Dock Square Garage owner Fortis Group has proposed to add nine residential floors on top of its parking facility creating a 194′ high tower at the triangular space on Clinton Street, according to plans filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency per the Boston Globe. Dock Square Garage is located between Faneuil Hall Marketplace/Quincy Market and the Rose Kennedy Greenway across from the ramp parcel (known as Parcel 12) where the zip line was operated last season.
No renderings are currently available, but the description included an upward spiral starting at the 12th level along the Greenway moving counterclockwise to the facade along Clinton Street. The entire building would be reclad with a maximum height of 17 levels, creating 535,000 square feet of space.
The new addition is expected to have 195 residential units, including 25 for affordable housing per city requirements. Fortis Property Group purchased the parking garage in September 2017 for $170 million. It currently houses 698 parking spaces, which would be reduced to 538 once the addition is added.
If the developer actually plans to put the affordable housing units on site, rather than simply paying into the city’s affordable housing fund for later (and possibly remote) development, that’s a good thing.
Is there a clear definition of what affordable means? After all, everything is affordable if you have money.
It does not mean low income. Look at the “affordable” units at one of the new towers in Fenway https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/imce-uploads/2017-12/fenway_triange_apartments_rental_info_0.pdf?utm_source=Metrolist&utm_campaign=Metrolist+for+1.8.18&utm_medium=email
I knew when they tore down the expressway for the big dig that they were going to close the North End in with buildings. If it’s for low income, for those in the Neighborhood forced out by rents, or an elderly housing complex I can live with it. There are new apartment buildings down N. Station that are almost empty for new residents who can afford to live here. The elderly in the North End have no where to go. They are closing us in with buildings little by little. I’ll take the expressway back. That’s just me…
I agree w/M.C. bring back the good ole days of the expressway along w/good ole days of the NE, when the NE was Yuppie proof
Looking across from North Street in the North End this eyesore garage not only masks the beautiful buildings of Quincy Market, but also mars the view of the downtown skyline. With the elevated highway long gone and the Greenway in bloom, it’s about time that this garage makes way for a building that can offer active street frontage for the park (hopefully!) while contributing additional housing choices in a city that sorely needs more.
As the Globe reported last summer, rents dipped in Boston for the first time in seven years. The reason: approving and building new housing–at any income level–increases supply. Although the newest buildings will always have the highest rents (chocked full of amenities, etc.), the rents in older buildings without all those flashy amenities will plateau or even decline. Overtime, even the new buildings become old and the process repeats. Simply, if you want more affordable housing, then advocate for more housing. Period.
Globe article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2017/05/28/boston-rents-dip-bit-let-sustain/YV4S25AEZgZbZHuAf3yK3M/story.html
Boston needs more housing? Don’t believe everything you read. Ask one of the folks trying to rent the dozens of empty apts. in the North End. There’s a glut of apts going unrented.
The shadow studies on this one should be pretty interesting…
Agreed. Didn’t the Blacksone St. property just go through this whole process?
Yup — we’re being cut off from the ‘outside’ world by these new buildings.
Sad, indeed. What’s the answer? Is there a solution? Can greedy builders be stopped?
So frustrating
The North End residents should use this as a opportunity to negotiate with the owner to allow North End residents to park in the garage overnight for a reasonable price like $5. DOCK SQ GARAGE IS EMPTY EVERY NIGHT!! I once counted 4 cars in a garage that holds 600. Residents are forced to fight on the street for parking sometimes driving around for an hour when hundreds of spaces are going to waste every night in that garage. Most residents would move there cars out in the morning anyway. That garbage should be filled at all times. and residents should get a huge discount like $5 overnight or 12 hours for $5. Otherwise the garage a waste of highly valuable resource.
Nate this is not feasible. The garage is private property. They cannot be forced to rent parking spots out for $5 per night. It is to much risk to the owner of the property.
Community benefits are asked for all the time with new construction. Many development projects don’t happen without some negotiation about community benefits. I think parking in this empty garage overnight would be a huge community benefit. Otherwise the neighborhood should stop the development from happening.
So what happens when 75% of the “$5” parkers are not out of the spots by the 6 am rush?
They should be out by 8 or 9am or they pay more. See the photo in this article. The garage roof is empty most of the time.
Why are you not for helping the neighborhood find more reasonable parking?