Equity Residential is rethinking its Garden Garage project in light of neighborhood opposition.
Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor- Boston Business Journal
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After failing to win approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority for a $300 million, twin tower apartment project in Boston’s West End, the developer is rethinking the plan.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), the Chicago-based REIT with 17 apartment communities in Greater Boston, said its proposal for 500 units in two buildings near North Station was unable to win consensus in the neighborhood.
In 2009, Equity filed plans with the BRA to replace the four-story Garden Garage at 35 Lomasney Way, across from the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Federal Building, with 31- and 24-story tower that would contain 310 and 190 units, respectively. A new garage would be built underground to allow parking for 850 vehicles and 30,000 square feet of new open space would be created.
But some members of the Garden Garage Impact Advisory Group, the 10-member neighborhood panel formed to advise City Hall on the project, opposed the project’s height and density. They argued that the development should be no taller than the neighboring buildings at 150 feet, or 15 or so stories.
At the time, then-Mayor Thomas M. Menino told Equity to convert the opponents into proponents. But the clock ran out, and a revised plan never made it to the BRA board.
“We are evaluating the deal now and hopefully we will go back to the city soon to discuss our options,” said Andrew Copelotti, vice president of development and construction management at Equity’s Boston office. “The cost of putting the parking below grade is expensive, and we feel like we need that unit count to make the project work. That’s not to say that we can’t find some compromise that would be amenable to all.”
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