BPDA Board Approves Longwood Place and 495 New Residential Units Across Boston

BOSTON -- April 16, 2026, BPDA board approves Longwood Place Phase One and 495 new housing units across four projects. The Boston Planning and Development Agency board voted unanimously at its April 16 meeting to approve Longwood Place Phase One, a 1-million-plus-square-foot mixed-use development on a 5.89-acre Simmons University site on Brookline Avenue in the Longwood Medical Area, along with projects in Charlestown, Hyde Park, and Roslindale, totaling at least $440 million in combined investment. Skanska executive vice president Russell DiMartino presented shadow data showing the project reduces emerald necklace impacts by approximately 7 percent below the previously approved PDA massing envelope, with up to 10 hours of shadow-free park conditions on the summer solstice; District 8 Councilor Gabriela Durkin testified in support but called for continued attention to shadow policy, retail affordability, and acoustic design of a 9,000-square-foot community Forum. Director Arthur Shen noted the Charlestown and Hyde Park approvals, a 240-unit building at 201 Rutherford Avenue by New England Development and a 68-unit condominium at 1702 Hyde Park Avenue, are the first wave of projects approved without zoning variances under recently adopted neighborhood zoning. Of the 495 new units approved tonight, 98 will be income-restricted, and the board separately authorized the conversion of all 43 units at 4236 Washington Street in Roslindale to permanently affordable housing through the city's Acquisition Opportunity Program.