Boston Zoning Board Opens Hearing on Stalled 114-Unit South Boston Rental Project

BOSTON — April 9, 2024 — Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal opened a final-arbiter hearing on a 114-unit rental development at 270 Dorchester Avenue in South Boston that has been stalled since the COVID construction moratorium halted excavation in 2020. Attorney Mark LaCasse of LaCasse Law told the board the project, originally approved in 2017 as condominiums, was converted to rental units under a notice of project change approved by the BPDA on December 14, 2023, and that parking would be reduced from 70 underground spaces to 20 to address construction challenges above a Red Line tunnel. The board also approved 14 pending extension requests in a consolidated vote, with board member Mr. Valencia recusing himself from the first three cases. The project's current extension runs through July 14, 2024; the broadcast transcript ended before any vote on the case was recorded.