By Dan Murphy
The city’s Planning Department sponsored a virtual public meeting on Monday, April 28, to discuss two proposed projects that would repurpose vacant West End office space for residential purposes, resulting in the creation of more than 50 new living units in all.
In the first proposed project, developer, Equity Residential, would convert 12,500 square feet of vacant office space on the mezzanine level (or the second level) at Longfellow Towers, located at 1 Longfellow Place, into 24 residential apartment units, with a unit mix comprising 19 studios and five one-bedrooms, said Brett Bentson, an architect working on both projects.
Unit sizes would range from 300 to 720 square feet, with private patios that would range from 50 to 250 square feet. Per the city’s Inclusionary Zoning policy, five units would be designated as income-restricted housing.
Also, three units would be designated as Group 2 accessible units, equipped with ‘roll-in’ showers, said Benston, while the remainder of the units would be designated as Group 1 accessible units.
All new units would have access to existing residential amenities, including swimming pools, a fitness center, and outdoor recreational areas. Each new living space would have its own in-unit laundry, as well as below-grade parking provided in a shared garage.
The second project, also proposed by Equity Residential, would repurpose 15,350 square feet of vacant office space on one half of both the second and thirds floors of 1 Emerson Place into around 25 residential units, with a unit mix comprising 22 studios and two one-bedrooms, said Bentson.
Units sizes would range from 450 to 710 square feet, added Bentson, while five units would be designated as income-restricted housing in accordance with the city’s Inclusionary Zoning policy.
Moreover, the second project also entails repurposing around 4,600 square feet of vacant office space at 10 Emerson Place into seven residential units, including five studios and two one-bedrooms.
Units sizes would range from 450 to 780 square feet, added Bentson, and two units would be designated as income-restricted housing in accordance with the city’s Inclusionary Zoning policy.
A “couple” of Group 2 accessible units would be created at both 1 and 10 Emerson Place, said Bentson, with the remaining units designated as Group 1 units.
All new units included in the second project would have access to the existing amenities associated with Emerson Place, including in-unit laundry; a 24-hour fitness center; an exterior dog run; and the exterior patio and grills.
Parking for all new units created via the second project would be provided in a shared, existing garage located below the adjacent 4 Emerson Place, said Benston.
The impact for the two projects is expected to be minimal, said Bentson, since both entail mostly internal renovations. Most construction is expected to take place on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Both projects are being proposed under the city Planning Department’s Downtown Conversion program – a post-pandemic pilot that intends to facilitate the as-of-right repurposing of underutilized office space into residential units by providing major incentives for developers.
For the 1 Emerson Place conversion project to move forward, a minor modification must be made to Urban Renewal Parcel 1A to revise the current parking ratio, said Max Houghton, a policy specialist for the city’s Planning Department.
Along with several neighbors on hand for the virtual meeting, District City Councilor Sharon Durkan supported her strong support for these projects.
The Planning Department’s public comment period for these project runs through Monday, May 5; public comments can be submitted via the project pages (https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/1-10-emerson-place for the Emerson Conversion; https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/1-longfellow-place for the Longfellow Towers conversion project, or can be emailed to Dylan Morris, project manager, at [email protected].