By Michael Coughlin Jr.
On Monday, a sizeable audience of residents gathered at the Embassy Suites Boston to discuss preliminary plans for development at 120-128 Gove Street, which includes the site of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
In September 2015, it was announced that Mount Carmel Church and its property had been sold to Frankfort Gove LLC. Fast-forward to March 2019, the abovementioned entity had a project encompassing four parcels at 115, 120, 128-134 Gove Street, and 21-43 Frankfort Street approved by the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s (BPDA) Board.
According to documents on the BPDA’s website, the project approved in March 2019 consisted of two buildings containing 108 condominium units and 84 parking spaces.
As part of the project, the church was slated to be renovated and converted into a residential building with 14 condos — four of which are affordable — and 13 parking spaces were planned to be included on a landscaped lot where the rectory is located.
The other building in the project was approved to be placed in the area of the convent building and a vacant lot. It was slated to be five stories and contain 94 condos and 71 parking spaces.
It should also be noted that this approved project also called for the demolition of the rectory and convent buildings.
However, in June 2022, the property and approved project were transferred to a new developer, RISE Together. In October of the same year, the BPDA Board approved a notice of project change (NPC), which altered the project.
The approved NPC, among other changes, converted the 94 units in the five-story building from condominiums to rental units.
Now, in 2024, Paul Passacantilli of Hanover Battery Strategies indicated in a Facebook post advertising the meeting that the current owner is selling the project and his group has placed the property under agreement.
Nick Dilibero, whom Passacantilli introduced at the meeting as the proponent, indicated that the potential development is focused on the 14-unit church proposal specifically, not the 94-unit building.
Essentially, although the projects previously approved by the BPDA Board encompassed both the 14-unit church conversion and renovation along with the other 94-unit building, the abovementioned purchase, which Dilibero indicated is not final, would create a separate project.
This potential separate project—the topic of Monday’s meeting—would then have to undergo a whole new approval process.
In speaking about what would happen regarding the approved 94-unit building, Dilibero said, “I have no control of it. I have no idea what’s going to happen there — if they’re ever even going to break ground, I have no idea what’s going on with it.”
Dilibero, an East Boston native who actually served as an Altar Boy at the church, spoke about what the church meant to him and the purpose of the meeting: gathering feedback from the community.
“The church has deep meaning for me as well, so our whole plan — what we’re trying to present here is going to have some of my impact that I would like to see happen, but also whatever feelings that you have towards it, we’re going to try and incorporate it all,” said Dilibero.
As the meeting progressed, Eric Robinson of RODE Architects presented early ideas for developing the site.
Throughout his presentation, Robinson emphasized certain aspects the project team is contemplating in creating the development, such as traffic and circulation, heights, use, and more in the neighborhood.
“Not every project is perfect, we understand that, but what we want to make sure is people understand we’re listening and we have a dialogue,” said Robinson.
“We want the neighborhood to embrace the project; we don’t want to have everybody hate the project that doesn’t do anybody any good,” he added.
In what Robinson described as “Very, very just initial thoughts” and “basic dumb block,” there is an idea to use selective demolition and incorporate the front and side facade of the church into a new building.
The new building would then consist of five stories — four residential and one parking — with 40 units and 30 parking spaces. Dilibero also mentioned the idea of incorporating either a prayer area or something to remember the church into the proposal as well.
Robinson compared the idea to a project under construction in the South End at the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
“Again, no architecture, these are just blue blocks, want to be honest with that, but what it starts to do is really create a backdrop and a framework,” said Robinson.
After Robinson wrapped up his presentation, Passacantilli discussed the consideration for a fifth floor and alluded to the project’s affordability aspects, including the total number of affordable units and the potential area median income (AMI) for those units.
The fifth floor is critical to note because the site sits in the proposed East Boston Residential (EBR)-4 zoning subdistrict developed through PLAN: East Boston, which allows a maximum of four stories.
“In your process, I just ask you to understand the idea of why — we just don’t come up and say, let’s just throw up a fifth floor; it’s all being driven by factors like affordability,” said Passacantilli.
Following Passacantilli’s comment, the floor was opened to questions and comments from the audience, and several topics were discussed.
One attendee, who mentioned he was a member of the original project’s impact advisory group (IAG), questioned how the church proposal has gone from 14 units to 40.
Passacantilli responded, “A standalone project on this site offering 14 units with four affordables absolutely does not work, and I would have to imagine that’s why RISE has put it out for bid.”
“I think our objective here tonight is to see — is there an opportunity for us to move forward with something else as a standalone project,” he added.
The same attendee questioned whether the project could be split and sold the way it had been explained because it was not approved that way. Robinson responded, “My experience… but a change like that would require them — it would go back through the neighborhood process.”
Multiple attendees also had concerns about the height. One attendee wanted to ensure that the work by community members in creating the proposed zoning changes through PLAN: East Boston was not for nothing.
These attendees feared that allowing a height variance with the fifth story would set a precedent and encourage future developers to exceed height maximums in the neighborhood, something residents have been fighting against for years.
The question of whether units should be rented or sold was also raised, and Dilibero indicated that the idea is for the units to be sold.
Another concern a couple of attendees mentioned was the potential for the project to be sold again, in that there is no guarantee that something will be built after going through another community process.
In response to these concerns, Dilibero, in part, said, “If this project was approved, I would be building it. That’s what I can tell you as of today. I don’t know if I’m going to be alive in three years… you know it’s going to take three years to get through this process.”
As the discussion progressed, multiple attendees shared their thoughts about the preliminary ideas, asked questions, and complimented the preservation aspect that is currently being pondered.
Ultimately, Monday’s meeting is only the first step in what could be a long road ahead in the potential development of the church.
“We feel there’s a project here. Hopefully, there’s middle ground in the neighborhood; I think we can get there; there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,” said Passacantilli.