I continue to be impressed with the work of this department and your creative solutions to supporting our tenants and being so fiscally responsible, but understanding of our tenants and the needs of our city. I just wanted to say that. But we can move on to item number five. Request authorization to extend the tentative designation status of and enter into lease negotiations with powerhouse cnyllc for the long-term lease and redevelopment of building 108 property in the charlestown navy yard on a portion of ny-1 in the charlestown urban renewal area project number mass r-55 for a period of six months until february 28 2027.

Thank you Madam Chair and Members of the Board. I am here to request approval to extend the tentative designation of Powerhouse CNY LLC for the redevelopment and long-term lease of Building 108 in the Charleston Navy Yard. Building 108 was a vacant building of approximately 32,000 square feet that previously served as a central power plant for the Charleston Navy Yard. And powerhouse was originally tentatively designated back in February 2021. So, this project team intends to redevelop the site into a 97,000 square feet building with approximately 84,000 rentable square feet of lab and R and D space with additional cafe space and 39 below grade parking spaces. The abatement and demolition of the former building was substantially completed actually back in spring of 2023, and in fall of 2025, the project received its VPDA board approval for Article 80 large project review. Admittedly, the current market environment still poses challenges for the life sciences development, but the development team is continuing to pursue prospective tenants and financing for the project. Since their last extension in February, the project team continued to make progress on their coordination for the transformer locations with abutting leaseholders. In addition, the team has actively collaborated on necessary construction licensing for the construction work commencing on the abutting NPS office building in Building 107. At this time, I would like to recommend extending the tentative designation status for Powerhouse for an additional six months to continue this work on this site. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions or comments from the board? All right, hearing and saying none, a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? You guys have it. Item number six, request authorization to extend the final designation status of Nubian Ascend Partners LLC as redeveloper of the Blair Lot in the Nubian Square area of Roxbury for a period of six months until February 28th, 2027. Thank you again.

The Blair Lot is a BPDA-owned site consisting of approximately 80,879 square feet of underutilized land in Roxbury. This parcel was subject to an extensive community planning process through Plan Nubian and through subsequent site-specific community meetings. Following the disposition RFP released back in November 2019, Nubian Ascends was tentatively designated for redevelopment of the site at the December 2020 BPDA board meeting. The proponent proposes to create approximately 389,000 gross square feet of mixed-use development, including affordable housing, parking garage, a lab training and office building, and a cultural hall. The proponent was awarded final designation status in March 2023, but as you know, again, since then the market conditions around life sciences and office sectors have changed dramatically. So rather than stick to the status quo, the project team has explored an alternative approach to the development to maintain the project's feasibility. Since their last designation extension, The team has continued to refine the revised approach to the project's master plan and phasing to reflect the current market and funding conditions impacting many of the project's program components. And this will be documented in a subsequent notice of project change. During this final designation extension, the proponent intends to file an NPC reflecting these changes and advance a site remediation plan to utilize the project's mass works grant, in addition to seeking additional sources of funding and advancing conversation with potential tenants. So with that being said, I request that the board authorize the final designation extension for a period of six months to New Vienna Science Partners LLC for the redevelopment of the Blair Lab. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from the board?

Yeah, yes, Madam Chair. Thank you. So obviously, I have no issues extending the designation. Know this area well, it's right in the heart of Nubian Square. Things have changed, obviously, due to external factors. Can you talk a little bit about how the financing is coming along with this new iteration?

Yeah, so there is a, so for the first phase that is being contemplated, which is building the lab training building, there is a $50 million state bond.

Sorry, did you say 50 or 15?

Five-zero. Five-zero, right. Yes, so that is the primary source of funding, in addition to MassWorks, which will be funding the, the public infrastructure portion and some of the site remediation work from the contamination that's present on sites. And there's additional funding that the team is pursuing at this time, none of which are concrete enough to share with you at the moment, but we hope to have details of that in subsequent board meetings as well. Great, thank you so much.

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

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. Item number seven, request authorization to issue a request for proposals to hire a licensed design consultant to provide engineering design services resulting in construction documents to perform the Pier 4 utility infrastructure repairs in the Charlestown Navy Yard.

Sanders. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board again. We are requesting authorization to advertise and issue a request for proposal to procure engineering design services for the Pier 4 utility infrastructure repair in the Charleston Navy Yard. This is the first time the matter's been before you. Pier 4 is owned and operated by the BPDA and currently leased licensed for use by the Couragia Sailing Center. The pier was originally constructed in the 1950s and has undergone several recent capital improvements including structural pile and pile cap repairs to extend its useful life. Additional work included stabilization of the discharge culvert beneath the pier and repairs to the dry dock number two masonry bulkhead are currently in permitting and expected to begin later in the year. During these recent infrastructure projects, deficiencies in the pier's underground utility systems were identified, making this project the next logical phase of improvements. The project will evaluate and design repair, I'm sorry, start that again. The project will evaluate and design repair and design repairs for the aging underground utility infrastructure serving Pier 4. Addressing these systems now will improve reliability, support future maintenance efforts, and help preserve long-term functionality of this very important waterfront asset. The selected engineering consultant will inspect and assess the existing utility infrastructure, prepare engineering design and construction documents, obtain necessary permits, and assist in future bidding process. And they will also provide construction administration services during the construction phase. The design will address stormwater systems, domestic water, sanitary sewer, electrical infrastructure, removal of abandoned utility piping, and repairs to the deteriorated concrete duct banks. The consultant will be selected through a request for proposal in accordance with Mass General Laws Chapter 30, Section 39M. in all applicable City of Boston procurement requirements. Funding for the design phase is included in BPDA's fiscal 27 capital construction budget in an amount of $150,000. Therefore, staff recommends that the secretary be authorized to advertise and issue a request for proposal for qualified engineering consultant to design the Pier 4 utility infrastructure repairs project. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

Any questions or comments from the board? I do have one. So I know we said this is included in the FY27 capital construction budget, but these were unforeseen expenses, so are we having to kind of put something else off to do this, just trying to understand? I'm going to have Rebecca come up.

So you may remember, it was about a year or two ago, we did a very comprehensive project for Pier 4. They were unforeseen at that time. But since that time, and in working with folks that have been using that licensed premises, Courageous Sailing, and others in our own investigations, we've uncovered the need for these additional investments. So lots of forewarning, and we've been planning for that as part of this budget. So we didn't have to put anything off. It was in the context of our typical budget process. OK. Thank you.

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

So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

The ayes have it.

Thank you.

Item number eight, request authorization to approve design changes to the South End Urban Renewal Area, project number MASR-56, parcels 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, located at 474, 482, and 494 Tremont Street, subject to continuing design review. and to execute and deliver a release of a portion of reservation of public travel easement rights and any and all other instruments, agreements, or documents deemed necessary in connection with the construction of canopies to the rear entrances of the Castle Square residences. as part of the rehabilitation of the Castle Square Apartments. Dennis.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Castle Square Apartments are located, as you said, at 474 to 494 Tremont Street in the South End. It is a 100% deeply affordable elderly and disabled community, 100%. The property is owned by Castle Square Tenants Association and is managed by Wynn Managed Properties. The Boston Redevelopment Authority still owns the playground in the courtyard of the development. Wynn would like to install three canopies 10 to 12 feet from ground level to better protect residents and visitors from the natural elements. Specifics regarding the quality of the construction and the location of the canopies are within the board memo. It's not my, it's not my wheelhouse to opine on that, but our colleagues in urban design have given it a lot of review, so I'll defer to them. The existing Boston Redevelopment Authority deed that you mentioned places a restriction wherein no roof structure may be added at a height below 32 feet. BRA staff have reviewed and approved the design of the canopies, as I said, requesting today that the proposed design changes be approved, subject to continued review by BRA staff, and the subject public travel easement be amended to allow the installation of the canopies at the 10 to 12 foot height rather than the 32. Thank you.

Great. Any questions or comments from the board? All right. Actually, I do have, so I think that, what was the 32 height trying to kind of prevent?

I don't really know. It was done so long ago. I think I was in high school when they did that.

I don't really know. I think that answer is fine. So any questions or comments for the board hearing and seeing not a motion is in order. So moved. Second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Dennis.

Thank you.

All right. Item number nine, request authorization to petition the Zoning Commission to adopt text amendments implementing updates to Article 88 of the Zoning Code to establish the new consolidated local permit process for a small clean energy infrastructure pursuant to the state's 255CMR29 and establish use and dimensional regulations for battery energy storage systems. Christopher.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen, and Secretary Palimas. My name is Christopher Mascis, and I'm a planner on the zoning reform team. Tonight, I'm joined by Andrew Plum and Travis Anderson to present a text amendment to Article 88 of the zoning code. Pursuant to 225 CMR 29, this amendment introduces the consolidated local permit for small clean energy infrastructure and provides use and dimensional regulations for battery energy storage systems. I would now like to pass this over to my colleague, Travis Anderson, to begin our presentation.

Good afternoon, everybody. Next slide, please. Today's agenda, we're just going to do a quick overview of the consolidated local permit process. I'll give a quick intro about the types of clean energy infrastructure that the city will be looking at from a consolidated local permit perspective. We'll go over the CMR 29 requirements and procedures and how that affects Article 88 and the zoning reform that we need to do there. And also touch on the Article 88 battery energy storage zoning that is a new item adoption, a new amendment to it. Next slide, please. And next slide. Why is the state permitting reform, doing permitting reform for clean energy infrastructure? This is a result of the 2024 Climate Act, which is mandating the state to look at ways to better enable processes and procedures to permit energy infrastructure of all scale across the state. This is in line with meeting the state's climate goals and the city of Boston's climate goals. This permitting reform also coincides with other permit reform that's underway, such as Article 80 modernization and primary goals of the city and state writ large to kind of make these more prevalent throughout the state and the city. Next slide, please. What is small clean energy infrastructure? Under the state's definition, this includes energy generation infrastructure that's less than 25 megawatt hours. That includes solar panels, wind turbines, and anaerobic digestion. This also includes energy infrastructure that's made for storage that's under a hundred megawatt hours primarily battery energy storage is one of the main key components of that it also looks at transmission and distribution infrastructure so any new corridor that's less than one mile or an existing corridor that has transmission and distribution infrastructure. less than 10 miles. All these types of small clean energy infrastructure will fall under the City of Boston's purview for the consolidated local permit. Anything larger than this will go through the state review process. Next slide, please. So what is large clean energy infrastructure not under the city's purview? It's substations of any size or scale, generation that's greater than the 25 megawatt hour threshold, energy storage that's greater than the 100 megawatt hour threshold, or transmission and distribution infrastructure that's greater than one mile or greater than 10 miles. We also want to highlight that neither of these affect data centers. They are not part of either clean energy infrastructure definition that the state has made. That's a completely separate use type and something we're not looking at today. And I'll pass it over to my colleague, Andrew.

Thank you, Travis. My name is Andrew Plum. I'm a planner on the comprehensive planning team. Next slide, please. So what does 225 CMR 29 require? The city must adopt the consolidated permit process and updated zoning to include small clean energy infrastructure in the code. There are certain specific requirements from the state, which include the use of the state's local permit application, A guarantee of a 12 month review, updating the zoning bylaws to enable the new permitting process as we have no special permit in Boston. The designation of a local government representative and collecting a decommissioning surety for all projects. There is flexibility in the law for how Boston updates its zoning regulations and how it reviews different scales of projects. There's also flexibility in what mitigation we have for projects and how the overall review process is run. Outside of the law is... energy projects that basically choose not to go in the consolidated permit process. We've called this sort of the standard review, which would be the normal review under zoning. And also ministerial permits, which are, for example, the permits granted by ISD or the fire department. Next slide, please. So the proposed updates to Article 88 will establish the consolidated local permit process, which will be coordinated by the Planning Department. The updates will provide clear, predictable criteria for the appropriate siting, permitting, and review of all small clean energy infrastructure facilities. The decision for the consolidated permit will be issued by the Director of the BRA in conjunction with the BPDA Board. And the state's requirements for CMR 29 take effect on October 1 of this year. Next slide, please. So what departments participate in the review process? The departments listed on the left in red will have the review included in the consolidated local permit, which is subject to that 12-month review timeline. The departments listed on the right in blue will be included in the review process to provide feedback and to flag any potential concerns early in the process. However, their official review will happen after the consolidated local permit review, and they are not subject to that 12-month deadline. Next slide, please. So this is an overview of the process from when an application is submitted to when a decision is issued. After an application is submitted, the city will have 30 days to determine if it is complete. Once it's deemed complete, the 12-month clock will begin. At the end of each department's review, they will issue a decision to the planning department. And I'll go into more detail in a second on that. Next slide, please. So what do departments review for? They will review for compliance with DOER's guidelines for public health, safety, and environmental standards, and CMR 29, which include both state and federal requirements. Local requirements will include the standards and review applicable to Section 888 of the draft zoning, which lists all reviews included as part of the consolidated review. Permit applications for the consolidated permit must satisfy the criteria for all local permits. Next slide, please. So the timeline of the decision each department must submit a decision to either approve approve with conditions or deny an application. Again, we must issue a decision within twelve months. If we fail to meet that timeline, that deadline, the application will result in constructive approval. Process, which is outlined in the law. If the local government denies the application, it may be appealed to the state for de novo or clean slate review. Any denial that the city makes must be based on the standards department's review for which I outlined in the previous slide. Next slide, please. BPDA Board will issue the decision in conformance with the state's requirement for one approval to be issued. And approval, again, will be made before that 12-month deadline. If one department recommends denial of the permit, each department will finish the review and issue a decision. However, the BPDA Board will then issue a decision for denial for the entire permit. I'll now pass the presentation back to Chris, who will present the proposed zoning in a bit more detail. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. And next slide, please. So firstly, we want to emphasize that the consolidated local permit process is mandated for municipalities to offer, but optional for developers to take advantage of, making this an opt-in pathway. All clean energy infrastructure that meets the state definition of small clean energy infrastructure, meaning storage facilities up to 100 megawatt hours, generation facilities up to 25 megawatts, and existing transmission and distribution less than 10 miles long, or a new corridor less than one mile long, is able to seek approval through the consolidated local permit. Next slide, please. So when is a consolidated local permit required? Article 88 establishes conditions where clean energy infrastructure projects, specifically battery energy storage systems, are required to seek approval through the consolidated local permit process. This occurs when a battery energy storage system is proposed as the main use of a lot, when it is proposed with a site footprint greater than 400 square feet as either a main or accessory use of a lot, or is proposed with a fence greater than seven feet tall as a main or accessory use. Next slide, please. Why require the consolidated local permit for certain projects? Approval through the consolidated local permit makes best an allowed use where it would otherwise be conditional, giving proponents certainty while allowing the city to have adequate oversight on design elements such as bulk, size, and site design. Additionally, 225 CMR 29 and DOER guidelines outline clear conditions for the projects to meet for approval, along with the additional discretion of City of Boston departments that will join in for the coordinated review process. Finally, projects applying for a consolidated local permit are able to be approved with conditions, allowing us to set conditions to further mitigate concerns related to size, bulk, and overall design. Next slide, please. While the inclusion of the consolidated permit process in Article 88 is a key component of this amendment, the amendment also establishes BESS and accessory BESS as a defined use in the zoning code and provides dimensional requirements for both main and accessory use battery energy storage to ensure that these systems are designed at an appropriate size and scale for the surrounding neighborhood context. This amendment also clearly defines how to measure battery energy storage systems by introducing the battery energy storage system site footprint for both main and accessory uses. The previously mentioned dimensional requirements are applicable to the best site footprint, ensuring that the entire site remains contextual to the surrounding neighborhood rather than just the battery equipment. Finally, this amendment establishes a financial surety for certain types of small clean energy infrastructure. This allows the City of Boston to handle the decommissioning and removal of small clean energy infrastructure in the case of abandonment without bearing the associated costs. Next slide, please. So, as stated before, 225 CMR 29 requires the adoption of this process by municipalities by October 1, 2026. As such, the timeline seen here ensures that Boston remains compliant with the requirements of the state law. Next slide, please. This concludes our presentation regarding battery energy storage systems and the consolidated local permit. Thank you, and we'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Okay, thank you. Questions or comments from the board?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Not so much a question, but a comment, and then I'll preface it by saying that this Director Shen is my favorite vote. I will cast today. It's not a project. It is on this very, very important zoning amendment. It is my fervent hope that a year from now we vote on these projects as often as we do on residential conversions. This is so needed. Obviously, I don't need to tell folks watching the importance of permitting more solar and wind. but also transition lines in terms of delivering reliability and supporting electrification. I want to zero in on the battery storage, though, because that's something that's a little newer, but it is so needed as we talk about energy affordability. We're having a debate in this country about energy affordability, as we should. In Massachusetts, we have among the highest utility rates of any state in the union. And I am a firm believer, and I would say, you know, I was very repetitious as a former city councilor. I'd say every time we'd speak on one of these issues that a fiscal conservative ought to be an environmentalist because almost always the sustainable solution is going to save ratepayers money. And that is precisely what these small battery storage systems do. They provide better reliability. They provide better delivery of service. They reduce grid demand, and I can't talk about how important that is. Particularly, solar is one thing, but particularly with wind. We've seen this in so many other ISOs across the United States. Wind blows the heaviest at the night, usually in the middle of the night. In the wintertime, when grid demand is less, you're able to procure that type of energy and then shift the peak. You're saving your ratepayers money. It's very simple economics. You buy low, you sell it, well, you utilize it high, I should say. Utilize it high, and you're going to save ratepayers money. So this is a very, very good policy. Huge kudos to Governor Healey and her team for passing this, and huge kudos to Mayor Wu and her team for... making sure that we take advantage of it. I think it is so appropriate that the planning department, which does such incredible work managing planning and development in this city, is sort of the overseer of this policy, and I think it's equally smart that this board gets to vote on it. Obviously, the public will have a voice. There's no shortage of opportunities for other departments to weigh in, but this is a very, very good policy. Travis, we've known each other a long time. We've been working on these issues for many, many years. It's great to be able to Continue it in this capacity. So I'm very, very excited for this opportunity. Thank you. Madam chair. And thank you all for your great work.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments. I just want to say. This was fascinating. I learned a lot about battery storage and I love being on this board. I get to learn about these great things. So just wanted to reiterate this has nothing to do with data center. anything right to do with data and this is a just to to streamline the process right that permitting process to kind of you know speed this uh these projects to um to service yes okay um and yeah that's just all i just wanted to double check Um, if there are no other further questions or comments, a motion is in order so moved 2nd, all those in favor. All right. Opposed the eyes have it. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Um, and we have, uh. Let people exit. Um, that's a popular item. Um, but counselor Durkin, um, the thank you for coming and, uh, the floor is yours.

Thank you. I believe this is on item 12. And I just want to, as I start, thank Felicia for stepping up to the board as the chair of planning, development, and transportation. Congratulations on your first meeting, and we're so excited to see you in this role. Dear Chair Rojas and members of the board, I'd just like to register my voice in support of Brigham and Women's I supported their two year extension in 2024 and look forward to continuing to work with the institution on the future to support renovations and improve necessary improvements to patient care and research because they're not proposing any new projects or additional changes. to their 2010 IMP and subsequent amendments as part of this extension. I respectfully urge the BPDA board to support this request, and there's also a support letter from Mission Hill NHS from my district in strong support. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor. All right, item number 10. Request authorization to issue a certification of approval pursuant to Article 80E Small Project Review of the Zoning Code for the proposed construction of 24 residential homeownership units, including four IZ units, and nine car parking spaces and 24 bicycle parking spaces located at 14 through 18 Hannon Street, and to enter into community benefits agreement and to take all related actions. Zoe.

Thank you, and good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board, Secretary Polhamus, and Director Shen. My name is Zoe Duvall, and I'm a development review project manager filling in for my colleague Dylan Norris here before you to present the proposed Article 80E small project located at 14 to 18 Hannon Street in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Next slide, please. The project site comprises two parcels and totals approximately 10,691 square feet of land. The project site is occupied with a vacant two-family home and adjacent vacant lot. The project proposes to demolish the existing structure and construct a new five-story residential building containing 24 home ownership units, including four income-restricted units pursuant to Article 79 inclusionary zoning. The residential units will comprise one studio, seven one bedrooms, 12 two bedrooms, and four three bedroom units. On the ground floor, the project also contains nine off-street parking spaces and 24 interior long-term bike parking spaces. The small project review application was filed on February 19, 2026. The public comment period in connection with the proponent submission of the SPRA was originally intended to end on March 19, 2026, and was voluntarily extended to April 3, 2026. The planning department sponsored a public meeting on March 17, which was noticed through the planning department neighborhood distribution list and events calendar for both the Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods. I'll now hand it over to my colleague, Jason, to take you through the planning context. Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen, and Secretary Bohemis. I am Jason McDonald, the planner assigned to this project. Next slide, please. All right, so this is located within the 3F5000 sub-district of the Greater Mattapan neighborhood zoning district. The surrounding context is mostly residential at various scales, including multiple multi-family buildings around it. Directly south of the proposed site, you can see in red there, is the Mattapan Street corridor, which cuts all the way through from Basic Forest Hills and almost the entire width of Dorchester. Right next to that would be, directly south, you can see the Morton Street stop along the Fairmont line. With that, this is within the Fairmont Indigo Corridor Plan, a study that was focused on the short-term and long-term strategies to provide community investment improvements and job access along this corridor. And specifically around the Morton Street stop, new residential development of higher density was encouraged to promote the use of this station. And additionally, this site is directly adjacent to some new squares and street zoning that came from Plan Matapan. However, the site itself was not rezoned due to it just not being within the geography of the plan. So the proposed project is currently seeking zoning relief for the use, excessive height, insufficient lot size, insufficient parking, insufficient rear, front, and side setbacks. While taking into consideration the built form of this block and the proposed project unusual parcelization, the staff reviewed it previously. In short, a compatibility of the design with its context, in particular with the massing and adherence to complete street guidelines. I will now pass on to my colleague Andrew from Urban Design.

Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Zimmerman, and I'm the urban designer assigned to this project. So the site plan you see, this proposal sets the building back to align with complete streets guidelines establishing a pedestrian-oriented frontage along Hannon Street. Streetscape enhancements include removing an obsolete curb cut, installing visitor city standard bike racks, and planting three new street trees to enrich the pedestrian experience. In addition to these improvements, the sidewalk will be reconstructed for ADA accessibility. Next slide. The five story building uses a front yard setback and a fifth story step back to mitigate the impacts of its height along Hannon Street. It is composed of four equal length bays to mimic local townhome architecture, creating a distinct frontage unified by a cohesive color and material palette. Working closely with the planning department, the proponent significantly revised the ground floor layout and overall building massing to better engage the street and the surrounding neighborhood. The building utilizes an extensive roof deck as well as ground floor patio space in the rear yard to serve as an amenity for condo owners. With that, I'll turn it back to Zoe.

Lastly, just noting that this project has been responsive to both neighborhood and planning staff feedback throughout the review process, resulting in a change from rental to home ownership, revisions to the ground floor design, the massing and facade, and the inclusion of three new street trees. This concludes our presentation for this item, and myself and the development team is available to answer any questions you may have.

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

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it, motion passes. Thank you so much, and almost welcome to the neighborhood. All right, item number 11. Request authorization to issue a determination waiving further review pursuant to section 80A-6 of the zoning code in connection with the notice of project change for the proposed construction of 62 all affordable residential units, 31 car parking spaces, and 77 bicycle parking spaces located at 2 Shawsheen Road, and issue one or more certifications of compliance or partial certifications of compliance for the proposed project pursuant to section 80B-6 of the zoning code. upon successful completion of the Article 80B large project review process and to execute and deliver a cooperation agreement and transportation access plan agreement and to take all related actions. Camille.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening, members of the Board, Director Shen and Secretary Pahimas. My name is Camille Platt-Dacosta, and I'm a senior project manager here in Development Review. The proposed project before you is an Article 80B large project notice of project change located at 80 to 82 Shawsheen Road in East Boston, also known as 2 Shawsheen Road. East Boston CDC proposes to construct 2 residential buildings with approximately 70,080 square feet of gross floor area. Total the original approval called for a home ownership building, the North building as well as a rental building. The South building, the MPC calls for a change from home ownership to rental, making the project fully rental, but remains 100% income restricted. The change to the north building also includes an increase in the number of units previously approved from 22 to 27, with the entire project then going from a total of 57 units to 62 units. The MPC also calls for the removal of four parking spaces. The project notification form was originally filed on September 19th of 2022 with approval by the BPA board on October 12th of 2023. The MPC was then filed on June 9th of 2026. A joint IAG and public meeting was held on July 1st of 2026, which was circulated to the planning department's East Boston listserv and members of the IAG. I will now turn it over to Ford Delvecchio to walk us through the planning context that was considered before the development team begins their presentation. Thank you.

Thank you Camille good evening, my name is for Delvecchio and I'm the planning reviewer for this project. As noted earlier, the proposed project design maintains 27 dwelling units within substantially the same building footprint as previously approved. The revised design eliminates the partial upper story, reducing the overall building height from five stories and 52 feet. to 4 stories and 46 feet. Additionally, side adjustments include an increase in the front yard setback from 7 to 7.13 feet, a reduction in rear yard from 6 to 3.5 feet, and a reduction in the left side yard as well. As a result of these overall modifications, zoning relief will be required from the Zoning Board of Appeal. In reviewing the modified design, staff focused on several key contextual factors. Although the site is located with an economic development area that was not a focus area for the new zoning associated with Plan East Boston, it directly adjoins lower-scale residential development along Barnes Avenue. Accordingly, staff review emphasized masking articulation to ensure an appropriate scale transition between the two settings. furthermore because the project sits within the coastal flood resiliency overlay district in the fema special flood hazard area staff evaluate critical resiliency measures including raised ground floor conditions and flood proofing strategies finally staff reviewed site plans elements to address these elevated conditions ensure sufficient setbacks for street street scape enhancements along barnes avenue and shawsheen road and establish a dimensional dimensions for public access easement to support future connections to the winthrop greenway Thank you, and I'll now turn it over to the developer to present in more detail.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen, Secretary Palimas, Jeff Drago, with Drago and Toscano, here as the project attorney today. Also with me, I have Joe Lambert from Joy Square Design, who's here to answer any questions on the design changes that were proposed. As was mentioned, our client is the East Boston CDC, and I want to point out that this project at 80 and 82 Shawsheen Road will still remain 100% affordable if the changes are approved. The driving factor of the proposed changes, which I'm going to go over, is because of state funding constraints, and particularly on the homeownership piece. So the first proposed change in the NPC was to change the 82 Shawsheen Building, which originally was a condominium homeownership, to all rental. The good news is as part of that, the actual affordability of the project gets better. So the AMI presented before for this building, all of the units, was between 80 and 100%. We're now anywhere between zero to 60% on that building. So much better with the rental component. Secondly, we're adding additional units. We're going from 57 total to 62, so there's more affordable units on the building now by adding those additional units as well. Part of the driving factor of the changes in reducing the parking spaces, We're asking for a reduction of four spaces in the one loading dock on the two buildings is because now that this becomes full rental, we're looking for a community room for those residents as well as a laundry room for a shared facility for those folks as well. Some of the other changes is addition of eight one beds and two two beds and the removal of three three beds and two four bed units, so redistributing some of the space, all because of funding again. And then minor design changes, one of the building reduces from five stories to four, modifying the raised parapets and changing the window designs as well. If we could go to the next slide, I'm going to briefly run through. This just shows the location of the site. It's within a short 10-minute walk to the MBTA Station and Orient Heights T Station, and there's major bus routes that run right along Saratoga Street, which abuts Shawshank Road. Next slide, please. This just shows you the site. So this was the former August Oil Brothers site. It was a commercial oil truck storage facility. This now brings housing or needed housing to this particular site, which is in an economic development area. Next slide, please. These are just some site pictures, so to familiarize the Board, and I know this was approved back in 2023, but that's the Shawsheen Road and that's the Saratoga or Budding Street, which we have access through both of those streets to the property. Next slide, please. This just shows you some current conditions as has been operated. It abuts the Belle Isle Marsh as well. Next slide, please. And here we just show you that this shows the two buildings with that large landscape area in between. This is a dead end street, so it nice, this complements that back area. And you can just see on the right hand side where we removed some of the parking spaces and the loading zone on the two buildings and put those shared common space areas. Next slide, please. And this just goes over some of the changes we had to make to some of the units and the funding issues that caused the change. Next slide, please. And this just goes over that revised parking plan, so it's four spaces total in the one loading space over those two buildings, but as I had mentioned, we're literally 10 minutes right from the T Station. Next slide, please. And again, this just shows the two building, the parking areas. And with that, I can pause to answer any questions that the Board may have. If we wanna go to the last slide, it just shows a nice rendering for the Board to see. Yeah, if we wanna just continue. Right here, perfect. Just so the Board can see sort of the two, and that landscape area in between, which complements both buildings. With that, we can answer any questions if the Board has.

Any questions or comments from the Board?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Jeff, this is a great project. You can tell, obviously, the support that's gone in. It looks great. It's a great part of the neighborhood. Fully supported. Curious, and you may have said this, I'd just step out for a moment. Does the proximity to the wetlands provide any additional mitigation that has to be done on site?

not on site uh there's talk about continuing uh the greenway through that area which we would be obviously amenable to and have talked to if that comes up uh further but no everything this was contained just on that particular site yeah yeah no it looks great good luck thank you okay uh any further questions or comments all right hearing and saying none emotion is in order so moved second all those in favor aye opposed the eyes have it thank you very much good luck thanks

All right. Item number 12. Mr. O'Malley, are you going to recuse yourself on this one?

No. Oh, no? Oh, sorry. Sorry. I must be on the wrong. Is it?

It's on the wrong. It's okay. Okay. No. I have to pay Sarah. Item number 12, request authorization to issue an adequacy determination pursuant to section 80D-5.4 of the zoning code for the proposed renewal and extension of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Institutional Master Plan for a period of five years ending in 2031 and to take all related actions. Jason.

Thank you, and good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen, and Secretary Poymas. My name is Jason Farrell. I'm a project assistant in the Development Review Division. I'm here before you today to discuss the proposed renewal and five-year extension with no changes to the 2010 Institutional Master Plan for Brigham and Women's Hospital. The 2010 IMP was previously extended in 2020, 2022, and 2024, each for a period of two years. The hospital has operated its campus in a manner consistent with the 2010 IMP and plans to do so over the course of the proposed five-year extension. On June 12, 2026, the proponent filed an institutional master plan notification form for the proposed renewal and five-year extension pursuant to Article 80D of the code. Since this is an IMP extension with no changes, a public meeting was available upon request, but none was requested. The public comment period ended on July 15th, 2026. I'll now pass it over to the Brigham and Women's team for some brief remarks and then to answer any questions you may have.

OK, great.

Good afternoon, Chairwoman Rojas, members of the board, Director Shen, Secretary Palamas, My name is Long Nguyen, Director of Design at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and I'm here today to request approval for a five-year renewal of Brigham and Women's Institutional Master Plan with unchanged plans until August 2031. Over the past several years, the Brigham has undertaken development and operations in a manner consistent with the 2010 BWH IMP, and at this time has no plans for a new proposed institutional project. And as a quick update, on our previously approved projects. The Hale Building for Transformative Medicine, the Mass Mental Health Office Building, several campus additions including the ED and NICU expansions, and the Stoneman Centennial Park have all been completed. In addition, the meaningful community partnerships we have have resulted in the development of housing and community center at Mosaic on the Greenway on the Riverway with Rapsberry Tenants of Harvard and construction of the Fenwood Inn for clients of the Commonwealth Department of Mental Health. And as you know, or as you may know, the Brigham leadership is in the early stages of planning for a project announced last year that will enable us to modernize our campus and achieve all single inpatient rooms. Single inpatient rooms reduce the risk of infection, provide space for modern technology, equipment, and families, and improve the environment of care for patients and their families. Preliminary planning is underway to determine the scope of the future project, and we look forward to coming to the VPDA with a new IMP when the time is right. We are very proud of the Brigham's robust community benefits and partnerships that enable us to deliver exceptional healthcare education and easily accessible and essential healthcare services to our Boston communities. Our community benefits include over $7 million in pilot contributions in 2026, providing essential healthcare services in the community, including care at Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center and Brookside Community Health Centers, providing care for over 50,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients annually, and employing 18,000 people, over 30% of whom are City of Boston residents. Thank you for your time today. With me are Nancy Welsh and Tim Gellivan, and we're here to answer any questions the board may have.

OK, thank you. Questions or comments from the board? No. Well, just a comment. I just want to thank you for your contributions to the city. I think many of us have probably been one of those 1.5 million people that have been serviced by Brigham and Women's. And so, you know, with pleasure, I would like, I think a motion is in order.

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you very much. Good luck.

Thank you.

Okay. Item number 13. Request authorization to issue a scoping determination waiving further review pursuant to Article 80B-5.4D of the Zoning Code for the proposed construction of 105 fully affordable residential rental units, 31 car parking spaces, and 105 bicycle parking spaces located at 1590 Blue Hill Avenue. to issue a certification of compliance for the proposed project under Section 80B-6 of the Zoning Code upon successful completion of the Article 80 review process, and to enter into a cooperation agreement and transportation access plan agreement and to take all related actions.

Camille. Thank you again, Madam chair. Good evening. Members of the board director, Shannon, secretary. My name is Camille, senior project manager and development review. The proposed project before you is an article 80 B large project located at 1590 blue Hill avenue. The proponent is proposing to demolish the existing building on the project site and construct a zoning compliant approximately 120,000 square feet. six-story building, including 105 income-restricted units, with approximately 1,000 square feet of ground floor retail and or community space directly along Blue Hill Avenue, with 31 surface parking spaces. The proposed project will include widened sidewalks, dedicated furnishing zone, and landscaped open space areas. A portion of the site will be preserved to potentially support a future public pedestrian path connection through the site in the event of redevelopment on the abutting 443 to 447 River Street parcel. A letter of intent was filed for the project on April 23rd of 2026. The project notification form was subsequently filed on May 12th of 2026. A virtual public meeting was held via Zoom on June 9th of 2026, notice of which was circulated to the planning department's metapanelists serve. The meeting was well attended and the project received support from community members during that meeting. I will now turn it over to Ford Delvecchio to walk us through the planning context that was considered before the development team begins their presentation. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you again, Camille. And once again, I'm Ford DelVecchio, the planning reviewer for this project. The proposed project site is comprised of approximately 42,240 square feet of land, bounded northwesterly by Blue Hill Avenue, to the west by existing retail buildings along Blue Hill Ave, and southeast by Mattapan Square public parking lot, and to the east by commercial properties. The proposed project is located in S4 zoning district that was recently adopted to implement the findings of Plan Matapan. All proposed uses are allowed as of right and the proposed project has been designed to meet all dimensional requirements of the S4 sub-district. The current site is occupied by approximately 28,700 square feet auto repair and service garage owned by the McKean family which was constructed in 1928 and configured for motor vehicle service use. The proposed project is less than one quarter mile from the Ponsett River Trail, the MBTA Mattapan Trolley Line, the MBTA Blue Hill Ave extension of the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line, and the border between the City of Boston and the City of Milton. Plan Mattapan, adopted in May 2023, identifies Blue Hill Avenue as a major thoroughfare around the neighborhood, characterized by heavy traffic, frequent parking turnover, and high transit demand, with bus riders accounting for nearly half of all travelers along the corridor. Plan Matapan was a planning initiative that used community feedback to craft an equitable, community-driven future for Matapan. The overarching goals include creating a neighborhood where the existing residents are stable in their homes and new residents have affordable housing options. They have safe and reliable transit connection to jobs, schools, and community spaces in Matapan and throughout Boston, and creating neighborhood nodes that are home to vibrant, thriving local businesses. This fully income-restricted project helps to advance these goals greatly. The proposed project will advance concurrently with the city and MBTA's Blue Hill Avenue redesign project, requiring ongoing coordination with planned infrastructure upgrades. Given the proposed project's multifamily residential character, it represents an appropriate land use to align with the area's transit capacity as surrounding properties transition away from light industrial uses. Thank you, and I will now turn over to the developer to present in more detail. Thank you.

Great, thank you. Madam Chair, members of the Board, I'm Bill Grogan, the President of the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, and we're excited to be here with you today and share our vision for the redevelopment of 1590 Blue Hill Avenue. Next slide, please. This development is a second partnership between the Planning Office and JGE Development, and we've come together as community-driven partners to create a transformative development that builds on the legacy of a long-standing family-owned property to create affordable and workforce rental housing that is consistent and compliant with Plan Mattapan and the Squares and Streets District. We've assembled a uniquely experienced and qualified and diverse team that is a well-established track record in the communities, and we will look forward to sharing the vision with you today. For this development, we are focused on creating a development that responds to the vision and goals set forth in Plan Mattapan and Squares and Streets. As part of that approach, we believe in creating developments that make housing available to a wide range of households across different income levels. So we are proposing a 105 unit affordable and workforce family rental housing development that will be predominantly two and three bedrooms and that will be affordable to households earning between 30% and 80% of area median income. to respond to the needs of the community. In addition to the affordable and workforce rental housing units, the development will include flexible community space along Blue Hill Avenue, resident amenity spaces, and public realm improvements, which will further activate Mattapan Square. I would now like to turn it over to Brendan Bowen from Jay Garland Enterprises to walk through the design slides.

Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Director Shen. To walk you through the project site, we have these photos up here. You can see the existing building on the upper left side of the page and the adjacent street context and the other images. Next slide, please. In this image, you can see the existing building footprint in red and the site and the property line in black lines around it. Next slide, please. In this slide, you can see the grade of the site as it is relative to Blue Hill Avenue, relatively flat with a higher unused portion in the rear. Next slide, please. Here you can see in red the building footprint as it meets grade and a dashed red line showing the building above that reaches out over to the unused portion of the site. You can also see the proposed paved area pulled off of the street. Next slide, please. As the building rises, you can see we maintain the street wall that is present on Blue Hill Avenue. Next slide, please. As we continue to rise, we get up to a height of 65 feet adjacent concurrent with other urban buildings in the area. Next slide, please. Looking at the first floor a little more closely, you can see the lobby area in blue, bike parking in orange, moving in and out zones in green, utility trash area in red, and the public space in yellow. Next slide, thank you. Here you can see the units. As was previously stated, the building is primarily family oriented with two and three bedroom units distributed throughout the building.

Next slide, please.

Here is a portion of the site that we're excited to see. As was mentioned earlier, we are reaching out over to the higher grade area of the site where we are providing a lot of green space that is going to be available to the occupants of the building. You can also see a little more closely how the parking is pulled away from the street frontage and even recessed underneath the building. Next slide. Here we get into a little bit of the materiality of the area. There's a lot of masonry, a lot of reds, a lot of beige colors. And this is emulated in the building. Next slide, please. So getting into some of the imagery, this is across the street on Blue Hill Ave. Looking at the front of the building, you see a lot of brick elements, two tones, and bronze material. And shown here a little more clearly are those elements. There's two tones of brick, as you can see in the white and tan portions of the building, with bronze elements wrapping around it. Next slide. Here we have a view looking north up Blue Hill Avenue. Here we are also on Blue Hill Avenue looking south. Slightly closer to the building, you can see the entry and some of the architectural motifs. Again, a little closer to the building, looking from Blue Hill Avenue to the south. Next slide. Here we are to the southeast of the building, looking at it within its context. Next slide. And again, a little closer to the building. Thank you. This time we take any questions.

Thank you. Questions or comments from the board?

A couple, Madam Chair, first of all, congratulations. Looks like a great project. Love the design. I love the two-tone. I especially love that fifth bullet point under sustainability. So you are going to do rooftop PV array? Yes.

Yes.

Okay, that is great. We see the bullets that say rooftop, you know, ready, which it has to be. So how many kilowatts or how many megawatts are you going to have?

So we don't know just yet. Just come a little bit, just because we can't.

Good evening. Jonathan Garland with JGE. Nice to see you all. So we don't know just yet. We're in the early phases. So we're working to satisfy the mechanical needs on the building with HVAC. But every other square foot of roof space will be dedicated to solar PV. Yeah.

Just to be clear, I mean, you wouldn't be able to cover the entire because of other needs, but even a significant amount, given that height, given the fact that there's not the same sort of tree canopy surrounding or other large buildings, you could probably have a pretty decent amount that could then, to my earlier point, help power some of the common areas and certainly reduce utility costs for

That's our goal, and it's got great solar orientation as well.

Great. Well, thank you for doing that. Again, it's proving that we ought not put sustainability and affordability in competition with one another. They should be serving on the same track, and that's precisely what you folks are doing. So well done.

Thank you. Yes, through the chair, since you said that I will start with. Affordability and accountability when it comes to the construction as well. I hope. We can see responsible contractors on these projects, especially these larger projects in the community. I was looking at. Right here, the 11, 3 bedrooms, which I could see more to see more families, especially in matter pants, where have the ability to live on these projects, the rendering to your left. That one hasn't been built yet. The one in similar size?

Yes.

That one hasn't been built. Do you see or have you heard anything on the streets of which one may go first? No, we haven't. And I only ask that because, you know, whichever project, that's going to be significant. And your project is directly on the main strip of Blue Hill Ave. That one's kind of on the curb of it. And with that, I think that and the Indigo Block project way down the other end of the street going south. you know, in between. I hope to see the rest of these, the rest of some of these places get built to the same magnitude. But I'm happy to see squares and streets become successful.

And if I may, we definitely appreciate the city's partnership working with us. I was chatting with Bill earlier, my co-developer, and we've seen a tremendous amount of cooperation on this project in particular in terms of predictability, getting through the process, and efficiency in doing so. And even the squares and streets has helped us create, as of right, projects like this where we can help solve the housing crisis. So it's just wonderful to see that public-private set of initiatives and when we can actually put it to work on projects like this.

I definitely wanted to start there, but yes, glad to see that happen.

Awesome. Additional questions or comments? I, yeah, just to echo, I mean, I get, you know, so, so excited for As of Right projects and to really see all the hard work that, you know, the planning and then now to add the development to that. It's just, it's really gratifying to see. So I'm, again, really, really proud of the team and happy to see the process working. The two and three bedrooms, family-oriented, is exactly what our neighborhood, my neighborhood, I'm a Mattapan resident, needs. This is just a real dream project, I think, for me. I just am really... It's so great to see. It's so great to see investment in... in my community, in our community, and an investment like this that is so needed. And I could just see the families in the area and the little kids walking to the school across the street from my house. So again, I'm just really, really pleased to see all of the cooperation and to see all of the hard work that the agency has done for many years to get projects like these. swiftly through the process and to serve our community. So thank you.

Thank you.

With that, a motion is in order.

So moved.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Good luck. All right, item number 14, request authorization to issue a scoping determination waiving further review pursuant to Article 80B-5.3D, large project review of the zoning code for the proposed construction of 165 residential rental units, including 22 IDP units and 200 bicycle parking spaces located at 45 Townsend Street, and to issue a certification of compliance pursuant to Section 80B-6 of the zoning code. upon successful completion of the Article 80B large project review process, and to enter into an affordable rental housing and restriction, and to execute a cooperation agreement, and to take all related actions.

Come here.

Thank you again, Madam Chair. Good evening, members of the board, Director Shen and Secretary Palimas. My name is Camille Plata-Costa, Senior Project Manager at Development Review. The proposed project before you is an Article 80B large project located at 45 Townsend Street in Roxbury. Kensington Investment Company, also known as KIC, proposes to rehabilitate the existing structures at the approximately 4.85 acre site. the former location of the Jewish Memorial Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, which was most recently operated by Radius Specialty Hospital until its closure in 2014. The project site and its associated buildings have been vacant since the closure. The proponent seeks to convert them into a multi-family dwelling use including 165 residential rental units served by 139 accessory parking spaces with six rideshare spaces 214 bicycle parking spaces for both residents and visitors residential accessory and support areas and over 95 000 square feet of new open space on the site The proposed project includes the demolition of approximately 8,000 square feet of existing wing and ancillary areas of the structures currently on the site as well as the addition of new structural area totaling approximately 24,000 square feet. The proposed project has been intentionally developed in compliance with zoning for the site. A letter of intent was originally filed for the project on May 5th of 2017. The project notification form was subsequently filed on July 12th of 2017. The most recent supplemental filing for this project was filed on January 30th of 2026. An impact advisory group meeting was held on March 3 of 2026, and a public meeting was subsequently held on March 4 of 2026. A joint public and IAG meeting was also held on July 23 of 2026, associated with the most recent supplemental filing. All meetings were circulated to the planning department's Roxbury listserv. The meetings were well attended, and the project received wide community support from community members. The project successfully completed Boston Civic Design Commission review on July 7 of 2026. There were more public and IAG meetings throughout these nine years, but wanted to talk about the most recent supplemental filing as well. I will now turn it over to Jason McDonald to walk us through the planning context that was considered in reviewing the project before the development team begins their presentation. Thank you.

Once again, I'm Jason McDonald, the planner assigned to the project. I'll brief on this one. The proposed project is located in the Townsend Street Community Facility Subdistrict of the Roxbury Neighborhood District, with a portion of it towards the eastern end located within the 3F4000 Subdistrict, but none of the proposed work will be within that. portion of the site. It's mostly a residential context at various scales, including some multifamily buildings in the nearby area. The project is two separate parcels, but would remain as such, and as mentioned before, is a rehabilitation of an unoccupied medical facility into a new multifamily residential complex. In the review process, the project has It is proposed at zoning compliant right now in both the parcels, including with dimensional regulation and the proposed use. So I will now pass over to the development team to give the full presentation.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair Rosa, member of the board, Director Shen, and Secretary Palemas. My name is Ted Davis. I'm the project manager for the proposed Arc Lady project brought before you today, located at 45 Townsend Street in Roxbury. Bit of history back in two thousand and seventeen was the original project notification came in at three hundred twenty two units. In two thousand and nineteen there was a draft project impact report filing bringing it down to three hundred units after an extensive article eighty process and engagement with the community. In twenty twenty one we submitted supplemental filing for one hundred ninety nine units unfortunately when covid hits the financials no longer worked on the project. Back in 2025, we reached out to the neighborhood and BPDA and reengaged them in conversation, and we're here today to review the current proposal. So again, it's a fully zoning-compliant project. As you can see here, outlined by the white dashed line is the parcel, surrounded by Academy Homes to the west and multifamily homes and single-family homes surrounding it on all other sides. Next slide, please. Sorry, next slide. There you go. Here's a video of the current site as it makes its way around. We are maintaining most of it. There's some additions that will be off the left side. The old dorm building will be a three-story addition off of that. The white building in the back of the property, I guess, view north right now, coming to your right, that's an old warehouse that will be demolished, as well as some ancillary buildings that are not suitable for residential occupancy. Okay, next slide, please. This is some photos of the current site. One thing we wanted to point out, as you can see, the current way the buildings are oriented with entrances, there's almost no connection to Townsend Street. It's even fenced off along the main front building at 45. So there's almost no interaction. So one of the big things we wanted to do in the design was make this building part of the street, make this part of the community, and we'll go through some photos that illustrate that. Next slide, please. Again, this shows more photos of the front. Again, you can see no real dialogue with towns and streets, all fenced off and gated. So it really kind of hides itself from the neighborhood. Next slide, please. This is some context of some buildings in the neighborhood, array of multifamily buildings that we're surrounded by. Next slide, please. This gives an oversight of what we're planning to do. One of the things we're really proud of is we're trying to create what you would call an oasis in the city. There's an amazing viewpoint at the top of the property, almost 70 feet above Townsend Street with incredible views of the city. There's some urban wild. So what we're trying to do is give a space for the tenants to walk outside, take in the sights, and really escape from the hustle and bustle without having to leave the property. Next slide, please. This shows the drastic elevation change across the site. Again, it's 50 feet from Townsend to the highest point, six stories at Townsend Street, and then three stories at the rear of the site. Next slide, please. This shows the updated renderings of the proposed project. In the upper left, you see building A. This is the main entrance to the site with the concierge, a nice green space for people to hang out in and interact with the street. There's also front doors to the units on the ground level. So there's four front doors that actually you can walk right into your units right from the street. On the upper right is building B. That's currently the old dorm building. It's kind of the same idea. There's some front doors along the front of the building that face out to the street. So there's interaction directly with the street. The bottom left corner, that is the publicly accessible parking lot. That's where the six rideshare vehicles will be. So the rideshare vehicles are not only for the development, but for the whole community, so anyone in the community can access those. As well, that's the entrance to the community room. We are offering a community room that will be available to the neighborhood organizations to use whenever they need. And then on the right-hand side, the lower right-hand side, you see a pedestrian access way that connects Harishaw Street down to Townsend. One of the big things we heard from the community was they wanted pedestrian access from Harrishoff down to Townsend. If you look at some old Boston planning, originally that was supposed to connect. But when the hospital was put in, that separated the connection. They did not want vehicle access because the Higginson School is right there. So they don't want any additional vehicle access. But they did want pedestrians to be able to walk through. So that was something we kept in mind during this design. Next slide, please. Again, some more aerial photos to see what we did. On the bottom right-hand corner, the current slope of the parking lot is about 12%. We're doing some significant civil work to flatten out the parking areas. So not only are they safer, but it creates a nice tiered approach. You don't see the sea of asphalt. We're adding a lot of trees to break up the parking and really hide it and create a more comfortable space. Next slide please. Again, more photos from towns and street the lower left hand side shows that main entrance in the front front lawn area for people to hang out in and then on the right side we're calling the. the garden access, where there's a staircase and pedestrian stair leading up to the public community room, just surrounded by vegetation and really creating a lot of green space. Next slide please. Again, more photos from Townsend Street. There is currently an existing overhead walkway connecting the two buildings. We wanted to keep this because this really helps with ADA accessibility around the site. Given the severe grade changes, it was really hard to maintain accessibility, and this allowed us to make the highest point of the site, which really is an incredible piece of landscape or piece of property, accessible to handicapped residents. So via this walkway they'll be able to get up to that highest point. Again more photos. The upper right hand corner is the new dorm addition. So this is situated over the current parking lot. We understand there's a lot of parking on the site that was a huge concern for the community. So we did everything in our power to maintain as much parking as possible. As well as these the 6 ride share vehicles and a lot of bike parking so we're hoping with these by be able to see the parking or see as much parking as we can will be able to satisfy restrict parking demands there. Next slide please. And with that, we'll open it up to questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Questions or comments from the board?

Excuse me, through the chair. Yes, again, I would love to see more three bedrooms. That's just personal preference of mine. I just want to speak about the construction. Have you talked to any construction managers or anything? Are you looking at anyone in particular?

We have not spoken to any construction managers at this time. I have spoken with the Carpenters Union, but ultimately we need this to pencil in order for it to work. So we are open to any qualified contractors who are able to bid. Ideally, we can work with local communities. We do plan to network with the Cummins School to provide jobs for them, both for construction and long-term maintenance. But yeah, the first goal is making sure it pencils.

Definitely a contrast difference from the beginning to now, just looking with the parking. 165 units 1 way street, you know, a lot. It was a lot. Yeah, I know the process that you guys went through the public process. It seems like. As I looked at some of the comments, it went from. A lot opposed to more neutral. But a lot of support, because it seems like you worked well with the community.

Yeah, to this point, when I picked this up in 2025, I started at. feedback that we got from from the IAG you know the IAG wrote a nice letter and follow up to the 2021 supplemental filing and so I went through that direct feedback and I tried to check off every single request they had and we pretty much did with this great job thank you additional questions or comments

Thank you Madam Chair. Obviously, I always appreciate adaptive reuse, especially in this building, which I know well. Given the height, has there been exploration about rooftop solar?

We are. We would love to do green roofs. We would love to do solar. Again, it's coming down to making the numbers work financially. And I agree with you. I think sustainability is financially responsible. And so I'm doing everything in my power to look at the incentives that are out there and seeing what we can get and how to make it work.

Yeah. Okay. Well, given the earlier text zoning amendment, which we passed, and we'll then go to the zoning commission, perhaps there's some opportunity for us to make you guys a test case with that going forward. So we appreciate the exploration and hope it pencils. Thank you.

Okay.

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

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. Congratulations. Good luck.

Thank you.

All right, item number 15. Request authorization to issue a certification of approval pursuant to Article 80E small project review of the zoning code for the proposed construction of 35 home ownership units, including six IZ units, 75 vehicular parking spaces, and 42 bicycle parking spaces located at 350 West 4th Street, and to enter into a community benefits agreement in connection with the proposed project and take all related actions.

Zoe. Thank you, and good evening again, Madam Chair, members of the board, Secretary Bohemis, and Director Shen. My name is Zoe Duvall. I am the Development Review Project Manager here to present the proposed Article 80E small project located at 350 West 4th Street in South Boston, proposed by the Condominium Association at West 4th Street. The project filed a small project review application on January 15, 2026, and two public meetings were held, one on May 6, 2026, and another on July 13, 2026, which the public comment period was voluntarily extended. Both meetings were duly noticed on the project website and distributed to the South Boston neighborhood distribution list. Next slide, please. The project would create 35 new home ownership units consisting of a mix of one, two, and three bedroom units, six of which will be affordable at 80% to 100% AMI in compliance with inclusionary zoning. The site is currently occupied by the Bigelow School condominium building and associated surface parking lot on which the proposed building would be located. The proposed project would include 75 total subgrade parking spaces, 47 of which are intended to be replacement spaces for the existing condos surface parking spaces. The proposed project would also include 42 long-term bike parking spaces, and open space sidewalk and streetscape improvements. The project is also subject to the updated Article 37 zoning and is net zero carbon compliant and is an all-efficient electric building. Staff assisted with the proposed project with best practices and pre-filed guidance. I will now hand it over to my colleague Tyler to run you through the planning context. Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the Board, Secretary Palimas, and Director Shen. My name is Tyler Torres, and I am one of the planners assigned to this project. The proposed project at 350 West 4th Street is located in a South Boston multifamily residential sub-district. It seeks to expand the existing multifamily housing use located on this parcel by developing a new housing set on the existing parking lot associated with the Bigelow School Condominiums building. The site sits in a predominantly residential neighborhood that is served well by transportation options with easy access by a short walk to the Broadway commercial corridor, MBTA bus routes, and the Broadway red line station, as well as three blue bike stations within a quarter mile. Next slide, please. The proposed project does seek zoning relief for minimum setback requirements. Staff recommend zoning relief given the condition that it would ultimately deliver. If the building were to strictly comply with the zoning envelope, the result would be a larger boxier structure as depicted in this visualization here created by staff. Yes, I guess it's not there anymore. The proposed setback adjustments are what allow the project to deliver improved open space and a better final building condition. The project also seeks two forms of zoning relief for parking. The first is for relief related to compact spaces. Out of 75 total spaces, 50 of them, or 67%, are proposed as compact, exceeding the South Boston zoning article's 50% cap. This is largely a function of site geometry and the need to maximize spaces within a constrained footprint. Secondly, the combined site will provide 75 spaces for 82 units at a 0.91 ratio. The original spaces, as Zoe noted, the original 47 spaces for the 47 existing condominiums are retained, and 28 spaces for the 35 new units will be added. It's worth noting that the existing condition is already non-conforming under today's zoning standards, which would otherwise require 63 spaces rather than the 47 it currently has associated with the condominium building. While BTD's maximum parking ratios don't govern this Article 80E project, they are instructive as they target a max of 0.75 to 1.0 parking spaces per unit. The proposed 0.91 ratio sits comfortably in the middle range of that guidance, reflecting the site's strong transit access and consistency with transit-oriented development policy. I'll now turn it over to my colleague Alexa Pinar from Urban Design, who will walk through the landscape and public realm strategy in greater detail.

Thank you.

Good evening. Next slide, please. My name is Alexa Pinard. I'm the Assistant Deputy Director for Design Review. And I'm filling in for my colleagues tonight, Hyung Lee and Eric Boatwright. The landscape design contributes to the overall site plan through a combination of shared outdoor amenity space, planting, and circulation improvements. The project provides a publicly accessible landscaped open space between the two residential buildings, creating a welcoming neighborhood gathering space with generous seating and shade in a highly urbanized setting. Along West 4th Street, new street trees, permeable furnishing zones, and short-term bicycle parking help activate the building entrance while supporting the project's stormwater management strategy. Along Silver Street, widened sidewalks, permeable paving, and new street trees enhance pedestrian circulation, improve safety, and contribute to a more cohesive and accessible public realm. Next slide, please. The proposed building offers three stories of residential use over two levels of parking, with a lower level of parking concealed by the grade change between West 4th and Silver Streets. The ground floor along the primary frontage includes the lobby, an indoor common area, and resident bike storage, which is accessible from the entry walkway. The residential units are arranged along a double-loaded L-shaped corridor. The masonry-clad portion of the building runs the full depth of the site, mirroring the Bigelow School building. And the fiber cement-clad portion extends along West 4th Street, creating two different volumes facing West 4th and harmonizing with the scale of the neighboring buildings. I'll pass it back to Zoe.

All right, lastly, this project was reviewed using the modernized Article 80 processes and public engagement methods. The project has also been responsive to both planning, department, and public feedback, resulting in a reduction in height and massing, a one-story reduction, as well as facade and site design features. This concludes the presentation for this item, and the project team and our review team and myself are here to answer any questions you may have.

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

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Congratulations. Good luck. All right. Item number 16. Request authorization to terminate the existing affordable housing agreement and enter into an affordable rental housing agreement and restriction in connection with the construction of two IDP units located at 204 West 7th Street and to take all related actions. Andy.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Director Shen, Secretary Pohemis, and members of the board. I'm Andy Feldman, Housing Policy Manager with the Mayor's Office of Housing. Tonight, I'm here to request your vote on affordable rental housing agreement and restriction for the development at 204 West 7th Street in South Boston. This development is built in 14 units, and the board previously authorized an affordable housing agreement for two condominium units. Since beginning construction, the proponent has decided to change from homeownership to rental. Therefore, the vote in front of you tonight will allow the agency to enter into a housing agreement to dedicate two rental units under the inclusionary development policy. Thank you, and happy to answer any questions you may have.

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

So moved 2nd, all those in favor.

Opposed guys have it. Item number 17, request authorization to amend conveyance documents a 1st amendment to cooperation agreement and a 1st amendment to an affordable housing agreement in connection with the development of 50 Herald street and to take all related actions. Nick.

Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, and Secretary Polimus, and Director Shen. I'm here before you this evening to present the First Amendment to the Cooperation Agreement, Affordable Housing Agreement, and conveyance documents for the previously approved project at 50 Herald Street in the South End. The project, a part of PDA number 114, was originally approved in 2018 and includes 313 units with a mix of affordable and market rate units with ground floor retail. In 2024, the proponent filed the Notice of Project Change, which was approved at the January 2025 Board and included 117 units of all affordable housing, a mix of rental and home ownership, and a ground floor retail space intended to be a new grocery store. The number of units has not changed since the previous approval, and the ground floor retail space remains part of this proposal. though it has eliminated a below-grade portion of the space due to financial constraints. That below-grade space was just used for storage and not part of the actual retail space itself. An amendment to the cooperation agreement for the project is necessary to reflect the final parameters of the proposed project, as well as a first amendment to the 2019 affordable housing agreement to reflect the revised number of affordable housing units in the proposed project. BPDA staff has determined that the existing land disposition agreement, which relates to the initial fully completed improvements of the project site for commercial uses, should be superseded by the amendment of conveyance documents to reflect the revised proposed project, which includes the aforementioned 117 units of affordable housing, while preserving certain rights of the BPDA. There are no other changes or items proposed this evening, and there is no presentation for this item.

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

So moved.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thanks, Nick.

Thank you.

And item number 18, I need a motion to pay our bills.

I move that we pay our bills.

All right. All those in favor? Or no, a motion is in order. Right?

Did I do that?

I made the motion. Just do that. Sorry.

For some reason, I'm just like messing this one up.

It's like second meeting in a row. Anyway, all those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Please pay the bills. And finally, item number 19, Director Shen. The floor is yours.

Members of the board, I want to start my report by first formally welcoming Felicia Jack as she begins her tenure on the BPDA board. We jumped right into the agenda without this formal welcome, and I want to provide just an introduction. Felicia swearing in this afternoon was actually a historic event because she is the first black woman to serve on the BPDA board. In her role as the principal and manager of Maloney Development, she brings to the board more than 20 years of experience and knowledge in development, zoning, entitlements, financing, and design. You already have seen that many of the staff and proponents know Felicia well. Felicia has also been deeply involved in the city of Boston, serving as the chair of the city's Community Preservation Committee, and also she served on Historic Boston, the Boston Landmarks Commission, and she has also been the former board chair of Citizens Housing and Planning Association, otherwise known as CHAPA. Prior to her current role at Maloney Development, she was the Director of Real Estate Development for the Northeast Region for the Community Builders Incorporated. She's also a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Boston Chamber of Commerce. We're delighted to have her join the BPDA board and look forward to working alongside her as she reviews with staff and work with the board every month. So welcome, Felicia.

Thank you so much, Kairos. It's wonderful to be back.

Yes.

Felicia and I work together, very much looking forward to working with everyone.

I'd like to just highlight the approvals that the board took this evening. There were four new development projects totaling about just under 400,000 square foot of new development that will represent in today's dollars about $173 million worth of investment. These projects will deliver 329 total new residential units, of which 137 of them will be income restricted. When constructed, these projects will put approximately 360 trade people to work and create more than 180 indirect jobs. I want to highlight the biggest project that the board approved this evening, which is the 45 Townsend Street in Roxbury, which is an adaptive reuse of a hospital. I think this is a hospital to resi conversion. And as noted by the presentation, it has had a long history that was changed multiple times, actually interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the current approved project is now fully zoning compliant and will deliver over 165 new homes in Roxbury. I want to thank the proponent for persevering and also thank the community members for working with the developer and our staff to make sure that this project will eventually come to fruition. The other item of note tonight that we approved was the small clean energy infrastructure zoning, which is another step towards a clean energy future by adopting zoning updates to meet and facilitate the permitting process for small clean energy infrastructure projects. This zoning is in compliance with the Massachusetts law and establishes a consolidated local permitting process in line with the state law and Boston's own climate resiliency goals in an effort to accelerate the transition of our energy sources in the coming years. This kind of infrastructure include solar panels, wind turbines, battery energy storage, and short energy transmission lines. And it will streamline the process for approving these types of infrastructure and as we see more of them being proposed. I want to thank again our staff for working diligently to approve the zoning update and actually engaging the community about the importance of this kind of development. The zoning will now move forward to the Boston Zoning Commission in September for approval and then be put into effect as early as October of this year. One other approval of note, of course, is the vote to extend the lease for mass robotics in the Marine Industrial Park. And actually, this will also not only extend their lease, but also expand their footprint in the city of Boston. Mass Robotics is the largest independent hub for robotics in the world. And they have been a tenant of ours at 12 Channel Street for the last 10 years. With this extension expansion, they will remain in Boston until at least 2036. They, of course, have been quoted by other cities, including New York. And so the fact that they have chosen to actually remain and commit long-term to being in the city of Boston is a major achievement. This is, MassRobotics is a world-renowned innovation and tech company, and for it to continue to invest in our city and make Boston their home is a real achievement. And I want to thank, of course, I know Chair Rojas, you've already thanked and appreciated the real estate staff for all the contributions that they make. And every month that this board meets, there is a lot of work that the real estate staff continue to put in to maintain good, not only continuing the good work of the board, of maintaining tenancy in the park, but also making sure that we're fiscally sound. So that ends my report for this month. Thank you again.

All right, thank you so much, Director Shen. And I know we definitely should have opened it, but yes, thank you. Welcome, so welcome, Felicia. I've had the privilege to serve on the CPA board under Felicia's leadership, and we were just all overwhelmed and overjoyed to hear that you'd be joining us. So welcome and welcome. It is meaningful to be the first black woman sitting here at this table. So as the second Latina, but the first to hold the gavel, it's important. You know, representation matters and it's really exciting to kind of see the city represented on this board. So with that, welcome. And I need a motion to adjourn the meeting.

Motion to adjourn. Second.

All right. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Motion passes. Thank you very much. We'll see you next month.

Thank you. Thank you.