Boston Approves Nearly $9.8 Million Purchase to Revive Chinatown Branch Library

BOSTON -- May 1, 2025, Boston Public Facilities Commission approves $9.7 million purchase of a condominium unit that will become the city's first Chinatown branch library since 1956. Voting two to zero with one recusal at the May 1 meeting, the commission backed the acquisition of a 17,027-square-foot commercial leasehold unit from the Asian Community Development Corporation at Hudson Street, Tyler Street, and Holland Place in Chinatown, at a purchase price of $9,705,558 capped contractually at $11,812,500. Allison Ford, Manager of Major Projects and Special Operations for the Boston Public Library, told the commission the community had been advocating for a replacement since the original branch closed nearly 70 years ago. The commission also approved a warehouse lease expansion for the Boston Fire Department's Special Operations Command in West Roxbury, adding 12,109 square feet of interior space at $32 per square foot; a $224,300 contract amendment with Gale Associates for waterproofing repairs at the Northampton Square garage in the South End; a $500 land conveyance in Roxbury to produce 18 affordable homeownership units on Blue Hill Avenue; and a no-cost parcel transfer of 6,882 square feet on Danube Street in Roxbury to expand the Winthrop Playground.