Developers of the Motor Mart Garage Move Forward with Residential Tower Extension

The Motor Mart Garage, located at 201 Stuart St. in downtown Boston might soon have an additional residential tower sticking up above the existing parking-garage structure.

On Friday, March 2, the 201 Stuart Street Owner, LLC., an affiliate of CIM Group LLC submitted a Letter of Intent to the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) to redevelop the Motor Mart Garage in the Midtown Cultural District area of Boston.

Plans include adding an approximately 233,500 square-foot residential tower containing about 280 apartment and condominium units that will rise 17 stories above the existing nine-story garage to be 278 feet high.

There will be redevelopment of the existing garage building to integrate the structural core of the new tower. The developers will also enhance the public realm and pedestrian experience through streetscape improvements and activation of street-level-retail storefronts around the garage.

The project will reduce the number of parking spaces in the existing garage from about 1,058 spaces to about 600 spaces. As first reported in the Boston Sun this past December, the plan includes no on-street parking for residents, which will be provided within the garage.

If the tower extension is approved at this height, it would be close to 80 feet taller than the proposed 212 Stuart St. residential tower across the street, which is currently stuck in litigation.

Renderings show that the 212 Stuart St. project would block most of the views of the new Motor Garage tower from Bay Village, according to the neighborhood association’s prvesident.

With the developers hoping to follow an accelerated schedule – with plans to start construction this upcoming summer – it is possible it might be built before the 212 Stuart St. project, leaving many residents worried.

In a previous Bay Village Neighborhood Association (BVNA) meeting this past December, residents voiced concerns over wind, shadow, traffic, and other potential impacts.

Since, it’s not in the Bay Village Historic District, the BVNA might not have as large of a voice as they did in persuading the developers to accommodate the 212 Stuart St. project to better fit within the neighborhood.

The project is subject to a Large Project Review under the Article 80B of the Boston Zoning Code, and will require zoning relief. The developers plan on filing within 30 days the Expanded Project Notification Form for the project.

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