Boston ZBA Defers Affordable Warren Street Project, Hears Allston Housing Pitch

BOSTON -- January 28, 2025, Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal deferred an all-affordable housing project and advanced an Allston residential proposal at its January 28 virtual hearing. The board voted unanimously to push 639-643 Warren Street, an all-affordable development by Madison Park Development Corporation, to March 4, after Attorney Nick Sizzula of McDermott, Quilty, Miller and Hanley explained the project has not yet cleared BPDA Article 80 review, with the BPDA board vote expected February 13 and a funding deadline falling just days after the ZBA's March 4 date. In the first substantive hearing of the day, City Realty sought variances for a 14-unit, four-story addition above a one-story Allston restaurant at 85-93 Glenville Avenue, with attorney George Morancy arguing the site's 2F-5000 zoning, which limits floor area ratio to 0.6, is "out of place" in a neighborhood dominated by 16-unit buildings topping 45 feet. The applicant is offering three income-restricted units, exceeding the city's two-unit IDP minimum, with two proposed at 70 percent AMI and one at 100 percent AMI. The Allston Civic Association voted to support the project in November; the Carpenters Union also endorsed it in testimony.