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Boston-based developer Samuels & Assoc. is teaming up with Harvard University on a planned multifamily housing and retail project in Allston’s fast-changing Western Avenue corridor.
Samuels and Harvard have assembled a group of parcels steps from Samuels’ Continuum apartment complex at Barry’s Corner, which opened in 2015, and the university’s 900,000-square-foot new Science and Engineering Complex, which is scheduled for completion in 2020.
The two partners are preparing to submit a proposal to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, which recently kicked off a Western Avenue corridor study with the goal of rezoning the neighborhood for higher-density development.
The 1.15-acre development site includes the following parcels:
- 204-206 North Harvard St., acquired by Harvard in 2007, which contains a vacant retail property last occupied by 7-Eleven.
- 182 Western Ave., currently occupied by Cafe Beatrice, acquired by Harvard in 2007.
- 176-178 Western Ave., a three-family home acquired by Samuels & Assoc. in 2015 for $1.25 million.
- 9 Travis St., which contains a single-story industrial building occupied by Flour bakery.
Harvard and Samuels control the entire block between North Harvard and Travis streets with the exception of the Flint Cleaners property. Samuels & Assoc. would ground-lease the Harvard-owned parcels, said Mark Handley, Harvard’s director of government and community relations.
Prominent local developers have been targeting acquisitions in Lower Allston, which is emerging as one of the city’s in-demand locations for new life science, office and multifamily projects.
Boston-based Mount Vernon Co. in June completed the 132-unit Radius apartment complex at 530 Western Ave., which has achieved average rents above $4 per square foot, Mount Vernon Chairman Bruce Percelay said in August.
King Street Properties and Mugar Enterprises have proposed more than 500,000 square feet of office and lab space and 40 multifamily units on the Stadium Auto Body property as well as parcels on the opposite side of Western Avenue.
And The Davis Cos. recently acquired the 2-acre former Skating Club of Boston property at 1240 Soldiers Field Road and Western Avenue for $26.25 million, but has not yet submitted a redevelopment proposal.
The neighborhood’s current zoning prohibits housing as-of right and has a floor area ratio of 1.0, so developers seeking to build large mixed-use projects require variances from the zoning board of appeals, BPDA Senior Project Manager Gerald Autler said during a public walking tour of the study area Saturday.
Rezoning for higher density and building heights could be approved in early 2020 by the BPDA board of directors, Autler said. Developers are not required to wait for the rezoning to submit proposals, but project approvals would be contingent upon the rezoning.
The neighborhood could be primed for a transformation similar to Boylston Street in the Fenway, where developers including Samuels & Assoc. redeveloped parking lots and small retail and industrial parcels as class A office buildings and luxury apartment and condo towers.
