Meeting to discuss mixed-use project on Bowdoin Street

Neighbors can get their first in-depth look at plans for a new four-story, mixed use development planned for 191-195 Bowdoin St. at a public meeting set for Thursday, February 9 at 6:30 p.m. The building proposed by the Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, Inc. (Viet-AID), and submitted to the Boston Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) last month would replace two vacant lots at the corner of Bowdoin and Topliff streets. The plan calls for 41 apartments and a 6,057 sq. ft retail space on the ground that could house a Dorchester-based food cooperative that has used the vacant lot to sell healthy, affordable produce in the past.

According to documents filed with the BPDA on Jan. 19, the developer plans a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and 46 off-street parking spaces. “All apartments will be affordable to households with incomes at or below 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and eleven will be affordable to households at or below 30 percent of AMI,” wrote Jeff Katz, the interim executive director of Viet-AID. Katz noted in his letter to the BPDA director Brian Golden that the “project is designed to implement the community vision put forward in a number of forums over the past few years.” Viet-AID presently has an agreement in place to purchase the land at 195 Bowdoin St. from the current owners, Dorchester Bay EDC.

The other lot at 191 Bowdoin St. is owned by the City of Boston, which has named Viet-AID as the “preferred developer” for the site.

The meeting will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Teen Center at St. Peter’s, 278 Bowdoin St., Dorchester. Contact John Campbell for more information at John.Campbell@Boston.gov.

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