Boston Zoning Board Approves 63-Unit Affordable Roxbury Project, Defers River Street Case

BOSTON — March 4, 2025 — Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal approved more than a dozen residential and mixed-use projects at its March 4 remote hearing, including a 63-unit all-affordable Roxbury development and a 59-unit Dorchester mixed-use building, while unanimously deferring a contested 14-unit River Street project to May 20. The five-member board greenlighted Madison Park Development Corporation's 639 to 643 Warren Street project — vacant land for more than 50 years — with 63 units ranging from 30 to 100 percent of area median income and nine homeownership units, after attorney Nick McDermott reported BPDA board approval on February 13. Cobalt Development Partners' 99 and 101 to 109 Boston Street proposal, a six-story building with 59 units and a ground-floor cafe near Andrew Square, drew support from four city councilors' offices and the McCormick Civic Association before winning a 5-0 vote. The Mayor's Office of Housing's nine-unit all-affordable 83 Wildwood Street project in Mattapan was approved despite abutter opposition over scale and soil contamination concerns, with the development team committing to an LSP-managed remediation process and privacy screening for the adjacent property. A neighbor at the River Street hearing told the board an abutters meeting was "unanimous" in opposing the 14-unit project's scale in a two-family zone, prompting the applicant to seek a deferral.