At its April board meeting the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) approved the large mixed-use development pitched for the Day Square area.
Developer Redgate submitted a Project Notification Form with the BPDA last year and wants to transform a 50,000 square foot lot at 355 Bennington St. into a six-story building containing the 170 dwelling units, ground floor retail, accessory parking, and amenities and services for building residents. The rental housing project includes 82 parking spaces and the 7,000 square foot retail space.
The site, which currently houses a single-story commercial business and paved lot, is bounded by Bremen Street, Bennington Street, the Martin A. Coughlin Bypass Road, and Excel Academy Charter School.
Redgate plans to demolish the existing building and construct the new six-story building.
After a few initial community meetings the developer has already dropped the number of units from 180 to 170 and concluded an online survey to get feedback from residents on what they would like to see happen at the site. The survey asked residents what amenities, benefits, changes, additions, retail space uses and improvements that can be made in Day Square to make it more user friendly.
In its approval statement the BPDA wrote the site is, “an underutilized lot on the eastern edge of East Boston’s Day Square will be redeveloped to provide 170 new residential units, including 24 income-restricted units, while unlocking key pedestrian and transit connections in East Boston”.
“The project site at 355 Bennington is critical to the community vision laid out in PLAN: East Boston, an active planning initiative led by the BPDA, to connect the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway and the Silver Line to Day Square,” wrote the BPDA. “Also in line with PLAN: East Boston, the developer has agreed to construct streetscape improvements along Bennington and Bremen Streets to support the revitalization of Day Square and to establish the new pedestrian and bicycle amenities in the neighborhood.