By Dan Murphy
The existing eight-story building at 419 Boylston St. in the Back Bay,
which has been proposed for the neighborhood’s first office-to-residential
conversion project.
An office-to-residential conversion project proposed for an existing, eight-story building at 419 Boylston St., located a short distance from the Public Garden between Arlington and Berkeley streets, if approved, could result in the creation of 44 new rental units in the Back Bay.
The historic building, also known as the ‘Warren Chambers Building,’ has been “in the same family for a number of years” and used for commercial purposes during that time, said Jeff Drago, a zoning and permitting attorney during a Jan. 26 virtual meeting convened by the city’s Planning Department to discuss the Small Project Review Application (SPRA) filed for the project.
The project proposes retaining existing retail space on the first and second floors, said Drago, while the floors above would be converted from office space to residential units. (Pompanoosuc Mills, a furniture store and current tenant, is expected to continue occupying one of the two retail spaces, added Drago.)
The project’s proposed residential unit mix, according to Drago, comprises 36 studio apartments, each measuring an average of 562 square feet; and eight one-bedroom apartments, each measuring an average of 839 square feet. (Eight studio units would be located on each of the third through sixth floors, while the seventh and eighth floors would each include four studios and two one-bedrooms.)
Of these proposed dwellings, eight (or 17 percent) are designated as Inclusionary Development Policy units; four units are designated as ADA-compliant; and one unit is designated for the hearing-impaired, said Drago.
Construction work would be limited to only interior building renovations (such as the removal and demolition of existing partition walls), said Drago, and the project wouldn’t impact the building’s existing height, footprint, or massing.
While the project doesn’t contemplate the creation of any on-site parking, bicycle storage space will be provided in the basement of the building, said Carlos Ferreira, a principal with MP Design Consultants.
A plan to create a dedicated trash room in the basement is also in the works, said Drago, who added the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal still needs to approve several minor zoning variances for the project to come to fruition.
Meanwhile, this is the first project in the Back Bay proposed under the city’s Downtown Conversion Pilot Program, which was launched in October 2023 to help support property owners in the post-pandemic transformation of unutilized office space into new residential units.
Public comments on this project can be submitted via email until Feb. 12 to Zoe Duvall, Planning Department project manager, at [email protected].
For additional information on this project, visit the Planning Department’s project page at https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/419-boylston-street.