The developers of a proposed apartment building near Fields Corner are making significant changes to the project’s height, shape, parking layout, and other elements after officials in the Boston Planning Department offered a tough critique of the most recent plan in a memorandum last month.
In a 40-page letter dated Aug. 10, the Planning Department said the design for 80 Christopher St. was problematic and called for revisions to the seven-story proposal first detailed by The Reporter earlier this summer.
The plan was to replace the current Chevy Auto Body business with a building that was to include 108 apartments, including 20 income-restricted units, along with 22 parking spaces, bicycle storage, retail space, community rooms, a courtyard, and roof deck. The building would rise roughly 74 feet in an area with a 45-foot zoning height limit.
Planning officials stopped short of rejecting additional height at the site, but said the present proposal goes too far.
“A variance for height is warranted given the context of recent development in the neighborhood,” the department wrote, but added that it “will not support the degree of relief sought.” Instead, planners said, a building “such as six stories with an upper-level step-back” would better fit the site.
The comments represent the city’s most detailed public response since a July meeting in which residents and nearby business owners questioned the project’s scale and whether adding more than 100 new apartments in an active industrial district makes sense.
“Current massing appears to be an inefficient use of the site,” the planners’ memo states, adding that the design “falls short of making a positive contribution to the public realm on Christopher Street.” Planning staff also said current floor plans contain “oddly shaped units” and urged the development team to study “more pragmatic building massing and positioning on the site.”
The department was particularly critical of the arrangement of parking and driveways. The letter recommends consolidating parking rather than splitting it on both sides of the building and says the three proposed curb cuts should be reduced to no more than two.
“Deletion of one curb cut will help to prioritize pedestrian site circulation,” planners wrote.
The city also wants the project’s lobby, retail space, and other active uses brought closer to Christopher Street. In its current configuration, staff said, the placement “completely disconnects the building from the street.”
Planning staff included their own conceptual sketches showing several possible redesigns. Each generally consolidates roughly 23 or 24 parking spaces on one side of the property, creates larger setbacks for trees, reduces curb cuts, and gives the building a more conventional footprint. One concept uses an L-shaped configuration with a south-facing terrace; another proposes a C-shaped building intended to improve sunlight and residential layouts.
The Christopher Street proposal drew particular scrutiny at the July meeting because of its setting in an industrial zone. Some neighbors questioned whether future tenants could comfortably coexist with stone crushing, heavy trucks, construction equipment, noise, dust, and other activities that have long operated there.
Michael Sheehan, director of real estate for the company that owns neighboring 78-80 Park St., told planners that the project’s drawings appear to show an egress driveway crossing his company’s property. “There has been no easement, sale, or agreement to use this property,” Sheehan wrote. He said the neighboring owner had already informed the developer that it would not grant the easement as presented.
Mike Ross, an attorney who represents developer Colman Grealish, said that his client is already working to make the changes recommended by the city planners.
“After an initial round of meetings with the community, our neighbors, and the City, the project has been amended to reflect much of the comments and feedback we have received,” Ross said in a statement to The Reporter on Sept. 1.
“Among the changes to the project, the building’s massing has been reduced, and the number of units decreased to under 100. The existing drive aisle to Park Street will be used as vehicular egress and pedestrian access. Christopher Street will only have one curb-cut, allowing for more street parking for abutting businesses.”
He added: “These changes are presently being shared with our abutters, and will be presented at the upcoming public meetings. We look forward to our continued engagement going forward.”
