BPDA Approves Onyx Hotel Addition, Projects to Add 625 Multifamily Units

BOSTON—The Boston Planning & Development Agency at its meeting on Thursday afternoon approved a nine-story addition to the Onyx Hotel in Downtown Boston, as well as a host of projects that will add 625 new multifamily units to the city’s housing stock.

The nine-story addition to the existing 112-room Onyx Hotel in Downtown will add 77 hotel rooms to the property. The addition will be developed on the parking lot abutting the hotel and will also feature ground floor retail/restaurant space and rooftop amenity space.

The project will make a contribution to the Breaktime Cafe to fund employment and vocational training for young adults experiencing homelessness, a contribution to Community Work Services to fund employment training opportunities for at risk communities and a contribution to the West End Museum to fund programming. The project will also make a contribution to the BPDA’s Central Artery Parcel 2 Park Design Process.

The residential projects approved at the meeting will create an additional 625 residential units, 433 of which are income-restricted, representing nearly 70% of total units. Additionally, three fully-affordable projects moved forward in Chinatown, Brighton and Mattapan. These projects will also create 845 construction jobs, 99 direct jobs and 451 indirect and induced jobs.

Among some of the larger projects approved at the session include Parcel P-12C at 290 Tremont St. The mixed-use development will bring 168 residential units, all of which are income-restricted, including 63 home-ownership units and 105 rental units, to a BPDA-owned parking lot in Chinatown. There will also be up to 200 hotel rooms associated with the project.

Additionally, the project will include 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and approximately 8,000 square feet of community space which is anticipated to be used as a Chinatown branch of the Boston Public Library. The design of the community space allows for an expansion of up to 14,000 square feet via the construction of a mezzanine.

The J.J. Carroll Redevelopment located at 130 Chestnut Hill Ave. in Brighton to be developed by 2Life Communities also secured BPDA approval. The plan calls for the construction of an approximately 180,000-gross-square-foot, five- and six-story building containing 142 rental apartments, all of which are income-restricted housing for seniors.

The project includes 7,000 square feet of resident common space, a center for the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and commercial space.

Another large project given the green-light by the BPDA is a mixed-use development at 282-308 Bremen St. that will bring 145 residential units, 21 of which are income-restricted to East Boston. The 110,000-square-foot building will also include more than 3,000 square feet of retail space, more than 2,155 square feet of artist workspace with gallery programming, up to 61 parking spaces and 145 bicycle storage spaces.

The ground-floor retail space will be designed for an urban grocery store/market operator, daycare operator or local retailer, according to the BPDA.