By John Lynds
Representatives of real estate developer MG2 presented a second set of plans for a large Saratoga Street parcel at Monday night’s Harbor View Neighborhood Association (HVNA) meeting.
MG2 plans to develop the 16,500 sq. ft. vacant lot at 656 Saratoga St. into market rate housing.
Since the last time HVNA heard from the developer several changes have been made to the project.
The original project called for 62 units of residential housing and would have been a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom units.
The scaled down version now calls for 43 units of market rate rentals and will still be a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom units.
The updated version also calls for 39 parking spaces and 13 percent of the rental units will be set aside as ‘affordable’ units as part of the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s Inclusionary Dev elopement Policy.
The developer also eliminated a cafe concept from the ground floor of the project after residents and abutters expressed their opposition to adding a commercial space to the development. Residents in the area feared it would lead to more traffic and parking headaches on the congested street.
Also, the entrance to the building’s parking has been moved around the block after residents objected to a curb cut and vehicles entering and exiting a garage on Saratoga Street.
HVNA members have not voted on the project yet and the developer has still not officially filed the project with the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to see what variances would be needed before proceeding.
Attorney for the project Richard Lynds said at Monday’s meeting, as well as a previous meeting with the HVNA, that he needed to get a sense from the community of what worked and didn’t work with some of MG2’s design ideas.