Board approves two housing projects, delays third

In this report: Key decisions · Next dates · Full report · Sources

What happened

The Redevelopment Board voted unanimously to approve a residential conversion at 61-63 Massachusetts Avenue and a fifth unit at 259 Broadway, both conditioned on meeting specific requirements. The board split on a four-unit Walnut Street project under the state's MBTA Communities framework and unanimously voted to continue it to November 16 pending revised facade, tree, fencing and lighting plans. Separately, the board heard that two affordable units at 80 Broadway remain unoccupied pending state approval of deed restrictions, with ARPA funding facing a year-end deadline.

Key decisions

• 🏢 Fifth Unit and Egress Addition. The board unanimously approved the site plan for a rear stair addition and garage demolition converting the building from four to five units, reducing required parking from five to three spaces under Section 6.1.5 of the zoning bylaw, conditioned on the applicant meeting the bylaw's one-street-tree-per-25-feet-of-frontage standard verified administratively. (Vote 5-0). Read case details
• 📋 Office-to-Residential Conversion. The board unanimously approved the special permit to convert roughly 2,000 square feet of ground-floor office space to a residential unit, conditioned on the applicant showing one legal parking space for the residential tenant and submitting revised plans showing street trees and species. (Vote 5-0). Read case details
• 🏢 Four-Unit Duplex Site Plan Review. The board unanimously voted to continue the site plan review to November 16, 2026, after splitting on tree-preservation and design concerns. The applicant must submit revised materials addressing building elevations and symmetry, existing and proposed tree counts, a fencing plan and a lighting plan at least a week in advance. (Vote 5-0 to continue; Next: Nov. 16). Read case details

Next dates

• Nov. 16: 31 Walnut Street site plan review hearing

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Full meeting report

The complete, section-by-section account of the meeting, 2,948 words, for members.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.