BPDA approves 273 housing units, tables contested Mission Hill project

BOSTON -- November 14, 2024, BPDA approves 273 housing units across six projects and tables a disputed Mission Hill development. The board, meeting November 14 in its first hybrid session under new Chief of Planning Kairos Shen, unanimously approved a $59 million affordable rehabilitation of the 140-room Our Lady's Guild House at 20 Charles Gate West in the Fenway into 86 income-restricted apartments, and a 49-unit fully income-restricted elderly housing building at 279-283 North Harvard Street in Allston seeking Passive House certification. Across all approvals, 156 of 273 units, roughly 57 percent, will be income-restricted, representing just under $150 million in total investment. The board voted 4 to 1, with one member present, to table the 218-unit, 33-IDP-unit notice of project change at 80-100 Smith Street in Mission Hill after District 8 Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata Durkin testified in opposition, citing a community meeting at which opposition was "nearly unanimous," and board members said the level of opposition was unlike anything seen across hundreds of recent projects. The board separately authorized a $2.4 million payment-in-lieu amendment at 355 Bennington Street, reducing on-site affordable units from 24 to 12 to advance that project to construction.