The Boston Planning & Development Agency

The BPDA's Development Review Department facilitates the review of small and large scale development projects, pursuant to Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code. Led by a team of Project Management staff, this department coordinates with BPDA Planning & Urban Design staff, City Agencies, elected officials and the community to foster responsible development in the neighborhoods and the Downtown.
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) is the planning and economic development agency for the City of Boston. The BPDA plays a far reaching role in shaping the City.

​Updates on Projects affecting us

For hours of fun and insight into development in Boston, head to the Boston planning and development agency website. You can check out all projects in Back Bay and their status. For projects affecting us, we will post updates on this page.

Midtown Redevelopment

The progress of this project is available to view on the  Boston  Planning And Development Agency website click here

Update posted September  2022!

A number of factors have delayed the start of the project and it now looks like ground will not be broken until 2023- There will be a public information meeting this fall to update the community on the project’s details and timeline.

​We’ve been very busy meeting with the city and the developer National Development, (ND) as the design plans for the site are proceeding through toward the final approval process. 

The basic take-aways are as follows:

• The new apartment building will provide 325 residences, with 43 designated as affordable housing and about 150 new parking spaces.
• One Cumberland will be demolished, however its “footprint” will be designed as a small public park which will incorporate a design link to the former One Cumberland
• The Midtown is currently rented to Northeastern through the 2021/22 academic year. Construction will start thereafter and last for about 30 months.
•  During construction, ND will offer parking vouchers to any alley 404 parking space occupants when they cannot access their spot during construction
• During construction, ND will make arrangements for night shift workers who are unable to sleep due to daytime noise as a result of construction
• ND has agreed to many of our requests to control truck and service vehicle traffic in the alley, especially time restraints on deliveries to future businesses there
• ND will be making generous donations to the city to fund specific tree replacements, pruning and sidewalk improvements throughout the neighborhood, to the SBNA for future neighborhood beautification projects, and to the SWCP for ongoing and future maintenance and upkeep of the stretch of the corridor park that lines our neighborhood

As the planning and permitting moves along, Northeastern University will house students at the Midtown Hotel for the academic year of 2021/22.

Impact Advisory Group

The Impact Advisory Group (IAG) works with the city and ND to mitigate the project's impact.
The Impact Advisory Group (IAG) has been chosen and has had their first meeting. For a video recording of that meeting click here. We are thankful that our neighborhood is represented by 5 residents on the IAG. Congratulations to:
Lee Steele,
Dave Reed,
Dr. Nicole DuBosh, 
Luis Aponte-Pares
Mike Reinders (from SWCP).
Our thanks to all of them for devoting their time to this important task.

Background

,This redevelopment is the next big demolition/construction/development project in our neighborhood will likely start now, because of COVID in late 2022. The proposed building will be a 10-story 325 apartment unit building with approximately 17,000 sq ft of retail planned for the street level. National Development (ND) presented their plans to the SBNA on 10.13.20 and if you are interested in viewing the plans, click here. We will keep this section updated as to the timing and scope of the project. If you have any specific questions about the project and its impact, please reach out to info@stbotolph.org. or srandel@natdev.com. 

Virtual Public Meeting
Thursday, December 3, 2020 
This was the first public meeting for the proposed redevelopment of the Midtown Hotel at 220 Huntington Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood. The National Development team shared their vision for the project and heard community feedback.
The meeting began with a presentation by the development team followed by an open Q&A session with the development team and BPDA staff.
For a link to the video recording of the meeting click here

Many residents, concerned about the parking entrance/exit configuration and traffic flow in the alley as currently designed, voiced their concerns through the public comments period. We have our own representatives on the Impact Advisory Board who will continue to engage with the project on our behalf. If you have any other questions, let us know! Updates on the project's progress will appear here and in our newsletters.

Meanwhile ...
You can review the latest plans that were presented to the Boston Civic Design Commission on April 26th 2021 here

One Cumberland St

Earlier in the year .....

The petition to define one Cumberland as part of the SB Landmarks district, and thus influence whether the building is taken down, has been withdrawn. Landmarks will still have influence over the disposition of One Cumberland through the normal "Article 85 Demolition Delay" process which all projects must undergo if a building 50 years or older is being torn down.  At this point, we don't know if Landmarks will require that One Cumberland be preserved. 

Demolition Delay Application
Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) received a complete application to demolish the residential building at 1 Cumberland Street  BLC staff has 10 calendar days from receiving an application to make a determination about historical, architectural, cultural, or urban design significance.
If you have input about the significance of this property, please send your feedback to blc@boston.gov before 5 p.m. on December 12, 2020.

The Developers
Newton-based, National Development and the developer behind the Ink Block mixed -use development closed on a long-term ground lease for the Midtown Hotel and One Cumberland Street and is planning a residential and retail property on these sites.
A 99-year ground lease closed in March 2020 between National Development and the First Church of Christ, Scientist,
The firm’s immediate plans are to continue to operate the site as housing for Northeastern University students for the 2021/22 academic year.

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Improvements to Titus Sparrow Park

Titus Sparrow is getting a face lift !. For more details click here

Titus Sparrow Park design Meeting #3
October, 05,2021
6.00pm - 7.30pm 2021
Via Zoom
Click here to join on 5th October 2021

Join a virtual meeting to review the preferred Plan design.

70 ST Botolph Apartments Renovations

Virtual Public Meeting
Monday, November 9, 2020
For a recording of this virtual meeting click here

Background
The Boston Housing Authority will be conducting a total renovation of the existing 7-story building located at 70 St. Botolph Street. The new work includes miscellaneous site revisions, exterior envelope repairs and replacements, renovations to common areas and individual units and upgrades to fire protection, HVAC and MEP systems.

To track the progress of this project click here

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Back Bay/South End Gateway Project

The proposed project is comprised of up to approximately 1.26 million square feet of mixed-use redevelopment, consisting of a new office building with ground floor retail, two new residential buildings, a one- to two-story vertical retail expansion of the existing Back Bay Station building, and the partial redevelopment of the existing 165 Dartmouth Street Garage. For more information about the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) that is reviewing this project, click here

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