Boston ZBA Unanimously Approves Great Scott Revival With 139 Housing Units in Allston

BOSTON -- September 9, 2025, Boston Zoning Board unanimously approves Great Scott music venue revival in Allston with 139-unit housing project. The five-member Zoning Board of Appeal voted 5-0 Tuesday to grant variances for a mixed-use development at 1 to 17 Harvard Avenue in Allston, pairing a 300-seat Great Scott performance space and a 75-seat O'Brien's Pub with 139 compact residential units, 20 percent of which are designated affordable. Attorney Don Wiest of Dane Torpey presented for principals Carl Lavin, who has been associated with Great Scott since 2003, Paul Armstrong, and Jordan Warshaw of the Noannet Group, who cited more than 1,584 letters of support since BPDA board approval on April 10. The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services backed the project; the Allston Civic Association deferred judgment while citing density, parking, and construction concerns near the Mass Pike interchange. The board approved all 24 cases before it on September 9 unanimously, including a church renovation for the Ella J. Baker House youth program at 411 to 413 Washington Street in Dorchester and a used-vehicle sales variance at 1891 Columbus Avenue over one abutter's written opposition.