Last year the Gove Street Citizens Association (GSCA) voted 18 to 3 in favor of a complete historical rehab and condo project at the former DeAngelis Bakery building on the corner of Maverick and Orleans Streets.
Developers of the project at 173-177 Maverick MG2 will consolidate three buildings and create nine condo units and a commercial restaurant space on the ground floor.
However, residents in the area have been wondering when the rehab will occur.
At GSCA’s July meeting attorney for the project, Richard Lynds, provided an update on the planned historic rehab.
“Since our approvals last year we have been going through a process with the Boston Planning and Development Agency on the design of this building,” said Lynds. “Our goal all along has been to preserve the existing structure and the architectural elements that are on the building. We pretty much completed that part of the process. Since then we have been working with a structural engineer to determine whether or not we can preserve the building and modify it the way we proposed.”
Lynds said the engineers will make the determination on whether or not the entire building will have to come down or if it can be preserved and rehabbed in its current state.
“Hopefully we will have that determination in the next four to six weeks,” said Lynds.
Lynds said if it is recommended that the entire building come down his client will have to go through the Article 85 process to ensure any building that is over 50 years goes through a review by the city to determine if it is historically significant.
If the building has to be razed Lynds said he will most likely come back before the GSCA for a further community process and discuss next steps.
Lynds said regardless if the building is preserved or demolished the final product will look exactly the same as renderings approved by the BPDA and Zoning Board of Appeals.
“Nothing about the project changes if it has to come down,” he said.
Currently there are six units in the three buildings. While the developer will be going from six units to nine units the project will reduce the current bedroom count from 18 bedroom to 14 bedrooms.
The project will be a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units.
The proposed project will also add a fourth floor to the building that will be set back and make use of more modern materials.
Lynds said MG2 is currently in negotiations with a local restaurant to occupy the 2,250 sq. ft. commercial space on the ground floor. While he would not name the restaurant, Lynds said it was an Eastie-based business that was looking to expand and thought the space would be a perfect fit for them and the area.