New plan keeps one existing building for the condo complex in Lower Mills

The proponents of a new condo development in Lower Mills have revised their plan to preserve an existing house and add more parking. Representatives from City Point Center LLC brought their latest plans for the site of the former Molloy Funeral Home to the Oct. 15 meeting of the Lower Mills Civic Association (LMCA).

The proposed 4-story, 57-unit, mixed-use building — that would be built at 1120-1132 Washington St. — has been in the planning stages since 2016 and is under review by the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA).

An earlier version of the project was approved by the LMCA, but has been on hold as city officials scrutinized details, including the design and the historic nature of some of the existing properties on the site.

John Rogers, an attorney representing the developers, told the Reporter that the revisions were made in response to “three significant requests” from abutters, including “to make a good faith effort to preserve either 1120 or 1126 Washington” Street.

He said that the new plan would “employ the look and features of the old Molloy’s Funeral Home into the new building in order to preserve the historic streetscape.” The new iteration would increase the number of on-site parking spaces from 1.1 per housing unit to 1.5.

Rogers said that 1120 Washington St.— the old funeral home itself— will be preserved and refurbished.

“By preserving 1120, it does not change the project’s size in any way regarding the number of floors or units,” Rigers said. “It does, however, reduce the amount of minimal usable open space from the original plan, but the revised plan will still feature 11,730 sq. ft. of usable open space some 400 [percent] more than required by code.”

There was no vote taken by the civic association at the October meeting. There is still no set date for the project to be considered by the BPDA board— and no schedule for any demolition on the site.

Said Rogers: “The owner wishes to continue to be able to listen to neighbor ideas”  and “feels that because of the lengthy review process and because of neighborhood input, the revised plan is better than the one the LMCA initially voted to support some three years ago.”


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