BPDA Board Unanimously Approves Downtown Holocaust Museum, Brighton Housing Complex

BOSTON -- December 7, 2023, Boston's planning board cleared four major actions in one session, including a downtown Holocaust museum and a $110 million Brighton housing complex. The BPDA Board of Directors, chaired by Priscilla Rojas and voting 4-0 on every item, approved Article 80 Small Project Review certification for a 32,696-square-foot Holocaust Museum and Educational Center at 125 Tremont Street, projected to open in 2026, with attorney Mike Ross citing a 400 percent surge in U.S. antisemitism as context for the project's urgency. The board also granted a preliminary adequacy determination for 15 Washington Street in Brighton, a 229-unit Kimco Realty development that includes 41 income-restricted units and a new 43,459-square-foot Whole Foods store. In a third unanimous vote, the board untabled and approved petitioning the Boston Zoning Commission to create the New Market 21st Century Industrial District, establishing three new industrial sub-districts with height limits ranging from 65 to 140 feet. Finally, the board approved a zoning code amendment expanding the Article 80 waiver for affordable housing renovations, a change Boston Housing Authority Administrator Kenzie Bach said is critical to the BHA's goal of going fossil-fuel-free across its 10,000 units by 2030, a project she described as a $1.2 billion undertaking.