The latest, revised plans for the redevelopment of the former Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) campus in the South End now propose apartments, instead of senior housing.
Continuum Development is currently pitching a project for 41 Berkeley St. comprising three components, including the Tremont Component which includes approximately 234 residential units and approximately 6,130 square feet of retail/restaurant space; the Franklin Union Component, which includes approximately 57 residential units and approximately 2,120 square feet of retail/restaurant space; and the Appleton Component, which includes approximately 21 residential units. Also, 93 parking spaces will be located in a below-grade garage – a substantial increase from the 60 below-grade spaces proposed in the earlier project iteration.
Permitting is on target by the end of next year or early ’28, and construction is then expected to take between 24 and 30 months to complete, said Patrick Lee, owner of Continuum and a South End resident, during a Sept. 14 city-sponsored virtual meeting on the Notice of Project Change (NPC) filed last month. No general contractor has been selected yet for the project, however, said Lee, so this timeline is still somewhat tentative.
In 2022, local developer Related Beal had proposed a project for the site comprising three separate components: an approximately 210,000 square-foot, 193-unit senior care facility to be operated by a national provider, Atria Senior Living, Inc., with ground-floor retail and accessory uses; the adaptive reuse of the Franklin Union building for residential purposes, including ground-floor retail and accessory uses; and an affordable residential building of approximately 20,000 square feet, with a 4,500 square-foot community space on its ground floor.
Via the latest proposal, the use of the Tremont Component is changed to residential from senior care, while the Franklin Union Building and the Appleton Component will remain residential, said Mitchell Bush, a principal at CBT Architects, during the Sept. 14 virtual meeting.
The project’s massing and height (i.e. 110 feet maximum allowable for the Tremont Component; 90 feet maximum allowable for the Franklin Union Component; and 50 feet maximum allowable for the Appleton Component) will stay the same, said Bush, while 24 percent of the site will be dedicated as open space, which includes the creation of a new courtyard and passageway.
The project also still proposes the preservation of the Franklin Union Building, along with the restoration of the façade of 4 Appleton St., said Bush.
Meanwhile, efforts are now underway to preserve a pair of murals painted on canvas now mounted to the lobby walls of the historic Franklin building at 41 Berkley St..
Kevin Hepner, the college’s CFO, said about five years, BFIT had commissioned a study, which determined the best method for preserving the murals entails removing the pieces from the wall, stretching them out on wood frames, and then displaying them as standalone works of art.
“We’re finding it difficult to find a home for them,” lamented Hepner, however.
In the meeting chat, Stephen Fox, a South End resident who served on the city’s original Impact Advisory Group (IAG) for the project, suggested that the new, soon-to-open South End Branch Library would be a very suitable permanent home for the murals. He added that he believes the Copley Branch of the Boston Public Library would likely be able to house the murals in the meantime.
Hepner enthusiastically embraced Fox’s suggestion and said he would follow up on the idea with the BPL. He added the college is working with the developer to preserve as many interior artifacts as possible and said that the Museum of Fine Arts has already purchased one painting for preservation.
The city’s public comment period for the NPC for this project runs through Oct. 5; to submit a comment, visit the city’s project page at https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/41-berkeley-street, or email Camille Platt-DeCosta, project manager for the city’s Planning Department, at [email protected].
A rendering of the 41 Berkeley St. project in the South End.